Chapter 186: Who Could Complain of Exhaustion with Gold in Their Hands!
Looking at the care and joy written across his benefactor’s face, Shang Yue was filled with infinite gratitude. To this day, he hadn’t done a single thing for his benefactor, yet she had saved his life and the lives of his brothers more times than he could count.
Shang Yue immediately said, “Thank you for your concern, Benefactor. We have already escaped the mine shaft and rescued many of our brothers…” Blushing slightly, he asked Jian Xingxia, “I wonder what kind of labor I can perform here? Shall I continue building the chicken pen, just like the day before yesterday?”
Jian Xingxia pointed at his injured leg. “Is your leg alright? Do you need me to ask a med… a doctor to take a look?”
Shang Yue shook his head. “Thank you, Benefactor. After taking the medicine, the pain isn’t so severe. There is someone skilled in medicine among our brothers as well. He has already examined it and said my leg simply cannot bear weight and needs a slow recovery.”
Jian Xingxia felt rather conflicted. Shang Yue’s leg was swollen like a massive club, which looked quite terrifying. But if she really brought a doctor here, how would she explain it? It would definitely become known to the whole village, if not half the town. Besides, Shang Yue had no medical insurance or ID card, so he couldn’t get prescription medicine or surgery. What Jian Xingxia could do to help was pretty much the same as what she was doing now—just stabilizing the injured leg and giving him medicine to stop bleeding, disperse bruising, reduce swelling, and alleviate pain.
Seeing Shang Yue so eager to work, Jian Xingxia felt a bit less worried. “Alright then. I’ll prepare some more medicine for you. If it’s convenient for you today, just stay here and continue building the chicken pen.”
With that, Jian Xingxia posted another recruitment notice and summoned Da Hei.
Da Hei arrived a bit late. By the time he showed up, Shang Yue had already explained the situation over in the Great Yan Dynasty to Jian Xingxia, explicitly stating that he wanted to exchange his labor for some safety pills and dry provisions this time.
Yesterday, the physician in their group had also secretly gathered some wild herbs that could treat specific symptoms. But Shang Yue felt the medicine from Jian Xingxia’s place was superior. While the medicinal powder was highly effective at stopping bleeding and promoting healing, it was difficult to carry back. The safety pills were much better because they could be carried back by holding them in the mouth.
Aside from that, they needed dry provisions. There weren’t many trees on the rocky mountain quarry, which meant wild birds and beasts were scarce, making it incredibly difficult for them to procure food. Even with Lu Bo caching a few weapons, he couldn’t claim they had an abundant food supply. Thus, Shang Yue wanted to bring these two things back.
This was the first time Jian Xingxia had heard a “rebellion” plan from a living person, and it felt rather surreal. Based on the applicants the system picked, she could generally confirm that Shang Yue possessed the traits of a good person. As for his brothers over there, she wasn’t so sure. If Shang Yue had asked her for weapons, she might have hesitated, but since he was tactful enough to only request medicine and food, Jian Xingxia didn’t carry such a heavy psychological burden.
“Alright! But since this is your third time here, you must work hard today. My manor doesn’t keep idle people either.”
Jian Xingxia didn’t tell Shang Yue that after he left yesterday, the system had issued her a “yellow card warning.”
[Warning! The manor owner has been detected ignoring employee absenteeism and slacking behavior, which is detrimental to the development of the manor and employee promotion. One warning issued!]
[The warning will escalate upon the third occurrence. Escalation will result in the forfeiture of a portion of manor property. If manor property is insufficient, the owner’s personal property will be forfeited.]
Jian Xingxia: “…” It’s not easy being a boss!
But on second thought, she realized the system had a point. Back when she worked part-time, a relative of the store manager joined the shop. That relative spent every day playing on their phone and gaming, hogging a shift slot while doing absolutely zero work. As a result, the coworkers paired up with the manager’s relative had a miserable time, having to shoulder the workload of an extra person. Over time, everyone ended up resigning.
Because Shang Yue’s situation had been critical, it hadn’t fallen under the category of “poverty,” but rather an “emergency.” As the saying goes, help an emergency, don’t help poverty, which was why Jian Xingxia had indulged him twice. Now that the system had issued a warning and Shang Yue’s situation had shifted from an emergency to regular poverty, she didn’t intend to cut him any more slack. There were so many workers at the manor; if she cut slack for everyone, who could she afford to support!
By the time Da Hei arrived, Shang Yue had already finished his meal, replenished his fluids, and was sitting on the ground shaving bamboo poles to build the chicken pen.
Catching sight of Shang Yue’s injured leg, Da Hei didn’t care in the slightest. To a slave, being beaten and scolded by a master for making mistakes was perfectly normal. Instead, he felt a bit of anger: “What did you do! Master punished you!”
Shang Yue didn’t understand what he meant. His leg injury standardly had nothing to do with Jian Xingxia; he was merely a wronged conscripted laborer, not an actual slave, so he couldn’t grasp Da Hei’s line of thought.
It was Jian Xingxia who understood Da Hei best, having interacted with him for so long. “I didn’t beat his leg, Da Hei. He was… harmed by wicked people, and that’s how he got hurt.”
Oh! Realization dawned upon Da Hei. Putting it that way, he understood.
Da Hei cast a sympathetic look at Shang Yue and admonished him, “Heal your leg! Otherwise, kicked out!” No master would want a crippled slave.
But despite his words, once Da Hei delivered the basket and the two massive mesh sacks of vegetables back to the old house for Jian Xingxia, he squatted back down beside Shang Yue to ask if he needed any help.
Leaving Da Hei and Shang Yue at the foot of the mountain, Jian Xingxia rode her tricycle back. The guesthouse wasn’t open today either, but there were still plenty of tasks to complete to prepare for the grand opening this weekend.
Lin Sanniang and the plump auntie arrived early as well. By now, the auntie had also learned about the miraculous existence of the “refrigerator and freezer” at the manor. Following Jian Xingxia’s arrangements, she came over whenever she was free to wrap buns and dumplings, never worrying about making too many. Once wrapped, they were sent into the freezer tray by tray to be frozen solid, then packed into bags. Whenever someone wanted to eat, they could just boil them directly.
The buns and dumplings wrapped by the auntie were the absolute best food in Jian Xingxia’s heart—delicious, convenient, and not expensive!
To suit the appetite and preferences of modern people, the size of the buns had been reduced to a standard size. Yet that didn’t prevent the bun skin from remaining soft, fluffy, and perfectly chewy, holding a plump and juicy meat filling. A single bite yielded a savory, fresh, and delicious flavor that provided a massive sense of fullness.
The dumplings were even better; the wrappers were all hand-rolled by the auntie, offering a completely different texture from machine-made or commercial frozen dumplings. They were chewy, perfectly thick, and capable of firmly locking in the savory juices inside the filling. The filling of each dumpling was exceptionally large, and after sampling many modern vegetables and unique seasonings, the auntie’s culinary skills flourished, producing a rich and special variety of flavors.
For this reason, Jian Xingxia had ordered two massive 300-liter commercial freezers online—the kind used by ice cream wholesale factories—specifically to sort and store the buns and dumplings made by the auntie. This wasn’t just emergency food for the employees; it would also serve as a signature food feature of the farmstead. Tourists could order them to eat on the spot or buy them packed to go!
Jian Xingxia had originally worried that the auntie would grow exhausted wrapping so many buns and dumplings. As a result, the auntie became anxious instead: “I’m not tired!”
Did the young mistress owner truly not understand? So much fresh chicken, duck, fish, and meat—even beef and mutton—was left completely at her disposal. This was a privilege she could hardly dream of even when serving as a head chef back in her hometown!
At the very least, the working oxen at home could not be eaten, so how could she freely showcase her skills, making braised ox tail, clear-stewed beef brisket, beef bone soup, and beef meatballs… She could even use “tomatoes,” which were rare in the Great Yong Dynasty, to make tomato and potato beef stew!
Furthermore, as the saying goes, an ounce of spice is worth an ounce of gold. Back home, she had to weigh her options just to use a bit of Sichuan peppercorn. As for black pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, she couldn’t even dream of touching them, only managing to secretly pick up a trick or two when helping out in other kitchens. But here, the young mistress owner bought massive bags of them for her! A single bag weighed a full catty!
My goodness, the auntie thought to herself, with so much “gold” clutched in my hands, how could I possibly complain of exhaustion? The Owner should go outside and ask—who could complain of exhaustion with gold in their hands!
