Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 306 Towards the Golden Palace (10)

With the money in hand, Yan Zhen bought a large house with better security and privacy.

They hired a steward and guards, and bought maids and servants from human traffickers. The plaque for "Cao Mansion" was hung high.

As the Spring Festival approached, Yan Zhen moved into his new home with Wang Xiaocui and her son.

Doing business inevitably involves exchanging favors. Taking advantage of the fact that major merchants and government offices were still open before the New Year, Yan Zhen, accompanied by his steward, drove around in a carriage delivering gifts.

As a developing individual business owner, she is well aware of how complex the situation is in Yinzhou City. If she wants to grow bigger and stronger and achieve sustainable development, she will inevitably have to build good relationships with all parties.

After delivering the gift, it was getting dark.

Yan Zhen couldn't get rid of her motion sickness problem. Whenever she was in a semi-enclosed carriage, she would feel dizzy, have chest tightness, and feel nauseous. So she simply left the forty-something-year-old manager in the carriage and rode ahead on horseback by herself.

The weather was cold in the winter months, with howling winds. As soon as it got dark, there were hardly any people on the streets.

Wearing a thick cloak, Yan Zhen listened to the clatter of horses' hooves on the stone-paved road. Her mind drifted back to the discussion she had just had with Manager Yuan about opening a winery together next year, and she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

The quickest way for people to gain a sense of accomplishment and control is to make money and build a career; this applies to most people.

After all, only by becoming stronger can we have more options.

As the horse and carriage approached a closed pharmacy, Yan Zhen caught a few painful, labored gasps from the howling wind.

She instinctively pulled on the reins and turned her head to look at the alley next to the pharmacy.

In the dim light, a boy dressed in thin clothes could be vaguely seen lying on the ground.

His face was bruised and swollen, and his mouth and nose were covered in blood. He crawled out of the alley in a disheveled state, using both his hands and feet.

He moved a few steps, then his head drooped, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Yan Zhen was slightly taken aback.

The carriage behind them also stopped, and the steward lifted the curtain and asked, "Manager, what's wrong?"

Yan Zhen raised his chin, gesturing for him to look into the alley.

The head steward glanced at the scene, frowned, and said with a hint of helplessness, "It's cold at the end of the year, and every year there are poor people in the city who freeze to death. It's not uncommon. The government will send people to collect the remains of those who froze to death tomorrow. Let's go."

Yan Zhen was silent for a while, then said, "Go down and take a look. If they can survive, help them out; if they can't, then forget about it."

The executive didn't say anything more and got out of the car with the driver, walking into the alley.

Before long, the coachman returned carrying the boy on his back.

He put the man into the carriage, and the steward went to Yan Zhen to report: "He is seriously injured. His leg seems to be broken, but he is still breathing."

"Take him back and get a doctor to take a look at him."

"Yes."

Upon returning to the manor, the young man was handed over to the steward for handling.

After taking a bath, Yan Zhen ate something and then snuggled up on the warm kang (heated brick bed) and didn't want to move.

The next day, Yan Zhen got up to have breakfast. Wang Xiaocui, who was eating at the same table, asked, "I heard you picked up a beggar yesterday?"

“He may not be a beggar,” Yan Zhen said.

Wang Xiaocui said, "Who cares if he's a beggar or not? You're planning to keep him here to work?"

Yan Zhen recalled the boy's blood-covered face: "Let's talk about it later. He's injured, and it's questionable whether he'll survive."

As soon as she finished speaking, Manager Gao came in: "Manager, the child has woken up and is clamoring to leave."

"Leave?" Yan Zhen frowned slightly. "Wasn't he injured?"

"Yes, the injury is quite serious, but he keeps crying and saying he wants to go home, you see..."

"I'll go take a look."

Yan Zhen put down his chopsticks and went to the front yard accompanied by the butler.

The boy was placed in the servants' quarters. As soon as Yan Zhen entered the room, he heard the boy crying in a hoarse voice, begging the servants who were taking care of him.

"My mother is still at home, she's sick and needs constant care, I want to go home... Please, let me go home."

As soon as Yan Zhen entered, the servants immediately bowed and greeted him: "Manager."

Upon hearing this, the boy looked at Yan Zhen, ignoring the splint on his right leg, and knelt down before Yan Zhen with a thud: "Thank you for saving my life, sir, but my mother is still at home. She is very ill. I can't stay here. I have to go home..."

Upon seeing this, Yan Zhen immediately instructed the steward: "Have the coachman hitch up the carriage and take him back."

"Yes."

The boy, dragging his disabled leg, quickly left the Cao residence.

Yan Zhen thought this was just a minor incident, but at noon, bored, she sat in the house warming herself by the fire and playing chess by herself to pass the time when the housekeeper came in.

"Shopkeeper, the coachman is back." He paused, seemingly hesitant about whether to continue.

"Hmm?" Yan Zhen didn't even look up.

"He took the child home, but it was too late; the child's mother had already passed away."

Yan Zhen's face remained expressionless: "What a pity."

The steward added, "The child sent a message through the coachman: he wants to borrow three taels of silver from the manager to buy a simple coffin for his mother's burial. He is willing to sign a contract of servitude and become a slave in the household."

Yan Zhen paused in her chess game, pondered for a moment, and then asked the housekeeper, "What do you think?"

The housekeeper thought for a moment and said, "It's feasible. The child was covered in injuries, and the first thing he thought of when he woke up was his seriously ill mother at home. This shows that he is a filial son and his character should be good."

Moreover, buying a nimble servant from a slave trader would cost at least five taels of silver, while he only needs three taels to sign a contract of indenture and become a slave in our household. For us, it's a worthwhile deal.”

Yan Zhen smiled and said, "Then give it to him."

The butler acknowledged and turned to do it.

Two days later, the steward led the boy back to the Cao residence.

The two lifted the thick curtain and entered the house one after the other, bringing in a gust of cold wind.

At the butler's prompting, the young man knelt before Yan Zhen and kowtowed, saying, "Greetings, Master."

Yan Zhen glanced at him. He was still wearing a patched thin shirt. Because he was so thin, his shoulder blades protruded high as he knelt down. His hands were also covered with chilblains.

"Get up."

The boy stood up and stood somewhat awkwardly to the side.

As Yan Zhen observed him, she asked as usual, "How old are you this year?"

"Yes, sir, I am seventeen."

Seventeen?

Her slender figure and undeveloped, delicate features made her look like she was thirteen or fourteen years old.

What kind of jobs do they do?

Perhaps it was the heating in the room that worked, as the boy's tense body gradually relaxed.

"I can do everything, from fetching water and chopping wood to sweeping and feeding horses."

Yan Zhen understood and planned to assign him to the servants' quarters to do some rough work.

With that thought in mind, she casually asked, "What's your name?"

"Xue Lin, Master, please give me the courtesy name Zhiyu."

Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly: "Master? You've attended school?"

Xue Lin nodded: "I attended a private school for three years when I was young."

Yan Zhen picked up a book from the antique shelf next to him and casually turned to a page: "Do you recognize these characters?"

Xue Lin walked up to her, his gaze following Yan Zhen's finger as he read aloud the words she was pointing to.

After he finished reading the two paragraphs, Yan Zhen looked at the butler standing behind Xue Lin.

The butler nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating that Xue Lin had not misread it.

Xue Lin then spoke up: "Sir, the book you bought is a copy, and there are a few words printed incorrectly."

He said, pointing to one of the lines: "This is wrong too."