The spring in Wuyang City is gradually coming to an end, but the weather is not hot at all. Gao Qing is sitting in the yard, staring blankly at the sky. It has been almost two months since he became the slave of the Australian gentleman.
After the incident was cleared, Mr. Gao specifically ordered him to report back every move of the Australian gentlemen. He also promised that if the Australian gentlemen never came back, or something went wrong, he would still report them to him.
His whole family has taken it back, and they will definitely not be allowed to live on the streets.
He and his wife also discussed several times about what if an Australian gentleman wanted to take them back to Australia. At that time, he didn't know if he could ask the gentleman to keep their family.
These Australian gentlemen are very generous to their servants. Knowing that their family is suffering, they give extra monthly rice and monthly money to their sons. But after all, they are foreign merchants and they will have to go back one day. If they really want to bring them back
What should he do if he goes to Australia? Logically speaking: these gentlemen are the masters of his family. Wherever the master goes, the slaves must follow him. It is only natural that he does not want to leave his hometown again - he originally left his hometown.
To escape and sell one's life is to leave one's homeland. If you really go to Australia, which is thousands of miles away... Needless to say, Australia is a barbaric land. Even if there are some ingenious and ingenious objects, how can they compare with China? This
Although the city of Guangzhou is not his hometown, he is still very attached to it after living there for these years.
After thinking about it, he was very distressed. He had been at Mr. Gao's house for many years and knew that the Franconian merchants would wait for the wind to sail away in June. Most of the Australian merchants would also leave at this time - would they have to take them with them?
Are they leaving as a family?
He sighed again, squinted his eyes and looked at the door to the backyard. Manager Yan would be coming over soon. Counting the days, the last few days were the days when the Australian gentleman would come.
In the past two months, the three gentlemen would come here every half a month or so and stay for several days. Every time they didn't know when they came or how they entered the house, it was always bright and clear.
When I arrived, I saw that the door of the courtyard where the gentlemen lived had been opened, and piles of goods were piled in the hall and under the eaves of the corridor.
This always made him feel very mysterious, and there was a little fear in the mystery. Although Mr. Gao hinted or explicitly promised him benefits and asked him to find out all the details of the Australian maritime business, he did not dare to do it.
――It’s not difficult to lurk in the yard. If you see something you shouldn’t see...
Gao Qing knows that the most important thing about being a slave is not to know things you shouldn't know. No matter whether the master is from Ming Dynasty or Australia.
Gao Di didn't understand his father's thoughts, so he ran over and asked, "Sister, what's your mother asking you: when will the gentlemen come so that she can prepare a meal. Last time, Mr. Wang also said that he would make a good meal and try it."
Dishes.”
"It's just these few days, it's almost done." Gao Zhi counted on his fingers for a long time, "Have you prepared all your account books?"
"It's all ready. At the end of last time, the gentlemen read it and praised me for remembering everything and being attentive." Gao Di raised his neck a little proudly, "Mr. Wang also helped me correct the wrong words. That Xiao
The master said that he will teach me some Arabic numerals in the future, and I can calculate faster than the accounting gentlemen."
"Okay, okay, as long as the master likes it," Gao Qing said vaguely. It is originally a good thing for the children to like the master. If the masters are all Chinese, it can be regarded as a good place for their children.
, but - alas! They were from a foreign vassal, and even if he did not take their whole family away, but only took away one or two of their children, he would not be willing to part with them.
"I think Mr. Nawen likes my sister very much. He asks her to talk to her every time and rewards her with some things. Will he confiscate my sister's apartment?"
These words hit Gao Qing's heart hard. He calmly thought about it for a long time before saying, "It depends on her luck." But he was unwilling in his heart.
While he was bored, he heard a knock at the door. It was Manager Yan who had arrived. Gao Qing hurriedly greeted him, invited him to sit down at the stone table in the courtyard, and sent his son to get tea, water and dried fruits.
"Old Gao, the Australian maritime merchants are coming again in the past few days. What about the matters that I have asked you to do?" Manager Yan was not polite and got straight to the point.
"To answer your question, I really don't understand." Gao Qing knew that these words were unavoidable. "Those gentlemen are very alert and never ask anyone to follow them to the room to serve them. Every time
He always comes and goes without a trace."
"It's been two months, and I still say the same thing over and over again. You are a fucking waste." Manager Yan has always been Mr. Gao's confidant, and Gao Qing has never been qualified to enter the inner court.
Being rough makes the slaves look down upon him, and he is also unscrupulous when he opens his mouth.
"Yes, yes, little stupid one."
"Why do you want me to talk to the master?" Manager Yan rolled his eyes, "The master is very dissatisfied with you..."
"Then I'd like to ask for your patience and kind words, Manager Yan..." Gao Qing was a little panicked. He rummaged around in his waist for a long time and took out two coins - this was what he had saved in the past two months.
He was about to get some clothes for the two children. At this moment, Manager Yan's half-truths frightened him. Although he was no longer a slave of the Gao family, he did not dare to entrust his destiny to
On Australian men.
Manager Yan took it and stuffed it into his sleeve after weighing it for a moment: "Master, let me help you deal with it first. But you can avoid this matter in the first grade of junior high school, but not in the fifteenth grade. No matter what, you have to deal with it.
The details of several people have been found out!"
"Yes, yes, I understand, little one."
"As soon as the merchants arrive, invite them over immediately. Any time."
"Yes, I know, little one."
After saying this, Manager Yan walked away. Gao Qing wiped the sweat from his head and frowned even more. Helping Mr. Gao to investigate will eventually offend his boss. Not to mention the kindness of Australian gentlemen, he is so
It is ungrateful. Just snooping into the secret of betraying the master is a sin against the master. It is probably a serious crime no matter where you go. Even if you don't die, you will have to shed your skin. If you ignore Master Gao's instructions, you can seek refuge with him again in the future.
There is no way, let alone if Master Gao wants to deal with a slave like him, it will be effortless.
Just as he was thinking wildly, he saw one of his sworn brothers in the Gao family, Gao Chang, coming over, carrying a big food box, filled with smoked snacks that Mr. Gao had given to Australian gentlemen. Gao Qingqiang cheered up and asked his wife and daughter to come out to get them.
Okay, go to the kitchen to clean up.
"Guanshi Yan, is this guy blackmailing my brother again?" Gao Chang was a strong young man in his mid-twenties. He and Gao Qing were from the same hometown. They also came to Guangzhou to escape from the famine in their hometowns and asked Gao Qing to act as a guarantee before selling themselves to Gao. When they came home, they both worked as chores in the outer courtyard. They were from the same hometown and looked after each other, so they became brothers in private.
"Alas." Gao Qing turned his head and muttered.
"Brother, you are too cowardly," Gao Chang said angrily, "You belong to the Australian gentleman now, why should you care about him? The gentleman is kind enough to save some money for you, so why don't you stuff this? Dog hole!”
"Brother, please stop talking. I can't say enough." Gao Qing looked at the sky on the courtyard wall, "This family... is afraid that they will have to take refuge in Master Gao in the future." After that, he refused to say more.
"It's strange. My brother's family's status and deeds have been given to Australian gentlemen. Why do you want to take refuge with Mr. Gao again? Is it possible that the gentlemen don't want you?"
"That's not true. The masters really don't have anything good to say about our family. They are kind and kind to others. They are all good people."
"Then what do you want to do when you return to the Gao family? My brother was just a servant of a handyman in the Gao family. How can it be compared to being half a steward now. I envy my brother for having such good luck."
"But they are always merchants from foreign vassals!"
"So what? He's not a red-haired, green-eyed Fo Langji guy with smelly hair and grass." Gao Chang disagreed. "Although I can't understand what I'm saying, and I'm dressed weirdly, I can say that I'm Chinese." Woolen cloth."
"They have to leave one day, right? What if they have to take this family with them?"
Gao Chang suddenly realized that this was what his adopted brother was worried about. He didn't care about this kind of thing: he had been an orphan since he was a child, a bachelor, no worries, no matter where he went. However, his adopted brother took care of the family. Yes, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes does make you look forward and backward.
"Brother is worried about this. But from my point of view, it's okay to leave. Although this Ming Dynasty is good, it is not the Ming Dynasty we are waiting for. You are a slave here, but you are just a slave in Australia. How bad can it be? Go? These gentlemen are so kind-hearted that my brother and his whole family will definitely not suffer any loss if they follow." He smiled and said, "If I were the brother, I would go with him if I wanted to, so that I could see this little Chinese overseas in Australia. Style."
"Brother is right, but I don't want to die in a foreign country." Gao Qing sighed, "When there was a famine in my hometown, in order to find a way to survive, I abandoned my old home and ancestral graves to escape. Mr. Meng Gao took me here. It has been more than ten years. Most of the houses and ancestral graveyards have been destroyed... I have given up the idea of returning to my hometown..." As he spoke, tears came down, and he choked with sobs, "Brother, I am over forty, and the mountains are high. When the water is low, people have to leave, and when they grow old, they have to bury their bones overseas. That’s really a death sentence.”
Gao Changchang's sworn brother was sad and hurriedly offered some words of comfort. But he didn't take it seriously in his heart. The slaves of the Gao family were dead. Only those slaves with a good reputation could still use their master's reward and their daily savings to build a dojo and buy a piece of land. Burial. Ordinary slaves just give a thin-skinned coffin, carry it to the cemetery outside the city, and bury it casually. Is it because the adopted brother wants to stay here because he wants what he has behind him? He can't help but feel extremely desolate.
For the first time in more than 20 years, this young man, who was living a chaotic life as a slave, had a flash of light in his heart: Maybe this world shouldn't be like this...