Border Cook

The two of them were the legitimate daughters of the Zou family, and the Zou family was quite wealthy. Not only did they own hundreds of acres of fertile land, but they also had three or four shops, doing business in tea, silk, and groceries.

With a loving father and a gentle mother, the two sisters originally lived a carefree life with fine clothes and delicious food.

However, his mother had never given birth to a son, and his grandparents were very dissatisfied. After persuading his mother, they took a concubine for his father.

This concubine was my grandmother's cousin. She was beautiful and literate. It was said that she was well-educated and outstanding.

After the concubine entered the family, she was careful in her words and actions and never had any trouble. Moreover, she was very fertile and gave birth to two sons and a daughter in succession. Her status in the Zou family was rising day by day.

My grandmother favored me, and my father gradually became partial to me. My mother became depressed and became bedridden after catching a cold. She passed away three years ago.

After their mother passed away, their grandmother and father handed over the management of the household affairs to the concubine on the grounds that household affairs needed to be taken care of. After the mourning period was over, they promoted the concubine to be their legal wife and made her the mother of the two sisters.

Since the concubine came to power, her usual gentle face disappeared. Not only did she drive the two sisters out of their yard and place them in a remote and narrow courtyard, she also cut a lot of their food and drink expenses, and even stopped allowing them to attend the family school.

The two sisters were dissatisfied and went to complain to their father and grandmother, but the reply they got was that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, and she could just learn knitting and needlework at home.

No one supported them when they filed the complaint, and they were treated even worse afterwards. Even the servants in the mansion gradually became indifferent to them and stopped paying any attention to them.

But in early spring, the concubine who was promoted to the main wife suddenly showed concern for Zou Shiyun, made new clothes for her, and took her out to visit guests.

At first, Zou Shiyun and Zou Shiliu thought that the news of the concubine mistreating them had spread, and the concubine had to save face for the sake of her own reputation. They never imagined that the concubine actually planned to marry Zou Shiyun to her nephew from her mother's side.

It would have been fine if her nephew was of good character and appearance, but after Zou Shiyun made some inquiries, she learned that although her concubine's nephew had been to school and read a few books, and looked gentle and refined, he was actually a playboy. Not only did he often visit brothels, he also kept a mistress outside and even had an affair with a widow. As a result, he had a very bad reputation and girls from good families would not marry him.

The concubine knew the situation of her nephew from her natal family, so she came up with the idea of ​​marrying Zou Shiyun to him. This would not only allow her nephew to get married, but also allow her to subsidize her natal family in the name of dowry.

Zou Shiyun naturally refused and even made a big fuss about it. However, the concubine threatened Zou Shiliu with her marriage, saying that if Zou Shiyun was obedient this time and married well, she would let Zou Shiliu go and marry into a good family in the future. But if Zou Shiyun was not obedient, then Zou Shiliu's future would be uncertain.

Zou Shiyun was initially hesitant and wanted to sacrifice herself for her sister, but then she thought about how the concubine always said one thing in public and another in private, and never kept her word. Even if she compromised this time, when the time came for Zou Shiliu to get married, she would already be someone else's wife. How could she help Zou Shiliu?
The concubine had already benefited from her marriage, so how could she fulfill her promise and let her sister go?
After thinking for a long time and discussing with Zou Shiliu, Zou Shiyun decided to run away from home with his sister and go to his uncle and grandparents' family in order to seek shelter.

So, after packing up all the gold, silver and valuables that they had accumulated since childhood, the two sisters climbed over the wall and escaped while the gatekeepers were dozing off late at night.

Then we headed towards my uncle's grandparents' home, and on the way we met Ma San and his wife...

"In fact, we don't know whether my uncle and my maternal grandparents are still in Falcon State Prefecture. We also don't know what their situation is like, and whether they can take in my sister and me." Zou Shiyun sighed.

Everything is just the two of them trying to move forward.

If everything goes well, then it's fine. But if not... Zou Shiyun couldn't imagine how they would face the loss if they couldn't find their uncle and grandparents after arriving in Falcon State City.

"Why don't you stay in Jinqiu County for a while, write a letter to Falcon Prefecture, and then set off after receiving a definite reply?"

Xia Mingyue suggested, "When we are on the way, we can also consider hiring an escort agency to go with us, so that we can save a lot of trouble along the way."

"That's a good idea!" Zou Shiyun suddenly understood.

only……

The Ma San couple took away a lot of silver and valuables from them, and spent a lot of them lavishly. Even if they went to the county government and the county magistrate ordered all the property to be returned, the Ma San couple was already penniless. No matter how much they were fined, the silver they could get back would be limited.

They had to stay in Jinqiu County until they received the reply, and all the expenses for the two of them, including the money for the trip to my uncle's family and the cost of hiring an escort agency...

All things added up, a lot of silver is needed.

Besides, they couldn't spend all the money. They didn't know what the situation of their uncle's family would be like, and whether their aunt's family would be easy to talk to and would accommodate them. If their uncle and aunt started to haggle over money, they had to at least have some money to get by.

In short, this money must be carefully planned and not wasted.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Xia Mingyue saw Zou Shiyun's embarrassment and said, "I do have a spare room in my house, you two sisters can stay there temporarily, but my family has opened a workshop, if you live here, you need to do some work in the workshop."

"But this work is not for nothing. I will pay you some wages based on the amount of work you usually do. Is that okay?"

They were provided with a place to live and wages, and all they were asked to do was to contribute some effort.

It was obvious that Xia Mingyue had extended a helping hand to them. They had met such a kind person, so what was wrong with lending a helping hand?
Zou Shiyun nodded without hesitation, "We are willing!"

He thanked Xia Mingyue again and again, "Thank you, Madam Xia, thank you, Madam Xia!"

"You don't have to thank me so early. I'll tell you in advance that if you don't do a good job in the workshop, you won't get paid that much. You two might get into trouble and owe me some money. You'll have to stay and work to pay me back, and I can get two laborers for free."

Xia Mingyue joked, "Don't blame me for being a black-hearted master when the time comes."

Seeing this, the two sisters Zou Shiyun and Zou Shiliu couldn't help but laugh. The thick haze in their hearts also dissipated at this moment. (End of this chapter)