Middle-Aged Health Preservation
Servants are not slaves; they are products of capitalist exploitation.
Some families are so poor that they can't make ends meet, so they "sell" their children over the age of 14 to the company.
The company will give them a sum of money and then sign an 80-year labor contract with the child. The contract stipulates that the company, as the employer, will provide the child with benefits such as salary, room and board, and commissioned training.
Then, for these 80 years, the child, as the second party, is obligated to serve the company.
If Party B wishes to terminate the contract during its term, it will be required to pay the company an exorbitant penalty.
A penalty they simply cannot afford to pay.
80 years is the upper limit for contracts stipulated by the labor law in the Inner World, while 14 years old is the lower limit for signing a labor contract.
If a servant begins his service at age 14 and is still alive at age 94, he is free.
In reality, servants rarely lived to the age of 94.
Over time, the word "servant" came into being.
It's not that humanity in the Inner World has returned to the era of slavery, but rather that when the law no longer protects the weak, you'll understand just how powerful capital can be.
There are actually quite a few servants like this; most of them are people who have no other choice but to sell themselves into wealthy families.
Therefore, when the old man Qin Cheng saw the boy's behavior, he immediately thought of him as a servant.
At this time, after the boy and the middle-aged man finished drinking the white porridge, they cleaned up all the tableware and set up the tent for the middle-aged man.
The leisurely middle-aged man went into his tent to sleep, while the boy simply found a sheltered rock, leaned against it, and closed his eyes to rest.
The enormous backpack seemed to contain only the odds and ends a middle-aged man would need, with nothing for the boy, not even a single tent...
Every now and then, the boy would open his eyes and add some firewood to the campfire so that the firelight could always illuminate the area around the tent.
To be honest, even the hunters around the campfire felt that the boy was somewhat pitiful.
The middle-aged man seemed to completely disregard the boy's humanity.
A wind picked up at midnight, bringing a chill that seemed to blow away the warmth of the campfire.
Old man Qin Cheng glanced at his eldest son Qin Tong: "Don't provoke these two. Nobody dares to come to the wilderness. That middle-aged man looks like he's either rich or noble. He might have already finished a whole sequence of gene serum and reached B-Class."
Qin Tong nodded. "Dad, don't worry, I'm not stupid."
At this moment, the middle-aged woman beside the old man Qin Cheng said, "That boy doesn't look like he's been injected with gene serum, and he doesn't have any mechanical limbs. Even the servants of important figures wouldn't be this weak. Perhaps that middle-aged man is only C-Class."
Qin Cheng shook his head. "Don't underestimate people. Even a C-Class person is not someone we can mess with."
The old man rolled another cigarette for himself, pondered silently for a while, and then said to Qin Tong, "Go to the carriage and get a blanket for that young man. We can't reach the big shots, and we can't curry favor with them, but we can still get the servants. Some servants become the boss's confidants, and the little bit of food they slip through their fingers is enough for us to live on for two or three years. Besides, they can only come into contact with big shots. Our business is basically about catching pets for big shots."
"Hmm," Qin Tong nodded and stood up.
Before he could fully stand up, the girl beside him grabbed him and said, "Brother, I'll go get it."
As she spoke, the girl ran to the side of the pickup truck, and Qin Tong sighed behind her.
Girls who live in the wilderness year-round are uncontrollable by their parents and brothers; they have a very wild nature.
The girl, carrying a blanket, slowly approached the boy, her heart filled with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
But just as she entered a two-meter radius around the boy, she saw him suddenly leap up, and the fallen leaves piled on the ground were blown up by the wind.
The boy pulled out a dagger from somewhere and stopped just before it was about to slash the girl's neck.
His movements were swift and decisive, completely unlike his previous harmless demeanor.
With a whoosh, more than a dozen people in the neighboring camp stood up, as if they were about to rush over to rescue him.
The girl looked the boy up close, showing no fear whatsoever. "I'm here to bring you a blanket, in case you catch a cold."
The boy glanced at her calmly and replied, "Thank you, but no need."
Throughout the entire process, the girl showed no intention of resisting; she simply stared intently at the other person.
"It's very cold now. You'll get sick if you sit outside all night," the girl insisted.
"Hmm, thank you for your kindness, but it's alright," the boy said, sitting back down against the rock.
"Alright then, remember, my Qin Yiyi," the girl said, carrying her blanket back to her camp.
Qin Tong frowned and said, "Do you know how dangerous that was just now?"
"No way," the girl turned to look at her brother, "He doesn't have any murderous aura about him."
Moreover, she had clearly seen the boy's outline when he sat down.
It really looks great.
"What do you know about killing intent, little girl?" Old Man Qin Cheng said after thinking for a moment. "The other side doesn't seem to have any intention of dealing with us, so let's not waste our time. I've decided, starting tomorrow we'll head towards 'that place' and search for traces of our prey on the outskirts."
As he spoke, he pulled out a black box from beside him, opened it, and four drones that were quietly parked inside slowly took to the sky and flew around the camp.
Once they reached the designated area, each drone projected a soft white light from below, illuminating the surrounding area.
A red beam of light stretched between the four drones. If any unidentified creature entered the area, the drones would automatically defend themselves and issue a warning.
Hunters who make a living in the wilderness always need some means of self-defense.
The next morning, Li Shutong emerged from the tent, looking refreshed. He looked at Qing Chen, who was sleeping against a rock, and smiled, "Is your foot injury any better?"
"Much better," Qing Chen nodded. "Although the long journey kept reopening the wounds, the ointment is amazing, and the injuries are still improving. It is expected that... it will be fully healed in another two days."
"Since your injuries are improving," Li Shutong said with a smile, "Then let's start preparing breakfast!"
He glanced at the camp next door, where porridge was already being cooked and people were cutting cured meat into an iron pot.
Qing Chen looked up at Li Shutong and said, "Although Teacher intends to train me, it's too much to only pack Teacher's personal belongings in the backpack. Also, why bring a stool? Can't we find a rock to sit on?"
"Oh, it'll be cold sitting on the rocks," Li Shutong explained. "Besides, Ye Wan weighed the backpack and said it was less than 60 jin (30 kg), so I had him put the stool in. Cultivation should look like cultivation. You haven't been training for very long before coming out with me, so you can't let your cultivation be delayed on the way. With the help of Breathing Technique, carrying heavy loads will allow you to grow at an amazing speed. According to my calculations, by the time we reach Forbidden Zone No. 002, your physical fitness will be almost sufficient."
"But you could have thrown away the raisins, red dates, and goji berries and prepared some supplies for me instead," Qing Chen, somewhat unwillingly.
"I'm not young anymore," Li Shutong said earnestly. "Teachers need to take care of their health."
Qing Chen pulled a thick paper book out of his backpack and said with a pained expression, "So, teacher, you even had Ye Wan slip a Health Preservation Knowledge Manual in there? These days, finding a physical book must be incredibly difficult!"
Thank you to Fengyinwang and H_Design for becoming new patrons of this book. Thank you, boss! You're so generous, may you all prosper!