"Deal." Lu Chen nodded.
"Excellent!"
Jin Ming's smile widened. He pulled the prepared employment contract from his robe, then produced a small inkpad as if by magic.
"Let's settle the contract now. Then I can get back and arrange your traveling gear."
He spread the contract along the edge of the well and pointed to a blank space at the bottom:
"Just sign here and press your thumbprint beside it. That'll do."
Lu Chen did not rush to sign. He picked up the contract and read it carefully.
Jin Ming kept smiling, but inwardly he scoffed:
How many characters could a South City bumpkin know? This contract has clauses nested inside clauses, each one hooked to the next. You think you can spot them? Go ahead and look. What will you find?
Jin Ming was certain Lu Chen would get no further than the monthly wage at the top.
As Lu Chen scanned the page, his gaze gradually turned cold.
This was no employment contract. It was a deed selling him into bondage.
Schemes lurked between every line. Even at a glance, he spotted several problems.
First, the term was ten years and could not be changed.
Second, the monthly wage was ten taels, fixed forever.
Even if Lu Chen broke through to External Force tomorrow and became somebody, his pay would remain ten taels.
An External Force martial artist hired to guard an establishment commanded at least fifty taels a month. Here, the contract said ten in black and white, without a single coin more.
Third, breaking the contract midway would cost the employee ten thousand taels.
Fourth, restrictions bound him on every side: no private jobs, no teaching martial arts without permission, and the employer's approval required for everything.
Jin Ming's plan was plain.
He wanted to lock down a future External Force martial artist for ten taels a month.
Lu Chen sneered inwardly, though his face betrayed nothing. Instead of writing his name, he drew a circle in the signature space.
Jin Ming stared. "Lu Chen, what's this supposed to mean?"
Lu Chen scratched the back of his head and grinned with a guileless, streetwise air:
"To tell you the truth, Jin Ming, I can't write my name properly. Never had much schooling growing up. I can draw a circle, though. Gets the point across, right?"
Jin Ming's mouth twitched. Idiot. But he could only wave a hand.
"Fine, a circle it is. Now press your thumbprint on it, and we're done."
"Thumbprint's no trouble." As he spoke, Lu Chen folded the contract, tucked it into his robe, and headed for the courtyard gate.
Startled, Jin Ming hurried across his path. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"To find Master's Wife, of course." Lu Chen looked as if the answer were obvious. "She warned me I was too trusting and might get fooled. Signing is fine, but before I put down a thumbprint, she has to look it over. Once she approves, I'll do it straightaway!"
Jin Ming went pale and grabbed his sleeve. "Th-that won't do! This is between us. Why trouble Master's Wife..."
"Can't help it." Lu Chen pulled his arm free, still looking stubbornly sincere. "Master's Wife said if I don't do as she says, she won't let me practice at the school anymore. You wouldn't want me getting scolded by her, would you?"
Jin Ming had no answer.
How could he let Master's Wife learn he was scheming against Lu Chen?
Jin Ming gave an awkward smile. "Of course not. I trust you, Lu Chen. It's just..."
"Just what?" Lu Chen's grin widened, as though he truly were a carefree simpleton.
"We're good brothers! No one in the world thinks more highly of me or treats me better than you. Would I cheat you? Never!"
He pointed at the round ink circle on the contract and declared:
"See? I've already drawn the circle. How could that be fake? When I give my word, it's a nail driven home! I've agreed to the job. Put your mind at ease—it's settled!"
Lu Chen's gaze was open, his words earnest.
One by one, he set the flattering hats of friendship and trust on Jin Ming's head.
For all Jin Ming's schemes, he could find no opening.
What could he say? If he insisted on a thumbprint right now, would he not look as though he had something to hide?
Jin Ming said with a pained expression:
"I trust you, of course. I've never doubted your character."
"That's the spirit!" Lu Chen laughed. "You go make your preparations. Once I've reported to Master's Wife, I'll start work!"
As Jin Ming left the courtyard, unease churned in his stomach like a swallowed fly.
But after a few steps, his sense of superiority returned.
Who was he? The third young master of Daxing Rice Shop! In connections, cunning, learning, or ability, how could Lu Chen compare?
What had a boy crawled out of a South City alley ever seen of the world? His fists were a little hard. What else did he have?
Jin Ming was confident that his personal charm would eventually bring Lu Chen to heel.
At the thought, most of his frustration faded. There was plenty of time ahead to get Lu Chen under his thumb.
He brushed off his robe and strolled away, humming a tune.
Lu Chen watched him go with cold eyes.
Self-important fool.
New Year was approaching. Stalls crowded the streets, selling incense and candles, silk flowers, clothes and hats, offerings, statues of the gods, New Year prints, snacks, pastries, potted flowers, wine, couplets, firecrackers, lanterns, and paper fu characters large and small.
On the first day of the month, Master's Wife gave Lu Chen an errand: go to the Witchcraft Academy outside the county town and bring her two daughters home for New Year.
Liu Qi and a maid went with him. Before they left, Master's Wife specifically told them to hire the finest carriage at the coach yard.
Liu Qi had fetched them the year before. He had returned saying the young ladies found the hired carriage shabby and had lost face before their classmates at the academy. They had been most displeased.
Master's Wife had felt for them. This year, she ordered a fine carriage outright.
Lu Chen and the others drove it out of town.
On the road, Xiao Gao, the maid from another province, asked curiously what the Witch Sect was. She had never heard of it.
She had been sold north from the south, and this was her first time hearing of the Witch Sect.
Liu Qi explained that it was the dominant religion in the Northern Lands. It taught that all things had spirits. Its shamans were said to possess the power to tame strange beasts.
Great Liang had no state-run academies. Princes, nobles, and wealthy clans maintained private schools of their own.
Beyond those were academies run by private citizens or religious groups.
The tuition at privately run academies was beyond the means of ordinary families.
Religious schools were much cheaper, but they had one rule: they accepted only children from believers' families.
Remote Wen'an County had no private academies. Its only school was the Nature Academy, established by the Witch Sect.
So her two daughters could study, Master's Wife had them join the Witch Sect. Only then could they enter the Nature Academy.
Lu Chen had seen members of the Witch Sect before.
Not long ago, they had come to Sheep Dung Alley to preach. Dressed in gray cloth jackets and wearing five-colored cords, they had stood at the alley entrance urging people to join the faith and worship nature, while selling sachets said to drive away wild beasts.
The sachets had some genuine effect; they were not a complete swindle. They could frighten off ordinary jackals and stray dogs.
But against the true aberrant beasts and monsters outside the town, that little trick would not suffice.
An herb-green sachet hung from the shaft of their carriage now, and as they traveled, no wild beasts troubled them.
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