Hearing this, Tí immediately became overjoyed, grinning widely to reveal his yellow-stained teeth from smoking, and greeted the little girls behind him.
"Let's go, we're going to my brother's house."
"Line up, stand properly, no pushing."
"Yeah, lift your heads, don't be shy... Let my brother take a look at you."
Tí guided the little girls into the house.
Like products displayed on the shelves of stores, they were visually presented in front of Thăng Hợi.
The house was not really that large.
It had a bedroom and a living room.
Perhaps Thăng Hợi had rented it as a temporary hideout.
There was a lot of incomplete furniture...
Thăng Hợi yawned, started to seriously look at the girls in front of him.
Facing strangers they had never seen before.
Most of the girls were frightened, bowing their heads, not daring to look into Thăng Hợi's eyes. This made it impossible for him to see their entire faces.
He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
"Why are you bowing your heads? I'm not a monster."
Thăng Hợi approached one of the little girls, holding her chin with his right hand and lifting her forcefully.
But then he frowned.
"Is this the best you've got?"
Seeing Thăng Hợi like this, Tí knew that the reason he wasn't satisfied might be because he wanted to lower the price, and eventually, he would force Tí to accept a lower price.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have let them into the house.
Tí, being familiar with trading this kind of merchandise, naturally understood this guy's bargaining tactics.
So, he took two steps forward and explained to Thăng Hợi.
"It's because they're still too young, not fully grown yet. Look at their innocent faces; they'll become beautiful as they grow up!"
"Isn't that right?"
In response to Tí's words, Thăng Hợi just turned his head coldly and gave him a disdainful look.
After a while.
Thăng Hợi shook his head and turned back, lifting the heads of the little girls who were bowing one by one.
Examining each one closely...
"How old are these girls?"
"The youngest is just three years old, the oldest is nine."
Tí knew that older children were not easy to sell.
Because they might remember memories from their early childhood, the buyers fear that they would run away after purchasing them.
Therefore, he deliberately lowered their ages.
Their actual ages were not disclosed.
But what Tí didn't know was.
His act of lowering their ages made Thăng Hợi frown and step back as if dissatisfied.
"What's going on?"
He asked anxiously.
"So small? How can I sell them?"
Thăng Hợi was now a bit angry, he found a wooden chair to sit on, lighting a low-quality cigarette for himself.
Small?
Was there any trend he hadn't kept up with?
Isn't smaller better...
The place where Tí used to sell children before was not Thăng Hợi's place.
He got to know about this place through an old friend, and this was their first transaction.
He didn't understand Thăng Hợi's method of doing business.
He thought it would be the same as before, what he needed was a few small kids who were not very aware of the world.
"What about this..."
"Oh, right, my mind slipped. There are a few older ones here; I forgot."
Although Tí was not an intelligent person.
But he wasn't foolish either.
After understanding Thăng Hợi's intention, he approached the "eldest sister" and smiled, pointing to the girl.
"This girl will be twelve in two months, and she's the oldest among them."
As he spoke.
He pulled the "eldest sister" forward and pushed her in front.
Thăng Hợi, upon hearing this, curiously raised his head and looked at the girl.
He had just seen the "eldest sister."
But because the "eldest sister" looked quite ordinary, he unconsciously overlooked her.
"Is she twelve years old?"
Thăng Hợi didn't feel that way.
"Indeed, I checked the birth certificates when I brought them. It's just that they're developing slowly, and it hasn't shown yet."
Tí patted his chest, promising.
Of course, he was just lying...
Although the "eldest sister" was indeed the oldest among the kids, she had just turned ten this year.
Thăng Hợi was deceived upon hearing those words.
As if thinking about something.
The cigarette in his hand had burned down to the filter, making his fingers a bit hot.
"Or like this."
"You take the children under seven and leave the ones over seven. Each girl is five million."
Thăng Hợi extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand.
He said to Tí.
"What? Five million? And you only want the ones under seven?"
Tí was stunned.
He didn't expect the other party to lower the price so much, even though this amount was enough to support his family for two years.
But the problem was.
Because he had raised these kids before, the money at home had become scarce.
Moreover, he had to bring back the remaining ones.
In other words, with that amount of money, it still wouldn't be more than enough.
When he sold boys before.
The price is more than double, how can Tí be satisfied?
"With this price and requirements, should we reconsider a bit... When I used to sell at the old place, there was no such price," he spoke.
But Thăng Hợi didn't have much patience for him, cutting him off directly.
"Recently, selling this has become very strict, very difficult to move. Basically, with this price, I take more risks than you do. What else do you want?"
"But..." Tí wanted to say something else.
"No 'buts' at all. Sell it if you want, don't sell it, take it away!"
Saying that.
Thăng Hợi raised his hand to bid farewell to the guest.
Turned around.
Didn't even bother to look at Tí...
Tí gritted his teeth, thinking about his wife at home who always scolded him for not having money, so he had no choice but to agree.
"Fine, I agree. You take the money, and I'll leave right away."
He really couldn't do anything else.
Tí also knew that recently, there has been strict scrutiny on this type of trade, and not many people dare to commit such offenses.
He had asked for a long time.
Only later did he find out that recently, only someone named Thăng Hợi dared to accept people selling.
Family pressure.
He could only swallow the bitterness...
"Hiền Hà, bring the money out here."
Seeing Tí agreeing, Thăng Hợi didn't say much nonsense, just called into the house.
A while later, a naked girl stepped out with a box in her hand.
The girl wasn't very old.
Judging from above, she should be in middle school by now...
Tí could even see it.
On the girl's ankles, there was also an iron chain, tied like a dog, making a clinking sound as she moved.
He dared not say anything.
Because he had guessed why Thang Hoi bought these girls...
But Tí couldn't worry about these issues.
He didn't want to care about it either.
When he had ventured into this line of work, in reality, these little girls in his eyes were no different from merchandise.