Chapter 284: The Girl Mixed in
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
These children needed to be treated first. She needed to find a doctor to take a good look at them.
Their first step was to wash up, especially their hair.
Many children had lice all over their heads.
Han Qiao and Housekeeper Liu discussed for a while, “Why don’t we shave their heads? If we do, we can cover their heads with hats and let their hair grow naturally again. It’s better than keeping them to get rid of lice.”
Although these children were young, they were already used to being sold here and there. They were all very timid and did not even dare to raise their heads.
When Han Qiao said that she wanted them to shave their heads, no one dared to protest.
First, they shaved their heads and went in to take a shower and change into clean clothes.
One of them refused to be helped.
“What’s wrong?” Han Qiao heard the commotion and came over.
“Madam.”
Han Qiao looked at the child. He had already shaved his head and was now bald. He was curled up on his side.
“What happened?”
“He won’t let me touch him.”
Most of these children were boys.
The girls were separated by the granny early on, the beautiful ones were sent to the brothels, and the ordinary ones were sold to be maids.
Nobody wanted an ugly person, especially from the broker house.
Han Qiao looked at the child and stood in front of him, “Tell me now, why don’t you want to go in?”
There were still a few children bathing inside.
Then the pieces clicked in Han Qiao’s mind.
“Are you a girl?”
The child suddenly raised her head and looked at Han Qiao in shock, panic, and fear.
“Are you a girl?” Han Qiao asked again.
She nodded hesitantly.
Han Qiao smiled, “It’s okay. Come on.”
She reached out her hand to the child.
The child hesitated for a long time before she reached out and placed her hand in Han Qiao’s palm.
It was the first time she had felt such a warm hand. She was held gently, yet it seemed to have endless strength.
She easily pulled her up.
“Since you’re a girl, you should go to the girl’s courtyard to take a shower. Go, come and see me when you’re done.”
“Alright.”
Among the hundreds of children, it was not a big deal to hide a girl.
Han Qiao didn’t plan to ask the old woman for an explanation.
After the children were washed, they were dressed in thick clothes and ate something to fill their stomachs. Then they were brought to Han Qiao.
Han Qiao didn’t care about their names. She just said a few words of encouragement and asked the girl to stay behind as the others went back to their rooms first.
The girl was uneasy and stood there, not daring to breathe.
She was separated from her family and was sold several times. The first time she was sold to Goulan Yard, she sneaked out and was caught by a kidnapper. The kidnapper wanted to sell her to the silly son of a landlord as a child bride, but she seized the opportunity to run away. From then on, she did not dare to dress up as a woman and swore to only dress up as a boy.
However, her life was truly unfortunate. As a boy, she was also caught by those bad people and was then sold to the broker house.
After several trips, she finally arrived at Chenzhou City.
She didn’t know how far she was from her hometown, Guizhou. She didn’t know if she could ever find her parents or if her family could reunite.
“What is your name? How old are you?”
“Wenyan. Eleven years old.”
Han Qiao was silent for a moment.
In this day and age, very few of those children could speak Mandarin. They all spoke with an accent from Guizhou.
She doesn’t know how much those kids could understand her words.
However, Wenyan could speak Mandarin, so her family must have some money.
“Where did you come from?”
“Guizhou. My family has some money. I was separated from them when 1 fled from the famine…”
Wenyan said as tears streamed down her face.
She thought that she might not be able to return home.
Han Qiao nodded slightly, “I understand. In the future, you will go to the Eldest Miss and Second Miss to serve them. They are also reading and learning embroidery every day. You should think about whether you want to learn from them. How much you can learn depends on yourself.”
Wenyan looked at Han Qiao in surprise, “Madam, can I… Really?”
“Naturally, it is possible. As for whether or not you can find your family, that will depend on fate and your ability in the future. If you have the ability, you will naturally have the chance to find them. If you don’t have it…”
“I understand. Madam, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of the Misses and study hard.”
Han Qiao nodded lightly.
Some things couldn’t be conveyed with words. They needed to be proven with actions.
She believed in Wenyan.
After all, to be able to survive and be mixed in with these boys without even being discovered by the old lady means that she must be a smart girl.
Smart children could be of great use in the future if taught well.
Han Qiao had bought so many children, so the madams in the city more or less heard about it.
They couldn’t figure out what Han Qiao was up to.
So many children meant she had to provide them with food.
However, after a few days, Han Qiao had them go to the fields to pull grass and work.
In the morning, they practiced martial arts, read, and study. In the afternoon, they worked in the fields and pulled weeds.
Someone came to Feng’s residence as a guest and told Madam Feng about this, “Don’t you think she’s a bit stupid? Why didn’t she buy older servants? What could these children do?”
Madam Feng smiled, “A child who isn’t young indeed can’t do much work, but at least they’re obedient. After a few more years, they’ll be adults.”
Most importantly, Han Qiao was kind and treated the children well.
This was why she thought highly of Han Qiao.
These people only saw the benefits in front of them.
What they didn’t know was that Han Qiao didn’t just ask them to pull the weeds. Other than Han Chi who went to the Gong Prince’s residence to study and practice martial arts every day, Sun Xiu and the other girls and boys also had to work.
The children also had to learn how to ride horses and shoot arrows.
Going out to pull weeds was just for outsiders to see.
According to Han Qiao, the back of her residence was surrounded by a very high wall, which covered people’s view of the racecourse inside.
“Madam, this glutinous rice is very delicious.” Aunt Zhao said as she ate the brown sugar egg fermented rice. She felt that it was sweet to the core.
“Arrange for the children to have a bowl each. The eggs will be beaten into Frangipani and scooped into every bowl.”
Aunt Zhao nodded repeatedly.
These children had only been here for two days. At first, they were a little nervous and anxious. After staying for two days, they realized that their new Madam was friendly. They secretly spied on Han Qiao but were soon discovered. Han Qiao did not blame them.
She gave these children a way out and a temporary home to shelter them from the wind and rain.
Han Qiao had a lot of ideas. As long as they studied hard and practiced martial arts, as long as they became successful in the future, she would give them freedom.
And be a good citizen.
These children had suffered a lot and knew that they had to seize this rare opportunity. If they missed it, they might not have such a good Madam in the future.
When Heng Yi came back with the wild boar, the children cried out in alarm and went to help.
They brought a stool and hot water. It was a lively scene.
The naive wild boar was braised and stir-fried with white rice. It was too appetizing.
The children were all stuffed. Even He Cheng, who had come back with diarrhea after eating half a meatbail that day, received special care.
They have also made meatballs, but there wasn’t much spice on it.
“Mother, Mother! This porridge is delicious!” He especially liked to eat brown sugar, fermented rice, and egg soup.
He obediently held the spoon and finished the bowl..
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