Chapter 107: The Fifth Temporary Laborer
After Da Hei arrived, Jian Xingxia sent out her second recruitment notice for the day.
[Recruitment Demands: One temporary laborer. Job Description: Bamboo weaving. Working Hours: 6 hours.]
Time was far too scarce, leaving Jian Xingxia with no choice but to stretch the temporary laborers’ working hours to the maximum.
Jian Xingxia sighed, “Haa…”
Back when she was an employee, she always felt that bosses were black-hearted, wishing their workers could just live at the shop—the kind of living that preferably didn’t consume utilities or food, of course.
But now that she had become a manor owner herself and needed to hire people, she could only try to squeeze out as many hours as possible.
There was simply no other way!
With several mountains this large and so many tasks involved in opening a business, she truly couldn’t handle it all by herself.
After buying the deworming medicine and adding two of the cheapest iron pots alongside a mix of large and small clay pots, Jian Xingxia’s balance had truly hit rock bottom, leaving her with only 198 yuan.
If she didn’t open for business soon, never mind the temporary laborers, even she would be left living on nothing but thin air.
While Da Hei took advantage of the morning to water the crops, Jian Xingxia boiled a massive pot of sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and eggs as usual. There was no food delivery in the mountains, so eating this while working was the most convenient option.
Fortunately, Lin Sanniang had prepared a few dishes and left them in the refrigerator. Jian Xingxia checked inside and found a basin of cured pork trotters. She brought it out to thaw, knowing it would just need to be heated up at noon.
Right as she was busying herself, she suddenly heard a blood-curdling shriek coming from the direction of the backyard: “A ghost! Ahhhh—!”
A ghost?
Jian Xingxia hurriedly set down the vegetable basin and ran out into the yard to check.
She saw Da Hei holding a hoe, trembling violently as he hid by the backyard gate, calling out to Jian Xingxia in a terror-stricken voice, “Master! Master!”
On the other side, a young man dressed like a scholar was sprawled backward on the ground, frantically scrambling backward using both his hands and feet.
Regrettably, the scholar was wearing a book chest on his back. The chest caught against the ground, blocking his path of retreat.
Jian Xingxia smacked her forehead and shouted to Da Hei, “Don’t be afraid, Da Hei. Head over to the vegetable patch first. Don’t come over unless I tell you to.”
Da Hei quickly ran to the edge of the vegetable patch, still incredibly shaken.
Jian Xingxia opened the backyard gate, jogged over in a few steps, and pulled the scholar up.
“Are you here to work?”
To her surprise, the moment she reached out, the scholar was frightened even worse than before. “This will not do, this will not do! Miss, quickly unhand me! Men and women should not touch; please behave with self-respect, Miss!”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
With Da Hei hiding away, the scholar struggled to his feet, though he still looked over toward Da Hei with intense suspicion and panic.
“May I ask, Miss, what… what manner of creature is that? Is it… is it the Ox-Head or Horse-Face, or one of the Kings of the Ten Courts of Hell…”
What on earth was he talking about?
The ancient people who had come before at least called Jian Xingxia “Immortal Sister,” yet this one had somehow jumped straight to Ox-Head, Horse-Face, and the Kings of Hell.
But seeing how the scholar was shaking all over, he did look genuinely terrified out of his wits.
Jian Xingxia turned back to glance at Da Hei. In fairness, Da Hei was nearly eight feet tall, entirely pitch-black, and happened to be wearing white clothes… encountering such a humanoid monster in the deep mountains would indeed make it very hard for anyone not to be afraid.
Jian Xingxia patiently explained, “Da Hei belongs to the Kunlun clan. His skin is naturally dark; he isn’t some Ox-Head, Horse-Face, or King of Hell.”
The scholar asked suspiciously, “Truly?”
“Truly.”
Only then did the scholar let out a long sigh of relief. He reached up to straighten the crooked hat on his head and patted the dirt off his clothes.
Jian Xingxia seized the moment to ask, “Are you here to work?”
The scholar blanked for a moment, only then remembering. “Could it be that you are the master of this place, Miss?”
Jian Xingxia nodded. “I need to find someone skilled in bamboo weaving. Did you accept my job? By the way, how did you get over here just now?”
The scholar looked at Da Hei, then back at Jian Xingxia, appearing highly hesitant.
One was a “strange man” with skin as black as ink, and the other was a young woman with whom he needed to maintain proper distance; neither side was easy to deal with.
But compared to Da Hei, Jian Xingxia at least looked human. She certainly seemed more like the master of the manor.
The scholar took two steps back, cupped his hands slightly toward Jian Xingxia, and only then began to recount his bizarre encounter from just now.
“This student failed the imperial examinations and lacked the face to confront the elders back home… It is said in books that reading ten thousand volumes is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Since I lacked aptitude in studies, I resolved to travel through mountains and rivers. Yet I have not the strength to truss a chicken, nor the wisdom to judge character. In barely a month, my travel funds were entirely lost, leaving me with no choice but to sleep in the wild…”
“Walking to this mountain, I climbed high to gaze far into the distance. The scenery was delightful, bringing to mind how I had studied bitterly by the cold window for twenty years, only to end up failing to see my name on the grand roster. It is lamentable that the elders and villagers back home exerted all their strength to support me and are still waiting for me to return home in glory. I could not help but feel an overwhelming surge of grief, feeling that I had achieved nothing and that this life held no hope…”
In short, he was the hope of the entire village, but he had failed the “college entrance exam” and had his money stolen to boot.
“So you committed suicide? You jumped off the cliff?” Jian Xingxia asked in shock.
“Oh, that is not the case,” the scholar cupped his hands. “I had simply gone several days without rice or water, and having depleted my strength from climbing high, I grew somewhat dizzy and merely rolled down from the mountain.”
Well, that was a relief… Jian Xingxia breathed a sigh of relief.
If she had to deal with an attempted suicide case, she would have to act not only as the manor owner but also as a psychological counselor.
“Hunger is easy to fix. I have food here. Wait a moment, I’ll fetch some for you.”
With that, Jian Xingxia went into the house and brought out a ear of corn, an egg, and a bowl of cooled boiled water mixed with a bit of brown sugar and salt grains.
The scholar unconsciously licked the corner of his mouth, yet he still insisted on performing his courtesies.
“Miss, this student had not finished his words just now—just as I was rolling down the mountain cliff, I believed today was the day I would depart for the Yellow Springs, so I shouted in my heart that my learning had not been put to use for even a single day.”
“To die at this time would be a matter of immense regret.”
“Right at that moment, I suddenly heard the cry of a white crane echoing in the wind, saying there was a manor in the mountains where the master could allow me to display my talents. Might I know if you are aware of this matter, Miss?”
Jian Xingxia nodded. “I was the one who had the white crane deliver the message.”
By now, Jian Xingxia wasn’t surprised at all by the channels through which the ancients learned about the recruitment notices.
The scholar, however, shook violently. Forgetting his manners, he stared at Jian Xingxia for a couple of beats. “Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. To think you possess such divine techniques, Miss…”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
Divine technique is fine, but what do you mean by ‘one cannot judge a book by its cover’?
Jian Xingxia sighed. Indeed, scholars were often the most useless in practical matters; encountering a scholar made her fret too.
Jian Xingxia handed over the food and water. The scholar cast aside his rigid etiquette this time and hurriedly began to eat.
“Slow down!” Jian Xingxia called out. Fortunately, she had exercised some caution and hadn’t brought out sweet potatoes.
When people were desperately starving, they would grab handfuls of dirt and stuff it into their mouths.
Corn was fine since it couldn’t be eaten too quickly. Moreover, the corn this time was the sweet corn Auntie Lu had given her; it wasn’t overly heavy on the stomach, making it perfectly suitable for a scholar who had been starving for days.
The scholar ate until his face was covered in corn residue. He carefully picked the pieces off and stuffed them all into his mouth.
Even while eating, his mouth remained unstopped. “Miss, why does this millet have such a bizarre texture? It is crisp, sweet, and juicy, yet it does not seem to fill the stomach much.”
Jian Xingxia was too lazy to explain. “Just take the edge off for now. I’ll get you something filling in a bit.” Lest you gorge yourself and get sick.
The scholar, however, misunderstood her meaning and nodded hastily. “Indeed, we ought to speak of the work first.”
“Mm. You know bamboo weaving?”
A look of embarrassment appeared on the scholar’s face. “To not hide it from you, Miss, although this student has studied since childhood, my heart was never entirely on the texts… I only took pleasure in handling bamboo weaving, wood carving, playing the qin and flute, copying calligraphy, and painting.”
The scholar carried a distinct air of pride that said, ‘I am no good at studying, but I am highly proficient in unorthodox arts.’
Jian Xingxia: “…”
Fine, I am not the elders or villagers from your hometown. I don’t care about your studies; as long as you know bamboo weaving, that’s enough.
The scholar rested for a while, then ate another two sweet potatoes and two eggs, eating until he felt a bit of heartburn before his stomach was completely full.
Jian Xingxia called Da Hei over. After introducing the two sides to each other, she prepared to take the dry rations and head up the mountain.
“We’ll go select the bamboo first in a bit. The work on my end is urgent, so make the most of your time.”
The scholar hastily complied.
