92.

  As soon as he finished speaking, the other two young men of lower status immediately spoke up: "Xu Zile and Xu Zigui are willing to go serve the esteemed guests from the eastern courtyard. Please trouble the manager to make arrangements."

  The young man with a yellow face secretly sighed in his heart, but replied: "It doesn't matter, there is a drawing lot here, which lists the names of all the sons who need to be servants. You can draw it yourself."

  Those two young men were overjoyed and hastily took a wooden tube handed to them by the yellow-faced youth, and went aside to carefully select their lots.

  The young man with a yellow face looked at Xu Ziqing again: "This young man didn't speak just now, I think he has other choices."

  Xu Ziqing lowered his head and said with a sincere and fearful tone: "Xu Ziqing is incompetent, willing to do some miscellaneous tasks, to share the worries of the clan..."

  Alas, this is even more lacking in initiative. The yellow-faced youth could only hand over a yellow leather book and say: "What's recorded inside are the miscellaneous tasks that our sect needs to do, just pick one yourself."

  Xu Ziqing thanked him and took it to carefully examine it.

  Why is Huang Lian's young face so worried? It's because the clan leader gave the three inferior sons of the direct descendants three choices, all of which are thoughtful.

  One aspect is that the inner courtyard needs to be managed and it's more reliable to do it ourselves, another aspect is also to see if these low-qualified people can make up for their lack of qualifications from other aspects.

  The first option is the most challenging, where one takes on tasks independently. Although it seems difficult, each task is actually polished from many aspects, and once you persevere through this period with your own efforts, even if your talent is slightly inferior, there are still many who break through to the third layer of Qi Refining before the age of 50 due to their unyielding determination. At that time, they will be directly sent to Fei Xue Mountain, where they will receive guidance from the elders and spiritual cleansing with sacred medicine. Afterwards, their path to immortality will likely become smooth.

  The second is serving, but serving is not an easy task. What's more, if it falls into the hands of someone with a bad temper... life will be even harder to get by. The children who choose this task are half ambitious and half greedy. If they are the former, they can endure humiliation and hardship and may succeed in the end, but those who cannot endure will be eliminated quickly. The patriarchal family will not plead for fairness for those with poor qualifications towards those with good qualifications. The latter mostly get by easily, but since their minds are all focused on how to curry favor, how can they cultivate themselves seriously?

  Moreover, those who have succeeded in enduring humiliation and hardship will inevitably harbor resentment when thinking of the past, and their loyalty to the clan will also be low. Those who are greedy for profit are themselves wallheads, and they will not be liked either.

  So those who made this second choice are actually the ones that the clan dislikes the most.

  The third type is miscellaneous, those who choose it are mostly timid, content with the status quo, and lack ambition. Although their achievements are extremely limited, they are also the most reliable in the clan because they dare not deviate from the current situation and are honest, able to make more contributions to the clan. Therefore, although the head of the family regrets that they wasted their originally meager spiritual connection, he cannot do without this group's existence.

  The young man with a yellow face didn't think for long, and the two who had been chosen first were already selected. The young man with a yellow face asked them about their choices, and then told them the route to the specific address of those sons. The two thanked him and quickly left the place.

  On the other side, Xu Ziqing flipped through the yellow booklet, selecting with great caution.

  Indeed, Xu Ziqing was a carefree person, but he was not timid or weak. He simply had no intention of getting involved in the affairs of the immortal realm from the start, and after arriving at the sect, he found it to be full of intrigue and complexity, so with his temperament, he naturally did not want to get entangled in this muddy water.

  When Xu Ziqing entered the inner hall, he had already seen that there were good fields and gardens with fruit trees, flowers, and medicinal herbs, and the scenery was very beautiful. If he chose a miscellaneous task, he would probably have something related to it, so he chose one of them and went far away to spend his days, which should not be much different from when he was in Xujiacun before.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, after flipping through the yellow booklet, Xu Ziqing found what he was thinking of. There were three things that were quite to his liking.

  One is to take care of the orchard, which requires daily watering and fertilization, weeding and pest control, pruning and cutting... However, there are dozens of people doing the same thing, all managed by a single person named Hong.

  Secondly, in the spiritual field, things are done by plowing the land, sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, and there is not much difference from what Xu Ziqing saw in the countryside. There are many of them, all managed by a Zhao officer.

  The third is that Baicao Garden needs to take care of flowers and grass, carefully manage, and be meticulous. Moreover, there is only one person doing miscellaneous tasks, and it is managed by a single manager named He Guan Shi.

  Xu Ziqing carefully compared the three miscellaneous tasks and finally chose the third one. In his previous life, he was confined to his house, except for the company of his relatives, there were only some flowers and grasses that accompanied him every moment, which could be taken care of by him. Now thinking about it, it feels quite intimate, and the location of Bai Cao Garden is remote, which is indeed very suitable.

  He then turned the booklet to page eighty-seven and handed it to the yellow-faced young man, saying: "Xu Ziqing is willing to go to Bai Cao Garden to do miscellaneous tasks."

  The young man with a yellow face also didn't say much, and directly informed the Baicao Garden. After thanking Xu Ziqing, he left, and his face only showed some complex expressions.

  This Hundred Herb Garden seems like a good place, but it's actually Old Man He's territory. That old man has an extremely eccentric personality, and previously many young men had chosen this seemingly decent job, only to be driven out by the old man one after another. It's unknown how long this one will last either.

  The young man with a yellow face didn't look good, and Xu Ziqing knew nothing about it. He just followed the youth's directions and walked for half an hour before finally arriving at the gate of a garden.

  The door wasn't locked, but as Xu Ziqing walked forward, he was blocked by an invisible barrier outside. Then someone came out from inside, scolding loudly and shouting: "Which idiot set up the forbidden array here? Can't you use a spirit tablet?"

  Xu Ziqing was taken aback, realizing that he was the one who was wrong. He had grown accustomed to living in the mundane world and hadn't yet developed the self-awareness of being in a cultivator's world, so he had forgotten that this gate, which seemed unlocked, was actually guarded with extreme vigilance.

  He then took out the wooden sign that the yellow-faced youth had given him earlier and carefully sent it forward into the empty space in front of him. A white light flashed by, and he tried to walk forward again, without any obstruction.

  He had only taken three or five steps when he saw an old man coming towards him. The old man was puffing on a dry tobacco pipe, wearing grass shoes on his feet, and the clothes on his body were also very tattered. Since Xu Ziqing entered the Zong family, he had never seen anyone so unkempt. Was this really He Guan Shi?

  The old man saw Xu Ziqing, puffed on his pipe and spat out: "Newly arrived odd jobber?"

  He is a newcomer, and it's indeed proper to call him that. Seeing that He Lao was older, Xu Zi Qing naturally became even more respectful and courteous, slightly bowing his head in greeting, saying: "Xu Zi Qing has seen the manager."

  He Lao's eyes flashed with a hint of unusual color, and he scanned Xu Ziqing from head to toe before saying: "Working here isn't easy, if you can't take the hardship, don't blame me for kicking you out."

  He didn't deny the title, and it seemed that he was indeed the one in charge. Xu Ziqing followed closely behind him, and since he wanted to do things here, he should do his best. Moreover, if he could be with flowers and plants, even if it was hard work, it would still be a sweet experience.

  The further he walked into the garden, the more he could feel the air becoming extremely clear. Xu Ziqing couldn't help but take a deep breath, and suddenly felt a fragrance filling his nostrils, making his entire chest feel refreshed.

  He certainly couldn't have known that in this world he had transmigrated into, the space between heaven and earth was filled with a thing called "spirit energy" that was even lighter than the oxygen he used to breathe, and could even cleanse his body and mind. The reason cultivators were able to cultivate was entirely because of it.

  This Hundred Herb Garden is actually a medicine garden, specially for cultivating spiritual herbs for the Xu family. Therefore, the spiritual energy inside is exceptionally abundant. He suddenly came in from outside and was enjoying himself immensely.

  The arrangement in the garden is not as grand and delicate as it is outside, but rather appears to be very natural. Every flower, every blade of grass, every clod of earth, and every stone all show no signs of having been carved or cut.

  As I walked along the dirt road, I saw a clear stream flowing far into the distance. On both sides of the stream were low stone railings surrounding small plots of land that looked like flower beds, each with vague green shadows and lush grasses swaying in the breeze.

  Walking along this road, you can see a row of thatched cottages. The front few rooms either hang farm goods, or display tools, or have medicine racks with large bamboo sieves for drying medicines, all showing signs of habitation. Only one smaller room on the outermost side has nothing outside it.

  Walking up to that row of huts, Old He pointed with his pipe at the smallest one and said: "Live in there, bed and bedding are all available."

  Xu Ziqing nodded: "Yes."

  He Lao saw that he was listening, turned around and said: "The spiritual grass grown here is not something that this little kid can move at will." He said, swaying back to the house, and when he came out, his hands were already holding several thick books, which he threw at Xu Ziqing who was waiting honestly, "Take a look first and memorize them."

  Xu Ziqing took it with some effort, his current body was much better than his previous life, and his strength wasn't bad either. But after taking these books, he found that they were unexpectedly heavy. He still nodded: "Got it, Manager He."

  He slightly lowered his head to take a look at the page, and saw that the top one was "Spirit Grass Identification", presumably to teach him how to identify spirit grass. In this Hundred Herb Garden, it's really impossible to do without it. Although Old Man He's requirements were a bit strict, in the end, he was still thinking of him, so Xu Ziqing naturally felt grateful.

  Seeing him so obedient, He Lao Tou looked at Xu Zi Qing with a few more points. Although he is known to be a strange character, he is not unreasonable. The young masters who came before, their respective branches were also high above the top, seeing that he was wearing old clothes and showing contempt for him as soon as they met. This is already a bad temperament. Later, when ordering him to memorize the types of spiritual grass first, they were all unwilling, only wanting him to teach them the techniques, such laziness and lack of seriousness in doing things, how could he not be angry!

  This new kid looks thin and weak, can't even hold a few medical books steadily, but he's not arrogant or impatient, and is willing to do things seriously. Old He thinks that as long as he passes the basic test, if in the future he observes him doing everything with sincerity, he will naturally pass on the skills, and at that time, the new kid can truly become a long-term "杂役" of Baicao Garden.