CHAPTER 324: CHAPTER 305: WEALTH AND HONOR

According to that plump woman, several of the servants the Yu Family bought were originally from the Ma Family.

Yu Changhe asked her to point out who they were. The plump woman indicated two clerks in long gowns and a few martial Protectors, then turned her finger toward a short and skinny old woman beside her.

Among these people, the clerks and Protectors were dressed decently, but the short, skinny old woman was very shabbily dressed. It was clear that this old woman used to do the lowest menial work at the Ma Mansion.

Seeing Yu Changhe frown, Sun Mancang quickly explained, "Lian’er said that martial artists and literate people are hard to buy. It was rare to come across this batch from the Ma Family, so she carefully selected and kept most of them."

Yu Changhe nodded, indicating he understood.

Ever since Li Meng and Li Lie left, his daughter hadn’t been able to buy any martial Protectors. Now that she had come across a few, she had to take them all!

Old Madam Sun wandered around and finally stopped in front of the plump woman.

She asked the plump woman, "What is your name? How old are you?"

The plump woman replied quickly, "Madam, my name is Sun Hongmei.

I am forty-seven years old."

Hearing her surname was Sun, Old Madam Sun immediately felt she was meant to be with her family. "You... have never been married?"

Sun Hongmei’s face darkened. "I got married at fourteen, but after three years, without any children, my mother-in-law said I was a hen that couldn’t lay eggs and urged my husband to sell me."

"And what about your parents? They didn’t intervene?" Old Madam Sun asked in surprise.

A woman marrying into a husband’s family was not sold into it. No matter what, the husband’s family had no right to sell her.

Unless... Sun Hongmei had no family to rely on.

Old Madam Sun guessed right. Sun Hongmei’s father drowned in the river when she was young. Not long after his death, her mother ran away with a widower from the same village, leaving Sun Hongmei an orphan.

Sun Hongmei grew up under the scorn of her grandparents and was hastily married off before coming of age for the bride price.

Later, when her in-laws saw she couldn’t have children after three years, they went to notify her grandparents to take her back, only to find out they had both passed away.

Sun Hongmei’s uncle refused to acknowledge her, declaring he had no such relative and warned Sun Hongmei’s husband not to come to their door again.

Sun Hongmei became an isolated person and was thus sold by her husband. Fortunately, she was bought by the prominent Ma Family of Caozhou, where she was assigned to the kitchen to tend the fire and assist the chefs.

Over time, she learned exceptional cooking skills and pastry-making from the kitchen masters.

Old Madam Sun, sympathizing with Sun Hongmei after hearing her story, asked if she could take her back.

Mrs. Sun insisted her mother choose another person too, but Old Madam Sun waved her off, "No more!"

Mrs. Sun pointed at the laborers, "Mother, Fengshou has quite a bit of land. How about choosing two more laborers?"

Old Madam Sun shook her head, "If the spring plowing is too hectic, I can always borrow from you. I’ll just take Hongmei today!"

Despite Mrs. Sun’s persuasion, Old Madam Sun was obstinate, forcing Mrs. Sun to pull Sun Hongmei over to talk and advise her on dealing with Xun matters.

Back when she was sold at seventeen, it was because she was young, naive, and didn’t resist. But now, after surviving over thirty years at the Ma Mansion, she had become shrewd and worldly. Upon hearing Mrs. Sun’s advice, Sun Hongmei thumped her chest confidently and said, "Madam, rest assured, no one will bully Old Madam with me around."

Seeing this, Mrs. Sun felt slightly reassured, turned back, found Sun Hongmei’s contract of servitude, gave it to her mother, and instructed her to keep it safe.

Old Madam Sun nodded, "Don’t worry, I won’t lose it!"

She was so adept at hiding things that sometimes even she couldn’t find them, let alone anyone else!

After Old Madam Sun left with Sun Hongmei, Mrs. Sun looked at the fifty people in the courtyard with some worry. She couldn’t even remember all their names!

Sun Mancang handed a note to Yu Changhe, "Uncle, Lian’er says she’s already given these people simple, easy-to-remember names, five per group, each with a group leader. All the names are on this list."

Yu Changhe took the note from Sun Mancang, opened it, and couldn’t help but laugh.

What kind of names were these?

Yu Er, Yu San, Yu Si...

Oh heavens, did his daughter intend to make him die of laughter?

But indeed, it was easy to remember. Yu Changhe, stifling his laughter, decided who to make Yu Yi. He pointed to the two slightly older clerks, "You two, from now on, one of you is called Yu Yi, the other Yu Er..."

After assigning numbers to the servants, Yu Changhe began leading them to the workshop to divide their labor.

After arranging these people, only then did Yu Changhe remember to ask Sun Mancang, "Did Lian’er buy all these people in one day?"

Didn’t she almost buy out all the brokers in Luocheng?

Sun Mancang nodded, "Lian’er chose some from each of the three Zhao Family brokers, buying a total of a hundred people."

Yu Changhe drew a sharp breath, "A hundred people?"

Sun Mancang nodded, "A hundred! The rest are all staying in Xiangyang Lane."

Yu Changhe quickly asked, "Who did you leave in Xiangyang Lane?"

Thinking back, Sun Mancang replied, "Besides two laborers and two male Protectors, the rest are all female, especially young girls."

When mentioning that there were particularly many young girls, Sun Mancang blushed slightly.

The young girls his sister bought were not only young but also very good-looking. He didn’t know what his sister was thinking; for a maid doing chores, why did she have to choose the attractive ones?

He indeed asked once, remembering Lian’er replied that good-looking people made her happy and able to eat one more bowl of rice.

Oh, what kind of frivolous reasons are these?

Yu Changhe knew that his daughter had set up another makeup and clothing workshop in Luocheng and understood that she was resourceful and liked to venture, so he let her be.

In Luocheng, Yu Xiaolian had also given new names to her two Protectors, calling them Da Rong and Da Hua.

The two laborers were named Da Fu and Da Gui.

The names collectively meaning ’prosperity and wealth,’ perfect!

Yu Xiaolian decided that if there were any changes in her household staff due to aging or health, she would continue to use the names ’prosperity and wealth,’ auspicious and easy to remember.

Besides the four named Prosperity and Wealth, the remaining forty-four people were girls in their teens.

Though not exactly stunning, they could at least be described as delicate. Yu Xiaolian gave them all ’Xiao’ prefixed names.