Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 167 Selling Oneself to Bury Father

Compared to upscale shops, Song Jiaojiao and her friends prefer browsing roadside stalls, as these stalls have a more human touch.

Like a bird escaping its cage, Mu Xue looked at this stall and that stall. This time, she brought all the New Year's money she had received over the years with her.

In no time, Mu Xue was holding a candied hawthorn in her left hand and a small lantern in her right, and even wearing different hair ornaments.

Song Jiaojiao shook her head with amusement. Ever since Mu Xue started attending classes at the village school, she had rarely come out. This time, she was finally letting loose and showing her true nature.

Tired from shopping, Song Jiaojiao randomly picked a stall and ordered something to eat. The wontons here weren't called wontons, they were called "chaoshou" (抄手). The wonton wrappers were thicker than wonton wrappers, and the filling was more generous.

With the addition of the stall owner's homemade chili sauce, the flavor is quite unique.

The chili peppers that Song Jiaojiao used were brought back from the prefectural government by the general store owner. Unfortunately, no one in Yunshui Town had ever seen them before, so they ended up being a good deal for Song Jiaojiao.

Everyone in the prefecture loves spicy food; they can't live without it. Fortunately, Song Jiaojiao herself also loves spicy food, and after years of training, she's no longer afraid of it.

After dinner, Song Jiaojiao and her companions slowly walked back to the inn to digest their food. The county government was even more beautiful at night.

Every shop had red lanterns hanging outside, illuminating the streets as if it were daytime.

There were many vendors selling lanterns and performing acrobatics along the roadside.

Song Jiaojiao and her group were walking along a road that ran right next to the Nanning River. The river was brightly lit, and large boats adorned with lanterns were slowly sailing on it. On the decks, scantily clad dancers were performing, and a large crowd had gathered on the shore.

Back at the inn, Song Jiaojiao asked the waiter to bring her hot water. Having not bathed for several days, all she wanted to do was scrub off the mud. Luckily, the past few days had been cloudy, otherwise, the first thing Song Jiaojiao would have done upon arriving at the inn was to ask for water to clean herself up.

Not only did she have to wash, but Mu Xue and the others also had to wash. Song Jiaojiao shared a room with Mu Xue, so she helped Mu Xue wash first before tidying herself up.

Each room has a separate shower room next to it, where you leave the shower water, and a waiter will come to collect it in the morning.

After tidying herself up, Song Jiaojiao felt incredibly relaxed, as if she had lost two pounds.

Back in the room, Mu Xue was already fast asleep. No matter how energetic a child is, they will get tired eventually. The carriage ride had lasted for five days. Although they had rested at post stations along the way, none of the conditions here were as good.

Song Jiaojiao dried her hair until it was half dry, then swept it all over the edge of the bed and lay down, falling asleep without realizing it.

The next day,

Song Jiaojiao led everyone out. They'd finally come all this way to the prefectural capital; it would be a shame not to explore it properly.

Besides, Song Jiaojiao went out with a specific purpose in mind.

This time, Song Jiaojiao only took Shang Xiaoxiao and Mu Xue with her, leaving Xu Sen and Shang Yu to go shopping on their own.

After resting, Song Jiaojiao's first stop was naturally the general store and the grain store, mainly to see if they had anything that Tongan County didn't have.

The prefectural government had two city gates, a south gate and a north gate. The shops near these gates mainly sold grains, seeds, salt, sugar, and other necessities for farmers, as well as pots, pans, and other kitchenware.

Song Jiaojiao entered through the North Gate yesterday. This Sifang Inn is closer to here, so she went there first.

The spacious two-door general store sells everything from small items like oil and salt to various mountain products.

"Waiter, do you have any seeds that we don't have here?" Song Jiaojiao looked at all the things in the shop and didn't know when she would find them, so she decided to ask the waiter.

"The seeds are all over there, you can take a look for yourself, sir." The waiter pointed to a pile of bags in the corner, without intending to come forward and introduce them.

Song Jiaojiao went to the seed storage area and looked through it. It was mostly vegetable seeds, which Song Jiaojiao already had. Not finding what she wanted, Song Jiaojiao had no choice but to leave disappointed.

But then I thought about it again, and most of the things in Tongan County were originally from Nanning County, so it would be hard to find what Song Jiaojiao needed here.

As soon as I stepped out of the store, I saw a crowd of people gathered in front of me.

Song Jiaojiao wasn't interested in the excitement, but Mu Xue was curious about everything since it was her first time there.

"Mother... Father, look over there, there are so many people. Let's go see what they're doing!" Mu Xue looked over there curiously, and in her excitement, she almost forgot that Song Jiaojiao was dressed as a man.

Pulled along by Mu Xue, Song Jiaojiao quickly squeezed to the front.

Before me was a woman covered in patches selling herself, and next to her was a corpse wrapped in a tattered mat.

Seeing this, Song Jiaojiao quickly covered Mu Xue's eyes and prepared to leave, but unfortunately, getting in was easy, getting out was difficult.

There are plenty of onlookers everywhere, but little did they know that curiosity killed the cat.

Before Mu Xue could even see what was happening in front of her, everything went black.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Mu Xue asked, puzzled, knowing that Song Jiaojiao had covered her eyes.

"It's alright, you'd better not look at this, or you'll have nightmares tonight. I'll take you out first."

Song Jiaojiao didn't let go of his hand and still intended to walk out.

As more and more people gathered, the woman kneeling on the ground began to speak, her voice trembling with tears. Surprisingly, the woman who had been keeping her head down spoke with such a light and gentle voice.

“I am a villager from Yunyapo, 20 miles outside the city. Years ago, my mother ran away with someone else because she thought we were poor. My father and I have been relying on each other for years. But a few years ago, my father fell down the mountain while hunting and it took two days for the villagers to find him. He was injured and has been in poor health ever since, getting weaker and weaker.”

At this point, the woman on the ground suddenly felt sad, and large tears rolled down onto the blue stone tiles in front of her, deepening the color of the tiles.

“Until yesterday, my father still couldn’t make it through the night, leaving me, a weak woman, in this world. I had neither money nor strength. After seeing my father die, the villagers drove me out of the village. With no other choice, I had to sell myself to bury my father. I only hope that a kind person will buy me. Such a great kindness is beyond measure. I will serve as a slave to repay my benefactor.”

After saying that, he kowtowed on the ground, the dull sound seeming to strike the hearts of everyone present.

The onlookers were all talking about it.

"This woman is so pitiful. She was chased away by the villagers right after her father died."

"Yes, a weak woman who has lost her family and home, doesn't know how she is going to survive."

"That's why she's selling herself. It's just that I don't have any money, otherwise I would have bought her."

It was located at the city gate, so many people came and went, but most of them were farmers.

Shang Xiaoxiao finally managed to squeeze next to Song Jiaojiao, "Young Master."

The word "young master" instantly made Song Jiaojiao feel uneasy. In an instant, she felt more and more gazes focused on her.

Now we can't get out, we're in a complete dilemma.

The woman on the ground also heard the word "young master," raised her head, and her tearful appearance immediately amazed those around her.

Unexpectedly, this woman was quite attractive; her eyes, washed clean by tears, were clear, and her small, red lips complemented her fair complexion.

She wasn't a stunning beauty, but she was certainly a charming and delicate woman.