Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 51 - 51 052 The Master is a Wealthy Person_1

?Chapter 51: Chapter 052 The Master is a Wealthy Person!_1 Chapter 51: Chapter 052 The Master is a Wealthy Person!_1 Muniang didn’t respond, just looking at the man kneeling on the ground. Even after being whipped, he remained resolute, and Muniang truly respected such a real man from the bottom of her heart.

“Wife, shall we buy his wife too? He must love his wife just as I love mine,” Er Liang suddenly said.

Muniang smiled, “Okay, as my husband says, so we shall do!”

The man, tearfully grateful, didn’t stop kowtowing, “Thank you, Lady, thank you, Lady! This humble one would work as hard as an ox or a horse and will never forget the Lady’s kindness.”

Muniang said to Lai, “Bring out the girls again, and bring his wife for me to see.”

Seeing the opportunity for another sale, Lai’s originally fierce face softened, and she agreed repeatedly, “Alright, alright, I will call them now.”

The man’s wife appeared to be around thirty years old, with a face marked by hardships and dressed in filthy and tattered clothes. Upon seeing Muniang, she hurriedly kowtowed and expressed her thanks.

Muniang looked at the group of girls. Lai said with a smile, “Look at these young ladies, most of them are around fifteen years of age, lovely looking, just a bit pale from not eating well for a long time. They will recover with some care. Whichever you like, Lady, you may choose freely.”

She simply wanted a maid to take care of Mrs. Lin; Muniang wasn’t particular about appearances, only that the girl be industrious and skillful, and above all, have a clear and lucid gaze. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and Muniang firmly believed in this saying.

Her gaze swept over them, and she pointed to a girl dressed in a gray-white outfit, who seemed to be about eighteen and possessed a mature and composed demeanor, with a face as calm as still water, not displaying the timidity and skittishness of the others.

“Her,” Muniang said.

Lai immediately smiled and said, “Lady, you have a good eye! This girl has just been brought in recently, she comes from a prominent family in the Capital City. However, the price for her is naturally higher.”

Manager Fang spoke up, “Lai, this young lady is a valued guest at our Dongxing Building. Even our owner gives her deference. Don’t get ahead of yourself and try to inflate the price outrageously.”

Waving the cloth in her hand, Lai replied with a smiling face, “How could I! Rest assured, since Manager Fang has led her here personally, I dare not overcharge. A fair price, twenty silvers! As for the thirty-year-old woman, she’s not worth much, let’s say ten silvers.”

Manager Fang secretly nodded at Muniang, signaling that the prices were indeed not too high.

“Hmm, alright then.”

After paying the silver and receiving the Servant’s Certificate, the transaction with the servant was complete.

“Manager Fang, I truly thank you for today.”

“It’s nothing, it’s all part of my job. Our owner specifically instructed us to treat you with the utmost courtesy as you are a Noble Lady of our Dongxing Building.’
“Oh?” Muniang raised an eyebrow, noting the man’s insight into valuing talent, “I’ve been here for so long and have yet to meet this owner, not knowing who this esteemed person might be.”

“Oh, our owner isn’t in Chatu Town. After all, Dongxing Building has branches nationwide, not just this one,” Manager Fang said with a smile.

Muniang didn’t press further. After taking her leave from Manager Fang, she prepared to head back to the village.

Muniang had already bought a bullock cart and a horse cart in town earlier, as it seemed inappropriate to always borrow Mrs. Du’s. Now, it was perfect to take all twelve people back with her.

Along the way, Muniang asked about the girl’s background, considering she was to be placed beside Mrs. Lin, it was better to know everything about her.

“What’s your name?”

The girl fell silent for a moment before saying, “Hong Luo, a name given by my former master.”

“Why did you leave that household? Were you driven out?”

Hong Luo shook her head, “The lady I served was a concubine, and she died of illness. The Lady found me unlucky and sold me.”

A touch of sorrow surfaced on Hong Luo’s normally composed face, whether for her own fraught fate or for the death of that concubine.

Muniang could see that this person harbored deep affection for her former master. Someone who understood how to be devoted to her master would be reassuring to employ in the future.

“Well then, there’s no need to change your name. You must be reluctant to part with that concubine’s memory, so let’s stick with this name,” said Muniang.

Hong Luo looked gratefully at Muniang, “Thank you, Mistress!”

Only when they arrived at Muniang’s house did the group gape in astonishment. Their seemingly affluent master lived in such a modest, dilapidated hut?!

Muniang said with a smile, “Your houses aren’t built yet, so for the next few days I’ll set up tents for you to live in. It will be a bit uncomfortable, but the weather is warming up now, so staying in tents for a few days won’t be an issue. Starting from tomorrow, you’ll split into two groups. One will build a row of houses over there, which will be where you live, and the other will take care of the fruit trees on the mountain.”

If not for the fear of missing the optimal grafting season, Muniang would have prioritized building the houses, but time was tight and some things could only be managed with temporary solutions.

The folks were still reeling from shock, but upon hearing Muniang’s words, they all responded eagerly. Though their master was short on cash, wasn’t she agreeable after all?

While they were speaking, Mrs. Du hurried over.

“Muniang, you weren’t home all day, and you wouldn’t believe the chaos that’s erupted in the village!” exclaimed Mrs. Du.

Muniang asked in surprise, “What happened? Is there trouble at the fish pond?”

Mrs. Du waved her hands dismissively, “Nothing like that! The village is abuzz with rumors that your family is going to make a fortune by selling the branches of those fruit trees. In the course of a day, the trees on the mountain were nearly chopped bare and hoarded away in their own homes!”

“What?”

Mrs. Du said anxiously, “They’re saying you’ve piled up a heap of fruit tree branches in your courtyard, surely planning to process them like you did with those hawthorns before and sell them for a good sum. So, everyone’s following suit and chopping off branches. You’re not really planning to sell branches for money, are you?”

Muniang burst out laughing, “No matter how you process those branches, you can’t eat them, right? Why would I sell them?”

“That’s what I thought. I didn’t believe them when they said it. My son was even about to follow suit and chop branches on the mountain, but I stopped him dead in his tracks. How could so many people be willing to believe such nonsensical rumors?”

Muniang smiled, “Let them do as they please.”

Mrs. Du then turned her attention to the line of newly purchased workers, exclaiming in surprise, “Muniang, who are these people? They’re all strangers to me, not from our village, right?”

“Oh, these are the long-term workers I’ve just bought. I’ve taken over a mountain and need people to help maintain it, can’t always be troubling our neighbors, right?” Muniang said with a smile.

The crowd pricked up their ears at the mention of “the mountain she took over,” thinking their master wasn’t so poor after all!

Mrs. Du clucked her tongue, “You’ve really come up in the world, haven’t you? Buying these workers must have cost quite a sum! Well, it’s all the same, your family isn’t short of a few silvers, haha.”

After seeing off Mrs. Du, Erliang spoke with a hint of concern, “Mistress, although we’re not selling the branches, they are indeed very useful. Now that the whole village knows, we’ll surely have even more people watching our every move. Won’t it become more difficult to keep the grafting a secret?”