freenovelworld Chapter 518 We are willing to sign a contract to sell ourselves
Chapter 518 We are willing to sign a contract to sell ourselves
Zhou Guo looked at the men expressionlessly, "I still say the same thing. If you want to stay, you have to sign a contract to sell yourself. Otherwise, it will be the same as before. I will call you when I have work to do."
The men looked at each other in bewilderment. After a while, the impatient man who spoke behind Lai Fu pointed at Wu Jiang and the others and said, "Then why did they stay? You built a house for them and gave them a home!"
Wu Jiang and others said in unison: "Because we all have to sign a contract to sell ourselves!"
Zhou Guo looked at them in surprise. She didn't ask them to sign a contract to sell themselves.
Wu Jiang and Hu Zi stood up, knelt down and kowtowed, then raised their heads and said, "Boss, we are willing to sign the contract to sell ourselves, please accept us."
Zhou Guo frowned, "I didn't ask for your indenture."
Wu Jiang said, "Boss, we know you don't want it, but this is our own choice. Over the past year, thanks to you giving us a job, we have not starved to death. We have tried to make our own way before and find work outside, but we found that without you, Boss, no one outside is willing to hire us. Even the landlord Zhou Paopi, seeing that we are all young men, is afraid that we will cause trouble, so he is unwilling to hire us. No one gives us work, so we can only starve to death. The world outside is in such a mess!"
Hu Zi continued, "We are willing to sign a contract to sell ourselves. If the boss doesn't trust us, we can sign a death contract."
Zhou Guo squeezed his hands behind his back and said, "You better think it through. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. I didn't ask you to sign a contract to sell your bodies. You are still free and can do whatever you want. Your descendants can also take the imperial examinations in the future. Isn't that better than being a slave?"
Wu Jiang smiled bitterly and said, "It's hard to survive these days. If it weren't for the boss, we would have died last winter. There would be no future, no descendants. I can't even guarantee that I can survive. So, boss, we are willing to sign the contract to sell ourselves. From now on, we are your people. We will do whatever you ask us to do."
Hu Zi and his group responded in unison, kowtowed together, and looked up at Zhou Guo with bright eyes.
Selling themselves to the Zhou family is their best option now.
Besides, Zhou Guo is a good person, generous, and capable. She is still so young, and no one knows how bright her future will be. They have to follow her. If she doesn't contribute something herself, why should she take them with her?
Zhou Guo squeezed and released his hands, and in just a moment, he made up his mind and nodded decisively, "Okay, I promise you."
She had originally not intended to ask anyone to sell their bodies, including Lai Fu and others, because she knew they still wanted to return home, so it would be even more impossible for them to sell their bodies. But now, by accident, she had signed Wu Jiang and others.
But, to be honest, if she signed a contract to sell herself, she would feel more at ease when employing people.
Now Lai Fu and the others were even more speechless. The grown men looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
However, they were absolutely unwilling to sell themselves into slavery, yet they were also unwilling to give up this opportunity to allow their families to live a stable life.
At the critical moment, it was the old ladies on the ground who spoke up. They stood up, brushed off the dirt on their bodies and said, "Son, let's go. We can't sell our bodies. We are a good and honest family. We can't bring shame to our ancestors. If we become slaves, there will be no hope for our Qian family to turn things around!"
Zhou Guo shook his head. This old lady didn’t think it was shameful when she was throwing a tantrum, but now she feels ashamed when she has to sell herself.
Those who have old ladies at home are determined not to sell themselves. No matter what, life is still bearable now. They won't starve to death if they have food to eat, they won't freeze to death if they have clothes to wear and quilts to cover, and they have a cave to live in. No one will drive them away for the time being, so life is not bad like this.
Who would be so desperate as to sell themselves?
The family with no old lady and no man weighed the pros and cons for a few times, and then decisively knelt in front of Zhou Guo with their children, pressing the children's heads and kowtowed, "Boss, we are also willing to sell ourselves, and we beg you to take us in, and we will all sign a death contract."
Once you have one, you will have a second one.
The old ladies who were about to leave looked back at them in disbelief, and slapped their hands and cursed, "You spineless things, you were fooled by just a few words. Take your children to sell your bodies? If you want to sell them, do it yourself. These are the descendants of my Qian family, and they must not be slaves!"
The villagers were filled with sorrow after watching so many twists and turns. If they were in that situation, they would not be willing to sell themselves. Fleeing is better than selling themselves. Maybe they would encounter something unexpected and make a fortune.
The women wiped their tears and said, "Aunt Si, I really can't live anymore. The children have lost their father and they are still young. As a woman, even if I don't eat or drink, it is difficult for me to raise them. Rather than starving to death outside, it is better to sell myself and follow the employer. At least I can have food to eat."
"Yes, Young Master, we don't ask for much. Just give us a meal to eat. We are very hardworking. We can wash clothes, cook, chop wood, carry water, and do farm work. We will do whatever you ask us to do!"
Zhou Guo looked at these families, eight or nine of them, most of them were women with children, and some didn't even have women, just a few children, looking up at her eagerly.
These people looked skinny, with sallow complexions and tattered clothes. Compared with what the other families were wearing, there was a world of difference. It was probably because there were no men in the family.
Of course, everything the men brought back belonged to their own families, so there was not much left for them.
But she remembered that when she gave them the money, she had told them that both the cloth and the rice and flour should be distributed. What she gave had already exceeded their own income, so this part was also withheld by them?
She was not disappointed. In fact, if she thought about it, she could understand that in such a world, the first thing to do was to ensure that her family survived, and then she could talk about other things.
The old ladies slapped their thighs and cursed, and came forward to pull the children, telling the women who wanted to sell themselves into slavery to do it themselves and not to drag the children along.
How could it be pulled like that? The children had to follow their mother.
Zhou Guo waited until they were tired of making noise before he squatted down and patiently asked Wu Jiang and the others the same questions word for word.
The women nodded vigorously and said, "Boss, I know, but we don't have any skills. Our family has been digging for food in the fields for generations. We can't read a single word. What future can we have? Following the boss, at least we can have food to eat and let the children survive!"
Zhou Guo was silent for a moment. Her things would definitely not be leaked out. If she hesitated, she would suffer the consequences. She stood up and said decisively, "Okay, those who want to sign the contract can stay."