CHAPTER 302: CHAPTER 302: DOWRY (PART 4)

Tong Xiyu silently followed the two people, all the way to the side room of Zhui Garden, where Nanny Qian was already standing with a dark, thin midwife. When they saw Xiqiu coming over, Nanny Lai smiled and said, "I brought twenty here, all carefully selected. The three young ladies can take a look first. If satisfied, we can keep them; if not, we can have them bring more tomorrow... The servant women are also inside, and the young ladies are welcome to have a look."

The midwife standing behind Nanny Lai nodded and bowed cheerfully, "Yes, yes! If you’re not satisfied, there are many more on my side, we’ll bring them tomorrow." Xiqiu nodded without saying a word, entered the courtyard with Tong Xiyan and Tong Xiyu. Indeed, there were two rows lined up in the courtyard. In front were twenty girls of varying heights, ages ranging from seven or eight to their teens, all dark-skinned, skinny, and looking fearful. Behind them were twenty older servant women.

Xiqiu’s gaze shifted from the twenty girls to their clothes, all dressed in coarse hemp garments. Some were clean and neatly worn, while others were wrinkled and even had mud spots. She was drawn to two of them: one had very dark skin, appearing to be about eleven or twelve years old. She kept her head down, eyes watching her nose, and nose watching her heart. While others secretly glanced or boldly returned her gaze when the three entered, only she stayed expressionless, looking at her own toes.

If she isn’t genuinely reserved, she must have been trained in a high-ranking family. If it’s the former, a girl like this is a talent. Although the Tong Mansion is not considered a high-ranking household, it is still an official residence. Generally, a girl who has never seen the world would be curious and look around enviously, but she can restrain herself. This self-control is admirable.

There was also one who was very pretty, somewhat resembling Siliu, with big eyes that darted around, falling on her and Tong Xiyan without envy, only pure curiosity. If such a girl isn’t deep-minded, then she’s truly innocent and adorable.

Having made her choice, Xiqiu turned back and said to Tong Xiyan, "Fourth Sister, go ahead and choose first!" Tong Xiyan didn’t decline, casually pointed to four girls, then picked two maidservants from the back, and spread her hands, "I’ve made my choices."

Xiqiu nodded, then looked at Tong Xiyu. Tong Xiyu declined, saying, "Sixth Sister, you choose first, I’m the younger one!" Xiqiu smiled and nodded, "Then I’ll choose first..." Tong Xiyu first showed a trace of surprise, then nodded and stepped aside.

Xiqiu looked at the dark-skinned girl in front and asked, "How old are you this year? Where’s your home? Have you worked elsewhere?!" The girl kept her head down and did not look up at Xiqiu, answering word by word, "Slave is Qiuhua..."

"Enough!" Nanny Lai squinted her eyes and reprimanded, "How dare you offend our young lady’s name." Qiuhua was startled, immediately knelt on the ground, "Slave... Slave didn’t know the young lady’s name..."

Xiqiu waved her hand at Nanny Lai and said to Qiuhua, "It’s fine, you can continue."

Qiuhua knelt on the ground, her head lowered, noticeably less calm than before: "Slave is twelve this year, my ancestral home is Jiangxi Linjiang. Mother and father froze to death in the heavy snow last year. After selling myself to bury them, I was brought to the capital by human traffickers, never worked before."

As she spoke, Xiqiu noticed her face remained calm, but a sorrowful expression appeared when mentioning her parents—it didn’t seem like a lie. She nodded and turned to the girl beside Qiuhua, "How about you?"

This girl was different from Qiuhua. When Xiqiu asked her, she boldly raised her head to look at Xiqiu for a few moments before answering, "Slave has no name. Being the seventh child at home, they always called me Qiya Qiya. Young lady can call slave Qiya. Like Qiuhua sister, slave is also from Jiangxi Linjiang, but both slave’s parents are alive. It was due to extreme poverty that they sold slave, never worked before either."

Xiqiu nodded, turned back to Nanny Lai and said, "These two then." She also picked two honest servant women from the back row.

Once Tong Xiyu finished her selection, Nanny Lai picked eight more girls and eight servant women before sending the midwife out. Xiqiu then called Nanny Qian and said, "These girls’ training requires your guidance." These tasks were previously handled by Nanny Fang, but now she seems to be unavailable.

This task may seem without immediate benefits, but there are indeed long-term advantages. These girls will eventually be assigned to various rooms, and having been trained by Nanny Qian, wherever they go, they would remain grateful to her.

"Slave will certainly train them diligently!" Nanny Qian was naturally pleased and accepted the task with a smile.

Just as Xiqiu and Tong Xiyan, Tong Xiyu stepped out, a servant woman from the second gate came to announce, "Third Aunt is back, she’s already entered the second gate!" Xiqiu and Tong Xiyan exchanged a glance, unsure why Tong Xiyang had returned.

But knowing she was back, avoiding was not possible. Xiqiu, Tong Xiyan, and Tong Xiyu all stood outside the gate of Zhui Garden, waiting for Tong Xiyang. Before long, she came over, surrounded by six or seven maidservants and servants, her face full of smiles, "I’m sorry to have you three sisters wait for me here, dear sisters."

She was also dressed in a plain white buttoned overcoat, but a lot of thought had gone into the buttons on her collar, colorful threads on the plain white satin, making her quite charming, reminiscent of Madam Wang in her prime... But compared to when she was at home, Tong Xiyang seemed much thinner, with less of that arrogant pride in her eyes.

Tong Xiyan raised her eyebrows, bowed to Tong Xiyang and asked, "Third Sister, is there any matter bringing you back?" Tong Xiyang paused and chuckled, "I’m not back for any particular reason. This is such an important matter with both sisters getting engaged, I should have come back to congratulate you much earlier. But your Third Brother-in-law has been sick with a cold recently, so I couldn’t leave. I hope you won’t blame me for being late."

"Why would we!" Tong Xiyang replied with a smile, "It’s only right and proper for Third Sister to take care of Brother-in-law... Now that you’ve congratulated us, it would be best for Sister to return early, so Brother-in-law won’t be lonely at home."

"You!" Tong Xiyang’s face flushed with anger. Xiqiu didn’t want them to argue here and was about to speak when Tong Xiyu stepped forward, holding Tong Xiyang’s arm, and teased, "Third Sister rarely comes back. Why don’t you come and sit at my place?" Then she looked at Xiqiu and Tong Xiyan, "Fourth Sister, Sixth Sister, let’s all go together. It’s been a while since we all chatted as sisters."

Xiqiu didn’t mind and turned to look at Tong Xiyan, who seemed to have other thoughts, unexpectedly agreeing, "Then let’s go have a seat. Instead of going to Eighth Sister’s room, let’s head to Sixth Sister’s place."

Tong Xiyang turned her eyes and smiled, "Then I humbly accept the invitation." After saying this, the four went to Zhui Garden, still greeting Lady through the curtain with a curtsey. Xiqiu suddenly felt fortunate that Lady cared for her reputation, not requiring the concubine-born daughters to serve her, otherwise she would be stuck here with Lady all day.