Even Mrs. Li had heard the rumors, and when Yu Caihe had first found Mrs. Li to sell herself, Mrs. Li hadn’t really believed that she only wanted to quietly find work as a maidservant because of all the rumors. However, Mrs. Li hadn’t turned her down despite not believing her because, after all, this Yu Caihe was very good-looking and would no doubt be easy to sell.
But after getting to know her a bit, Mrs. Li realized that Yu Caihe was nothing like the woman in the rumors. Every day she would honestly do her work and she would never even poke her head out of the door, so Mrs. Li could personally verify that those rumors were all nonsense. That being the case, Mrs. Li had begun to seriously look around and try to help Yu Caihe find a suitable master.
Thus, when Su Tang suddenly dropped by today, Mrs. Li couldn’t help but feel that it would be Yu Caihe’s blessing if the girl took a fancy to her and decided to buy her. After all, Su Tang’s household couldn’t be more simple and, while Su Tang seemed to have a bit of a temper, she also seemed to be fairly reasonable and easy to serve.
But she hadn’t expected that Su Tang would be so perceptive. Even Mrs. Li herself hadn’t been clear about the exact circumstances surrounding Yu Caihe’s divorce and, perhaps because she had been a little blinded by such a great product delivering herself to her shop, it hadn’t even occurred to her to ask. After all, Yu Caihe was so beautiful that there would even be some bigger families that would be willing to buy her back as a concubine.
Mrs. Li had principles, and she never sold anyone to those lowly brothels, but that didn’t stop her from dabbling in the business of occasionally selling beautiful girls as concubines to the larger households. In fact, she had thought that was the reason Yu Caihe had come to her in the beginning, and it was only later that she realized that she was wrong.
However, being brutally honest, with Yu Caihe’s face, it wouldn’t be easy to find her a buyer who could give her the simple maidservant work that she desired. After all, which family’s wife wouldn’t worry about it if she were around, ah? She was so good-looking and also had such a reputation…
But Su Tang only secretly breathed a small sigh of relief when she heard Yu Caihe’s explanation. She had been worried that maybe the situation was very complicated or that there was perhaps some bigshot involved, but it turned out that she had just been thinking too much.
It seemed that, although Yu Caihe was beautiful, she was still only a little peasant girl in the end. She managed to stand out a little in her village, but she hadn’t provoked any real trouble from the big shots.
“Are you willing to work?” Su Tang asked.
In her mind, Su Tang was already 90% decided and the question was actually more of a formality. After all, she could honestly say she had seen a lot of scum men across her two lives, and she had a degree of appreciation and respect for a woman who had the spirit to resist those sorts of scum.
Su Tang had a simple view of things. Basically, she felt that women shouldn’t try to make things difficult for other women, especially in an era like this. Of course, if the woman in question was really behaving ridiculously then it wasn’t like she would just ignore that because they were a woman, but after talking to her Su Tang was sure Yu Caihe wasn’t like that. This principle had guided the way she had interacted with Luo Xingxing last time, and now that she had confirmed that Yu Caihe didn’t have any impossible troubles following her she was willing to give her the same kind of chance.
As for those rumors circulating around outside, they didn’t affect Su Tang’s judgment at all. In the modern information era, she had seen all sorts of waves created by those keyboard warriors so she was well aware that those ‘well known rumors’ were complete fabrications as often as not.
Or else why would she be saddled with the reputation for having an adverse fate? Su Tang was well aware of how these types of things could develop.
When Yu Caihe heard Su Tang’s question, she hurriedly replied, “Yes! I can do basic housework and cooking, and I also know a bit about needlework. If there’s anything I can’t do, I can learn.”
“But it seems you might need to learn the rules again.” Su Tang said.
Mrs. Li hurriedly glared at Yu Caihe, and Yu Caihe quickly realized her mistake. After all, Yu Caihe had only recently been bought by Mrs. Li, so she momentarily forgot the etiquette she had been taught in her excitement. She corrected herself immediately: “My apologies young miss, this maidservant will definitely abide by the rules in the future.” (tl note: She didn’t use the proper honorifics in the previous line and corrects herself in this line)
“Well, Mrs. Li, I’ve decided to buy this person. How much are you asking for her?” Su Tang turned and asked Mrs. Li directly.
She really did need to hire some more people, and after talking to her and finding out about how she escaped her previous situation, Su Tang felt that this Yu Caihe was quite smart and clear-eyed. Although she had ultimately been reduced to this point and had very little knowledge or ability, she was still able to firmly say that she wanted to live an upright life, so Su Tang decided to buy her.
When Yu Caihe realized that Su Tang planned to buy her even after knowing about her circumstances and her reputation, she directly started to cry and then kneeled down to kowtowed while saying, “This maidservant thanks the young miss! Thanks the young miss!”
Ah, it seemed that there were pitiful women suffering under the claws of scum men no matter what era you were in. Seeing how moved the woman was, Su Tang sighed secretly in her heart.
.
tl begging corner:
😢😭