Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 198 Servant
Winter of 8 AD, Luoyang City.

A stylish woman wearing a leather jacket and with curly hair came to the newsstand.

"Hey, I'd like to buy a newspaper."

Sijiuba was holding a glass hand warmer to keep warm. The glass bottle was covered with a woolen safety sleeve that Sijiuba had knitted himself to prevent the bottle from getting too hot and burning his hands.

These glass bottles were given to us by the production team; we can fill them with hot water to keep them warm.

After looking up and seeing a young woman with long, wavy hair staring at him, 498 handed her a neatly arranged newspaper.

"Today's newspaper costs twenty coins."

The woman laughed and said, "Why has the price gone up? I used to buy them for five coins each."

“Those were prices from three or four years ago,” Si Jiuba replied quietly, then looked down at the love stories in the newspaper.

Besides the Mountain Farmers Daily, the newsstand also sells storybooks and collections of ancient poems. You can read books and newspapers for free here.

The woman smiled and said, "Give me a hundred newspapers!"

After hearing this, 498 lazily raised his head and looked at the remaining newspaper.

"it is good."

498 casually responded, showing no joy or excitement at selling a hundred newspapers directly.

Normally, he would be much happier, but he really disliked this rich woman in front of him.

What's so great about being rich?
The woman stared intently at 498, then couldn't help but laugh, "How can you be so dense? Don't you recognize me?"

Hearing the laughter, 498 looked up and stared at the woman with a strong air of worldliness with a puzzled expression.

"Who are you?"

Tong Bao'er said helplessly, "It's me, your sister Bao'er!"

Upon hearing this, 498 gave a surprised smile. "That maid from the Wang family?"

Tong Bao'er rolled her eyes at Si Jiu Ba, clearly annoyed. "You're so rude. We're all servants. Can't you just call me Sister Bao'er? Why do you have to say something about that maid from the Wang family? It's so offensive."

Si Jiuba laughed and said, "I'm not a maid."

"Dream on! You're daydreaming. You want to be the Emperor's maid?" Tong Bao'er teased, then added, "I'm not a maid anymore. Our Duke has betrothed me to a commander as his second wife, and now I have my own maids."

Si Jiu Ba laughed and said, "What's the big deal? My brother also has girls who help with chores. I could have hired one, but I have nothing better to do, so I won't waste my money."

Tong Bao'er said with a smile, "Alright, I know you're doing well. You're almost twenty. Are you married and have children yet? I'll give you a wedding gift."

"Save your breath," Si Jiu Ba said irritably. "I'm not getting married. There's nothing good about marriage. A lot of people are after my household registration. It's disgusting."

Tong Bao'er could roughly understand Si Jiu Ba's situation, and then asked, "What will you do when you get old?"

“What’s there to be afraid of when I have a younger brother? Besides, my brother can have a few more children in the future. And my job is all sitting all day. I can lie down until I’m sixty or seventy without any problem. Our production team will also help take care of me. Maybe I’ll still be selling newspapers when I’m seventy or eighty. I’ll just sleep and die. What’s there to worry about!”

Tong Bao'er advised, "It's always good to have someone to take care of you. Sigh, why am I telling you all this troublesome stuff? Do you have time? Let's find a place to eat and have a drink."

“Alright! Where are you staying now? I have a three-story house in Shili Pu outside the city. We’ll take a carriage there.”

Since Sijiuba had nothing else to do, he readily agreed.

“I told my family that I’ve returned to the capital to report for duty. The Duke and my husband have returned from their post in Nanzhao and I heard that we can go back to Tianzhou. Sigh, I’d rather stay in Luoyang.”

"What about the others? Did Yumen return as well?" asked Sijiuba curiously.

Tong Bao'er shook her head helplessly, "Both of the Wang family's daughters wanted to marry into a wealthy family and enter the palace, but unfortunately they weren't destined for it. They've both gotten married in the last two years."

"One married a high-ranking official in Jiangnan Province, and the other married a family they knew from Sichuan. Several maids also went with them. It's estimated that they will never see each other again in this lifetime."

Si Jiu Ba laughed and said, "I've been in Luoyang the whole time. If they come over, I'll ask them for you."

Tong Bao'er smiled and said, "That's good. With you here, we can at least get a general idea of ​​what's going on in the city every year when we come back. How has the city been these past few years?"

498 replied, "Everything is fine."

Tong Bao'er then casually inquired about the main purpose of her visit.

"I heard that His Majesty is going to move the capital. Will you propaganda teams, which are directly under His Majesty's command, also go to the new capital?"

498 shook his head and said, "I don't know. Everyone's talking about it, but no one's sure."

Tong Bao'er was eager to know the inside story: "In Jiangxia, a large area has been cleared for the construction of palaces, and more than 100,000 houses have been built outside for the servants to live in."

Si Jiuba was tidying up the newspapers. "How would I know about these things? Anyway, my family has a registered residence, so I don't need to go there."

Tong Bao'er said again, "Alright, hurry up and pack your things. Why don't you come to my house? My father knows about your situation. He's a very easy-going and polite person."

498 quickly shook his head, "No, don't even think about it, I'm not getting married."

"Look at what you're saying," Tong Bao'er laughed. "Fine, I'll go to your house for dinner, but I won't let you go to mine. Is that alright? Don't say I don't welcome you to my house later."

Si Jiuba wasn't very familiar with Tong Bao'er to begin with, and now he suddenly didn't want to play with her anymore.

Over the years, she has received numerous invitations to be a maid, a concubine, a great-aunt, a wife, or a daughter-in-law.

Having encountered so many, 498 just felt disgusted.

The woman in front of him, who was in her twenties, gave 498 the feeling of those concubines and great-aunts who were rarely encountered. She seemed friendly, but in reality, she had marked people with prices, clearly and plainly.

A government household registration is the only thing 498 can rely on.

Once married, the household registration will be transferred to the man.

Now that her younger brother has a registered household, Si Jiu Ba absolutely refuses to transfer it out. Soon after, Si Jiu Ba found an excuse to decline the invitation to have dinner with Tong Bao Er.

Seeing this, Tong Bao'er didn't insist and wisely went back.

After they returned to their rented house by carriage, a man in his forties soon walked in.

"Madam, has the matter been completed?"

Tong Bao'er looked at her husband, a commander in his forties, and said with a forced smile, "That girl refuses, saying she will never get married in this lifetime."

Upon hearing this, the man sat down and put on a stern face. "This girl really doesn't know what's good for her. Isn't it a hundred times better for her to follow me, a commander of a thousand, than to be a slave? Besides, she doesn't have to guard that dilapidated pavilion. It would be so much better to be free and at ease outside!"

Tong Bao'er stood up and said with a smile, "Only slaves think about freedom. She is a slave, and a slave of the emperor. All she can think about is how to be a good slave. She feels that not letting her be a slave would be harming her."

The man frowned upon hearing this and asked again, "Is the matter of moving the capital true?"

"I don't think so," Tong Bao'er replied cautiously. "These people don't seem to care about moving the capital. I remember that King Wu promised them that if the capital were moved, he would definitely take the troops directly under the Emperor with him, but it seems like nothing has happened."

“In the past, it seemed like everyone was a regular household, with very few people from the mountain farming tribe.”

Neither of them had the ability to retaliate against or make things difficult for 498.

Sijiuba was a servant of King Wu. No one, not even a thousand-household commander, let alone a ten-thousand-household commander, or even a prime minister, would dare to cause trouble for Sijiuba in Luoyang.

Even a high-ranking official like Wang Daoji had to be extremely cautious in Luoyang, let alone a lowly commander like a thousand-household commander.

The next day, Tong Bao'er bought some gifts and came to the newsstand again.

"498, I haven't been to Luoyang for a long time. There are so many tall buildings in the city now, and there are also quite a few public carriages. How about you show me around? I'll pay you for your lost time."

498 was annoyed by this woman and was about to refuse her when he saw a familiar figure walk past a few meters away.

Upon seeing the young man with the child, 498 immediately leaned out of the newsstand window and shouted into the distance, "That guy surnamed Wu! The one in the leather jacket! The one with the child!"

Hearing the shouts, Beijiwu turned around and looked to the side. He saw a woman smiling happily at him, her eyes bright and full of energy.

The third son said, "Dad, she's Xiaogua's older sister."

Beijiwu did remember the woman, so he took his son and daughter's hands and walked over.

This time, I brought five children with me. The three older children walked behind me, while Beijiwu held the hands of his two younger sons and daughters who loved to run around.

"Happy New Year, what can I do for you?" Beijiwu walked up to Sijiuba and greeted him with a smile.

498 looked at Arctic Martial happily, "Want to buy a newspaper?"

Beijiwu smiled and said, "I won't buy it. I've already read today's newspaper."

"Where did you buy it? Did 497 give it to you?" 498 said with a smile, "I haven't seen 497 many times. She doesn't usually go to collect the newspaper in the morning. Someone else usually brings it to her and puts it away for her. We don't see her when we're working in our production team either."

"But I've been to your house before. Your wife is quite pretty. You have a large family and you have to buy a lot of food every day, unlike my family of four, where we can just buy a little food and that's enough."

498 called over Beijiwu, who was passing by, and they chatted happily.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, nothing much happened at Arctic Martial Arts School.

However, noticing a woman with a somewhat worldly air looking at him, he asked curiously, "Is this your friend?"

498 said directly, "She is the wife of a commander who has returned from outside. Do you know the Duke of Zhao of Tianzhou? She used to be a maid in the Duke of Zhao's household, and now she has married a commander."

Tong Bao'er felt a little uncomfortable, but after carefully examining Bei Jiwu, she felt that Bei Jiwu's clothes were quite valuable.

"This gentleman looks quite distinguished, especially his fur coat, which must cost no less than a thousand taels, right?"

Tong Bao'er has good taste; her own husband once acquired a leather jacket, so she knows it's very expensive.

Moreover, the most important thing is the workmanship of the clothes. Whether the clothes are good or not can definitely be seen with the eyes.

Sometimes it's just that tiny difference, the difference between tens of taels and thousands of taels!

Beiji Wu didn't want to talk to someone with such a worldly air about her, so he didn't look at her directly. Instead, he smiled at Sijiuba and said, "You're busy. I'm taking the kids out to play. These kids have been asking me to come back and play with them all day long."

498 asked curiously, "I haven't seen you in a long time. Have you been working in another city these past two years?"

Beijiwu smiled and raised one hand, pointing to the giant pavilion at the end of the street, towering above countless houses and palace walls.

“That’s where I usually work.”

Following the direction of Beijiwu, Sijiuba and Tongbaoer saw the Ming Palace, where the emperor sat.

498 asked doubtfully, "Are you a palace guard? Didn't you say you were in charge of business last time?"

Arctic Martial has forgotten what he said last time.

"Businesses operate even within the palace; food and drinks are transported in. To be honest, isn't Luoyang City essentially run for just one person in the palace? Who do you think you're serving?"

Arctic Wu spoke very casually, without any manners.

Fearing that he might say something inappropriate, Si Jiuba immediately said, "Watch your mouth, don't be so rude."

Beijiwu smiled. "Go ahead and sell your newspapers. I'm leaving."

Seeing that Beijiwu had finally finished talking, the children happily followed him out to go shopping and buy food and toys.

Their father was richer than their mother, and they couldn't get much money from their mother; the family finances were still in their father's hands.

After the group left, Tong Bao'er asked curiously, "Who is he? He sounds like he's from out of town."

Si Jiuba didn't want to talk to Tong Bao'er, so he casually said, "A friend."

(End of this chapter)