Chapter 36: Finally Mixed with Lower People

  "This is the life of a wealthy landlord!" Yang Heng sighed, looking at the maids and servants in front of him. This time, because of his mother's pregnancy, his father had finally bought back some servants.

  Feng Bo, a thirty-eight-year-old man, lost his wife to the ravages of war and last year his only son passed away due to illness. His family had sold all their land to pay for his son's medical treatment, leaving him with nothing. He has no choice but to sell himself. Feng Bo is skilled at farming and driving a horse carriage. Judging from how he handled his wife's situation, he is an honest and simple-minded man, perhaps too honest. In another family, if they had him drive their carriage, he would also serve as a bodyguard, which would be unsuitable. However, in Yang Heng's household, he is the most suitable person for the job.

  "Feng Bo, this is the house you'll be living in. Your main responsibility will be to help the master's family with farming, or occasionally drive a cow cart, or help pull a bellows. We'll also make some iron tools from time to time." Yang Heng arranged for Feng Bo to stay in the only room on the east wing, which was originally used to store miscellaneous items. Now it had to be given to Feng Bo, and he would have to take care of the kang and the fire wall himself.

  "How do you like it, Uncle Feng?" "Hmm, not bad. Thank you, young master, thank you, young master. Even when I was at my best at home, I didn't have a house as good as this to live in." Uncle Feng said gratefully. His previous home had only three rooms that leaked wind everywhere. In the summer, when it rained heavily outside, it would rain inside; when it drizzled outside, it would sprinkle inside; and when it was sunny outside, there would be occasional drips inside. And if it snowed in winter, even snowflakes would drift in. This house, on the other hand, was clearly newly built. Although it was a blacksmith's house, it was obvious that the master of the house didn't make his living from blacksmithing. Moreover, young master had promised to build him a kang and a firewall, which sounded warm and cozy.

  Dage, Lao Die didn't have any sudden changes like a nouveau riche. He still maintained the simplicity of a countryside person. Although he bought these slaves, he didn't treat them as such. So Yang Heng still addressed these people with respect, calling them "Bo" or "Ge". However, these servants were bound by a contract, their lives and deaths in the hands of their master. These two men were also simple farmers, and in their hearts, etiquette and morality still held a high position. In this era, Yang Heng didn't know what kind of status such thoughts would hold, but in his previous life before crossing over, such etiquette and morality, adherence to contracts had been completely lost, or perhaps only existed in the poorest, most closed-off mountain villages.

  Dage, he's now in his twenties, but due to poverty, he hasn't married yet. Now that his only brother has grown up, someone came to propose a marriage for him, requiring several taels of silver as betrothal gifts. Having no choice, for the sake of his brother's happiness, he had to sell himself out. This matter moved Yang Heng to speechlessness.

  "Brother Da, you can just live in this room. This is now the main place for cooking. In the future, you can eat with the host family together. Once our kitchen is built, you can cook and eat here by yourselves." Eating with the servants isn't a big deal, but in ancient times there were many restrictive customs, so it's better not to cross certain lines.

  "Brother Da, next the main work is autumn planting. Also, in your free time, you can help Uncle Feng make some mud bricks. When my uncles come back, they can help Uncle Feng build a kang."

  "Ah, okay, thank you, young master." Da Ge is a man of few words, appearing somewhat stiff. Now that Feng Bo and Da Ge have been arranged for, next is Lian Jie.

  Lotus sister, it has to be said that she is a tragic figure. She was originally a maid in a large household in Chang'an City. Because she broke a vase at home, she wasn't beaten to death by her master's family, but instead was sold to the lower city. However, according to Yang Heng's speculation, breaking the vase was just an excuse. Especially since it was the female lead's subordinate who came to sell her, this means that the female lead might have thought that Lotus sister would affect her status or prestige. But the possibility of affecting her status is minimal, so it must be about affecting her prestige. As for plotting against the male lead, it should be impossible, because Lotus sister's appearance is average, which means she has a good hand in doing things.

  "Lotus sister, from now on you'll live on the floor of this room. After my mother and aunt give birth, we can change your place. Your main purpose is to take good care of my mother and aunt." Suddenly, Yang Heng thought of an important issue - there was no cook, but it was too late to think about it now because tomorrow his father would go for autumn and winter season's garrison training again. This year was different from previous years, the training time had been brought forward, mainly due to the constant changes in the garrison system, which made people feel at a loss.

  "Also, Lotus Sister, you can take care of cooking for now, ah right, I didn't know you could cook, Lotus Sister."

  "Replying to Young Master, I can cook. I used to work in the kitchen of my previous master's house for three years and was only promoted to the inner courtyard this year, which is when the incident happened and I was sold out by my previous master," Lotus Sister said humbly.

  "Alright, Lotus sister, it's just lunchtime now. Come with me to cook lunch. First, let's make a meal and see if you can be used for cooking later."

  "Lunch, you still eat lunch, can't your family have three meals a day? Ah, young master, I'm so sorry for my mistake." Suddenly, Lotus realized she was indeed being rude and had forgotten that she was talking to the young master.

  "It's nothing, we just started having three meals a day today. It's because my mother and my younger aunt are both pregnant, so we changed it. By the way, from now on, don't cook separately for you guys anymore. Every time you cook, make enough food for everyone in this courtyard. If you're not sure how many people will be eating, you can ask me. Yang Heng thought to himself that he was originally going to test Lian Jie's cooking skills, but after careful consideration, no matter what, this job would belong to Lian Jie in the future. Moreover, she had worked in the kitchen for three years before and had never cooked a meal, yet just by watching, she could do it too. And besides, she said she had cooked before."

  As expected, Lian Jie's cooking skills are not to be mentioned, it's just that some new kitchen utensils won't be used, and there are some new dishes and menu styles that won't work, but this is nothing to worry about, they can be taught slowly.

  Finally introduced is a cow, this is a two-year-old tooth mouth small yellow cow, looking at the robust yellow cow, Yang Heng nodded in satisfaction, ah, no, it seems to be missing something.

  "Hey young master, this cow is quite good. Look at its teeth, it's still very young now, and its physique is great too. If trained well, it'll definitely be a good cow for plowing fields and pulling carts." Feng Bo explained to Yang Heng on the side.

  "Ah, right, Feng Bo, why doesn't this little cow have a nose ring?" "Nose ring? What's that?" Feng Bo asked curiously. "You don't know about nose rings? It's said that even before the Qin dynasty, there was a tradition of putting rings on cows' noses... has it been lost too? Never mind, let's not talk about it now, we'll discuss it in a few days. Alright, Feng Bo, you and Da Ge build a simple shed for this cow behind here first, and then we can build a proper cowshed later."