Chapter 584: I’ll help you pick one?
The door creaked open from the inside.
"Sir was startled by thunder and is awake now. Please come in, village chief." The groom opened the door and saw that it was the village chief of Gaojia Village. He hurriedly turned sideways and greeted him with a smile and invited him into the house.
"Awake? What a coincidence I came here, old man."
As the voices were heard, another figure soon appeared on the window. It was as if the house had been refueled and the wick had been properly adjusted. It seemed much brighter from the outside.
The big yellow dog guarding the house outside barked at the sky for a long time but found nothing happened, so it went back to its nest and lay down with its front legs as a pillow. It would open its eyelids from time to time because of the thunder, but gradually it became too lazy to move.
The villagers of Gaojia Village quickly turned off the lights and went back to sleep.
The Gao family villagers had already experienced big events before, so they didn't care about such a small matter.
Soon, the night returned to calm again.
The thunder and lightning were like a swimming dragon, tossing around in the sky for a while and then dissipated. Soon the sky was filled with stars, and the deafening scene just now seemed to have never happened.
Gaojia Village at the foot of the mountain was almost immersed in the night, with only two lights on the east and west sides not far from each other.
After Li Shaoqing finished chatting in the house and was about to see the village chief out, he happened to see the house with lights on in the distance. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "It seems that some villagers were also awakened by the thunder and lightning."
The village chief glanced at him, smiled, and said without explanation, "I'll leave tomorrow's matters to Mr. Li. It's getting late, Mr. Li, you should go to bed early."
"Okay, take care, Village Chief."
After Village Chief Gao left, Li Shaoqing looked at the lighted village house for a while before turning around and going back into the room.
The groom was packing up the things the village chief had brought him. Seeing his master return, he couldn't help but happily show Li Shaoqing a bag of food. "Sir! Look! This is enough for several days. We don't have to worry about not being able to find food stalls on the road tomorrow."
As he spoke, he lifted one side to show it to Li Shaoqing.
Li Shaoqing glanced at it, nodded, and said calmly, "Since it's a kind gesture from the village, keep it well."
"Don't worry, sir." The coachman was very happy and put the things into the bag, waiting to load them into the car when they set off tomorrow.
The master was in bed and the servants were sleeping in the next room.
They were in a foreign land and were lucky enough to get a whole house for a reasonable price.
The heated kang was not big, only enough to accommodate three or two people. After Li Shaoqing entered the village, he buried himself in his pile of papers. He was so busy that he fell asleep. If it weren't for the thunder tonight, he would have slept until dawn.
After eating something and drinking some hot water, Li Shaoqing sat on the edge of the kang, feeling a little distracted.
The groom had packed up and was about to say something and go to the next room, but he saw that his master had not gone to bed either, but was just sitting there in a daze. He couldn't help but walk over curiously.
"Sir, can't you sleep?"
Li Shaoqing was brought back to his senses by his voice. He collected his expression and looked up at him, "You should go and rest first."
The groom wanted to go to sleep, but seeing that Li Shaoqing looked like he was worried, and his master had not gone to bed yet, he thought he should stay put.
Li Shaoqing didn't want to tire others, but he really wasn't sleepy at the moment. Seeing the servant's resolute attitude, he didn't force him to leave. He just said, "If you're tired, go and rest. Don't worry."
The groom smiled and said, "Sir, there's no need to worry about me. Just go about your business while I fix something nearby."
Seeing that he had something to do after taking some things, Li Shaoqing didn't say anything more. He turned around and continued to pick up the stack of drawing papers next to him and spread them on the kang table to look through them.
Occasionally, I would pick up a pen and make a few important notes on the spare paper beside me.
The room was silent for a moment, with only the sound of the groom's needle piercing and the sound of pen and ink writing.
Li Shaoqing flipped through the book for a while, and when he looked up, he happened to see the groom working.
From time to time, shadows flickered under the light on the ground. Li Shaoqing observed silently for a while, then suddenly asked, "Brother Ma, what is your real name?"
The groom was startled and looked up.
"Is Mister the villain's name?"
Li Shaoqing nodded and smiled slightly, "That's right. Thank you for taking care of me all the way here. I only know your last name is Ma, but I don't know your name."
Hearing this, the groom scratched his head a little embarrassedly, and said with a chuckle, "To be honest, sir, my last name is not Ma either."
Li Shaoqing was surprised: "Oh? Then why..."
"That was given casually by the officials back then, to serve the ancestors in the stables. There were eighteen people picked together, and I was the ninth one, so I was called Majiu Majiu."
When Li Shaoqing heard what he said, he put down the things in his hands, turned around and asked curiously: "Did the Ruan family take it?"
Ma Jiu shook his head and smiled, "That's not the case. Back then, there was a disaster in Hexi. We had no place to live in our hometown, so we fled to the capital with the other villagers. We almost starved to death outside. Later, I don't know how the nobles in the city came to their senses, and many officials came to recruit people. We fled to the capital, and my mother was the only one left with us."
"The official was recruiting people, and since I was young and strong, I carried my mother on my back to apply. Later, I was assigned to raise horses, but at first I couldn't touch a horse, I just did odd jobs. Later, my mother fell ill and had no money to buy medicine. When I asked the steward for help, I happened to meet Master Ruan. He was kind-hearted and treated my mother for me. He also bought my mother and me to live in the Ruan Mansion. We have been serving the masters ever since."
So that’s how it is. Li Shaoqing nodded.
He himself was a little surprised. For some reason, he felt more interested in talking tonight. Although the person he was chatting with was different from his previous friends, he felt very interested in talking.
He asked curiously, "So you didn't change your name after entering the Ruan Mansion?"
Ma Jiu shook his head and chuckled twice: "I haven't thought about it. My masters are used to calling me Ma Jiu."
Li Shaoqing saw that he had an open-minded personality and couldn't help asking, "So you must have your original surname at home, right?"
Unexpectedly, Ma Jiu still smiled and shook his head, saying, "Yes, there is, but my father also fled to Erhegou back then. He took the surname of Gou, a prominent family in that village. I don't know which family my ancestors took after, but they entered the capital, survived, and took on all their names and surnames."
As he spoke, Ma Jiu said with deep emotion, "A man of your talent, sir, has a noble status and a well-known name. A life like mine is worthless, and having a name to serve is a blessing."
Li Shaoqing was born in a scholarly family and was surrounded by people with names. However, he never imagined that one day someone around him would have a name like this.
I can't help but feel that things are different in this world.
He asked on a whim, and Ma Jiu didn't take it seriously. After he finished asking, he picked up the parts in his hand and started repairing them.
I had just finished repairing a corner when I heard Li Shaoqing ask, "If you'd like, could I help you pick a name?"
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