Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 272 - 271: Ah Wang the Beast of Burden

Qin Yao faced the tightly closed gate, thumped her chest, and let out a long breath.

Her breath tightened immediately, and her body involuntarily tensed up as she sensed a strange and dangerous scent!

Qin Yao suddenly turned around, her gaze as sharp as lightning!

A ragged and hunchbacked stranger with disheveled hair stood in the courtyard, holding a glass of cold boiled water, intending to approach her but was startled by her fierce look and stopped in his tracks.

Liu Ji came running out from the backyard with four children, "Wife..."

Qin Yao questioned, "Who is he?"

The man lowered his eyelids, adopting a humble and hunched posture, and bowed slightly towards Liu Ji, calling out hoarsely:

"Master, eldest young master, second young master, third young master, fourth young miss...."

Qin Yao frowned.

Liu Ji smiled at Qin Yao, gesturing for her to calm down.

He first took the bowl from the man’s hands, gave him a look, and said, "Ah Wang, this is the lady of the house, not being aware of the situation scared her, see how I deal with you later, hurry and pay your respects to the lady!"

This bossy tone and sense of ownership made Qin Yao show a puzzled expression, like an old man on the subway looking at a phone—why is Liu Ji always so average yet so confident?

The man named Ah Wang had no intention of resisting; he immediately knelt with a "thump," then kowtowed, "Lady, please forgive me!"

His head hit the ground paved with broken tiles in Qin Yao’s home, making a heavy thud, and the four Da Lang brothers and sisters watched with wide eyes.

Si Niang rolled her eyes wordlessly at her father: Are you even human!

Liu Ji waved his hand, telling the children to go and cool off somewhere else.

Then the four little ones actually went back to their rooms to cool off.

Qin Yao didn’t call for him to get up, so Ah Wang stayed on the ground until Liu Ji called him to get up and continue cooking, at which point he got up and went into the kitchen, his movements seemingly agile but actually clumsy due to unfamiliarity with the environment as he prepared dinner.

Liu Ji, holding a bowl in one hand, tried to pull Qin Yao’s sleeve with the other, but Qin Yao gave him a glare that chilled him to the core.

Yet he still thickened his skin, bringing her to the main room to sit down, handing the bowl of water to Qin Yao, "Wife, have a sip of water first, let me explain slowly to you."

Qin Yao glanced at the hunched, unfamiliar figure in the kitchen, her tone low, "You better give me a satisfying explanation."

Liu Ji sat opposite her with a wry smile, detailing how he met Ah Wang and brought him back.

Today, he drove to town to inquire about grain prices and also to see if there was anything new and lively.

On the road between the county seat and Jinshi Town, he encountered a large group of people selling themselves.

Some pretty girls could be taken home for just five pecks of rice, which made Liu Ji’s heart surge.

He thought to himself the last time he encountered such a good thing was the last time, and ended up bringing back this shrew Qin Yao, who made him suffer greatly.

Looking at the thin beauty kneeling by the road made him extremely excited.

Of course, this part he omitted when telling Qin Yao.

His survival instinct kicked in later, so he didn’t dare to give rice to rescue that thin beauty and bring her out of suffering. Rounding it up meant this event didn’t happen.

Luckily, he didn’t give rice, or else he would have been the unlucky one to fall into a honeypot trap.

Recalling how a certain squire was stripped by a group of sturdy refugees who robbed him of all his money and then received a spit from the beauty he saved, Liu Ji still shudders and pats his chest with lingering fear.

After dodging the trap set by that beauty, Liu Ji drove his empty cart towards the county town and encountered Ah Wang.

Back then, Ah Wang wasn’t kneeling by the road waiting to be picked; instead, he had long spotted someone like Liu Ji and, striking precisely, knelt in front of him, saying he didn’t want a cent, just wished Liu Ji would take him, a ’beast of burden,’ home for free use.

Liu Ji, for his life, spent the first twenty-three years kneeling to his father and late mother, and the last two years kneeling to the shrew at home.

Now someone actually knelt to him, willingly offered to become his slave, for free use, without asking for a cent!

Who could stand such a spectacle?

Just as Liu Ji was heartily moved but hesitant due to the shrew at home, Liu Dafu’s family’s carriage appeared in sight.

Liu Ji watched as Da Zhuang, a laborer from Liu Dafu’s family, under the pretext of Scholar Liu Li selecting an attendant student, took away two big lads while the parents watched gratefully. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Liu Ji was astonished, dropping his jaw, incredulous, refusing to believe it, feeling very unfair!

He looked down again at the man kneeling in front of him, obediently and requiring not a single cent, and Liu Ji decisively tossed his head back, "Get in the cart!"

"What is your name?" Liu Ji asked him.

The man didn’t mention his own name but respectfully asked the master to bestow a name.

Liu Ji, overwhelmed by the "master" address, lost himself and racked his brain to come up with the ’brilliant’ name of Ah Wang.

Subsequently, assuming a posture of treating servants leniently, he instructed Ah Wang:

"Our family is simple, just six people. I, the master, usually have to go to the county academy to study. The four young masters and misses will also go to Ding Family School in town."

"As for you, send the young masters and misses to the school at seven a.m. each day, pick them up in the evening, the family has three meals a day, and madam has a big appetite, usually requiring meals for five people..."

At this point, Liu Ji didn’t notice that when he mentioned that one person could eat meals for five, a surprising thing for anyone to hear, Ah Wang wasn’t surprised at all, just nodded, indicating he remembered.

Liu Ji continued instructing: "There are two livestock to feed at home, and there are three plots of vegetable land on the back mountain to take care of. Madam likes cleanliness, needs a bath once a day in summer, remember all these, and many more I will tell you gradually, there’s also farm work..."

In any case, Liu Ji entrusted all household chores and farm work confidently to Ah Wang, successfully freeing himself from tedious chores.

Along the way, his mood was absolutely delightful.

He thought, Qin Yao should be happy too, after all, she is now a busy person, unable to manage the household matters, and having a slave to lend a helping hand is simply wonderful.

Besides, Ah Wang doesn’t want wages, only half a meal, and allows him to sleep on a straw mat in the cowshed.

"Wife, are you satisfied with what your husband has done this time? No need to spend a single cent, just a bit of food and drink, and he can be used like a beast of burden, isn’t it a bargain?" Liu Ji looked at Qin Yao expectantly, waiting for praise.

Qin Yao coldly asked, "Are you sure you didn’t take him home to compete with Liu Li?"

"Comparing everything with others, why don’t you compare your studies? He is a scholar; what are you?"

Liu Ji righteously replied, "I am also a child student!"

Qin Yao rolled her eyes at him, look how capable you think you are.