That night, Madam Zhang cooked a meal of potato, egg, and vegetable soup, as well as a bowl of simple rice, for Su Tang’s dinner. Once she was sure Su Tang seemed satisfied with the meal, she quietly retreated to go have dinner with her husband, Jiang Hong.
Meanwhile, Zhou Qian had already taken away all of the servants that Su Tang had instructed him to get rid of.
Madam Zhang arrived back and found that her husband and child were still waiting up for her without eating anything.
“Why didn’t you two eat while it was still hot? There’s no need to wait for me like this.” Seeing her husband and daughter waiting for, Madam Zhang’s heart ached, and she quickly entered inside and brought them to sit down.
“I guessed that you would be done soon. We didn’t wait long.” Facing his wife’s scolding, Jiang Hong gently laughed it off. Although it had been many years and the couple had one child that they naturally doted on, they still had rules. Though they were from an ordinary family, they generally wouldn’t allow their daughter to eat before her mother returned home because it wasn’t proper etiquette.
Moreover, after experiencing so much, they were just grateful that their small family of three could stay together like this, and they cherished any opportunity for all of them to sit down and have a meal together.
Madam Zhang sent Jiang Hong a glare when she heard him brushing her off, and then she quickly picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and offered it to her daughter, “Hurry up and eat! It’s already so late, aren’t you hungry?”
Jiang Hong also picked up a piece of meat and put it in Madam Zhang’s bowl. Then he said slowly, “I think that once Nian’er is in better health it would be best to beg the young miss to let her serve by her side.”
Now that they had all sat down to eat, Jiang Hong began to discuss the matter he had been thinking pondering over the past few days. After all, when they had first agreed to sell themselves to Su Tang she had promised to find a doctor to treat their daughter, so he needed to think for her future. Of course, these past few days they had been running around all over the place as they followed Su Tang, so they knew the girl was very busy right now.
However, Jiang Hong had some understanding of the young miss after following her for a few days, he felt that since Su Tang had already promised them she definitely wouldn’t go back on her words. Therefore, after much consideration, Jiang Hong decided to bring this matter up with his wife.
When Madam Zhang heard her husband’s plan, her hand that was feeding her daughter froze in mid-air. Her eyes reddened, and she murmured, “But didn’t the young miss tell us that we would be able to buy back our freedom in the future?”
Truth be told, this couple did have a certain amount of skills. In the past, they had opened their own shop in the city and, while it hadn’t been hugely profitable, it still earned at least a few tens of taels of silver a year. Of course, their little Nian’er hadn’t been raised like a princess or anything, but she had never been mistreated.
Now that her daughter’s body was still in this state, Madam Zhang felt very distressed imagining her little girl following around behind Su Tang to serve her and pour tea. In addition to that, Su Tang had promised that they would have a chance to buy their freedom back in the future, so she secretly had the hope that they could one day escape this life and return things like they were before.
“What can we do even if we buy back our freedom? We’ve already been expelled from the family clan, so it will be impossible for us to find a good family for Nian’er to marry into in the future. And after following the young miss for a few days, I’ve seen that she’s not a simple person. Moreover, that Second Young Master Luo hurt our Nian’er, but with our power how could we ever settle scores with him? Now there is an opportunity in front of us to accomplish both goals. I feel that even if we have to serve the young miss for the rest of our lives, that’s nothing if we can give our Nian’er a better future.”
How could Jiang Hong’s heart not ache for his daughter? However, he still came up with this plan in the end. He had his own perspective on the situation.
Madam Zhang wasn’t a stupid woman. After hearing her husband’s words, she began to understand a bit in her heart. She muttered, “You mean, if Nian’er could follow the young miss, she could… just like…”
“Do you remember when we were still in Qinglu County? There was that servant girl who followed the county magistrate’s daughter. In the end, the county magistrate returned her deed to her and married her to a constable as a wife.”
Jiang Hong and Madam Zhang’s old shop had been in the Qinglu County Seat. During that period, there had been a lot of gossips because the county magistrate’s daughter’s personal servant girl had been married to a constable. Although a “constable” wasn’t a major official, it was at least an iron rice bowl as well as a position with a little bit of power. A constable was able to receive various kinds of benefits thanks to their job and could lead a pretty good life. Marrying someone like that was a good outcome for a daughter from an ordinary family.
Also, Jiang Hong’s whole family had already been expelled from their clan just because they had offended the Beikou Luo family. His family had suffered so much, so if there was any chance to take revenge Jiang Hong would certainly grasp it.
Unfortunately, for a family that had been expelled from their clan, such a chance basically did not exist. However, if they could really sell themselves to Su Tang as slaves and follow her long-term, such an opportunity may eventually appear.
.
tl begging corner:
Oh, I want the misunderstanding of 2nd Young Master Lou Xingchen cleared up soon. It feels like a friend of mine is being slandered every time they talk about him.