Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 398: Chapter 398: Adding People Through the Door
“There are generally several prices for carriages, starting roughly from 5 taels of silver, without a maximum limit. Then there are the horses. To my knowledge, the lowest grade ones used for pulling carriages range from 2 to 15 taels of silver. Of course, this doesn’t include the thousand-mile good horses. As for buying people, it depends whether it’s an open contract or a dead contract, and the specific individual.”

Nanny Wang spoke without any reservations.

“So Nanny Wang, if we were to purchase a set based on the Carriage Shop’s usual standards, how much would the carriage and horse cost? We only need a robust, young male horse. As for the person, we’ll have to see first.” Liu Sisi asked her questions one by one.

“The carriages of the Carriage Shop are generally priced at 6 taels of silver, which is also their best-selling price. A robust male horse would be most cost-effective at about 5 taels of silver. As for the person, Madam, are you hoping to choose someone older or younger to drive the carriage? Would you like to see the person now or buy the carriage first?”

Liu Sisi pondered for a moment, since they had already come this far, it was better to see the person first.

“Let’s see the person first.”

“Alright, please follow me.”

Nanny Wang immediately lead the two to the backyard without hesitation.

Along the way, Nanny Wang was exceptionally talkative, casually chatting about all sorts of things as she unhurriedly guided them. After passing through several archways and turning several corners in narrow alleys, they entered a small courtyard and pushed open the door.

“Please wait a moment; I will bring someone for the two of you.”

Without taking much time, Nanny Wang led a group of twenty or so people up.

“It’s the end of the year, and everyone who’s still here is present. Please take a look to see if anyone catches your eye.”

Nanny Wang had a smile on her face, and she turned around and instructed the group, “Don’t crowd together. If you can drive a carriage, step forward.”

Upon her words, the crowd began to shuffle. Among them were men of all ages, and only a small portion knew how to drive a carriage. The initial twenty or so were instantly narrowed down to roughly ten.

Liu Sisi glanced over the few who stepped forward, and asked sternly, “Who among you wants to sell yourselves as an open contract or a dead contract? Those who want to sell as an open contract, stand on the right side. Those who want to sell as a dead contract, stand on the left.”

At her words, the remaining dozen or so people immediately dispersed to their respective sides.

Most of these people were selling themselves as an open contract. Surprisingly, only four wanted to sell as a dead contract.

Among these four was an old man with white hair, a teenager not older than fourteen or fifteen, and the remaining two were roughly in their twenties and forties respectively.

She casually asked a few more questions, “Those of you selling themselves as a dead contract, are your families aware?”

In such an era, selling oneself as a dead contract meant becoming the property of the owner, a personal belonging. Even if one were beaten to death, the government could not intervene.

“Yes.” The four replied simultaneously.

Liu Sisi was rather conflicted; she wasn’t sure who to choose.

“Ye Lei, do you see anyone satisfactory?”

Di Yelei’s face remained expressionless. Upon hearing her words, he casually glanced over the crowd and pointed at the middle-aged man, “You say you can drive a carriage; did you often drive before? If I were to ask you right now to get on the carriage and drive, could you do it?”

The man immediately rejoiced, “To answer the Old Master, my family originally had a carriage and I was the one driving.”

After asking some specific details, Liu Sisi and Yelei turned their attention to Nanny Wang.

Since the beginning, Nanny Wang had been standing quietly. At this moment, she smiled and gestured, “Let’s go over to the side hall for some hot tea.”

Of course, the two had no objections.

“Nanny Wang, how much was that middle-aged man asking for?”

“The middle-aged man is selling himself willingly, and his physique is good, so he is asking for 10 taels of silver, which is very reasonable…”

Nanny Wang had a sly smile on her face, appearing extremely amicable and approachable.

Di Yelei, standing to the side, remained completely unaffected, still wearing his naive expression.

“Nanny Wang, we are indeed intending to buy, so there’s no need to embellish. We know the truth. This Carriage Shop and you are both owned by the same boss. We just want to purchase a set, including the carriage. How much are you asking for?”

The two groups bargained back and forth. Eventually, they reached an agreement. The middle-aged man, including the carriage and horses, cost a total of 20 taels of silver.

“This set of carriages should not be priced at 20 taels. However, in consideration of your gracious patronage, we naturally need to give you a discount. Just remember, if you ever need anything in the future, come to Nanny Wang first!”

Nanny Wang looked pained.

“Alright! If we need anything else in the future, we will surely come to you, Nanny Wang.”

Di Yelei took a silver ticket out of his pocket and handed it to Liu Sisi.

Liu Sisi took it and her eyes widened in surprise. There were 20 taels of silver!

She squinted her eyes. Di Yelei had a lot more money hidden on him than she thought. She had thought he was modest, but it turned out that he knew how to amass wealth. He actually had up to 20 taels of silver?

By the time they left the gate after the transaction, the middle-aged man they had bought was already waiting outside the entrance.

“We have to register the dead contract with the government office. The governmental office hasn’t started their seal yet, so I’ll send it over when they do.”

Di Yelei said as he took the dead contract and casually put it in his pocket. “Oh right, I still don’t know your name?”

“To answer the Old Master, my name is Old Cheng.”

“Old Cheng? Good! Since you know how to drive, you’ll be in charge of the carriage today!”

Di Yelei casually assisted Liu Sisi onto the carriage, “For today, you’ll just have to sit like this temporarily. We’ll buy some more items to put in the carriage later.”

The reason he said this was because the inside of the carriage was completely empty.

Liu Sisi swallowed the words she wanted to say. She would explain everything slowly when they returned home.

They detoured to the north of the city and bought a carpet and some miscellaneous items before making their way home. With a carriage to sit in instead of riding a horse, the journey was much more comfortable. However, the swaying nearly put Liu Sisi to sleep.

With an additional person to accommodate, problems arose. Only when they returned home did Liu Sisi realize there was no place to put him. In desperation, Liu Sisi thought of the kitchen corner again.

Unexpectedly, Old Cheng refused.

“Old Master, I’ve been used to hardship since I was young. Just now, I saw that there’s a warm corner in your firewood room, so how about letting me sleep there instead?”

The corner of the firewood room that Old Cheng mentioned was indeed next to the kitchen wall, so it was definitely warmer.

However, despite the warmth of the firewood room, Liu Sisi could not make up her mind. Di Yelei, on the other hand, agreed without hesitation.

Once he went to clean up the room, Di Yelei spoke seriously, “It’s good that he wants to stay in the firewood room. After all, a servant is a servant and cannot surpass the master.”

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