Hearing the girl's words, Ms. Qian suddenly grabbed a fire poker and began beating Lian'er with it heedlessly. Lian'er turned her back, raising her arms to shield her face.
"You shameless little hussy! How dare you ask me for a *dou* of grain! I never should have bought you! All you do is eat and never work!"
"I must have been cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck to end up buying a jinx like you!"
Gu Fei frowned. Mrs. Chen nudged her. "Don't say a word. Just watch. In a minute, she'll be trying to make you buy Lian'er."
Just as they were speaking, Ms. Qian tossed aside the fire poker and said to the other girl, "You, wait here."
She walked over to Gu Fei and said with a fawning smile, "Little Fei, didn't you say a few days ago that you wanted to buy this girl, Lian'er? Your auntie won't make a single cent off of you. Just give me one *dou* of cornmeal, and she's all yours."
