Chapter 14: Making Empty Promises

The north wind howled, scraping against faces like a knife. Without a carriage, Su Ruojin sat backward on the mule's back, wrapped up like a little chubby bear, yet she still felt her hands and feet freezing. It was simply too cold.

"Uncle Shu Tong, when will we reach the broker's office?"

Shu Tong held the mule with one hand and gripped the brim of his felt hat with the other, walking hunched over on the windward side to shield his little mistress from the gusts. Her voice drifted through the wind; he turned his head slightly and said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have let you come. It's pure suffering."

Despite the cold, Su Ruojin shook her head. "Wouldn't it be even more miserable for you and Mother Dong to go out doing business every day? I only come out occasionally; it's not worth making a fuss about." Without the greenhouse effect of the future, winters in ancient times were truly frigid.

"We are used to it."

Su Ruojin:...

"Once we earn enough money, we'll get a carriage too."

Whether buying a carriage or maintaining one, it would be a significant expense.

Shu Tong wanted to laugh, but his face was frozen stiff, making his expression look more like he was crying. "Second Miss, after buying people, how much money will be left in the house? We have to pay two more people's monthly wages for these extra mouths, and the New Year is coming up. Food, clothing, housing, daily necessities, and social obligations—it all costs money!"

"I said *once* we earn the money." She hadn't said they were buying one right now!

Fine, Shu Tong fell silent, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Second Miss, were you just painting a pie in the sky for me, or for yourself?"

Su Ruojin:...

Can't even do that! This Uncle Shu Tong was really a damper on her enthusiasm.

The little mistress's angry, glaring expression was so adorable that Shu Tong couldn't help but burst into laughter, only to suddenly inhale a gust of wind. "Cough, cough..."

"Hmph... Serves you right!" See if you dare laugh at me again.

The master and servant joked and teased their way to the market's broker's office. After finding a place to tie up the mule, the two entered the first broker's shop.

Seeing a large man and a small child enter, the brokers habitually scanned them. The young man wore an ordinary black linen long coat and a long-eared felt hat; though his face was clean, it was clearly weathered by wind and sun, marking him as a commoner from the lower classes.

Looking at the little girl in a similarly plain linen padded coat, her clothes were a dull gray; though not visibly patched, they were washed so much they had turned white, indicating a modest lifestyle. However, the young lady had exquisite features, fair skin, and a straight, graceful posture—she was clearly high-quality stock.

The manager sat in the main seat, appearing composed, but his eyes were darting about. What was the relationship between the man and the child? Father and daughter? Siblings, uncle and nephew, or maternal uncle and nephew?

The little girl looked quite good; how much did the young man want to sell her for?

While the manager thought about how low he could buy her for, he simultaneously wondered where he could sell her to make the most profit. To suppress the price, he signaled to a waiter with his eyes, telling him not to rush forward to greet them.

Su Ruojin had no idea that in the few steps she took into the shop, the manager and the waiter had already judged them by their clothes, treating them as struggling commoners from the capital, waiting only for them to speak so they could make a killing.

Seeing that no one in the shop moved to greet them, Shu Tong knit his brows. *Is this broker any good? Are they frozen stiff by the cold too?* He glanced at the brightly burning brazier; it was clearly quite warm!

The brazier in the shop was very warm, but the calculating gazes of the master and servant were too blunt. Startled, Su Ruojin turned to head out immediately. "Uncle Shu Tong, let's go!"

Dissatisfied that no one had greeted them upon entry, Shu Tong followed his little mistress and turned to leave.

*Eh? Can the person being sold decide who they are sold to?* Strange things happen every year, but this was a first. The little girl's outburst left the manager stunned. Surprised, he hurriedly stood up and urged the waiter, "Quick, ask him how much he wants to sell her for!"

The waiter shouted, "Hey, customer, don't go! How much do you want to sell this little lady for?"

Sell? They were clearly here to buy.

Su Ruojin paused and turned around. "Sell what?"

The manager stepped forward a few paces and asked Shu Tong, "Customer, how much are you planning to sell this little lady for?"

"That's right, the price is negotiable," the waiter added, working in tandem with the manager.

The master and servant exchanged a look, then turned back. "Sell what? Sell your head!"

The two were so angry their nostrils practically smoked.

*If you aren't selling, why did you come to a broker?* The four eyes of the broker's staff all stared at the pair.

Following their gaze, Su Ruojin and Shu Tong looked down at their own clothes—coarse linen padded coats, clean but undeniably cheap.

Four pairs of eyes met again.

The master and servant were instantly silenced.

Fine. What a "dog-eyed" broker, judging people by their clothes.

Su Ruojin let out a cold snort. "Uncle Shu Tong, let's go!" She didn't believe for a second that she couldn't find a shop that didn't judge by appearances.

Unable to swallow his anger, Shu Tong pulled out his purse, untied the silk ribbon, and revealed *jiaozi* (banknotes) and bright, white silver ingots. "We are here to buy people."

The manager:...

The waiter:...

How could this be? They had misjudged them completely.

Shu Tong deliberately waved the purse in front of them a few times. "We even brought *jiaozi*!" *Jiaozi*, oh, you only use those when the denominations are too large to be convenient!

The manager looked exasperated.

The waiter pouted miserably.

*Regret looking down on people now, do you?* Hmph. After having his fill of showing off, Shu Tong raised his chin and left with an expression of arrogant disdain.

Seeing their figures about to disappear, the waiter rushed after them. "Hey, customer! Everything is negotiable! Whatever kind of people you want, we'll give them to you at the cheapest price..."

Su Ruojin and Shu Tong ignored them.

Shu Tong was fuming. "I wish I could smash their dog eyes." The two of them entered a mode of constant, grumbling complaints.

As they passed the second broker's office, Su Ruojin stood to the side without entering.

Shu Tong reminded her, "Second Miss?"

Su Ruojin looked at her clothes again, then at the people coming and going from the broker's office. She let out a sigh. "Uncle Shu Tong, we aren't buying people today."

Shu Tong felt a pang in his heart. As Su Yanli's servant, he had endured many hardships over the years and had grown accustomed to the harshness of society, but the Second Miss was only six years old. She had been born in a comfortable home and had rarely ventured out; naturally, she had never experienced the true face of the world.

The master and servant stood in the winter wind, looking even more solitary.

No, this was too depressing!

Su Ruojin didn't like it. She took a deep breath. "Uncle Shu Tong, let's go browse the cloth shops and garment stores instead."

Judging people by their clothes and appearance—even Su Ruojin herself couldn't escape it. Since that was the case, why demand others be different? As the saying goes, "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you."

She had decided: when working at home, she would wear clothes that were durable and dirt-resistant, but when going out, she would follow the local customs. As the daughter of an eighth-rank official, since the family's life had improved, she should dress appropriately.

To avoid troubling Cheng Yingzhen, who was currently in her postpartum confinement, Su Ruojin mostly bought ready-made clothes. Regardless of color or style, she chose modern designs. She spent seven or eight taels of silver, which was nearly as much as her father's monthly salary.

"Uncle Shu Tong, we will come back to buy people once we are wearing clothes that match our status."

"Alright!" Having made a wasted trip in the freezing wind, Shu Tong didn't mind for himself, but he couldn't bear to see his little mistress suffer.

"It doesn't matter," Su Ruojin said. "If we went to buy people in these clothes, the money we'd lose to being cheated would probably be more than the cost of these clothes!"

Society was a strange thing; to accomplish the same task, the poor often ended up spending more than the rich. As a servant who had walked alongside his master for years, Shu Tong agreed.