A Maid's Survival Story in a Noble Family Mansion? Rich Landlords Are More Appealing.

Tian Youfu was annoyed by these seemingly reasonable yet implicitly rejecting words, and the smile on his face completely vanished.

He rubbed his hands together, paced back and forth, his brows furrowed in a deep frown. It seemed that unless he offered some benefits, the Chen family would not budge.

Tian Youfu pondered silently, then suddenly stopped, as if he had just remembered something, and abruptly turned to Huiniang, his tone seemingly urgent but also tinged with probing:

"My dear niece-in-law, I understand, I understand your difficulties. How about this, the meat can still be sold at your father's shop, but I won't let you help for nothing. I'll have Xiao Chuan clean the offal from the five pigs for you, so you can have it as a snack with your drinks."

As he spoke, he observed the expressions on Chen Yancheng and his wife's faces. Chen Yancheng took a half step back, clearly indicating that Hui Niang was in charge at home.

Hui Niang had just quickly done some mental calculations, so she didn't give in yet.

"Uncle, I didn't say all that just to get a few of your paintings. It's really a difficult situation. If I can't sell them, I'll lose eight or nine taels of silver for a mere forty or fifty coins. My dad would beat me to death."

"If you're willing, I can make the decision right now and clear out a space in the shop for you. You can go there and sell your goods directly. As for how much you sell, that's not our concern."

Chen Wanxing looked at the scene before him with some confusion. Logically speaking, with the Lunar New Year approaching, every household would need to buy meat for the holiday. Five pigs were not a particularly large number, and they should have sold out quickly.

The weather is already quite cold now, except for midday. I bought meat and cured it with salt at home, thinking I could definitely save it until the New Year. How could this happen?

Chen Wanxing understood the principle of not speaking up if you don't understand, so she stood aside and listened with great interest to her sister-in-law's exchange with this Uncle Youfu.

I didn't realize it yesterday, but her sister-in-law is quite cool, though her brother is a bit of a "good-for-nothing".

Tian Youfu gritted his teeth at the sight before him, cursing Chen's wife and brother in his mind. He had come to them precisely because he didn't want to take the risks of selling in small quantities; otherwise, why would he have asked them for help?

He thought for a moment and then backed down: "The price of meat in our town is at least 25 wen per jin. I'll give you 20 wen per jin, and let's say 80 jin for a pig, which is 1.6 liang. We don't care how you sell it or how much you make in the end. Is that okay? Consider it helping your uncle out."

He was forced into this situation; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have been willing to voluntarily part with his flesh. After saying this, he looked pleadingly at Hui Niang. This was already the biggest concession he was willing to make; if they still refused, he…

Upon hearing his words, Hui Niang's face showed a suitable expression of surprise and difficulty, as if she hadn't expected him to make such a condition, and she waved her hands repeatedly:

"Uncle Youfu, how could we accept this? We're not helping you out of a desire for such a large discount. Wouldn't that be like us taking advantage of you? No, no, that wouldn't sound good if word got out."

"Oh dear, niece-in-law, how can you be the ones who benefit?" Tian Youfu became a little anxious when he saw that she was still going to refuse, worried that she was not satisfied with the terms, and said in an even more earnest tone:

"It's only right. You've taken the risks and put in so much effort to help us so much, how could we let it go to waste? It's settled then. If you don't agree, I'll feel even worse."

Hui Niang's face showed struggle and hesitation. She glanced at Chen Yancheng, who hadn't spoken a word, and finally couldn't resist her elder's repeated pleas. She sighed helplessly and softened her tone.

"Uncle Youfu, look at what you're saying. Well, since you've already put it this way, it would be unreasonable for us to refuse, and it would be a waste of your good intentions."

"Alright, I'll have Yancheng go to town this afternoon and explain this plan to my father in detail, and see how to arrange things properly..."

"Let's not go this afternoon, let's go now. This meat can't wait. It loses its freshness every day it sits. We need to decide quickly so I can feel at ease."

Hui Niang also composed herself. "Here's what we'll do. I'll have Yan Cheng put on some warm clothes and go to town to talk to my father in person at the shop. We'll see if he can make arrangements today. If he can, we'll send the meat over this afternoon. Uncle Youfu, you can just wait at home."

Tian Youfu bowed repeatedly: "That would be great, then I'll wait for your letter at home."

"Hey, wait a minute, Uncle Youfu," Hui Niang only remembered Chen Wanxing's plan to go to the county town now, and hurriedly asked, "How many carts did you borrow in the village? Are there any oxcarts from our village that go to the county town available today? My sister was planning to go to the county town to take care of some things today."

Upon hearing this, Tian Youfu's face showed distress: "Oh dear, all three oxcarts in the village were borrowed by my family this morning, and the meat has already been loaded onto them. I'm afraid we won't be able to move them now."

"Why don't you ask my niece to wait? This afternoon or tomorrow, once we unload the car at your shop, it'll be free."

Chen Wanxing, who had been listening quietly, spoke up at this moment: "Sister-in-law, it's alright with Uncle Fu here. My business isn't urgent today; I can go tomorrow. The important thing is to get the meat to town first."

After Tian Youfu left, Chen Yancheng was about to leave for town when Zhang Huiniang stopped her husband and said, "I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yancheng quickly said, "It's cold and windy outside. You've only been out of confinement for a short time, how can you be exposed to the wind? I'll go and talk to my father-in-law myself."

Hui Niang shook her head, her voice low but firm, "This matter is probably not that simple; you alone cannot explain it clearly."

Seeing the slight confusion in her husband's eyes, she lowered her voice and added to Chen Yancheng, her tone firm:

"How could someone who has the financial strength to order five pigs at once lower the price at the last minute? For this kind of business, there must be a deposit paid. If the deal is not reached and the deposit is not recovered, then the deposit will definitely not be recovered."

What businessman would do that? So Uncle Fu must not be telling the truth. But none of that matters. I'll ask my father about it when I see him.

Besides, we can't sell this meat retail in the shop; the risk is too great. I dared to agree because my father knows the managers of several restaurants in the county town, and we also have an old acquaintance with Butcher Li from our town. I need to discuss with my father where we should sell this batch of meat.”

After his wife said that, Chen Yancheng stopped insisting. His wife was smarter than him, so he just had to listen to her. "Then wear more clothes and cover yourself up. There are no cars today, so we'll have to walk to town."

Without delay, Hui Niang quickly put on a thick coat and carefully wrapped her head and face with a headscarf. Then, braving the cold wind, she and Chen Yancheng hurried towards the town.