"Master Lin, I've cooked some noodles, fried eggs and meat. Please let me know if it's not enough," Xue Cong said and led him to the dining area.
Lin Xuan Qi was pleased when he saw the dishes and bowl ready for him.
Finally, he had a feeling of being a mansion owner.
He sat down and picked up the bowl of noodles.
He slurped down some noodles and had a mouthful of the soup.
"Nice!" Lin Xuan Qi exclaimed with joy.
He hadn't had a proper meal for a very long time.
"What are you waiting for?" Lin Xuan Qi saw Xue Cong standing beside him and he asked.
"Master Lin, servants are not supposed to be seated with their masters," Xue Cong replied with her head lowered.
Lin Xuan Qi frowned and said, "Are servants supposed to obey their masters?"
"Yes, Master Lin."
"Then I command you to come have dinner with me," Lin Xuan Qi said.
Xue Cong frowned and thought about what Lin Xuan Qi said.
His logic was infallible.
She couldn't think of anything to refute him.
"You can do that at least for now.
"When the mansion has a mistress, and more servants, then you will have to follow the norm," Lin Xuan Qi said.
"Yes, Master Lin," Xue Cong replied and took a seat at the table.
They ate their dinner quietly after that.
When Lin Xuan Qi was done, Xue Cong quickly cleared the table and asked, "Master Lin, do you need to have a hot shower next?"
Lin Xuan Qi thought for a moment and shook his head.
It was cold and he wouldn't want to feel frozen when he got out of the bathtub.
But that got him thinking, Xue Cong certainly needed more help and assistance.
She was already busy with whatever he was asking.
And there was so much more to be done in the mansion.
"Have a good rest tonight. It's going to be a long day tomorrow," Lin Xuan Qi said and went to a room he had chosen as his bedroom.
Xue Cong nodded and proceeded to clean up the rest of the dishes.
After that she did some cleaning and went back to her room.
She pondered on what had happened to her.
From the dark and dirty room in the slave brokerage, to the big mansion that she was in now. It seemed like a dream to her.
However, her thoughts went back to her family again.
The image of her father lying on the bed, unable to work due to an unfortunate fall was vivid in her mind.
And her mother, worried sick, trying to earn whatever she could by sewing, being a help for others appeared next.
Lastly, she thought of her younger brother.
She could still remember Ah Di's smile whenever he followed her around as she worked in the fields.
Smack.
Xue Cong slapped herself to get herself out of it.
Blood is thicker than water, but she knew it wasn't right for her to think of them as family anymore.
...
Next day.
"Master Lin, wake up."
Lin Xuan Qi opened his eyes when he heard Xue Cong's voice at the side of his ears.
He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes.
After a moment, Lin Xuan Qi realized that it was indeed Xue Cong calling his name by the bedside.
"Breakfast is ready, Master Lin," Xue Cong said.
She had some clothes from Lin Xuan Qi's bundle on her arm, waiting to change them for him.
Lin Xuan Qi noticed that her face was flushed red.
"Put my clothes on the bed, I'll change into them myself. It's awkward for me," he said and Xue Cong did as she was told.
He saw her leaving and noticed that she was still wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday.
Lin Xuan Qi got out of bed, changed his clothes and went to the dining hall for breakfast.
As he ate, he saw Xue Cong going around the mansion, taking stock of everything inside it.
She didn't know how to write so she could only see where the item was and mumbled to herself where the items were located repeatedly.
Lin Xuan Qi was impressed with her initiative nature.
After he was done eating, he took out fifty copper coins bunched together with a string.
"Use this to buy some clothes for yourself. And if there's any left over, buy whatever you deem necessary to do your work," Lin Xuan Qi said.
"Master Lin..." She hesitated.
Lin Xuan Qi shook his head and said, "You want to wear the same clothes every day and stink up the place?"
"I'm sorry, Master Lin," Xue Cong was reminded that it was different now.
Normal families wouldn't have the luxury of having new clothes unless it was new year.
But in such a big mansion, how could she do the same?
She took the copper coins and kept them.
Lin Xuan Qi was pleased and he stood up.
"I will go out for business now. Take care of the mansion," he said and left the dining hall.
Before leaving the mansion, he had a look inside the warehouse again.
Miraculously, there were now ten sacks of rice at one kilogram each.
The system's reward was right on time.
This brightened his day and Lin Xuan Qi left the mansion with a smile.
"Uncle Luo," Lin Xuan Qi greeted Luo Bao and bought some buns from him.
He munched on the buns, and he went to the slave brokerage again.
If he could, Lin Xuan Qi wanted to get two more servant girls.
This would bring up the reward from the system to fifteen kilograms of rice per day.
But it would also mean that he would have two more mouths to feed and take care of.
When Fei Luo saw him enter the slave brokerage again, he wasn't pleased.
"Why are you here? We don't take back the slaves we sold," he said and the two workers stood beside him with their arms crossed in front of their chests.
Lin Xuan Qi frowned and raised his hand.