Chapter 5
Chapter 5. Miscellaneous laborer
As soon as his voice fell, the other two qualified children quickly opened their mouths: "Xu Ziliu and Xu Ziqi are willing to serve the respected ones in the eastern courtyard, and would like to ask the supervisor to help arrange it."
The yellow-faced young man sighed secretly, but opened his mouth to promise. "No big deal, I have a notice here. Written inside are the names of those who need servants; you can pick from it yourself."
The two children were ecstatic, and quickly opened the wooden tube handed over by the yellow-faced youth, and carefully selected from the names inside.
The yellow-faced young man looked at Xu Ziqing again. "This younger brother did not speak. I'm guessing you have another choice."
Xu Ziqing lowered his head, and fearfully replied: "Xu Ziqing is incompetent. He is willing to do some chores and help the clan..."
Alas, this child was even less enterprising. The yellow-faced youth handed over a yellow leather booklet and said, "Inside are where my family needs people to do chores. You should choose one."
Xu Ziqing thanked him and turned it over carefully.
Why was yellow-faced youths sighing? It was because all three choices given by the family to less qualified children had a reason behind them.
On one hand, the inner hall needed people to take care of it, and family members were more reliable. On the other hand, it is also to see if these people with the lowest qualifications can supplement their lack of qualifications from other areas, or demonstrate initiative in other aspects.
The first choice is the most challenging one. It may seem difficult to take on tasks by oneself, but in fact, each task is designed to hone a person in many ways. After getting through with their own efforts, while their qualifications may be lower than others, many can break through the third level of qi refinement before the age of fifty from firm determination.
The second item is to serve others. But how easy is it to serve others? What's more, if they landed in the hands of someone with a bad temper... life is even worse. Among these children, half are eager, and half are greedy. Of the former, those who can bear the burden of humiliation may succeed, but those who are unable to bear it are eliminated quickly - the main family will not be nice to poor qualifications. As for the latter, most can have a good life, but they waste their minds trying to please others, so how can they they practice seriously?
Furthermore, those who succeeded in bearing humiliation often carry regrets from the past, and their loyalty to the clan is also low. Those greedy ones are fence-sitters to begin with, and will never be well liked.
Therefore, this second choice was actually the group the main family didn't like the most.
The third was chores. Most of the people who choose it are timid, muddle-headed, and not aggressive. However, while the achievements of such people are extremely limited, within the clan they are also the most trustworthy, because they dare not break from the status quo, are honest, and can contribute a lot to the clan. Therefore, although the main family regretted that they wasted their opportunity to cultivate, they still couldn't live without these people.
The yellow-faced youth didn't think much, and the two on the side also made their selection. After asking for the names they chose, he told them the directions to those individual's specific addresses. The two thanked him and left quickly.
Xu Ziqing went over the yellow book and chose it very carefully.
It is true that Xu Ziqing is just a person who goes with flow, but he is not cowardly. It was just that he wasn't particularly eager about immortality. After arriving the main family, he felt the inside was very tricky and because of his nature, he was even more unwilling to wade into this puddle of muddy water.
When Xu Ziqing entered the inner hall, he could not help admire the thousands hectares of land. Even more were the vast orchards, gardens, and medicine gardens. The scenery was very beautiful. If he chose chores, there should be something related to those fields, which was why he picked it. It should not be much different than when he was in the Xu family village.
Sure enough, after looking through the booklet, Xu Ziqing found what he wanted. Three things fit his criteria.
The first was to work in the orchard to plant fruit trees, which requires daily watering, spreading fertilizer, weeding, pruning branches... but there were dozens of people doing the same thing, all under the management of a steward surnamed Hong.
The second is to do things in the spiritual fields, plowing soil, sowing and transplanting seedlings, which was not much different from Xu Ziqing's experience farming in the countryside. But there was also a lot of people there, all under the eyes of a overseer surnamed Zhao.
The third option is to work in Baicaoyuan1. One needs to take care of the flowers and plants, carefully maintain the grounds, and do everything else. But there is only one person doing chores, under the management of someone named He.
Xu Ziqing carefully compared the three options and finally chose the third one. He was trapped in a room in his previous life. Except for his family members who took turns accompanying him, there were only some flowers and plants by his side that he could take care of. Thinking about it now, he felt quite close to them; the location of Baicaoyuan was also remote, which was quite suitable.
So he turned the booklet to page 87, handed it to the young man with yellow face, and said, "Xu Ziqing is willing to go to Baicaoyuan to do chores."
When the yellow-faced young man saw it, he didn't say much and he directly informed him the directions. After Xu Ziqing thanked him and left, an interesting expression appeared.
Baicaoyuan might sound good, but it is the site of the old man. The old man had a strange temperament, and many children who previously chose this seemingly good job were kicked out by him within a few days. He doesn't know how long this person can last?
The yellow-faced youth was not optimistic, and Xu Ziqing knew nothing. He just followed the youth's instructions and walked half an hour along the way before finally going outside a garden.
The door was unlocked, but Xu Ziqing was blocked by an invisible barrier as he walked forward. Suddenly he was scolded loudly by someone inside. "Which idiot here touched my barrier? Don't even know to use a lingpai2!"
Xu Ziqing froze, realizing his mistake. He was accustomed to living in the ordinary world, and had not gained the consciousness of the cultivation world, so he forgot that such a seemingly unlocked door could be actually extremely tightly guarded.
Holding up the wooden sign that the young man with yellow face had given him, he carefully sent it to the void in front. There was a flash of white light, and when he tried to walk in again, there was no hindrance.
After only three or five steps, he saw an old man walking forward. There was smoking pipe in his mouth, straw shoes on his feet, and his clothes were very worn. He has never seen such a strange figure since coming to the main house. Was he the steward?
When the old man saw Xu Ziqing, he sucked in the pipe and spat out: "Newly arrived laborer?"
As someone newly arrived to do chores, the old man's greeting was not too bad. Seeing that the man was older, he was naturally more respectful and bowed slightly. "Xu Ziqing has seen the manager."
There was a strange color flashing in the old man's eyes as he swept up and down across Xu Ziqing. "Don't except things to be easy here. If you can't tolerate hardship, be prepared to be kicked out."
He didn't deny the title, so he was likely the manager. Xu Ziqing picked up his pace. Since he wanted to work here, he should put forth his best effort. Furthermore, even if it is most difficult, as long as he is accompanied by flowers and plants, the work will naturally be just as rewarding.
The more he walked into the garden, the more more refreshing the air become. Xu Ziqing couldn't help sucking a deep breath, taking in the subtle fragrance, and feeling his whole lungs were relaxed.
He certainly didn't know that in the world of his second life was filled with something called "spiritual qi" which was lighter than oxygen and once breathed in, can even refresh the body and mind. Its because of this spiritual qi that cultivators can cultivate.
Baicaoyuan was actually a medicine garden, which is specially cultivated by the Xu family for spiritual grasses, so the spiritual aura inside was extraordinarily abundant. After coming in from the outside, one could naturally feel the difference.
The arrangement in the garden was not as exquisite or precise as the outside, but was instead very natural. There were no signs of being clipped or pruned across the flowers and plants, or of the stones and soil being polished and smoothed.
After strolling across the dirt road, there was a stream of clear water flowing into the distance. On both sides of the stream were small flower fields like small flower fields surrounded by small stone fences. And in each field were green hazy shadows and slim grass.
There was also a row of thatched houses along the road. The ones in the front had traces of dwelling judging from the agricultural products, tools, or dustpans were hanging. The ones further out were smaller and completely empty.
When he walked to the row of thatched houses, the old man raised his pipe, pointed to the smallest one, and said, "You live there, and the mattresses are there."
Xu Ziqing nodded. "Understood."
When the old man saw him so obedient, he turned around and said: "The spirit grasses here are not something you can randomly touch." He returned to his room leisurely and there were several thick manuals in his hands when he came out, which he tossed over to Xu Ziqing. "Read and memorize them first."
Xu Ziqing took it over with difficulty. His body was a lot better than in his first life, and his strength was not bad, but the books were unexpectedly heavy. "Yes, manager."
When he looked down, he saw the title of the first book was
Seeing his compliance, the old man scrutinized Xu Ziqing. Although he is recognized to have a weird temperament, he is not unreasonable. The children who came before were also treated highly within their respective families. When they saw he was dressed poorly, they naturally showed contempt. Their attitude was already poor. So when he instructed them to memorize the various spirit grasses first, they were reluctant and unwilling. They only wanted him to teach how to cultivate. How could not be angry with such a poor tempered and lazy person!
The new boy looked thin and weak, and couldn't even properly hold a few medicine books, but he was not arrogant and impatient, and he was willing to do things seriously. In his eyes, even if the youth has poor qualifications, if he continues being sincere in the future, he will naturally pass down cultivation techniques. At that time, the new kid would truly become the permanent "miscellaneous laborer" of Baicaoyuan.
