Chapter 3

Chapter 3

By the time I was twelve, I still hadn’t had my plaque hung up to sell my flesh.

Because I, Wumaozi, was ransomed out of Yihong Tower by the best, best, very best Miss Zhao in the whole world.

Miss Zhao’s family were wealthy merchants, and their estate was more than ten times bigger than Yihong Tower. The back kitchen alone bought three hundred catties of pork every day!

I counted on my fingers. If the masters took two hundred and fifty catties, the remaining fifty would be divided among the servants. I just wondered whether, when the time came, they might spare me a few shreds of meat.

Miss Zhao burst out laughing at that. She said her appetite wasn’t that big, and she never ate pork anyway, so all three hundred catties could be mine.

I was shocked all over again. Three hundred catties! Good heavens, when that happened, I’d be even richer than the butcher Third Sister married!

At the end, Miss Zhao asked me what my name was.

I lowered my head shyly and said, “I’m called Wumaozi.”

Miss Zhao frowned and shook her head. “Too vulgar.”

She thought for a long while, then said, “I, Miss Zhao, am called Zhao Jianan, from the line in The Book of Songs: ‘In the south are fine fish, swimming in shoals.’ Since I bought you back, you’ll follow me and be called Zhao Youyu. It sounds like ‘abundance year after year’!”

How wonderful!

I finally had a proper name.

I was no longer Wumaozi, and I wasn’t worthless trash either.

I was Zhao Youyu.

Miss Zhao spoiled me terribly. She rewarded me with new clothes and taught me to read, even though books made my head spin and I dozed off the moment I picked up a brush.

But as long as she liked it, I would do it.

Miss Zhao liked watching me eat, so I ate. Besides, I loved eating too.

Maybe it was because I was at the age to grow, or maybe I had to make up for more than ten years of hunger and starvation.

I ate with all my might, and in just a few years, I fed myself into a little fatty.

Miss Zhao scolded me with a laugh. “Ah Yu, if you keep eating like this, my family won’t be able to afford you anymore.”

I was terrified. “Don’t abandon me. I won’t eat anymore.”

Miss Zhao pinched my chubby cheek. “I was teasing you. Oh, right. I’ve seen you eat pork, lamb, shrimp, venison, and all sorts of meat, but I’ve never seen you eat fish. Why is that?”

I answered her very seriously, “Because I’m called Ah Yu. How could I eat myself?”

Miss Zhao laughed until she nearly doubled over and said I was a silly little fool.

I was a fool-greedy and lowly, timid and cowardly.

But with a single word from Miss Zhao, I would kill and set fires for her!

But, but how could I go on a matchmaking date in her place?

The birds were singing merrily in the early morning, and a ray of sunlight slanted in through the gauze window.

Miss Zhao pressed me down before the dressing table and personally drew my brows and lined my eyes. She said very seriously, “It’s true we’ll meet formally later, but when that time comes, both families’ elders will be there, and we’ll have no choice but to put on an act. That’s no fun. We might as well arrange to meet ahead of time, see what Pei Jianchen looks like, what his character is like, and test him a little more. Only then can I feel at ease marrying over, right?”

“Right is right…” I propped up my head and said in a low voice, “But if Master and Madam find out, they’ll be angry.”

Miss Zhao arched a brow. “I’m their only daughter. Even if they’re angry, they’ll have to endure it!”

I was worried sick. “But what if Young Master Pei sees that I’m so fat and ugly, and breaks off the engagement in a fit of anger?”

Miss Zhao cupped my face in both hands and said earnestly, “Ah Yu, you are the kindest, most obedient, most loyal girl I have ever met. If he wants to break off the engagement after seeing you, that proves he’s the sort of man who judges people by their looks. Better not to have him at all.”

I nodded. That made sense.

Then I asked, “What if he’s satisfied with me?”

Miss Zhao let out a snort of laughter and said confidently, “Then when he sees the real Zhao Jianan, he’ll only be even more pleasantly surprised.”

I nodded hard. She was right. No matter what man saw Miss Zhao, he would fall in love with her.

Pei Jianchen definitely wouldn’t be an exception!