Chapter 62: Liyue Becomes a Maid

"What?" the members of the old family residence exclaimed in unison.

They stared at Liu Chenzhou in disbelief, then turned their gazes to Wen Liyue.

Wen Liyue pointed at herself, flushed with anger and humiliation. "You want me to be your maid? In your dreams!"

Liu Chenzhou sneered. "Buying you does not require your consent."

With that, he looked toward Lady Fang, Old Madam Wen, and the others. "You there, I want to buy her! If you agree, yesterday's matter is completely wiped clean. Furthermore, this young master will give you thirty taels for her body-selling contract."

Everyone present drew in a sharp breath. "My goodness, thirty taels! Chunhua from the neighboring village only sold for fifteen taels, yet this Wen Liyue is twice as expensive!"

Wen Ye was somewhat bewildered. She turned her head and asked Wen Lan, "Is buying a maid really this expensive? It takes fifteen taels?"

Setting aside Wen Lan being sold as a concubine last time—after all, she was being given as a concubine to an old man, so it was naturally more expensive. Not to mention brothels; that place was far too filthy, so the price was naturally even higher.

Wen Ye murmured, "Isn't buying a maid usually just a matter of two or three taels?"

The novels she used to read always said that—you could buy a maid for just a few taels.

"What on earth are you thinking, little sister?" Wen Lan looked at her in astonishment. "This isn't a famine year. How could anyone possibly buy a living person for just a few taels, let alone a pretty young girl?"

"Just calculate it yourself: raising a person to the age of thirteen without letting them starve requires at least ten catties of coarse rice a month. That alone is one hundred copper wen a month. Over a year, that's more than one tael, and thirteen years comes to at least thirteen taels, not to mention clothing, lamp oil, and firewood. Raising someone to this age costs over a dozen taels alone! Unless it's a famine year and they simply can't afford to feed them, who would sell someone for just a few taels of silver?"

"Besides, the betrothal gift for taking a wife alone costs six or seven taels. If you could buy a maid for two or three taels, who would bother marrying a wife? Everyone would just buy maids instead. Then there wouldn't be so many bachelors unable to find wives."

Upon hearing this, Wen Ye felt it made complete sense! Buying a maid for two taels of silver was indeed completely unrealistic!

Over on the other side, Wen Liyue had already shrieked out, "You scoundrel! No matter how much money you offer, I will never sell myself to you!"

Old Madam Wen, however, felt her heart flutter with temptation and couldn't help glancing at Wen Liyue.

That was thirty taels!

Among her four granddaughters, she had always favored Wen Liyue the most, but at this moment, with that dazzling sum of thirty taels gleaming right before her eyes, who wouldn't be dazzled?

She couldn't help looking toward Second Wen. "Second son..."

A flicker crossed Second Wen's eyes, but he was thinking of something else. Based on his understanding of Liu Chenzhou...

He returned Old Madam Wen a meaningful look. "Mother, Yue'er is the apple of our eyes. Selling her is utterly out of the question."

Lady Fang nodded along, though deep down she harbored different thoughts.

Seeing this, Wen Liyue regained her confidence and stared at him with mockery. "Did you hear that? My parents love me the most! Poor though my family may be, we don't covet your filthy money!"

Liu Chenzhou raised an eyebrow, his tone leisurely. "Oh? Fifty taels!"

"What? Fifty taels?" Old Madam Wen's voice shot up instantly, and she looked as though she wanted to shove Wen Liyue right into Liu Chenzhou's arms on the spot.

Wen Liyue flew into a rage. "Don't you dare humiliate me!"

Liu Chenzhou said, "Eighty taels!"

Old Madam Wen swayed on her feet, nearly fainting with joy right then and there.

The villagers all drew in a collective sharp breath. Eighty taels? That was enough to build two large courtyard houses with green bricks! If they spent sparingly, it could sustain a person for a lifetime!

A gleam of excitement flashed in Second Wen's eyes, and even Lady Fang, who usually doted on her daughter, found her breath catching in her throat.

Naturally, she didn't want her daughter to become a slave or a maid, but that was eighty taels!

Liu Chenzhou upped the ante once more. "One hundred taels!"

Old Madam Wen was so excited she was nearly about to pass out. The word "sold" was right on the tip of her tongue, but after a quick turn of her eyes, she figured Liu Chenzhou might bid even higher, so she managed to force it back down.

Seeing this, Liu Chenzhou suddenly curved his lips into a smile. "It seems you have no desire to sell. So be it. This young master is hardly short of maids to wait on him."

"No, no, no!" Old Madam Wen blurted out anxiously. "We're selling! We're selling! One hundred taels! Fetch the contract, and we'll press our thumbprints right away."

"Grandma!" Wen Liyue let out a shrill scream, then tugged grievance-stricken at Lady Fang. "Mother~~"

The villagers' exclamations erupted once again. "Good heavens! Wen Duoliang's daughter actually sold for one hundred taels! With this money, they'll have enough to spend for the rest of their lives!"

A few sour, jealous voices also mixed into the crowd. "When all is said and done, they're still selling their daughter! Their family just loves this sort of thing—first they sold the third branch's daughter, and now they're selling their own."

The faces of the Wen family elders turned pitch black all at once.

Old Madam Wen glared at them. "Put all your daughters together and they aren't worth a single hair of my Yue'er! Stop turning green with envy over here! Look at those ugly expressions on your own faces!"

"Whose expression is as unsightly as yours?" The villagers shot right back without a shred of weakness. "Just recently, you were swindling the third branch's recipe and selling it off! You're covered in filth yourselves yet you call others stinking."

Noticing the ugly, envious, and hateful expressions of the villagers, Liu Chenzhou frowned in disgust.

A wave of impatience welled up in his heart. "Well? Are you selling or not?"

Lady Fang hastily looked over at Second Wen, her voice laced with hesitation. "Husband..."

Second Wen stepped forward, cupping his fists in a respectful yet earnest tone. "Perhaps the young master is unaware, but this humble servant once worked at your esteemed family's cloth shop, serving as a shop assistant and looking after the store for a full ten years and more."

"If the young master does not disdain us and is willing to give this humble servant another job, I will ask for not a single cash. I'll simply let this girl Yue'er go serve you—this would be both her great fortune and the blessing of our entire family. As long as the young master treats her well, this humble servant will be completely satisfied."

Wen Liyue's eyes widened in utter shock. Far from being sold, she was clearly being given away for free! A surge of shame and anger rose within her, and she cried out, "Father!"

Old Madam Wen's expression changed drastically as well. "Second son!"

"Be quiet, all of you!" Second Wen glared at them.

The grandmother and granddaughter instantly clamped their mouths shut.

The villagers were even more dumbfounded by the spectacle, with some muttering under their breath, "Are they just giving her away for nothing? This is treating themselves far too cheaply..."

Liu Chenzhou was somewhat taken aback. He hadn't expected this ordinary peasant to be completely devoid of greed, and a wave of sentiment stirred within his heart: the family of this wild girl was actually quite reasonable and submissive!

His gaze swept over the ugly, hateful expressions of the villagers around them, and for some inexplicable reason, he felt a sense of injustice on behalf of this wild girl, prompting a desire to elevate her status.

He let out a cold snort. "Since you worked at my family's shop for over ten years, you have some experience at least. You're quite lucky; a manager position just opened up at the weaving and dyeing workshop because someone committed an offense. You can go look for the head manager there later. As for whether you can keep the job, that depends on your own capability."

The Liu family didn't just run cloth shops; they also owned a large-scale weaving and dyeing workshop located in Taohua Village near the small town, specializing in the business of weaving and dyeing cloth.

A burst of wild joy exploded in Second Wen's heart, and he bowed repeatedly. "Thank you, Young Master Liu! Thank you for your gracious benevolence, Young Master Liu!"

Liu Chenzhou lifted his chin and let out another cold snort. "As for your monthly wage, we'll calculate it at five taels of silver a month! Just say it came from this young master!"

Second Wen grew even more excited, his voice trembling. "This humble servant will definitely give it his all and will never辜负 the young master's high expectations."

Although Liu Chenzhou had said "whether you can keep the job depends on your own capability," since he had spoken those words, there was no way it wouldn't happen.

Moreover, he had promised a wage of five taels!

An ordinary manager at the weaving and dyeing workshop made one tael and two hundred wen a month, and the head manager only made three taels, yet he was being given five taels!

This was clearly a blatant elevation of his status and an act of providing him with a powerful backing!

Liu Chenzhou turned his gaze back to Wen Liyue, whose face was slightly pale, a playful look in his eyes. "Someone, bring me a body-selling contract."

His servants had already prepared it and promptly handed it over.

Wen Liyue looked at him with an expression full of humiliation. "You—"

Before she could finish, Second Wen had already signed his name and pressed his thumbprint.

At that moment, Liu Chenzhou tossed down a banknote. "This young master is hardly short of this little bit of money. These one hundred taels can be considered a reward for you. Wild girl, report to the manor yourself tomorrow."

With that, he turned around with a dashing flourish and departed.