Chapter 378 - Chapter 378: Chapter 370: Deep Routine_1 (1/2)

Chapter 378: Chapter 370: Deep Routine_1

Some large families would buy children and train them to become devoted fighters.

Others would build private armies.

However, in this world where everyone could practice martial cultivation, private armies made up of ordinary people were not very effective. When encountering powerful adversaries, they were easily destroyed.

Qin Niu selected a stall with the largest scale.

He liked to buy from strong and well-established sellers when shopping. A large scale generally meant that the seller’s integrity was not a problem.

The quality of goods would also be more reliable.

Because only those who operated their businesses with honesty could grow them significantly.

“Wan Yan, you pick! Let’s not buy male servants for our home for now.”

Although he already owned a hundred acres of good farming land, he hadn’t considered buying some slaves for agricultural work yet.

After all, farming was a skilled job.

He thought it was more cost-effective to either lease the land or hire long-term laborers.

The slaves that were bought were often only thinking about escaping, slacking off, or regaining freedom; getting them to willingly work for their owner was basically impossible.

They would only work if someone was standing behind them with a whip to give orders.

Wang Wanyan approached the stall and eyed the rows of female slaves.

There were tall and short, fat and thin ones.

The younger ones were only about ten years old, very small. The older ones were in their forties, already considered old women.

These people were sold into the slave market for various reasons.

For example, a father who gambled and incurred debts sometimes had no choice but to use his wife and daughter to pay off the debts when he could not repay them.

It must be mentioned that rural houses, unless they were made of bricks and tiles, were worthless.

Some were so worthless that nobody would want them even if given away for free.

In some poor families, the only valuable thing was the people themselves.

Especially women, who were in great market demand.

“Let’s take her!”

Wang Wanyan picked out a girl of about twelve years old.

She had a reasonably pretty face, smeared with grime, and her eyes were filled with fear.

“Pick one more, one isn’t enough to bring home! Besides, she’s so young, perhaps consider getting someone a bit older, who can work more efficiently?”

Qin Niu frowned upon seeing her choice of a young girl.

They already had Xiao Qing at home.

Bringing another young girl back was really unnecessary.

She must have picked the young girl out of compassion.

“I’m thinking of going to that stall later!”

Wang Wanyan was still thinking about the frail girl who was being whipped by the stall owner.

“What’s the big deal, we’ll just buy three! It’s not like we can’t afford it.”

Qin Niu said.

“Then you pick one as well, my husband!”

She had no choice but to agree.

Qin Niu was never sentimental when it came to women.

He immediately chose a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, who was quite ordinary-looking but seemed sturdy. Such a girl could be very effective at housework when brought back home.

The girl had a spirited look in her eyes, probably indicating she was quite clever.

“Boss, how much for these two female slaves?”

“The younger one is eleven taels of silver, the older one is thirteen. Since you are buying two at once, I’ll give you a discount. Let’s say a total of twenty-three taels and five copper coins.”

The price for a maid was really cheap.

One could be bought for just over ten taels of silver.

“Twenty-three taels of silver then! That’s about the going rate with everyone else!”

Wang Wanyan bargained from the side.

“In the entire black market, my place arguably sells the cheapest. Plus, every slave I sell is very clean. But since it’s your first time doing business with me, I’ll give you a further discount of five copper coins, so let’s do it your way, twenty-three taels.”

The stall owner laughed proudly after hearing this.

From his tone, his business seemed to be the biggest in the black market and probably the most legitimate one as well.

The phrase “the slaves are clean” had two meanings.

First, it meant that the female slaves had not been defiled; second, it implied that their sources were legitimate.

They all came with proper documentation.

Qin Niu was pleased with this.

When buying slaves, one looked for peace of mind and assurance. If the slaves bought had issues, such as being trafficked, and if the victims reported it to the authorities, it could mean trouble if they came knocking.

It was easy to get entangled in legal issues.

It could end up with both property and money lost at best, and in some cases, one might even be arrested by the authorities for crimes.

Money was paid on the spot, and they received the slavery contracts for the two female slaves, along with a proof of purchase from the boss.

With these two documents, there were no worries at all.