CH 002 Good People Have Good Fortune
CH 002 Good People Have Good Fortunes
While the servant boy left for the bank to exchange money, Lin Yuan stayed at the abandoned temple to pack up their belongings. Actually, there wasn't much to pack but he had nothing better to do.
His body was currently weak. When he first arrived, this body’s fever was at its peak. The original owner, unable to withstand it, had passed away. So when he occupied the body he had no choice but to continue to fight against the fever in the original owner's place. Although he endured in the end, the surroundings and his situation was simply too harsh and hardly good for expediting his recovery.
Lin Yuan actually felt quite glad that this was the Yuan dynasty, where cotton garments were already available. Otherwise, he and his servant wouldn’t have survived to find this abandoned temple, instead freezing to death on the way.
"Young master!" The servant boy had run back to their temporary shelter. He had even redeemed their cotton coats at the pawn shop.
After putting his cotton coat back on, Lin Yuan finally dared to leave the ragged cotton blanket. They had been sleeping on the floor for the past week and the blanket was already extremely dirty. It was only him and the servant boy– broken down as it was, not even beggars were willing to stay in the abandoned temple as it did not protect against the bitterly cold winds. Thankfully, they could now leave the place and stay at an inn instead. Once he fully recovered, Lin Yuan planned to buy the most suitable property.
Two hundred taels was no small sum. The average three-member family's yearly budget was only two taels, and that was already considered well off.
To tell the truth, Lin Yuan felt lucky not to have arrived at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty. That period was hell. Yuan dynasty officials at the time were completely illiterate, having just stepped off their horses and into the Central Plains with no understanding of how to rule.* A child of ten could be given office, and the junior functionaries took full advantage, embezzling, framing the innocent, and spreading a fog of corruption and deceit.
(TLN: The Yuan dynasty was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China)
The current time period was also difficult, but in comparison to the earlier years of Yuan, it was so much better off.
"I already asked around. There is an inn located in the northern part of the city, said to be the cleanest." The servant boy supported Lin Yuan as they walked. "The top rooms are 200 wen."
Lin Yuan shook his head: "Not the top rooms, how much are the lower rooms?"
Servant boy: "80 wen."
Lin Yuan: "Then we can share one lower room."
In any case, the past week was much of the same, sharing a living space despite the crampedness.
The small city they were currently in was called Wu City, rather close to Jiangnan. Lin Yuan made plans to buy his property in the area after fully recovering his health. Jiangnan was off limits, though, with it being the location of where Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen were gathering their power. Jiangnan was the epicenter of many battles and for a small fish like him, it's better to stay away.
The inn's lower rooms weren't very big but were at least quite clean. The waiter even brought in a pail of water for them to clean up with. Lin Yuan ordered a meal for two and tipped the waiter in return for buying two new changes of clothes for them.
"Leave it to me." The waiter left smiling, as the errand left some space for him to make a small profit. Not a lot, but it was still something.
Their meal arrived in a timely fashion, a plate of greens and a plate of meat, both cooked using pig oil. They were tasty enough but must be eaten quickly, otherwise once the food cooled they would become oily hunks.
Though there were only two plates, the amount was more than sufficient. Downing it with a side of rice, Lin Yuan only stopped when he was completely stuffed.
The servant boy went to buy some medicinal herbs for the inn to cook. Though illness came upon you as fast and furious as a landslide and left as slow as spinning silk, with the proper necessities of warmth and food Lin Yuan recovered quite quickly, taking only three days at most.
Wu City could not be considered large, its population only around 10 or 20 thousand. There weren’t many street vendors either, which was understandable with the cold weather being what it was. However, he did glimpse manual labor workers and beggars on the street, shivering in the freezing winds.
It was unknown whether they could even make it past the winter.
"Customer, have a bowl of tofu pudding! Hot and steamy! Warm your stomach!"
"Customer, our flat cakes are known to be the tastiest in Wu City, have a try!"
The vendors had pasted-on smiles, their cheeks red with the chill but still continuing to hawk their wares.
Lin Yuan walked with his servant boy, looking rather out of place amidst the poor civilians around them. After all, the original owner was born into a landowner family and had never experienced poverty or harshness in his life. It was only during his earlier years when he learned to read and write that he experienced any toil. His normal everyday life was staying indoors, unsubjected to the sun rays or harsh wind; he was the picture of a sheltered scion of a prosperous family.
As for the servant boy, he was a household-born servant and had been with Lin Yuan since he was seven years old. Daily chores only included taking care of the young master's needs. He never lacked for food and warm clothing and even recognized some words. Compared to some children of commoner families, his situation was much better.
Their appearance on the street was practically as obvious as carrying a sign labeled with the words ‘wealthy people’.
"Young master!"
Lin Yuan only just passed a block when his leg was seized by a woman in rags. There was much to be said about her appearance. She was extremely dirty and smelly, with hair covered in oil and dirt, and if one looked closely they could see the presence of lice. Her clothing was nothing more than ragged cloth, her only insulation was the dry straw stuffed within. One hand gripped Lin Yuan’s leg while the other pulled a child forward.
"Young master!" The woman cried. "Please buy him, I’m not asking for anything, please take him with you!"
"He is very hardworking! And he’ll do all the work for you! He is strong!"
As she said so, she began to kowtow, so thoroughly and with not the least bit of pretense that Lin Yuan could hear the dull thuds of her forehead hitting the ground, hard enough that blood seeped out. All the while crying: "Young master, buy him, buy him!"
The child, seeing his mother kneeling, followed as well with a kowtow.
At eight years old, the child was already old enough to understand. His family had been tenant farmers and last year, his dad made a mistake that made the landowner take back the land allotted to his family. His dad had also been beaten to death. His mother escaped with him and his two older brothers. Unfortunately, they died on the way: one from hunger, the other beaten to death for stealing from other villagers.
He and his mother roamed as vagrants, finally arriving in this small city. They no longer had the strength to continue, becoming this city's beggars instead. But his mother's health deteriorated over time and the food he managed to beg for was barely able to sustain their lives, not nearly enough to cease their hunger pains.
Originally, there had been an owner of a food store who would give them something to eat, but the store was now closed and with that, their last hope was gone.
Last night his mother told him: "Be good, mama is going to sell you to a good family, you'll be able to eat your fill."
He asked: "Mama will sell herself too? We can eat our fill together."
His mother responded with only a smile.
She was already past her prime and had given birth to three children. She was all rough hands and feet, with no beauty to speak of—even a brothel wouldn’t even take her in. Wealthy families might buy an eight year old child, but it was unlikely for them to take in an old female beggar who was barely clinging on to life.
She thought back to the time when she still had a home. Her husband was an honest man who never shirked hard work. Her oldest son resembled her husband, clumsy-mouthed but the most obedient child. Her middle son was a little cleverer, always saying that when he grew older he would go do business in the city and take the whole family to live there and have a better life.
A whole family, gone in an instant.
If not for her youngest son, she didn't believe she could have endured this long. During their most bitter period, she even thought of committing suicide with her son. Take a piece of rock, first smash her son to death, and then end her own life by colliding with a hard surface.
But looking into her youngest son’s eyes, she could not bear it, and so the only choice was to wipe away the tears and continue on.
"Stop! No more!" Lin Yuan tried to block a few times without success, left with no choice, he could only raise his voice.
Only then did the woman and child stop. With a forehead dripping with blood, the woman's eyes were full of despair. “Young master, he’s strong, I swear he can work! He can do any labor you ask! He doesn’t need pay, I’ll sell him to you, I’ll sign the indenture with my own hand! Please, young master, just buy him!"
She was not pleading with Lin Yuan to buy her son, she was pleading with him to give her son an opportunity to survive.
"Stand up first." Lin Yuan put a hand to his temple, saying with a building headache, "Stand and talk."
Though the woman's knees were frozen stiff, still she struggled to stand. The boy also stood by her side, not daring to look up at Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan asked, "What can you do?"
The woman's eyes lit up, she immediately replied, "Gou zi can herd cows! Can farm the land! Can do heavy manual labor!"
Lin Yuan continued to ask, "Is he literate?"
The woman's shoulders slumped: "No, not literate….."
Lin Yuan honestly wanted to be a good person, but in his previous life he never had the chance. After graduating college, he entered a medium-sized company that was full of fighting and scheming behind smiles. His earlier days were hard, as being a newbie and at the bottom of the ladder, he had to do a lot of work for his senior coworkers on top of his own responsibilities.
Do the work well, and his coworkers and superiors got praise and received bonuses.
Do the work badly, and only he was criticized and had his wage docked.
He had thought of changing jobs, but could not find any better position. Since his college specialization was a niche field, his only choice was to stay.
So he found an opportunity. When helping his senior gather data, he carefully inserted mistaken numbers and only listed his senior's name. Later, when it was discovered by the higher ups, his senior wanted to shift the blame to him. However, because the company had always been familiar with the senior bullying him at work and his own resigned facade, no one believed the truth and the senior was fired.
As for his superior, he first got him drunk and then used his phone to text the boss of a rival company the business secrets of the project he was working on, leading to his downfall as well.
As for himself, he was promoted from just a regular worker to the head of a department.
In the workplace, Lin Yuan was like a fish in the water, winning over the support of subordinates, currying favor with the boss, and defeating his rivals. All of this could not be considered the actions of a good man. Even Lin Yuan thought that if he was a good man he would not be willing to be friends with someone like himself.
"Do you know how to farm?" Lin Yuan asked the woman.
The woman looked bewildered, but her son replied immediately, "Young master, my mama knows! She can farm! Please buy my mama as well!"
“We only need some food, we don’t need money! Young master, we’ll work harder for you than oxen or horses could!”
"Alright." Lin Yuan signalled the servant boy to take out ten wen. "Go buy something to eat. Wait for me here at noon in three days."
Both the woman and child knelt down again.
"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!"
The servant boy was already used to his young master's kindness so the only thing he was curious about was: "Young master, why give them ten wen, what if they don't come? Wouldn't we then lose out?"
Lin Yuan: "If they don't come, then just think of the money as being given to charity."
After all, the first step after owning property was to hire more workers. He and the servant boy were only two people, which was hardly enough. Once ancient people signed slave contracts they would belong to the master, unable to leave, so there was no need to worry about any lack of obedience.
In addition, he hoped to accumulate good fortune for the original owner through virtuous deeds so that he could be reborn in the peace of modern times and become a good person.
This was just for his own peace of mind and conscience.
TLC Note: Regarding the ox and horse mentioned above - the og line reads: ‘我们给您当牛做马’. ‘当牛做马’ is a Chinese idiom that literally means ‘to be a cow or a horse for someone’. In the phrase, cows and horses symbolize people who are used or ordered around by others. It means willingly allowing oneself to be treated like a beast of burden, obeying another person's commands and working tirelessly for them.
The expression is often used to show deep gratitude and a sincere desire to repay someone's kindness, but it can also be extended to mean working extremely hard or living a difficult, exhausting life.
Why specifically ox and horse, you ask? Well, horses and oxen in the past held a significant role in labor. Oxen were the primary draft animals for ploughing fields; they were the backbone of agriculture. Horses were the primary animals for transport, riding, and warfare; they were the backbone of travel and military power. Together, they covered almost all heavy physical labor in pre-industrial Chinese society: farming, hauling, carrying loads, and moving people or goods.
Fun fact: In classical texts, ox and horse were almost always literal references to the animals themselves, not metaphors for people. Examples from the Zhuangzi and Yanzi chunqiu mention oxen and horses as valuable livestock, not as symbols of toiling humans.
The figurative use of ‘ox-horse’ to mean a hardworking, low-status laborer appears to have emerged during the Song Dynasty (960–1279), when an official named Fan Zhifang referred to himself as an ‘ox-horse’ in a memorial to the emperor.
And since the Song came prior to the Yuan dynasty, this line is quite timeline-accurate ;)
Source: https://content.foshanplus.com/simpleNewsDetails.html?newsId=300350880