Chapter 9 The Maid: "My name is Da Niu, I'm nine years old, and I can..."

Chapter 9 The Maid: "My name is Da Niu, I'm nine years old, and I can..."

"My name is Da Niu, I'm nine years old, and I can... I can cook."

"My name is Xiaohua, I'm twelve years old, I can chop firewood, grow vegetables, start fires, and take care of my younger brother, I'm hardworking."

My name is...

Looking down at the rows of trembling little kids below, one after another, they introduced themselves.

At this moment, Xiao Yan felt like she was the most ruthless capitalist. These kids were only in elementary school age, yet they were already being interviewed by her, the devilish HR.

Why is she called a devilish HR?

The first wife glanced at her, asking, "Is there anyone you like?"

Xiao Yan shook her head slightly.

Look, the devil is right here, and she didn't fancy any of them.

But you can't blame her, she's just too young. Xiao Yan felt a little guilty thinking about making them do the work.

Never mind, never mind...

Xiao Yan had originally planned to gradually replace her original personal maids if a suitable person became available.

Upon seeing the ages of these young girls, she immediately dismissed the idea, realizing that she had misunderstood. The First Madam had asked her to select people not to fill the vacancy of Liuying, but simply to select works for her to cultivate.

Seeing the First Madam's gaze return, Xiao Yan finally became more serious.

“My name is Cat, I’m eleven years old, and I can… I can…” The girl next to her gently nudged her before she could finish speaking: “I can plant flowers and pick mushrooms.”

Huh? Planting flowers and picking mushrooms? Finally hearing a slightly different answer, Xiao Yan turned her gaze to the child who had spoken.

"So cute!" Although the girl kept her eyes down and didn't dare to look people in the eye, she still stood out among the group of girls. Her bangs covered her eyebrows and her little tuft of hair was a bit yellow and dry, but the first impression she gave was that she was cute.

Since I've happened to meet someone I click with, then...

Before Xiao Yan could finish speaking, Xiang Miao came in and reported to the First Madam: "First Madam, the Second Miss has come. She said she went out today and bought a lot of interesting little trinkets, and she wants to share some with our Miss."

The first wife frowned deeply: "What is she doing here? I suppose she's here to ease tensions with you, all for your father's sake."

"Please invite the second young lady in." Since she had already arrived, and was still using the excuse of sharing with her younger sister, the First Madam was annoyed, but as an elder and aunt, it would be too impolite to refuse her entry.

Having been tricked the moment she arrived, Xiao Yan had absolutely no goodwill towards Xiao Quexian, and she felt that the other party must not have any good intentions in coming here at this time.

It didn't seem like they were there to ease tensions. They glanced at the kids below, and their melodramatic radar suddenly went off in their heads.

"Could Xiao Quexian be here to steal someone?" Although she had no evidence, she inexplicably felt that this guess might be true.

"This girl is well-behaved and adorable, she's the one." After glancing at the little cutie she had wanted to keep earlier, Xiao Yan made the final decision.

His gaze fell on the child and the girl beside her, their hands clasped tightly together: "Including the one next to her, I'll choose the two of them this time."

"Auntie, it's so lively here today." Xiao Quexian entered the flower hall right after Xiao Yanhui finished speaking.

Upon hearing Xiao Yan Hui's words, her gaze immediately fell upon the two girls chosen by Xiao Yan Hui. Seeing their beautiful and lovely faces, which were seven-tenths similar to those in her memory, Xiao Que Xian felt a pang of disappointment: "It's still too late."

That's right, she came to steal it, but unfortunately... things changed again.

Who would have thought that this girl, who was somewhat pretty, was the most sought-after courtesan in Chunmian Tower in her past life? Thinking back to that time, even Liang Erlang, who was deeply in love with him, had some admiration for this woman. The two of them even had a fight once over this courtesan named Li'er.

It was while investigating this woman that she learned that when she was a child, before being sold into Chunmian Tower, she had been taken to the Xiao family by a matchmaker and almost became a cleaning maid in the Xiao family.

Years later, that wretched girl still regrets not being able to become a lowly maid in the Xiao family. Today, Xiao Quexian's original plan was to pick up the girl and put her in the yard to do some menial work after her aunt finished choosing.

This should have fulfilled her wish, but unexpectedly, Xiao Yanhui took the man away.

"The maid that Third Sister chose looks rather familiar to me," Xiao Quexian probed. If possible, she would still like to keep the maid in her own courtyard.

"Perhaps it's because she's... cute." Xiao Yan swallowed back the words that almost slipped out: "Perhaps it's because she's kind."

Seeing Xiao Quexian's behavior, he was even more convinced that she had come because of these little brats.

“Mother, I’ve chosen the girls.” Xiao Quexian gestured for the girl who called herself Cat and the one next to her to step forward, then looked at the other girls and said, “I think they’re all pretty good. Didn’t Mother say before that we needed to fill the positions in the garden and the kitchen? Why don’t we keep them all?”

Regardless of whether Xiao Quexian came because of them, Xiao Yanhui decided to keep all the girls.

She had just asked privately and learned that if these pretty girls hadn't been taken over by the Xiao family, they probably wouldn't have fared so well. Since they had the chance to meet today, it was just a matter of a word for her, and besides, her family did need to replenish their manpower, so why not keep them?

"Alright. Granny Wu, keep all of these." Since her daughter had brought it up, the First Madam naturally wouldn't refuse her request.

Sitting to the side, Xiao Quexian was furious. She never expected that the mother and daughter would start talking about trivial matters like buying and selling maids, and that they would only give her a perfunctory reply at the beginning before treating her as if she didn't exist.

"Xianghui, you arrange things for them," the First Madam said, pointing to the young maids.

"Yes." Kaho respectfully led everyone away.

The First Madam feigned exhaustion, massaging her shoulders before seemingly noticing Xiao Quexian for the first time: "Xian'er's still here. You see, your aunt has been so busy she's neglected you. It's rare that you had time to come and visit Yan Hui today, but she's still a bit weak since falling into the water..."

The message about kicking people out was practically stated outright.

Xiao Quexian never expected the First Madam to be so disrespectful, and she was so angry that she almost threw the teacup in her hand.

But since the person in front of her was an elder, she didn't dare to throw a tantrum like that.

But in the eyes of the First Madam, the fact that she was able to invite people in, have the maids serve her food, and speak to Xiao Quexian so politely was already a great honor for her.

To be honest, if Xiao Fuyan wasn't home at the moment, she wouldn't have let Xiao Quexian in at all.

At such a young age, she was so vicious and unexpectedly shameless. If it were her, she wouldn't have been able to go to the second wife's house so nonchalantly after causing such a scene.

The first wife dared not let such a person have much contact with her own silly daughter. Her daughter was so well-behaved; she was afraid that her daughter would be bullied if she wasn't careful.

So even though it was a bit outrageous, she still kicked them out.

"Since Aunt is busy and Third Sister needs to recuperate, I'll come again another time." Xiao Quexian gestured to her personal maid to put down a small box, then turned and left.

Well, although the goal wasn't fully achieved, we've accomplished half of it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Xiao Quexian glanced at the beautiful girl who was already standing behind Xiao Yan, and pondered to herself.

Perhaps it would be better to keep her by Xiao Yan's side!

I wonder if Xiao Yanhui can handle being the future courtesan. Will she regret letting a wolf into her house many years later?

Thinking that a few years later, Xiao Yan would get married and her dowry maid would grow up to be more and more beautiful and alluring, Xiao Quexian felt a secret pleasure rising in her heart.

But then I thought again, wait a minute, Xiao Yan is going to take the blame for me. For someone like Qin Ji, even the most beautiful maid is a waste.

"Alas, what a waste of such a beauty." At this moment, she even felt a little regretful that she couldn't see the wonderful drama of Xiao Yan Hui being betrayed by her maid.

There are reasons why Xiao Quexian dislikes this younger sister so much.

Leaving aside the fact that they were cousins ​​in name only, but actually sisters of the same father, what Xiao Quexian hated most was that in her previous life, Xiao Yanhui had a much better life than her, yet she never offered any help to her sister.

Not only did she not offer any help, she also kicked him when he was down.

In her previous life, Xiao Yan Hui also discussed marriage with the Chen family. The situation was the same as in this life; the discussion was stopped halfway through.

At this moment, apart from her father, she was probably the only one in the entire Xiao family who knew the inside story.

The marriage did not go through because Chen Dalang not only had a concubine he greatly favored in the capital, but he was also a philanderer who loved to frequent brothels.

After Xiao Fuyan discovered this, he immediately abandoned his plan to marry into the Chen family.

This incident is one of the reasons why Xiao Quexian harbored resentment towards Xiao Fuyan for many years.

She felt that her father was able to decisively abandon the marriage after realizing that his sister's fiancé was problematic. But when it came to her, the man she married was so unworthy, yet her father completely ignored her pain because of the cooperation between the two families.

Furthermore, the man Xiao Yan later married was from a respectable family with both social standing and wealth. The contrast between the two made it impossible for her not to feel resentful.

Besides, Xiao Yan was doing so well back then, yet she still kicked him when he was down... If she hadn't been so talkative, maybe Erlang and I would have already been living happily ever after.

Walking back from the main house to the second house, Xiao Quexian's mind was filled with resentment as she recalled the past.

In this life, she not only wants to live well herself, but she also absolutely cannot let Xiao Yanhui have an easy life, because Xiao Yanhui owes her from her previous life.

However, the plan failed. Thinking that Xiao Yan had not only escaped unscathed, but that the second branch of the family had also lost control of the garden, Xiao Quexian stopped and kicked the osmanthus tree by the roadside hard.

"Ah!" When a sharp pain shot through her toe, Xiao Quexian realized what a stupid thing she had done.

"Second Miss, what's wrong? Are you alright?" The two personal maids walking behind her quickly helped her up and asked repeatedly if she was alright.

Xiao Quexian raised her hand and slapped him across the face: "You still ask if I'm alright? Are you blind? Try it yourself and see if you're alright."

Seeing that the person was stunned and motionless, he swung his hand back and struck again.

With a "snap," the two finally got moving. One hurriedly helped Xiao Quexian toward the pavilion so she could rest for a while, while the other ran to call the servants to bring the sedan chair over.

“Osmanthus…” But Xiao Quexian refused to go to the pavilion and instead stared blankly at the osmanthus tree.

An idea flashed through my mind.

Perhaps she has an idea.