bookrebus Chapter 69 Invite a Martial Arts Master
Chapter 69 Invite a Martial Arts Master
Outside the gate of Wen Dashan's house, Wen Linshi asked in disbelief, "Da Ya, is this...is this our house?"
Wen Yuxia said with a forced smile, "It's not our family, it's my family." Whether Wen Dashan would accept Wen Linshi was still unknown, and Wen Linshi couldn't be considered part of this family yet.
Wen Linshi's face turned deathly pale. She had done so many wrong things and broken Wen Dashan's heart. How could Wen Dashan possibly accept her?
As she entered the courtyard, Wen Yuxia called out loudly, "Grandpa, I'm back!" Then she turned to Wen Linshi and said, "Don't just stand there like an idiot, come in quickly."
It's best not to air family dirty laundry in public; it's better for Wen Dashan and his wife to resolve their issues behind closed doors. Wen Yuxia led Wen Linshi into the main room.
Old Mrs. Wen, who used to feed the goats in the backyard, slowly walked back to the front yard, calling out, "Da Ya, you're back. Your grandfather and great-grandfather have gone to the fields."
"Okay, I'll go to the field to call for help right away," Wen Yuxia said as she walked out of the yard.
Wen Linshi sat dumbfounded in the main room, not understanding why Old Lady Wen was in Wen Dashan's house. She called out somewhat awkwardly, "Mother,"
"Pah! Who's your mother? You wretched woman! You abandoned my son when we were fleeing famine, and now that you know he's doing well, you want to come back and enjoy the good life? Get out! Get out of here!"
Old Mrs. Wen flew into a rage the moment she saw Wen Linshi. That woman was a sissy, always sending everything to her parents' home. She couldn't let her come back and cause trouble for her son.
She rushed into the main room, grabbed Wen Linshi's arm, and tried to pull her out. Wen Linshi clung tightly to the doorframe, refusing to let go. She hadn't seen Wen Dashan yet and couldn't be driven away.
"Mother, Mother, let go!"
"What right do you have to interfere in my family's affairs? When the family property was divided, you two elders followed the eldest son's branch of the family,"
"Let go, let go, stop pulling!"
……
On the way back, Wen Yuxia told Old Master Wen and Wen Dashan about redeeming Wen Linshi. In order to save face for Wen Linshi, Wen Yuxia did not mention that she had been redeemed from Chunfeng Tower.
The fewer people who know that Wen Linshi was sold into the Chunfeng Brothel, the better. Aside from Wen Dashan, she won't tell anyone else.
Wen Dashan said with a livid face, "Da Ya, your grandmother only cares about her own family. Send her to Niutou Village!"
"Grandpa, Grandma was sold by her brothers. Even if we send her back, she'll still be sold. My older cousins are all in school. What if people find out that their grandmother was someone else's servant?"
The biggest reason Wen Yuxia spent a fortune to redeem Wen Linshi was for the sake of Wen Yunhong and the others; how could she possibly let Wen Dashan send people to Niutou Village?
Old Master Wen said solemnly, "Second son, if Shen'er and the others want to pursue official careers, they can't have a grandmother who was sold. They can't be sent to Niutou Village; they have to be kept under our watchful eyes."
“I’m fine living on my own. I don’t want to live with her anymore. Or, I could give her a letter of divorce. Since she’s not a member of the Wen family, she won’t be able to affect Shen’er and the others.”
"Are you stupid? Divorce her! She's still Shen'er and the others' mother. Da Ya has Lin's indenture. Wouldn't it be better to let Lin stay at home as a servant?" The old man was wise; with just a few words, he clearly arranged Lin's future.
"Will this work?" Wen Dashan asked uncertainly.
He didn't mind having another mouth to feed, but he was afraid that Wen Linshi would forget the pain of her past mistakes and continue to send things back to her parents' home.
Wen Yuxia laughed and said, "Grandpa, Grandma's indenture is in my hands. If the indenture isn't cancelled, Grandma won't be able to register her household. From now on, if you tell her to go east, she won't dare to go west."
On the way back to the village, Wen Yuxia was also quite conflicted. Wen Linshi had worked as a prostitute at Chunfeng Tower, while Wen Dashan continued to be her husband. Wen Dashan didn't object, but she did.
Grandpa Wen's suggestion was quite good; on the surface, she was Wen Dashan's wife, but in reality, she was a servant in the household.
Wen Dashan replied helplessly, "You can decide for me. Da Ya, make sure you keep the indenture safe, don't lose it."
"Don't worry, it won't get lost," Wen Yuxia said with a smile.
When he got home, he saw Old Master Wen and his wife, Wen Linshi, arguing and pulling at each other. He said with a stern face, "Old woman, let go! Linshi is a servant that Daya bought to work. If you kick her out, who will do the housework?"
Not a daughter-in-law, but a servant. Servants are good! From now on, she'll be an old lady with servants to wait on her. Old Mrs. Wen happily released Wen Linshi.
Madam Wen was stunned. On her way back, she had imagined Wen Dashan's attitude towards her, but she never expected to become a servant in the Wen family.
"Mother, I'm leaving Lin Shi in your care. You can arrange the household chores for her as you see fit," Wen Dashan said calmly.
Old Mrs. Wen beamed, "Good, good, good, Mother promises to arrange everything perfectly!" Turning her head, she pointed proudly to the left wing and called out, "Mrs. Lin, that room is your quarters!"
After saying that, Old Lady Wen turned around and went back to her room. She took out a worn-out old cotton-padded coat and threw it to Wen Linshi. "Change into some clean clothes and come to the kitchen to cook. Don't even think about slacking off, understand?"
"Grandpa, I need to go back now. Could you please see me off?" Wen Yuxia said softly.
"I'll go hitch up the car right now."
On the way back to the city, Wen Yuxia told Wen Dashan that she had redeemed Wen Linshi from Chunfeng Tower. Wen Dashan sneered: "You've been a brother-supporting demon your whole life, and now you're being sold into a brothel by your brother in your old age. What a fate!"
Outside Biyun Town, Wen Yuxia jumped off the mule cart and said to Wen Dashan, "Goodbye, Grandpa!"
There were mule carts in the town that went to the county seat. Wen Yuxia hitched a ride to the county seat, so Wen Dashan didn't have to travel back to Xinghua Village at night. Watching Wen Yuxia ride away in the mule cart, Wen Dashan turned around and headed home.
A few days later, the vegetables in Wen Yuxia's greenhouse were ripe. Lu Zhigang's family of four worked from dawn till dusk to harvest the vegetables, and Wen Yuxia seized every opportunity to take the vegetables out of her storage space.
Manager Du sent people to take away all the vegetables, and Wen Yuxia also received the proceeds from the sale of the vegetables—one hundred and thirty taels of silver. With the silver in hand, Wen Yuxia visited the brokerage again.
"Brother Zhang, I'd like to invite two martial arts masters. Do you have any here?" Wen Yuxia smiled.
The main business of brokerage firms is buying and selling houses and renting people. Their side businesses include purchasing large quantities of goods and introducing various technical personnel. Martial arts masters happen to fall into the category of technical personnel.
Xiao Zhang took out the ledger and flipped through it as he said, "Miss Wen, the martial arts instructors are nominally from Wansheng Escort Agency. The best one is the head镖师 (chief escort), who earns fifty taels of silver a month... The worst one is the apprentice, who can be hired for two taels of silver."
When the bodyguards aren't on duty, they take on private jobs. Recently, business at Wansheng Escort Agency has been slow, so the head bodyguard has put all the martial arts instructors in the agency on the brokerage firm.
"The ordinary kind, Brother Zhang, the ordinary kind is fine," Wen Yuxia said, taking out ten taels of silver and handing it to Xiao Zhang. She then took the ledger and carefully flipped through the descriptions.
Pointing to a 35-year-old and a 28-year-old bodyguard, he said, "Brother Zhang, could you please have these two report to the 'Delicious' pastry shop?"