The Twentieth Hell

  "Han women are valuable, these Yi women are worthless. A good man will be tainted if he comes into contact with them and will sully his body. When you take the high school entrance exam, brother will take you to a good place. The singing of Yi women is not bad."

  Liu Dou's overbearing manner handed the cattle cart to a sly-looking fellow, much like those wealthy young masters of later generations who would hand the keys to their precious horses to a gatekeeper. The fellow hastily took the cattle cart and vowed to Liu Dou that he would use his filial piety to take good care of this cow.

  Liu didn't even bother to speak, humming a sound with his nose, and stepped into the large bamboo building. As soon as he entered, Yun Zheng wanted to roll her eyes, these bastards didn't even close the door and were having a wild time inside.

  Liu stood at the door for a while, admiring him with great interest, and praised him with his thumb: "Damn it, what an old tree with deep roots!" There were still people inside who greeted Old Liu and said he was treating them to food. Liu politely responded and continued to walk in with Yun Zheng.

  "My elder brother, early this morning the young man from the brothel thought you were no ordinary person. I didn't expect you to be an acquaintance of his. If you're interested, go ahead and visit him, I'll return to work and won't delay your pleasure-seeking."

  Yun Zheng complained to Liu Doutou with a bad temper.

  "Haha, just listening to you talk, I know you'll definitely be the boss of the pleasure quarters in the future. The Bean Paste Gate is a military strategic location, the gate closes at sunset and opens at dawn, this is the rule. After dark, no one is allowed to walk on the streets, lightly imprisoned, heavily beheaded. You have to take care of business in the afternoon, tell me, brothers want to find some fun, not in the afternoon, when else? Don't waste words, the human trafficker is right up ahead."

  Two people walked through the courtyard, and those women were actually standing by the well washing their faces and taking baths. In such cold weather, even Yun Ceng wanted to shrink his hands, but they seemed to feel no chill, pouring water on themselves one scoop at a time, and some were even washing their hair with soap. Liu Dou saw that some of them were deliberately sticking out their chests and making flirtatious expressions.

  Liu Dou's head was wrapped around someone else, and he didn't forget to point the way for Yun Zheng, meaning that he had seen what he liked, and the rest was up to Yun Zheng to find.

  Yun Zheng couldn't help but admire the women's ability to withstand the cold, and continued walking forward. Liu Doutou was right, he really couldn't leave Yun Er alone at home, it was very unsafe. If he could buy a suitable woman to take care of Yun Er, he would also be able to go about his business with peace of mind.

  That cunning guy appeared in front of Yun Zheng like a ghost, bowing and scraping to get a read on him. Liu Doutou was also a famous figure at Dou Sha Pass, so someone who could get Liu Doutou to personally accompany them wasn't an ordinary person. Although Yun Zheng's clothes were tattered and worn out, they were spotlessly clean, so figuring out what Yun Zheng was really after was his top priority.

  Yun Zheng threw out three copper coins and said to the guy who was either a tea kettle or a turtle public: "I plan to buy a person, no more than 15 years old, appearance is not particular, but hands and feet must be diligent. The family property must be clean."

  "Sir, you'd better be careful. Our Apricot Flower House values integrity and cleanliness. We don't dare to accept women with unknown backgrounds. The Bean Paste Gate is a military camp, if there's any mistake, it'll mean losing one's head."

  The old turtle tightly grasped the three copper coins in his hand and smiled with a pleased expression.

  "Don't laugh, you're already ugly enough, can you still look at this smile!" Yun Zheng laughed and teased Guigong, the two of them chatted and laughed as they turned into the backyard. This guy kept complaining about his parents, saying that they were too careless when doing things, it was quite interesting.

  As soon as he entered the backyard, Yun Zhen couldn't smile anymore. He tried to squeeze out a little smile but couldn't. The scene in front of him was almost something that could only be seen in hell. He didn't believe there were such miserable places in the world.

  Twenty or thirty dark-skinned people, huddled together in the only thatched hut, with a foul smell assaulting one's nostrils. When someone enters, they quickly lift their faces up, and if they're a bit slow, Turtle Old Man Three would kick them with his foot.

  "Master, these are all Yi people. These ones are fine, they can speak some human language. The ones in the back, raised like pigs, don't know how to speak human language. If you want to find someone to serve you, pick the best one from among these." Hou San said with a smile, after kicking those women, to Yun Zheng.

  Yun Zheng's face was constantly twitching, these people have been treated as pigs all along, and the women who were really raised as pigs in the back would be what he didn't dare to think.

  Against the wall there was a wooden frame, on which hung a woman, stark naked, very thin and weak. From her slightly raised chest and height, it could be seen that she was still an underdeveloped child. Her long hair fell down, covering her face, making it impossible to see clearly.

  Hou San saw Yun Zheng's eyes fall on the woman, and hastily took two steps to grab the woman's hair and lift her head up. Indeed, it was a child, with a fairly delicate face, but extremely thin.

  "Grandfather, this cheap woman has already reached the age of receiving guests, but she's not willing. Mother said to strip her clothes off and let her get rained on, so she'll know what hunger and cold are like, then she'll go receive guests for a mouthful of hot food."

  Yun Zheng couldn't bear to listen or watch anymore, pointing at the woman and saying: "It's her, give her some clean clothes and a bowl of hot rice, put it all on my bill, I'll go settle the account upfront."

  After finishing, he hastily left the backyard in a hurry, this place he couldn't stay for another minute, his money was limited, he could only save the most miserable one, rescue the urgent not the poor, Yun Zheng made a decision in the shortest time, he didn't want that child to be rained on for another moment.

  Think of those students from before, they only knew how to read books, play pranks on teachers, fantasize about their own futures, sneak peeks at the cool boys, and write some melancholic daydreams in their diaries. Who would have thought that there existed such a miserable existence in this world?

  Sat in the front hall and took a sip of tea, immediately spitting it out. The good tea leaves were dried by them, ground into powder, put on the stove to cook, add some scallions, ginger, salt, and then brought up. A mouthful of tea completely provoked Yun Zheng's temper.

  The old procuress looked surprisingly young, absolutely no more than twenty years old, wearing a silk pleated skirt, with a fox-fur cloak on top, and a peach-blossom face buried in the fluffy collar, looking charming.

  Yun Zheng lazily didn't bother to reason with him, and directly asked: "That little girl just now, I want her. How much money? Name a price!"

  "This young man, one look and you can tell he's knowledgeable and reasonable, yet at such a young age he knows how to buy women. Is it because he's indulged in the pleasure? There are many girls in Apricot Flower House, why don't you take another look, young man? Maybe there's someone else you'll like even more." The old madam covered her mouth and chuckled.

  "Open the bidding!" Yun Zheng's fiery temper was almost uncontrollable, he clearly knew that this woman was not ordinary, able to open such a large business at Dou Sha Guan must be quite extraordinary, and for now, he couldn't afford to offend someone like her, so he suppressed his anger and spoke again.

  "One yuan and fifty cents, don't ask me how much I got it for, I've been supporting her for three months..."

  With a "clunk", Yun Zheng slammed a three-tael silver ingot on the table, which was the largest one among the five taels of silver given to him by Liu Dou. The smaller ones had been sewn into Yun Er's clothes.

  The old woman felt Yun Zhen's displeasure, but seeing the silver ingots on the table still made her slightly surprised. The young boy in front of her was different from everyone she had met before. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, only that he felt different.

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