The Test

Zhou Chun's eyes lit up immediately.

Realizing what had happened, he knelt down and kowtowed to Zhao Ruxi, his voice trembling with emotion. "Thank you, young lady."

They were brought to this estate with great unease. Even though they were placed in the servants' quarters behind the master's house, they still had all sorts of suspicions in their minds.

Zhou Chun, in particular, had previously accompanied his master on inspections of the estate and knew that the servants lived very difficult lives. He was very worried that his master had bought them to be servants.

He himself didn't care; he had seen prosperity and could endure hardship. As long as life was stable, he was fine with anything. But if his children became farm servants, they would be stuck toiling in the fields for generations, never able to leave.

He said, "Young lady, if that's the case, you'd better tell everyone what's going on. I think this estate doesn't even have a wall. If someone doesn't want to be a servant, they might have some disloyal thoughts and run away in the middle of the night."

He had felt this worry after seeing the situation at the estate. If Zhao Ruxi lived here, it would be fine; her family had guards and servants to keep an eye on these newly purchased people, and they wouldn't dare to act rashly.

But no one lived here, no one looked after them; there were no walls around; and the servants lived far away. He was always worried that something bad would happen.

"Do you think anyone will run away? How many people will run away?" Zhao Ruxi asked.

Zhou Chun shook his head. "Whether anyone escaped, I can't say for sure. But there certainly weren't many who did."

Zhao Ruxi thought so too.

The estate has no walls, and the servants live such a meager life, yet none of them have run away. She once asked Wu Zong about this.

Wu Zong told her that once these servants escaped, they would become runaway slaves. They wouldn't be able to leave the city gates without travel permits.

As for finding work in the city, no one would hire them because there was no one to vouch for them. According to the laws of the Great Jin, families who employed runaway slaves were punished the same as the runaway slaves themselves, meaning they would be directly arrested by the government and forced to work in the mines, never to return.

Therefore, unless one is forced to a certain point and lacks a strong sense of adventure, one will not become a runaway slave.

"In that case, don't tell these people what I just told you. I want to see if anyone has the guts to run away as a slave. It's better for such people to escape than to stay here. I'd rather lose some money buying people than let such people stay here and become a menace," Zhao Ruxi said calmly.

Zhou Chun's eyes brightened again as he looked at Zhao Ruxi, and he bowed respectfully, saying, "You are wise, young lady." His attitude was much more respectful than before.

Even those who are servants long to have a wise and reasonable master.

If he had a foolish master, like his former master, who would forget his place just because a woman whispered sweet nothings in his ear, he would rather hide than stand out, lest he be seen as a thorn in the side by those incompetent but nepotistic people.

After settling everyone in, Zhao Ruxi stood up and called to Qingfeng, "Let's go back."

As she reached the door, she saw Qian Duoduo standing there in a daze. Upon seeing her, Qian Duoduo quickly bowed and asked, "Did you bring these people to serve as servants? If so, should we arrange tasks for them?"

"You don't need to worry about these things. Just pick some vegetables from your field for them, and I'll pay you for them later."

As Zhao Ruxi spoke, she turned to Zhou Chun, who was following behind them, and instructed, "I only asked you to buy grain and seasonings; I didn't buy any vegetables. You can just go directly to the money exchange manager later. Qingfeng will settle the cost of the vegetables with them later."

As for meat, that's impossible.

Back when she was in Little Banyan Village, she might not eat meat even once every ten days. The third-class maids in the Earl of Suiping's Residence, such as Yicui and Dianjiang, almost never had any meat in their dishes unless there was a happy occasion in the manor or their master's birthday. The servants like Qian Duoduo were even worse off; their dishes might not even have a speck of oil.

These people were just bought and haven't done anything for her yet, how could she possibly feed them meat? She can just buy some brown rice to make porridge and have some whole-grain bread with it, that will be enough.

When life is too good, how can one find the motivation to strive for improvement?

Zhao Ruxi, who has degenerated into a member of the exploiting class, feels deeply ashamed of the education she received from the Party, but she persists in doing so, refusing to repent. After all, it's impossible to gain anything from her without working for her.

She then introduced Zhou Chun to Qian Duoduo, saying, "This is Zhou Chun," without explaining Zhou Chun's identity.

While the two were exchanging greetings, she led Qingfeng out of the house.

"Miss, the money lender seems very uneasy," Qingfeng said.

Zhao Ruxi smiled and said, "It's good to be uneasy. People should always have a sense of crisis and not be too complacent."

These people were all under her observation.

It won't do if the people in the manor can't see a way out. It's too late today, but she'll find time tomorrow or the day after to go to the manor and select some children to join this group and study together. As for those she buys, if any are too stupid or disobedient, she'll make them manor servants.

However, if Qian Duoduo is inflexible in her thinking and fails to execute orders properly, she will select a suitable person from this group to become the new head of the estate.

By the time they returned to the Earl's residence, it was already quite late, and they had to carry lanterns to enter through the main gate.

"Why are you so late? You really worried me to death!" Lady Zhu rushed out to greet him, scolding, "Why didn't you send someone back to let me know if something happened?"

Zhao Ruxi smiled ingratiatingly at her, "I'm fine. I just bought some people and settled them in the manor, which took a while. Because this matter troubled my Senior Brother Wu, I asked Ma Sheng to go to the restaurant to entertain them for me, so no one else had to run errands."

She recounted what had happened that day, then asked, "Has Ma Sheng returned yet?"

"I'm back, but only recently."

Lady Zhu spoke, she frowned and said, "How about I send you another old woman and a servant?"

Zhao Ruxi thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "If Father doesn't go out these next few days, lend me a guard. I need to train the servants I bought. Uncle Ma needs to stay at the estate, so I need a guard to run errands and deliver messages for me. Also, I'd like to use Uncle Ma's wife and children."

She did need people. But with such a shortage of manpower, not using anyone from the household would make Lady Zhu think things would get complicated.

Upon hearing this, Lady Zhu was indeed Gao Xing and laughed, "Your father doesn't go to the yamen anymore and stays at home all day. It's a waste for Gao Weiqiang and the others to stay in the mansion. They'll be so Gao Xing to be able to go out and get some fresh air. You can do whatever you want with Ma Sheng's wife and children. Your father has already said that the whole family is at your beck and call."

She paused, then added, "Besides, after the family split up, there are fewer masters and less work to do in the manor. Many servants are quite idle. If you need anything, feel free to pick some of the better ones to serve."