Volume 6: Dream Record Chapter 440: The Disaster of Ge Zhaodi and Zhao Paner
In the afternoon, Ge Zhaodi's mother came to the Xiao Mansion. Seeing that the door of the Xiao Mansion was half open, she looked inside and suddenly heard someone calling Zhaodi. She followed the voice and saw Ge Zhaodi. She was standing in the yard talking to a young man in gorgeous clothes. Her face was full of happiness and sweetness. The two of them behaved intimately, and it was obvious that they were in love. Ge's mother secretly spat at the shameless girl, and then broke into the Xiao Mansion. The yard had such a good environment and it was obvious that the family was very rich. This girl was really lucky.
In the courtyard, Yuan Xudong stuffed the porcelain doll he had just bought into Ge Zhaodi's hand and said with a smile:
"Last time you said you liked this porcelain doll. I just bought one. Take a look. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I like it!"
Ge Zhaodi stroked the porcelain doll with a happy look on her face. She was not very old, but she had just reached adulthood and still had the mind of a little girl. She liked this porcelain doll, and she liked it even more that Yuan Xudong doted on her and pitied her so much. She raised her eyes to look at Yuan Xudong, smiled slightly, squinted her eyes and said:
"Thank you, sir!"
"Thank you for what? As long as you are happy!"
Seeing Ge Zhaodi so happy, with a smile on her slightly childish face, Yuan Xudong also laughed. He took Ge Zhaodi into his arms, stroked her hair with one hand, stroked her waist with the other, and said with a smile:
"This doll can't move. Later, I'll give you a doll that can cry and laugh, okay?"
"Okay, thank you, sir!"
Ge Zhaodi snuggled in Yuan Xudong's arms with a happy face. She did not see the naughty smile on Yuan Xudong's mouth. As for the doll that could cry and laugh that Yuan Xudong mentioned, it was naturally a cute baby. Only with the joint efforts of the two of them could they create a doll that could cry and laugh.
The young man and woman, who were at the age of full of vigor and full of desire, hugged each other and gradually became aroused. Yuan Xudong looked at Zhaodi with burning eyes, and Zhaodi slowly closed her eyes and pouted her lips slightly. Looking at Ge Zhaodi who took the initiative to ask for a kiss, Yuan Xudong slowly lowered his head.
At this moment, when Yuan Xudong was about to kiss Ge Zhaodi, Ge's mother rushed in and interrupted them. She grabbed Ge Zhaodi's wrist and beat her while scolding:
"I finally caught you. You dared to run away when I told you to, you bitch. How dare you lie to me?"
"Ah, let me go quickly, what are you doing?"
"You are such a heartless loser, how dare you hide? I will beat you to death!"
"Let go!"
Seeing a crazy woman hitting Ge Zhaodi, Yuan Xudong pushed her away and protected the trembling Ge Zhaodi behind him. He frowned at the crazy woman and said:
"What are you going to do? Why are you hitting Zhaodi?"
The crazy woman was thin and when she was fighting and insulting Ge Zhaodi, Ge Zhaodi just tried her best to protect herself and did not dare to fight back. Yuan Xudong secretly guessed that she was someone related to Ge Zhaodi, otherwise, Ge Zhaodi would not have failed to fight back. And because of this, Yuan Xudong did not do anything to the crazy woman for the time being. He wanted to understand the situation clearly first and then talk about other things.
"Sir, it's none of your business if an old woman teaches her daughter a lesson!"
Ge's mother looked at Yuan Xudong carefully. She didn't dare to provoke the rich and powerful young man. In fact, she deliberately beat her daughter in front of Yuan Xudong. She saw it all outside the door. The young man of the rich family liked her daughter. When he saw how pitiful Ge Zhaodi was, he might buy her for a higher price, thirty or even fifty strings of cash?
While calculating in her mind how much the item should be sold for, Ge's mother looked at Ge Zhaodi who was hiding behind Yuan Xudong and yelled:
"You shameless little girl, do you think you can run away? I just need to ask around and I know where you live. You must come back with me today. Don't even think about running away. Your brother is still waiting for money to marry and have children!"
When Ge Zhaodi heard her mother mention that her brother was still waiting for money to marry and have children, her eyes suddenly turned red and she lost control of her emotions and said:
"I don't have a brother, my whole family is dead!"
"How dare you curse me? I will beat you to death today!"
Ge's mother rushed up again and beat Ge Zhaodi. Yuan Xudong didn't know what the specific situation was, he could only guess that Ge Zhaodi and her mother had a big conflict, otherwise, she would rather wander outside than go home, and even said that her whole family was dead.
Moreover, her mother didn't seem to be a good person either. Yuan Xudong knew Ge Zhaodi very well. Although the girl was a little fierce on weekdays, like a tomboy, she was very fragile inside. Her outward toughness was just a protective shell.
Her mother must have done something excessive that made her so desperate that she wanted to escape. Yuan Xudong naturally would not just stand there and say that there is no overnight hatred between mother and daughter, and that children should know how to respect their mothers, etc. In this world, there are both unfilial children and irresponsible parents. If there are people who cheat their fathers, there will naturally be people who sell their children. If parents don't love their children, then the children will naturally be unfilial.
It is often said that if you give birth to a child but don't raise him/her, you can return it even if you cut off your fingers; if you give birth to a child and raise him/her, you can return it even if you cut off your head; but if you don't give birth to a child but still raise him/her, you will never forget him/her. Of course, "raise" here does not just mean to bring up a child. It refers more to the love and care that parents have for their children. If parents do not love their children and just raise them, or even raise their children as some kind of special commodity, that is another matter.
As for Zhaodi, Yuan Xudong would only respect her opinions and would not impose his will on her. Since she wanted to avoid her mother so much, she must have her reasons. Looking at the woman who wanted to beat her desperately, Yuan Xudong directly pulled the two of them apart.
Inadvertently, maybe Yuan Xudong used too much force, or maybe he met the ancestor of scammers, Ge's mother fell to the ground, rolling on the ground, and crying loudly. Yuan Xudong just felt a little embarrassed. After all, she was Ge Zhaodi's mother. He didn't know what the conflict between the two of them was. He glanced at Ge Zhaodi and saw that she was watching coldly, as if she didn't mind. Ge Zhaodi naturally knew what Yuan Xudong meant by looking at her, she slightly turned away and said:
"Don't worry, she's always like this, she just wants to extort money!"
"You damned girl, how dare you talk about your own mother like that? I was pregnant for ten months, and you gave birth to a bastard like you. You got engaged to Master Qi and ran away. You've caused us so much trouble!"
"Shut up. Master Qi is already over sixty years old. I just turned sixteen this year. You are pushing me into the fire pit just for the ten-string betrothal gift. Are you still my family? Are you really my mother?"
After listening to Ge Zhaodi's words, Yuan Xudong roughly understood what was going on. Combined with what Ge's mother said, the matter became very clear. It was nothing more than favoring boys over girls. Ge Zhaodi had just come of age, and her family couldn't wait to marry her to an old man in his sixties. The age difference was more than fifty years, especially in ancient times when the average life expectancy was very short. Wasn't this just pushing people into the fire pit?
(In ancient times, the age of jiji for girls was fifteen. When a girl reached the age of fifteen, it was the most suitable time for her to get married, which was the age of jiji. When she reached the age of jiji, it was the most suitable time for her to get married.)
Most of these old men are psychopaths. They marry young girls when they are over 60, just like eunuchs marrying wives. They often take pleasure in torturing women to vent their inner perversion. Parents and family members who can push their daughters into the fire pit are simply outrageous. It is better not to have them!
Ge's mother was still lying on the ground and rolling around. Not far away, the maids and servants in the mansion were secretly watching this side. Sun Sanniang, Zhao Pan'er and others heard the noise and hurried over. They learned the whole story from Ge Zhaodi and knew that Ge's mother's purpose was to extort money. After all, she was Ge Zhaodi's mother. Yuan Xudong did not have her kicked out, but chose to pay her off.
After some communication, everyone came to the pavilion. Yuan Xudong wrote a contract in front of Ge's mother and whispered:
"This is a slave contract. Do you really want to sell your daughter to my Xiao family as a slave? And you will never regret it in the future?"
"I will never regret it!"
"Okay, how much do you want to sell it for?"
Glancing at the expressionless Yuan Xudong, as well as Zhao Paner, Zhang Haohao, Song Yinzhang and others who were wearing gold and silver, Mother Ge stretched out five fingers and said with a smile:
"Fifty strings of cash, just fifty strings of cash and she will be your servant!"
"Fifty strings of cash?"
Looking at Mother Ge's ugly face that was obsessed with money, Sun Sanniang couldn't help but mock her:
"You only asked for ten strings of cash to marry your daughter to old man Qi as a concubine, but now you want fifty strings of cash?"
"How can it be the same?"
Mother Ge thought that Sun Sanniang thought that her request of fifty strings of cash was too expensive, so she could not help but said anxiously:
"Although she is young, she is pretty. If she continues to entertain guests for a few years, won't she be able to earn back the fifty strings of cash?"
Unexpectedly, Mother Ge would say such vicious words. Everyone couldn't help but look at her sideways. As a mother herself, Sun Sanniang felt deeply distressed and sighed:
"You really are her mother!"
"I don't care about her, just fifty strings of cash, do you want it?"
"Okay, fifty strings of cash!"
Yuan Xudong was too lazy to care about Ge's mother anymore. As long as he spent the fifty strings of cash, Ge Zhaodi would have nothing to do with her cruel mother. He signed the slave contract and handed it to Ge's mother, saying:
"Look carefully, Ge Zhaodi from Changqing County, Qi Prefecture, has not yet been betrothed. I will sell her to you now for fifty strings of copper coins. From now on, your life and death will have nothing to do with your old family. If you can't write, just press your fingerprints!"
Seeing that Yuan Xudong was so easy to talk to, Ge's mother became greedy again, but the slave contract had already been written, and she couldn't raise the price anymore, so she came up with another idea:
"I spent a lot of money on my trip to Tokyo. Sir, please give me some money. Besides, my daughter, who I carried for ten months, is..."
Without waiting for Mother Ge to finish, Yuan Xudong interrupted her impatiently and whispered:
"How much do you want?"
Seeing Yuan Xudong's unhappy expression, Mother Ge stretched out five fingers and whispered tentatively:
"Five strings of cash?"
"Okay, five strings of cash is five strings of cash. We've settled the deal. It doesn't matter whether you live or die. Please put your fingerprint on it!"
"Okay!"
Seeing that Yuan Xudong was so straightforward, Ge's mother happily pressed her handprint on her daughter's slave contract. At this time, Ge Zhaodi was hiding in the backyard and watching from afar her mother sold her own daughter to Yuan Xudong like a commodity. She couldn't help but burst into tears and covered her mouth and cried bitterly.
Yuan Xudong took back the slave contract and asked Zhao Pan'er to give Ge's mother 55 strings of cash. Then he had her sent away. After receiving the 55 strings of cash, Ge's mother left with gratitude, without any sadness or reluctance. Or perhaps she wanted to see Ge Zhaodi for the last time. She just left the Xiao Mansion directly, with the joy and excitement on her face beyond words.
After Ge's mother left, Zhao Pan'er and the others dispersed. Yuan Xudong walked to Ge Zhaodi. He looked at her distressedly, held her in his arms and said gently:
"Okay, stop crying. You don't blame me for doing this, right?"
"Thank you, sir!"
Nestled in Yuan Xudong's arms, Ge Zhaodi cried and said:
"In order to save enough money for my brother's dowry, they sold me twice. The first time, I was sold to a restaurant as a foster mother. I earned money to redeem myself. The second time, they sold me to Mr. Qi, who was over 60 years old, as a concubine. I finally escaped back home, and my brother informed Mr. Qi, so I escaped and came to Tokyo. That's why I said that my whole family was extinct. She is my biological mother, and she is also a woman. How could they have the heart to let others abuse their daughter?"
"Okay, stop crying, it's all over!"
Yuan Xudong hugged the crying Ge Zhaodi, took out the slave contract and handed it to her, saying:
"Zhao Di, do you know why I agreed to sign this slave contract?"
"Why?"
Ge Zhaodi raised her head and glanced at Yuan Xudong, and said with tears in her eyes:
"Sir, do you want me to serve you all the time?"
"Why, in your heart, is your young master such a despicable person?"
Looking at Ge Zhaodi with tears in her eyes, Yuan Xudong pretended to be unhappy and said:
"If there is no slave contract, you are unwilling to serve me?"
"No, I, I am willing to serve you, sir!"
Ge Zhaodi looked anxious, as if she was afraid that Yuan Xudong would misunderstand her. Seeing her like this, Yuan Xudong kissed her forehead, wiped her tears and said:
"The reason I signed this slave contract is to make you understand that you don't owe her anything. Although she is your mother, who gave birth to you and raised you, she has already sold you to me. No one forced her to do so. She wanted to sell you of her own accord. You should know how vicious this slave contract is. Everything you have belongs to the master, which means it belongs to me, including your life. This is simply selling out your entire life!"
As he spoke, Yuan Xudong sighed slightly and said:
"Keep this slave contract to yourself. If she dares to bother you again, I will send her to the government!"
"Thank you, sir!"
Ge Zhaodi put away the slave contract. She snuggled in Yuan Xudong's arms and murmured:
"Master, you are so kind to me. From now on, Zhaodi will be your slave and serve you for the rest of my life!"
"OK!"
Yuan Xudong hugged Ge Zhaodi and sat in the corridor of the backyard. They talked and looked at the flowers and plants in the garden until the sun set in the west.
Under the fiery red sunset, Yuan Xudong picked up Ge Zhaodi and walked towards her boudoir.
Walking into the room, Yuan Xudong put the blushing Ge Zhaodi on the bed. He kissed her while gently taking off her outer garment, and then her light pink bellyband embroidered with peach blossoms. Ge Zhaodi just closed her eyes slightly and silently cooperated with her lover. For Yuan Xudong, she was willing to give him everything she had, even the most important thing for a girl, her reputation...
The setting sun, the dusk, a few birds chirping, the sound is so beautiful, just like the moan of a young girl, the cry is gentle and beautiful, not far away in the Feng Shui pond, two red carp entangled with each other, from time to time jump out of the water, and then fall heavily, splashing a piece of water...
At night, the sky was covered with dark clouds and strong winds were blowing. A flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and then there was a rumbling thunder. In a moment, the strong wind swept in heavy rain, like the Milky Way bursting its banks and pouring straight into the city of Tokyo. In the strong wind and heavy rain, the roofs of many thatched huts on the streets along the river bank had been overturned. The water level of the Bian River rose sharply, and the river water poured back into the city of Tokyo. The dock was destroyed by the water, and many merchant ships moored at the dock were blown to pieces by this sudden storm, suffering heavy losses for a while.
In the city, river water flowed back into the city, and water accumulated everywhere. He Si, Lu Wu and others were leading their servants to put sandbags outside the shop of Chi Pan's family to prevent the accumulated water from flooding into the store and destroying the goods. At this time, Chi Yanei ran out of the store in the wind and rain. In such a big storm, the water level of the Bian River rose sharply. The city was affected so much, and the dock must be even worse. He was the head of the twelve guilds in Tokyo, and the dock was also under his management. If the dock was destroyed and the supplies from outside could not be transported in, the whole Tokyo would really be in chaos.
Chi Ya was extremely anxious, and his face was filled with worry. He looked at He Si, Lu Wu and others and shouted:
"Never mind all that, just follow me to the dock!"
"yes!"
…
At the same time, every household in Guihua Lane was in a mess. Yuan Xudong also climbed down from Ge Zhaodi's body and directed the servants in the mansion to block the door with sandbags to prevent the accumulated water outside from flooding in. At this time, Sun Sanniang and Zhao Pan'er put on straw raincoats. They wanted to go to the Banzhaimian Teahouse to take a look. Zhao Pan'er put a lot of famous porcelain and paintings in the Banzhaimian Teahouse. Although they were not worth much compared to Yuan Xudong's entire fortune, they were the result of Zhao Pan'er's ten years of hard work before she met Yuan Xudong, and she could not easily give them up.
Instructing Song Yinzhang and others to watch the house to prevent the accumulated water outside from flooding into the yard, Yuan Xudong brought several guards from the Xiao Mansion and accompanied Sun Sanniang and Zhao Pan'er to Ma Xing Street. Strong winds were blowing and heavy rain was pouring. Along the way, Yuan Xudong and others waded through the water with difficulty. The streets were filled with damaged shops and buildings destroyed by the hurricane could be seen everywhere. Zhao Pan'er's heart sank. Her teahouse had no pillars, let alone a solid foundation. It was built of wood and bamboo. There were only two servants left there to watch the shop. She must not let anything happen!
After a while, Yuan Xudong and others finally arrived at the Banzhaimian Teahouse. The two servants who stayed in the teahouse to watch the night were blocking the door with sandbags. Although the Banzhaimian Teahouse was in turmoil, it was not seriously damaged. Zhao Paner couldn't help but feel relieved. Yuan Xudong laughed and said:
"Look, I told you it would be alright. It'll cost you a thousand strings of cash at most. What's the big deal..."
Before he could finish his words, a bolt of lightning struck down and instantly hit a big tree next to the teahouse. Then, the burning tree broke in the middle and fell straight towards the teahouse below.
Yuan Xudong and others were stunned. The two servants who were blocking the door with sandbags were almost scared to death. Fortunately, no one was injured, but half of the Banmao Teahouse was destroyed, and the famous porcelain and paintings were seriously damaged. Only a small part of them were rescued, and the rest were all destroyed. Zhao Pan'er suffered a heavy loss. The fortune she had saved for ten years was destroyed in an instant, and Song Yinzhang's dowry was also lost. If Yuan Xudong hadn't supported her, she almost fainted from heartache. Yuan Xudong then realized that Zhao Pan'er was actually a money-grubber. No wonder she had to do business. Now, after ten years of hard work, she was no match for a sudden storm.
A flash of lightning illuminated the pale faces of Zhao Pan'er and Sun Sanniang. Yuan Xudong comforted them:
"It's okay. If you lose money, you can earn it again. Only half of it is destroyed, and there is still the other half..."
Along with the rumbling thunder, the wind and rain became stronger. A gust of wind swept the remaining half of the Banzhaimian Teahouse, and then the entire Banzhaimian Teahouse collapsed, leaving a mess all over the ground. This time Zhao Pan'er really lost everything. Seeing her looking at him in a daze, Yuan Xudong felt a little embarrassed and said awkwardly:
"It's okay, we..."
"Shut up!"
"Shut up!"
Zhao Pan'er and Sun Sanniang spoke at almost the same time. They were most afraid of hearing Yuan Xudong say "it's okay", but Yuan Xudong just didn't believe it. He continued:
"It's okay. A blessing in disguise. Even if the teahouse is gone, we can open a restaurant!"
"Tavern?"
