China's coastline was long. No matter how powerful the Ming Dynasty navy was, it could not watch every single inlet. So long as one had the will, going out to sea was not difficult. What was difficult was surviving upon that vast, boundless ocean—and making it back.
The landlord was clearly a formidable figure.
Before he arrived, Pan Yun had already dug up the last three generations of his family.
When the landlord and his brother-in-law carried up the grilled fish, everyone tacitly changed the subject.
But what was there to talk about in Chaozhou City?
With Pan Yun and Xue Shao steering the conversation, everyone poured out to them every bit of gossip they had seen, heard, or even merely guessed at—stories of the west household and the east household alike.
Among those living in this courtyard were men who carried loads and did odd jobs for various shops, men who hauled goods for officials and gentry families, and men who worked short-term jobs for landlords...
One man's mother was even a wet nurse in the Assistant Prefect's residence. Once the farm work was done, he had come to the city hoping his mother could arrange a long-term position for him.
But the Assistant Prefect's household was not well-off and did not wish to keep another permanent laborer, so he could only rent a room in this courtyard and look for short-term work in the city with the others.
"Once the twelfth month comes, I'll go home. My mother says that these days, being a permanent laborer is worse than farming at home. If you tend your land properly, it's far better than leaving your life and death in a master's hands. I think my mother's right, but I still need to marry a wife and raise children later.