In fact, in Heihe County, selling oneself into slavery is also a way out.
Many poor people from humble backgrounds are eager to work in big houses.
At least I can have a hot meal and have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
Secondly, if you make your boss happy, you might be able to get ahead.
He will rise to become a steward or leader.
Very decent too.
For example, the Yujiazi whom Bai Qi knew in his previous life.
One of them sold himself as a groom.
On the contrary, the life became more comfortable.
Because of the good horses from wealthy families.
Eat better than others.
Not only is the forage fine, but eggs, soybeans, and cornmeal are also added to it to make it properly blended.
The good horses raised in this way will not lose weight, have strong bodies, and can run very fast.
Being a groom is like being a cook.
Of course, stealing is unavoidable.
Skip a little from time to time.
Over time, I was able to eat eggs, drink soy milk, and steamed buns made of cornmeal.
It's much more comfortable than when I was fishing, and it was hard to get wet with fishy oil for most of the year.
"I would rather be a beggar than a slave. Did my father ever say this?"
Moreover, brother, Heihe County does not support idlers, so where can beggars come from? "
Bai Ming asked doubtfully.
"Of course. Dad also said, don't talk when you eat or sleep, and eat your food well.
Sooner or later we will get rid of our lowly status, how can we become slaves for others! "
Bai Qi lightly tapped Adi's head and changed the topic.
Selling yourself into slavery means being manipulated by your master for the rest of your life.
Even if they are whipped in public, they must shout "Thank you for the reward" to express their conviction.
Otherwise, it will fall into the eyes of the master.
They are servants who are dishonest and unruly.
At that time, it was not as simple as cracking a whip.
It doesn't matter if it's five thousand dollars or two thousand five hundred dollars.
It is indeed enough to get Bai Qi through the autumn and winter.
You can also eat meat a few times and improve your food.
But there is a bottom line for taking advantage of others.
Use your brothers in exchange for money.
Past and Present.
He couldn't even do such a thing.
"Hurry up and finish your meal. I'll teach you how to write later."
After finishing the meal in a hurry, Bai Qi began to practice calligraphy with a bald brush dipped in water under the dim light of the copper lamp.
While writing, I asked Adi Bai Ming to recite it after him.
His cheap father gave up and left nothing but a box of broken books.
For example, it is some Taoist classics, historical annals of previous dynasties, or medical scriptures.
That's valuable.
If that doesn't work, let's get some romance novels and erotic secret histories.
The bookstores in the county also have people collecting them.
One roll is worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Unfortunately, the broken box against the wall contained dozens of books.
It's either fragments of fragments without beginning or end, or odd essays that are about to be eaten away by moths.
Due to the poor condition and the fact that most of the authors are unknown, they are almost like a pile of waste paper.
It can only be used as a source of enlightenment.
"Which story are you listening to today?"
Bai Ming rubbed his hands, looking forward to it.
What he looks forward to most every day is for his brother to teach him how to write and read.
"Let me take a look, this article is called 'Corpse Transformation', and it comes from "Notes of Youwei Thatched Cottage"."
Bai Qi said.
The entire book box with peeling paint is the only one that is still intact, "Notes of Youwei Thatched Cottage".
The "corpse transformation" he talked about was a description of a wealthy family in Renjiazhuang, whose father received instructions from a Feng Shui master before his burial.
The shadow of this tomb is very thick, which can protect future generations.
However, the yin energy is also strong, and after twenty years the coffin must be moved to the grave and reburied, otherwise disaster will be imminent.
As a result, the useless descendants did not follow the instructions, which made the old man resentful and his corpse turned into a zombie.
On a full moon night, they break out of the ground and kill on a massacre.
Fortunately, the "Taoist Priest Yimei" who was passing by noticed the rising turbidity and figured it out with his fingers.
He hurriedly came to kill the zombies that were causing trouble and saved more than a hundred lives in Hezhuang.
The story is wonderfully written, with only a few hundred words, and it is written with a ghostly atmosphere, and the process is extremely dangerous.
In addition, the night wind outside the house was strong at this time, making the wooden door clank.
It seemed that a red-haired zombie grinding its teeth and sucking blood was about to pounce out of the darkness.
Bai Ming shrank his head, looking a little scared:
"Brother, are there really zombies in the world?"
"I don't know. I only know that the dealer in the fish farm said that there are 'water ghosts' living deeper in the reed swamps, and they specially take advantage of the fishermen to go into the river and pull their ankles. As for the 'zombie', I haven't heard much about it."
Bai Qi touched his brother's head, smiled and comforted:
"Don't be afraid, even if a zombie does appear, there will still be a 'Yimei Taoist' to save the troubled person."
After about half a stick of incense, Bai Ming finished copying "Corpse" with a brush dipped in water and recognized all the rare characters.
Bai Qi blew out the copper lamp and the room became dark.
Only a few glimmers of light from the stars and moon in the sky shine in through the doors and windows.
"Go to sleep, we have to be busy tomorrow."
Adi is not doing nothing at home every day.
Go out to collect dry firewood, dig some wild vegetables, steam wheat cakes, deliver meals at noon, etc.
It's all his responsibility.
As the saying goes, children from poor families become masters early.
Bai Qi's daily fishing was already very hard.
Many trivial matters are left to Bai Ming to take care of.
The brothers have always been like this.
So dependent on each other.
Stumbling through life.
"How much money do you have left at home?"
Bai Qi sat on several beds made of wooden boards, thinking about how to survive the autumn and winter.
Prices in the county have not increased recently. Pork costs 20 cents per catty, water chickens cost 50 cents per catty, and whole geese and ducks range from 40 to 200 cents.
Table salt costs five cents per catty, and sesame oil costs more than thirty cents per catty.
For example, rice and wheat cost about 160 yuan per bushel.
By the time winter comes, there will inevitably be some significant fluctuations.
Especially cloth and charcoal.
The price is definitely higher.
Calculate the total.
This period of time.
If there is no income of two or three thousand yuan.
After that, the freezing cold winter was not easy to endure.
Adi Bai Ming cautiously crawled under the bed and rummaged for a long time.
Then he took out a rag bag from an inconspicuous mud urn.
He was holding on to his lifeblood, gently arranging one big coin after another.
Counting again and again, he said weakly:
"Seventy-five articles."
Less than a hundred dollars!
Thinking of the bottomed rice tank, I haven't bought enough oil and salt yet.
Charcoal for winter, and stall fees from the fish pen...
Bai Qi couldn't help but frown, feeling suddenly burning with impatience in his heart.
There has been little harvest in fishing for the past few days, and it seems that everything is about to be exhausted.
This is not okay.
The raw fish, shrimp and river fresh food are cheap and cannot be sold for much money, and the middle layer is peeled off by the fish plate.
In a short period of time, it is really difficult to obtain sufficient funds to meet urgent needs.
If next, there is still no good product to take the bait.
The two brothers' peaceful life is in danger.
"Brother, why don't you sell me?"
Bai Ming drooped his little head and squeezed out such a sentence for a long time.
“Don’t have such thoughts in the future.
We brothers have hands and feet and can always make a living in Heihe County, so why bother serving others as slaves! "
Bai Qi's face twitched when he heard this, but he wasn't annoyed and just said softly:
“The eight hundred miles of black river water supports so many mouths.
It’s unreasonable for God to drive away poor people like you and me who make a living! "
Listening to his brother's steady and even breathing, Bai Ming felt very relieved, turned over and fell asleep slowly.
"You have obviously worked very hard, but why are the days getting harder and harder every day... It's hard to live in this world, and you have to force people to be slaves and cows and horses!"
Bai Qi shook his head and suppressed his distracting thoughts.
I'm thinking about finding a better fishing spot tomorrow and hone my fishing skills to a small level.
River shrimps and river fish are difficult to exchange for big money.
It must be a "big product" that restaurants and martial arts schools in the county want.
Only then can it be sold at a good price.
certainly.
A place with deep water.
More than just raising big fish.
There may also be water ghosts hiding there.
It is much more dangerous than the reed swamps frequented by fishermen.
Before going to bed.
Bai Qi's eyelids twitched twice, calling out the ink ink in his mind.
If you look at it carefully, it looks like billions of secret texts intertwined.
It’s like the traces of infinite Tao are mixed together to form a “canopy” that encompasses everything.
Wonderful and majestic scenes are arranged, the sun, moon, stars, and colorful clouds float one after another.
There are also gods and immortals, and the blurry shapes of dragons, phoenixes and birds are looming.
How grand!
It was this thing that brought him to this world.
I think at the beginning, Bai Qi just repeated the sixteen words "Taoism occurs, from ordinary to holy, from beginning to end, and then becomes true".
As soon as he opened and closed his eyes, he fished for Boss Bai from the side.
He became a fisherman who was infected with cold and was unconscious for three or four days.
Buzz!
The ink basket trembled slightly, and every inch of light fell.
Like a waterfall flowing down, a few lines of clear text are outlined,
[Dharma Master: Bai Qi]
[Skill: Fishing (Introduction)]
[Progress: (791/800)]
[Efficacy: fishing with nets, fishing with cages, hard work can make up for weakness, and you can catch fish in three to five days]
…
[Skill: Reading and Hyphenation (Introductory)]
[Progress: (764/800)]
[Efficacy: Able to listen and write, write down a piece of paper, have a photographic memory, and look like a child prodigy]
