"Uncle Liu, you’re joking. We’re just doing some small business." Yang Chuxia said with a smile.
As for Yang Chuxia’s modest words, Broker Liu obviously didn’t believe them. At first, he thought Ye Zi’an was behind all these things, but as he got more involved, he realized that he had underestimated her. But it wasn’t his fault for misunderstanding. Many people would probably make the same mistake, thinking that such a young girl couldn’t have so many unusual ideas.
"Enough, don’t be modest with me. You think I don’t know you? Just promise me that as you get richer, you won’t treat me like a beggar and kick me out if I ever come asking for help."
"How could that happen, Uncle Liu?" Yang Chuxia hurriedly said, "Besides, you’ve been running our business for many years, and there’s no way you’d fall into such a situation. Even if that were true, you can just come to me. We might not have meat to eat, but we’ll never let you go hungry."
Yang Chuxia spoke boldly because, in her view, Broker Liu would never be in such a situation.
"With that promise, I can rest assured. Fine, you two wait here, and I’ll bring some people for you to choose from."
A short while later, Broker Liu brought over a group of more than 20 people, both men and women.
Yang Chuxia wondered why he brought women when she only needed men.
It was as if Broker Liu could read her thoughts, and he said, "I noticed that you’re always with Brother An and you don’t have a maid serving you. Last time when your shop opened, I noticed your siblings-in-law didn’t have anyone to attend to them either. How can this look like an up-and-coming household? In the future, when dealing with wealthy families in town, people will gossip about this. So I brought a few maids. See if you want to choose a few."
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia turned her head and asked Ye Zi’an, "Brother An, what do you think?"
Ye Zi’an nodded. "Uncle Liu has a point. If you don’t like having someone serve you, it’s still good to have them help your sister-in-law with cooking. Especially when this year’s shrimp, crab, and fava beans come out, we will need people to help with preserving them. Hiring a stranger is not reassuring."
"If that’s the case, let’s choose two."
When Yang Chuxia and Ye Zi’an chose servants, she would look first and then have him review the choices. She was good at judging people, and Ye Zi’an had also honed his eye while running the book stand in town. Thus, selecting servants together resulted in excellent choices.
After a while, they chose three men and two rather plain-looking maids, one of whom was even a bit chubby.
People usually prefer selecting plain-looking maids, fearing that the beautiful ones might cause problems. Yang Chuxia was no exception and felt that having overly attractive servants might be worrisome.
All five people were single and had no family or friends nearby. Yang Chuxia asked carefully and learned that the three boys had been abducted since childhood and had no idea where their families were. The two girls were sold by their impoverished families when they were young.
Yang Chuxia didn’t feel much about the girls who were sold, but the boys who were kidnapped made her feel somewhat guilty, as if she were a participant in something immoral. However, she knew that in this world, trading in people was legal, and even their business was officially sanctioned, so what could she do about it?
She could only treat these people as well as possible in the future.