The two stood in front of Xiaoer'er City, and the row was full of people, all unkempt, looking at You Miao and Qiao Jue uncontrollably. You Miao was finally shocked. I have never seen it before, but now I have really touched it once. This is selling people. Men and women, young and old, the price is clearly marked, tall and short, young, sturdy, as long as you have money, you can buy them.
This is also different from the people who traffic in human teeth. Human teeth are to be arrested by the government. The people here are all willing to sell themselves, just to make a living. You Miao felt a little speechless for a long time.
Qiao Jue touched Youmiao with her elbow and said, "What about you, do you want a man or a woman?"
You Miao said, "I... I don't know."
You Miao suddenly felt a little sad when he saw it. His life was good, really good. If he was born in such a family, he would most likely be a life waiting to be betrayed by his parents.
You Miao said, "Just buy boys."
"Choose our house." A man in his thirties said hurriedly: "My daughter-in-law is gone, only two sons, you take us all with me, I will take care of the garden for you, and if you can farm the land, I will give you all the sons. handle."
When You Miao was tempted, Qiao Jue said, "How old is your youngest son, what can he do?"
The man smiled and said, "Everyone is obedient, and he is eleven years old this year."
You Miao said, "Where's the eldest son?"
The man said, "I'm sixteen."
Qiao Jue asked the child to open his mouth to see if his teeth were straight. The big boy was holding a little boy, all tanned, and looked at You Miao cautiously.
"Call sir," the man whispered.
The two children just kept silent.
You Miao said, "I want it."
Qiao Jue asked the man, "What's your surname? Have you brought your household registration paper? Are you in debt?"
The man smiled apologetically and said, "My surname is Song, I am from Jiaozhou, I owe a debt, and I owe the landlord's family seven monies..."
The man took out the IOU, and Qiao Jue said to You Miao, "It's not worth it, go over there and have a look."
Qiao Jue pulled You Miao away, but You Miao turned around and asked, "Why did you come to Yangzhou?"
"Go." Qiao Jue whispered in You Miao's ear: "You are here to recruit people, not to be a living Bodhisattva."
The man surnamed Song chased after You Miao and said, "Young master! Young master! My daughter-in-law died of illness. My father told me that I couldn't pay the rent for two acres of thin land, and the landlord took it away. The money I borrowed was only because I couldn't afford a doctor... I don't have the money to bury my son's mother... Young Master, take pity on me, let me eat..."
Qiao Jue said with a smile: "Don't believe them all, half-truths, just listen to them."
You Miao nodded, and simply stopped talking. The two walked halfway across the street, and they either sold themselves or looked for work. Only then did You Miao know that there are so many people who have no land and cannot even support their family. Qiao Jue explained to You Miao again that these people had no land and ran out to earn a living.
These days, it is not that there is food for a few acres of land. People plant something, and the harvest has to be sold. The price of rice is controlled by the merchants, who plant a few acres of thin fields. Only for the family. And in case of drought and flood, bad harvest, and to deal with exorbitant donations and chores, we had to take the land to offset it and ask the landlord to borrow money. The profitee had no money to repay, and the land was taken away, so he went to work as a long-term worker. He couldn’t pay the rent, owed a lot of debt, and couldn’t pay the rent of the court, so he had to leave his hometown and beg for food in another place.
If you stay in your hometown and you can't pay your debts, you have to take your children to pay off your debts.
You Miao's heart twitched when she heard it, and the initial joy was all gone. The two of them walked through the market, and suddenly they saw a man standing in the wind in the west of Ershi, standing tall, eating something. It was Li Zhifeng.
Li Zhifeng was eating a sesame cake while looking down at the two children kneeling in front of him.
"Li Zhifeng!" You Miao said.
When Li Zhifeng saw You Miao coming, he took out a bunch of candied haws from his arms and gave it to him. You Miao took out the fried fish that he bought for him, and Li Zhifeng took it and ate it.
Qiao Jue watched from the other side, and You Miao asked, "Has the boat been hired?"
Li Zhifeng nodded and said, "Hire, you can leave early tomorrow morning."
You Miao ate candied gourd, Li Zhifeng ate fried fish, and they both looked at the child kneeling in front of them. The two children were twins, holding a wooden board with the words "Selling Your Body to Bury Your Father". There was a dead man behind him, covered with sackcloth, and the flies buzzed.
"Why did you come here?" You Miao said.
Li Zhifeng said: "I heard that there are people looking for work here, I want to come and buy you a few servants and put them in the yard."
You Miao squeezed her eyes and said, "Are you impatient to serve me?"
Li Zhifeng ate on his own and said, "I'm alone, I can't watch you, you ask me to work outside, and there is no one around, find two servants, let them do the chores, and I can follow you. ."
You Miao nodded, stretched out his hand to hold Li Zhifeng's palm, the two held hands with their fingers interlocked, shook it, and said, "You used to hold a sign like this and wait for someone to buy it?"
"Haha." Li Zhifeng pulled the corner of his mouth without smiling.
You Miao couldn't help but wanted to tease him, and Li Zhifeng said, "Give them a tael of silver and let them bury Dad."
You Miao looked at the two young men. Although they were thin and small, they were very energetic, so he reached out to touch the money. Li Zhifeng asked, "How old are you?"
"Fifteen." A young man replied.
"What's your name?" Li Zhifeng asked again.
"My name is Mu Yan, and his name is Mu Feng." The other boy looked at his brother, then looked up at Li Zhifeng, You Miao said, "Who is the elder brother and who is the younger brother?"
The one who spoke first pointed to himself and said, "I'm a brother."
"Go and bury your father." You Miao gave them a tael of silver, the older of the twins got up and left immediately, Li Zhifeng said, "This is your young master, after finishing the work, I will go to the Yangzhou River early tomorrow morning. Wait at the pier."
Mu Feng respectfully kowtowed to You Miao three times, You Miao helped him up, and went to the east of the market with Li Zhifeng.
"I'll carry you." Li Zhifeng said, "The floor is dirty."
"Don't." Instead, You Miao felt a little embarrassed. Being called by a group of people, and being carried by a servant, was really unreasonable. When Qiao Jue saw Li Zhifeng, he beckoned him over and said, "How is this child?"
The young man stood quietly, only a little taller than Li Zhifeng, wearing a pair of ragged straw sandals, long hands and feet, and his eyes were not like ordinary people's muddled eyes. , I will find an errand so that the money can be connected."
"What's your name?" You Miao asked.
"Why do you ask people's names?" Qiao Jue quipped: "You can't name them by yourself when the little servant leads them home?"
The boy said, "My name is Cheng Guangwu."
You Miao looked at it for a while, Li Zhifeng held Cheng Guangwu's wrist with two fingers, and twisted his arm up. He was so thin that his bones were slender, his fingers were slender, and his skin was dark.
"Good skeleton in martial arts." Li Zhifeng said casually.
Cheng Guangwu was about to break Li Zhifeng's hand, but Li Zhifeng exerted a little force, his fingers were like pliers, Cheng Guangwu immediately twitched his facial features, and bowed with a groan of pain.
"Don't bully him." You Miao smiled, and Li Zhifeng released his hand with a faint smile.
Cheng Guangwu held his wrist and said, "Give me half the money in January, and I'll follow you."
Qiao Jue glanced at You Miao and said to Cheng Guangwu, "Okay, you can hurry up tomorrow and wait at the Yangzhou Wharf."