Chapter 2233 Your Boss
Bai Erlang rushed up from downstairs. "We've checked the back, and it's pretty much the same as here. Not to mention the bedding, some rooms don't even have complete tables and chairs. There are even several chairs in the main room with broken arms and legs. I wonder how long has this inn been unoccupied?"
Ren Ergou could only smile ingratiatingly. Bai Shan pointed to the inn across the street and asked, "Is that inn owned by your postmaster?"
"Yes," Ren Ergou said naively, "Sir, this post station has been deserted for many years. Most officials who come here stay in the inn across the street."
Bai Shan asked, "I see there's an inn next door. Who owns it?"
Ren Ergou scratched his head and shook his head, "I don't know, but the one who calls the shots next door is Shopkeeper Zhang."
Bai Shan had just arrived, so how would he know who Manager Zhang was?
Manbao asked directly, "Who is Shopkeeper Zhang?"
Ren Ergou said, "Shopkeeper Zhang is Shopkeeper Zhang. He is quite friendly. Sometimes he would greet me when he saw me sweeping the front door, so I would sweep his house as well."
Everyone: ...
Bai Shan was silent for a while and then asked, "You cleaned the doorway for him, isn't your postmaster angry?"
"Don't be angry, I also swept the front door of the inn across the street."
Manbao looked at the honest Ren Ergou and couldn't help but burst out laughing. The others also shook their heads and laughed, and started to discuss, "What should we do? We can't really live here, right?"
They were not short of bedding, as they already had some, but what about the soldiers and guards?
Moreover, there is only one waiter in the whole store. Not to mention eating, I’m afraid there is not even enough hot water.
Bai Shan thought for a moment and called Manager Li, "Go ask next door what the relationship is between their inn and the general guarding the city gate."
Manager Li was stunned. "Just ask directly?"
"Just ask. We're unfamiliar with the place and don't have time for polite conversation. Just ask directly."
Manager Li agreed, turned around and went out.
Bai Shan and Man Bao looked up at the post station again and asked Ren Ergou curiously, "When did your post station stop doing business?"
Ren Ergou shook his head, indicating he didn't know. He continued, "Before I came in, I thought it was very busy, but after I came in, I realized I was the only one in the entire store. Every day I just cleaned and scrubbed things, and there was no one else to be seen. Fortunately, the boss never delayed my wages and also brought me food, so I was happy."
Manbao noticed the stones on the steps were relatively clean, mainly because no one had walked on them for a long time and they had been constantly cleaned, so it would be strange if they weren't clean even with the wind and rain. She simply sat down on the ground and beckoned him to sit down and talk.
Ren Ergou declined and asked them to sit down. He squatted on the side and said happily, "We like squatting when we chat."
Manbao said, "We just don't like it. Our feet will go numb if we squat."
"That's because you don't know how to squat. People in our village like to squat."
Seeing that he was so naive and not very old, Bai Shan asked with a smile, "How old are you this year?"
"Nineteen."
Bai Shan: "You're not much older than me. Don't you have a wife?"
He shook his head and said happily, "My third brother just got married, and our family is out of money. My mother told me to wait another two years. By then, I'll have saved some money, and my family will give me some more money so I can get married."
"Is your home far from here? Do you miss home after not going back for a long time?"
"Yes," Ren Ergou said, "My home is far from here. It takes a whole day to walk there. Normally I don't want to go there, but after I finish my work, I do. No one talks to me here. The only time someone talks to me is when I'm sweeping the floor outside the door."
"But the wages here are high, and they provide food and accommodation. The boss treats me well and never asks me to work. He also said that it's okay for these rooms to be empty. But I can't sit idle after getting paid. My mother said that I have to work hard outside to make the boss like me. I have always been very diligent." Ren Ergou vaguely knew that they were officials, so he racked his brains to brag about himself, "You can go to the room and see, I even cleaned the dust in the corner."
Manbao nodded. He had cleaned what could be cleaned, but he had forgotten to ventilate it, so there was a musty smell as soon as he entered.
Ren Ergou was very happy to see that they were listening attentively and could respond to him from time to time. He hadn't talked so much to others for a long time. Even when his brothers came to see him, they only said things like "Be good and obedient, be diligent, don't spend money indiscriminately, and save the money for getting married."
But now these guests did not remind him of these things. Instead, they were very interested in his daily work. So in just a short while, Bai Shan and the others not only knew that he had four brothers and three sisters in his family, but also knew that he got this job because his mother asked the second son of his third uncle's sister to use his connections with the postmaster.
For this, their family also paid two sheep and two feet of saved good cloth.
He had to use the money he earned to pay back the sheep and cloth at home before he could save enough to marry a wife.
Bai Shan and the others also knew that his boss, oh, the postmaster, usually would not come here. They might only meet him at the door every few days, and then the postmaster would say a few words to him and then go into the inn opposite.
Of course, most of the time the postmaster would not talk to him, but would just nod to him and go in. That was why Ren Ergou was so happy to sweep the road in front of the door for the shopkeeper Zhang next door so that he could talk to him.
Bai Erlang tried to hold back, but couldn't help saying, "The postmaster is not your boss. Your boss is the imperial court. No, it should be the county government, or the governor's office. Do you understand?"
Ren Ergou shook his head blankly and said to him, "I was hired by the postmaster, and he also paid me."
Bai Erlang cried out, "Oh my!" "So what? The government hasn't charged him with dereliction of duty yet."
Ren Ergou's heart tightened, and he looked at them anxiously, "You, you want to arrest our boss?"
Although he was not very smart, he knew that if the postmaster was gone, he probably would not be able to work in the post station anymore.
Bai Shan paused and then asked, "Do you know the emperor?"
Ren Ergou nodded, "Who doesn't know this?"
"I'm glad to know," Bai Shan said seriously, "This post station belongs to the emperor."
Ren Ergou widened his eyes.
"The emperor is your boss. The postmaster is just someone the emperor hired to manage the post station. He's just like the shopkeeper next door, Zhang, who's just a shopkeeper." Bai Shan said, "So your wages were paid by the emperor to the postmaster, who then paid them to you. Even your food was provided by the emperor."
Ren Ergou's mouth trembled with excitement. "My boss is the emperor?"
Manbao, Bai Erlang and the other four turned to look at Bai Shan. Seeing him nod calmly, they said, "Yes, he is the emperor!"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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