Li Xian froze, his actions stalled in place. Xiao Fan asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Li Xian smiled, patting Xiao Fan on the head, and said, "It's nothing, little brother, we have to work hard and not let others bully us anymore."
It seems that my crossing over here wasn't without a golden finger.
Practicing punching over and over, with tenacity, eventually even metal and stone will give way.
"Brother, don't worry! In just over a month, the winter exam will be here. I will not disappoint you," Xiao Fan said determinedly.
"Good little brother, let's eat, it's been a long time since we've had meat."
Li Xian's eyes were moist. Since their father passed away, the two brothers have depended on each other for survival. The older brother showed responsibility, the younger brother wised up early. But the world is harsh, doors are shut tight, and are hard to pry open.
Now... at last, there's a glimmer of hope.
The two brothers only had one set of clothes each, and naturally, no pot to boil water or cook meat. All the grass and trees outside the forest are controlled by landlords, noble families, and powerful clans.
As soon as a fire is lit and smoke rises, the nursing home will immediately come looking. At the very least, they'd get a beating.
They could only go to Aunt Liu's house next door and borrow the stove. Aunt Liu's family was slightly better off, at least they had clothes to wear, barely resembling a family.
...
That night.
Li Xian changed into servant clothes and returned to Yihetang Manor.
From today, he would no longer be a free man but the lowest servant in Yihetang Manor.
But what's the point of talking about freedom when there's not enough food to eat and not enough clothes to wear!
"I don't seek fame or fortune now, I just wish to find a place to live in this chaotic world, somewhere to rest my body."
Li Xian sighed in his heart, separated by high walls and large courtyards, wondering how his little brother was doing.
"You seem to be sensible, no one ran away. Since everyone is here, let me teach you the rules here."
The one welcoming the new servants wasn't Luo Fang from the daytime, but his cousin, "Bi Hao."
"The entire manor here, and the twenty thousand acres of fields outside, along with twenty-nine mountains, all belong to our lady of the manor."
Saying this, Bi Hao proudly puffed out his chest, feeling honored.
"The lady of the manor has recently gone out, she will return in a few days. Don't blame me for not warning you, you lowly animals better watch yourselves, don't go looking around, if you offend the lady, be careful or you'll be crippled."
"The lady's appearance is astonishing, she's a first-class beauty. There was once a servant who was enthralled upon seeing her. His eyes were gouged out and thrown into the river."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a slight chill in their hearts.
"Alright, from now on you will work in this area. Work diligently, otherwise, if whipped, your skin will be torn, haha... and you may not keep your life."
The manor's grounds were vast, with mountains and water, housing thousands of servants, yet it still seemed spacious, with a faint shortage of manpower.
Li Xian, with memories of two lifetimes, had seen the world, but still found his eyes opened here.
"This is the servant room, you'll be living here from now on. At the fifth watch tomorrow morning, you must get up and work. If anyone oversleeps, don't blame me for stripping them naked," Bi Hao said coldly.
The servant room wasn't very big, but it accommodated over a hundred people. The smell was certainly unpleasant, a mix of foot odor, body odor, and sweat, along with the sounds of grinding teeth, farting, and sleep talking.
The snoring rose and fell, it was extremely "lively."
The beds were tightly packed, without a bit of space, and the words clean and comfortable were a world away from here.
"Such a large manor, treating its servants so harshly is a bit too much."
There were eleven similar servant rooms, in continuous rows. However, there were only five latrines.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
The next day.
Li Xian was assigned to clean an abandoned house, within the manor there were twenty pavilions, seventy-two elegant residences. It could be said that labor was never-ending.
Li Xian and two other new servants were led by two old servants to a house that had been abandoned for a long time.
An old servant ordered, "You, go sweep over there, you, go weed, you, go clean the latrine."
One of the new servants asked, "What about you?"
"Nonsense, we naturally have our tasks, get to it, stop dawdling. First day here and you want to slack off?"
The old servant looked disdainful.
Li Xian frowned slightly, said nothing, and honestly followed instructions to weed the backyard of the building.
There were a lot of weeds here, deeply rooted in the soil, and pulling them out was exhausting. Doing this kind of work for two or three hours left the waist sore and aching.
Li Xian patiently pulled them out bit by bit.
[Skill: Weeding]
[Skill Level: 12/500 Beginner]
[Description: Pulling weeds, a small skill, any child of three or elder of eighty can do it. It's easy to start, but mastering it takes luck.]
...
With the golden finger appearing, every time Li Xian bent over to pull weeds, he gained some insight and gradually found a method.
[Skill Level +1]
[Skill Level +1]
The speed was getting faster and faster, pulling weeds didn't seem as tiring.
[Skill level reached maximum.]
[Skill: Weeding]
[Skill Level: 0/1000 Mastery]
[Description: Head up to the sky, feet on the ground, although this path is small, it has its own charm. Young man... have you realized something?]
In the world, whether skill or martial arts can be divided into six stages: Beginner, Mastery, Minor Achievement, Great Success, Perfection, Peak.
At this moment, in the way of weeding, Li Xian was already equivalent to a servant who had labored for years.
"As a servant, my fate isn't my own, how can there be free time? If I finish my tasks too quickly, I will definitely be ordered to do other work."
"I might as well intentionally slow down and use this spare time to refine my abilities."
Therefore.
In the gaps between weeding, Li Xian occasionally stopped to practice the Wild Bull Fist by punching the air. The Wild Bull Fist only had "Three Forms," completing a set took just a few seconds.
[Skill Level +1]
[Skill Level +1]
Li Xian became ever more adept, every punch felt rewarding.
Worked until evening, had a lunch in between. Though lacking in grease, it was enough to fill the stomach.
[Skill level reached maximum]
[Wild Bull Fist's Incomplete Forms]
[Skill Level: 0/1000 Mastery]
[Description: Though the fist is incomplete, its spirit remains; the wild bull is fierce, and the fist is astonishing. ]
Li Xian felt a warm current slowly flowing toward his lower abdomen.
"Is this... inner strength?"
"Is there inner strength in this world?"
Li Xian sensed this warm flow. He couldn't quite say what it was as he had never been involved in the path of a martial artist.
But he knew very clearly that this was beneficial and harmless!
"Not bad, not bad, this feeling is truly peculiar, as if my whole person feels more spirited."
He tried to control the warm flow with his mind, attaching it to his fist, and punched once more. The fist force surged, creating friction with the air and faintly emitting a "moo" sound of a wild bull.
"Good man."
Li Xian was overjoyed but dared not lose himself in the moment and quickly bowed his head to weed again.
The sky was slightly dusky.
Bi Hao walked to the desolate building and checked each servant's labor.
"Damn it, what kind of floor did you sweep?" He lightly ran his finger in the corner of the wardrobe, picking up a bit of dust. He immediately cursed aloud and began to punch and kick.
The servant beaten until his nose was bruised and swollen did not dare to make a sound.
Selling themselves to others, though it could provide sustenance, the hardship and humiliation inside can only be swallowed by oneself.
"You, your work is not up to standard. Tonight, forget about resting; the laundry room just happens to need some help; go lend a hand."
Bi Hao waved his large hand and continued to inspect elsewhere.
"Whose handiwork is this toilet?" Bi Hao's face looked terrifyingly dark as he came to the restroom.
"I… it's me." A newly arrived servant said tremblingly.
Judging by his age, he was about the same size as Li Xiaofan, only about eleven or twelve years old.
"What is this?"
Bi Hao pointed to a pile of filth, staring down at the servant.
"Filth… filth." The servant didn't understand why.
"Lick it clean." Bi Hao said coldly.
"Ah… ah?" The servant was stupefied. Bi Hao sneered, grabbed the servant's hair, and pressed him toward the filth, saying, "Ah what? Lick it clean for me!"
"I'll lick… I'll lick."
The servant executed the order in humiliation. Bi Hao glanced across the crowd, warning, "Let me tell you, don't think this is just a desolate house; those who can stay here are the madam's friends from Jianghu. Such people, even their excrement is fragrant, it's gold!"
"Not to mention you, even me, if madam asks me to do it, I would absolutely obey and take pride in it!"
Soon after, Bi Hao looked at the servant, "Is it fragrant?"
The servant, afraid of being beaten, nodded quickly, "Fragrant, extremely fragrant."
"Hahaha"
Bi Hao laughed a few times and said, "That's right, this is what a servant should be, a sold servant. If you have a skill, then you might have some use and status. But do you?"
No one responded. Some showed numb expressions, and some gradually accepted it. But Li Xian shook his head in his heart. No matter how harsh the environment, how lowly the status, one must never lose the trace of ambition!
Never let it go! Even in death!
Next, it was Li Xian's turn.
"Are you the one weeding?" Bi Hao looked at Li Xian meaningfully.
"Yes." Li Xian nodded.
"Good."
Bi Hao proceeded to the backyard, touching the whip coiled around his waist.
Compared to cleaning and emptying cesspools, weeding is the hardest. The former has learned their lesson; being meticulous is enough to cope. Weeding is the most laborious and hardest to meet standards.
Either the grass isn't fully weeded, or the land is left muddy. The weeding servants... typically end up tasting the whip!
However, when Bi Hao arrived in the backyard, he was dumbfounded, "Where are the weeds?"
"I've finished weeding, and they are put on the cart." Li Xian pointed to the cart beside him.
Bi Hao confirmed it without issue, even stepping on the soil, finding it quite strange. After weeding, the land had been firmly stepped again.
This young man either had experience working as a housekeeper or did things seamlessly with complete consideration.
"Hmm, not bad, not bad, what's your name?" Bi Hao showed a rare smile.
"My name is Li Xian." Li Xian truthfully replied.
"Li Xian?" Bi Hao shook his head and said, "This name isn't suitable, not suited for a servant."
"You did well today; go to the accountant to collect three pennies as a reward and have a good rest tonight. Keep up the good work tomorrow."
"Thank you for your praise, Master Bi."
Li Xian called out as usual. At this moment, bowing wasn't the loss of ambition but rather crouching after recognizing reality.
Upon hearing "Master Bi", Bi Hao felt immensely pleased, and patted Li Xian on the shoulder, laughing, "Hahaha, boy, you're quite savvy."
...
On the way back.
A new servant ran over to chat, "Brother Li, how did you do it? Can you teach me?"
Seeing they were all pitiful people, Li Xian was very willing to guide them, but he had nowhere to start and could only smile, "Nothing special, just skillfulness."
"Just another bootlicker, claiming it's just skillfulness. Tch." A veteran servant sneered disdainfully beside them.
They too had walked from being new servants, knowing how to avoid certain pitfalls to protect themselves. At the same time, they enjoyed watching newcomers stumble into traps.
"Being fellow servants, why must you be at odds? If you point out one or two things during the day, these two young brothers wouldn't have suffered such humiliation." Li Xian frowned.
"Point out? Point out what?" The veteran servant sneered, unwilling to say more.
"Brother Li, don't say it, at the time I felt bad, but thinking about it now, Master Bi is right; I don't even feel it's humiliation anymore." The servant tasked with mucking the filth said numbly.
Li Xian wanted to say something but swallowed it back, sighing that a strange will indeed existed in this manor, making both oppressors and the oppressed intoxicated by power.
Numbed, gradually assimilated.
Filth is filth, no matter how formidable a person is, their filth still stinks.
Li Xian clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm, silently warning himself, one could be humble, but not numb.
"If you want a better life, perhaps... you could secretly learn some other skills."