Naturally, Shen Yuning had no idea what was going on in the Xue family. After she mailed the letter, she felt relieved and finally managed to reopen the embroidery workshop properly.
The former Shen's Embroidery Workshop had already made a name for itself. Now that it was reopened, business was booming. Not to mention anything else, the treasure-piece displayed in the workshop's lobby was something many people yearned for but couldn't obtain. It was said that even some noble people from Lingcheng traveled hundreds of miles just to take a look.
Moreover, since the current Shen's Embroidery Workshop had joined the Chamber of Commerce and was officially registered, on the opening day, even the owner of Yong's Cloth Store came to show his support. Naturally, the place was extremely bustling.
During this period, Shen Yuning was not idle. She spared no effort to search for suitable embroidery women in every township of Yun County. The previous embroiderers were only suitable for ordinary embroidery works. Since she intended to create high - quality products, she couldn't rely solely on her own hands.
Although these were once poor rural areas and there were many women who could knit, there were not many who were skilled in embroidery. Fortunately, after much effort, she found three capable women who met her requirements.
One of them was a woman named Xi'er. She had a pair of dexterous hands. When she was young, her parents sold her to a wealthy family as a maid. Because of her excellent embroidery skills, she was highly regarded. However, that family got into trouble a few years ago. She took her deed of servitude and returned home, but then her parents sold her to a neighboring town to be a bride in exchange for her brother's marriage.
Later, because her husband's family was extremely poor, she had no choice but to sell herself to another family as a servant. She sent money back every month to support her in - laws, husband, and child.
Unfortunately, good times didn't last long. She was appreciated by her master. The mistress of the family was very generous, and her casual rewards were equivalent to Xi'er's monthly salary. Xi'er was usually very thrifty and saved all the money she earned and sent it home. However, when her husband got the money, he didn't live a good life. Instead, he went out drinking and having fun, and fell in love with a cheap woman. In order to marry into a decent family, that woman and Xi'er's husband came up with a plan to kill their child who was less than two years old.
When Shen Yuning found Xi'er, she was sitting in a dilapidated temple at the village entrance. Her clothes were in tatters and she didn't seem to notice at all. She just sat there, foolishly holding a swaddling - cloth and cooing, as if there was still a baby in it.
When a kind - hearted woman gave her half a bun, she shouted and screamed, accusing the woman of killing her child.
The woman sighed and said to Shen Yuning, "Miss, you look so clean. Don't get involved with such a person. She's not only crazy, but also dirty. Now all the neighboring villages know about her. As long as you tell her that her child is with you, she'll stupidly go with you to sleep. Well, if I weren't so soft - hearted, I wouldn't do this thankless thing."
Although the woman was saying these disdainful words, she still threw the half - bun far in front of Xi'er and then turned to leave.
Shen Yuning quickly caught up and asked, "Don't her family take care of her?"
"Take care of what? Can they? Her natal family has their own life to live. Her husband's family divorced her and remarried. Originally, they wanted to sell her to a brothel, but then she went crazy, so they sent her back. Well, now, it's no different from being in a brothel."
Shen Fugui didn't want his sister to hear such things. After hearing what the woman said, he quickly grabbed his sister and said, "Yuning, this won't do. No matter how good her embroidery skills are, we can't take her. Otherwise, your reputation will be ruined."
Shen Yuning turned around, looked at him seriously and asked, "If you say we can't take her because she's crazy, I can understand a bit. But do you mean we can't take her because she has a bad reputation?"
Shen Fugui was not good at expressing himself. Seeing his sister getting so anxious, he hesitated a bit. He knew that his sister always had her own ideas and it was useless to persuade her. So he quickly added, "She's different from Miss Cen. Although Miss Cen was divorced, she's a decent woman. After you bought her, she had nothing to do with her husband's family. But she... she's just a woman who..."
"She's a woman who can be with any man. She's a free prostitute, right?"
Seeing that he couldn't say it out, Shen Yuning simply said it for him.
Shen Fugui was greatly shocked. He looked around and saw that there were only their siblings and Xuanzhi around. Since no one else heard such vulgar words from a young girl like Shen Yuning, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yuning, just keep these things in mind. Don't say them out. You're a young lady."
Shen Yuning was indignant, and it was clearly shown on her face. Her eyes looking at Xi'er were filled with pity: "Brother thinks she's dirty. But she has a pair of dexterous hands and is very capable. These hands supported her natal family when she was in her parents' home, and then supported her husband's family. She's good at everything in terms of virtue, speech, appearance, and skills. She gave birth to an heir for her husband and was never afraid of hardship. How can she be dirty?"
"She was..."
"She was bullied." Shen Yuning calmed down. She seemed to regain the boldness she had when she debated with the noble young men and women at the poetry party in the capital. "Brother, her brother sold her for money to get married. Her husband was lazy and idle. Those men who lusted after her body deceived the crazy her. The dirty ones are not her, but those people."
She took a step forward. Shen Fugui knew he couldn't persuade her. He anxiously looked at Xuanzhi. He didn't understand these principles, but he thought Xuanzhi should. Xuanzhi could persuade her.
However, Xuanzhi just stepped forward and asked, "Sister, if we go up like this suddenly, won't we scare her?"
Shen Yuning really stopped. She frowned and looked at Xi'er, thinking about how she could persuade Xi'er to go with her.
At this time, a man ran out of the village. He rushed over and shouted at them, "Do you want to buy her?"
Shen Yuning sized up this man from head to toe. He was just an ordinary villager. He looked a bit handsome, not like some ordinary vulgar men. Not far behind him stood a woman. Although she was a peasant woman, her clothes were made tightly, showing her waistline. She walked in a coquettish way, not like an ordinary woman.
She guessed in her heart that this man was probably Xi'er's heartless husband.
Xuanzhi stood in front of Shen Yuning to prevent the man from approaching and asked, "Who are you?"
The man quickly replied, "I'm her husband. If you want to take her away, you have to give me money."
Xuanzhi frowned and said, "Give you money? Didn't you divorce her already? She's no longer your wife. If you insist on saying so, let me ask you, why is she living in a dilapidated temple?"
The man was stunned for a moment. He rolled his eyes and then said, "Little brother, you don't know. My wife is a bit crazy. She doesn't want to live at home. She insists on living outside. We tried to persuade her, but there's nothing we can do. As for the divorce, there's no such thing. She's still my wife."
Xuanzhi was so angry that he almost wanted to punch this man whose face was thicker than the city wall.
Shen Yuning calmly patted Xuanzhi on the shoulder and asked him to step aside. Then she said, "So she's your wife. In that case, you take her back. I won't buy her."
The man was stunned. He felt like he was being played with. He shouted loudly, "Do you think I don't know? I heard that you're a businesswoman from Xitian Town. You came here just to buy embroidery women. My wife's embroidery skills are praised by many people. I heard that you once paid five taels for an ordinary embroidery woman. For my wife, I don't ask for much. Just fifteen taels. Give it to me."
Now Shen Yuning understood. This man was not stupid. He probably saw her looking for people these days and found out about her buying Miss Cen. That's why he made such an outrageous demand.
She was almost laughed at by his audacity. She raised her eyebrows and glanced at the man and said, "Fifteen taels is okay. But I think she's dirty. You take her back and wash her clean. I'm busy now. I'll come back to pick her up in a few days."
The man was quite happy to hear this. He quickly stepped forward to pull Xi'er. However, when Xi'er saw him, her eyes widened. She let out a roar and hugged the swaddling - cloth and dodged backward. The man tried to grab her twice but failed. He was so angry that he slapped her on the head.
Although Xi'er was in pain, she stubbornly held the swaddling - cloth in her arms and twisted her body so that when the man hit her, he could only hit her, not the swaddling - cloth in her arms.
She also murmured, "I earn money. I work. Don't beat Qiang'er. Don't beat Qiang'er..."
Not only Shen Yuning but also Shen Fugui's eyes turned red when he heard this. He stepped forward to scold the man, but Shen Yuning grabbed his sleeve.
Shen Fugui looked down and saw his sister shaking her head at him, signaling him to follow her. He was extremely puzzled. His sister clearly felt sorry for Xi'er. Why did she seem so indifferent when seeing Xi'er being beaten?
Just as Shen Yuning and the others were about to leave, the coquettish woman stepped forward to block their way. Her small eyes kept glancing at Shen Fugui and Xuanzhi. Her eyes were full of flirtation and her words were also very coquettish.
"This won't do. If you really want to buy her, you have to show your sincerity. Give us some deposit first. Otherwise, how do we know if you're really going to buy her or not?"
Shen Yuning was not polite at all. She sneered and said, "Who are you? Are you this family's concubine? How can a concubine interfere when the master is speaking?"
"I'm..." The coquettish woman widened her eyes. She quickly realized that the girl in front of her was doing it on purpose. She clearly knew her identity but deliberately called her a concubine.
She didn't dare to claim to be the wife. She just reluctantly said, "It doesn't matter who I am. Anyway, if you want to buy her, you have to give us a deposit."
"Okay."
Shen Yuning just lifted her foot and walked away.
The man immediately came over, looking fierce: "What do you mean? Didn't you say you wanted to buy her?"
Xuanzhi looked at him like he was an idiot and said, "My sister really wants to buy her. But business also depends on one's mood. We can't force a deal, right? You take her back and wash her clean first. We'll come back later. If we like her, we'll buy her. As for the deposit, there's no need. If someone else wants to buy her, you can just sell her."
The man panicked. He got the news and was instigated by his new wife to come here: "No no no. I'm willing to sell her to you... Well, five taels. Just five taels..."
The coquettish woman thought Shen Yuning and the others were just being pretentious. She reached out to pinch her husband, but the man was afraid of losing this good deal and didn't listen to her.
"Five taels. I heard that the one you bought before also cost five taels. My wife only asks for five taels. Let me tell you, her hands are really dexterous. The things she embroidered have been praised by noble people in Lingcheng."
The man looked around. When he saw the swaddling - cloth in Xi'er's arms, he quickly stepped forward to snatch it.
"Sir and madam, take a look. Although this swaddling - cloth is dirty and old, you can still see the pattern, right?"
Shen Yuning naturally knew that Xi'er was very skilled. However, seeing Xi'er crying loudly after the swaddling - cloth was snatched, she felt very sad.
Such a good woman was bullied like this. It really proved the saying: Good people are always bullied, just like good horses are always ridden.
She took the swaddling - cloth and walked in front of Xi'er and asked, "Xi'er, is Qiang'er a good boy?"