Lin Rui stared at the young man who kowtowed before him with wide eyes. Was he seeing things? Was he born with supernatural powers?
The big man stood up, holding his stomach, and angrily grabbed the wooden stick in his hand to beat the boy.
The young man immediately gave him a look to stop him, pointing at the half-grown boy and saying to Lin Rui: "Young Master, look at this kid, he's so strong even at such a young age, he'd be great at guarding the house, and if he signs a contract to sell himself to a stutterer, he'd be better than a dog."
Listen, this is human language! How can a dog compare to a living person?
Lin Rui had a lot of experience dealing with these cunning businessmen. He looked at the half-grown boy with disdain as he moved away and said, "Oh, I don't want it, I don't want it. The stronger you are, the more you eat. These days, no one has surplus food!"
"Better than a dog? How dare you say that? Dogs don't necessarily eat as much as he does!" Lin Rui frowned and looked down on him. He was the only child in his family with two older sisters and elderly parents. He would definitely be the first to be targeted on the road of fleeing famine. If he found an adult strong man to be with him, there would be the risk of being killed in return.
I was so focused on escaping the famine that I didn’t consider this point. Now that I think about it carefully, I can’t help but break out in a cold sweat on my back.
Even if you take your whole family with you to escape the famine, there will inevitably be mostly women and children, and they have no fighting capacity at all!
Lin Rui was deeply moved by this young man who had plenty of strength and was a half-grown laborer, and who would be obedient once he was fed.
The boy's heart trembled at what Lin Rui said. This child was practically half bought and half given away by his parents. They just said that the family was so poor that they could barely afford to raise so many children. They sold the child just to give the children enough food to eat.
He thought he had made a profit, but in the end, this guy fell into his hands. He was too greedy! He sold it several times, but the owner had to send someone to return it. If he had eaten enough, he could have eaten back the money he earned from selling himself in three days. He was really losing money!
Now that they have caught Lin Rui, the sucker, they can try their best to sell him and get rid of this trouble.
One pretended to refuse, the other really wanted to take action, and the two sides hit it off.
The young man had originally bought the boy from his parents for three taels of silver, and now he hadn't added a cent to his price. Honestly, he still sold him for three taels, which meant he'd lost a lot. He'd brought him from the countryside to the capital to sell him, and all the food and drink along the way had to be added to the price he'd paid for the body, but this guy was happy just to get a sale.
Lin Rui led the boy out of the alley. When they passed a soup noodle shop, the boy's stomach rumbled so loudly that Lin Rui, who was walking in front, could hear it clearly.
Lin Rui turned around and looked at him: "Want to eat?"
The boy's eyes lit up, but then quickly dimmed: "No, I don't want to." Because he was such a big eater, he had been rejected by several owners and returned. The man said that if he couldn't find a buyer or returned his food again, he would be driven out of the city to beg for food with those little beggars.
He had seen the little beggars at the foot of the city wall, each one as thin as a stick, with a sallow complexion and a dead look. Although he was also thin, he could still eat half a full meal here. If he went out to beg, the food he got would not even be enough to fill him half a full meal.
Lin Rui ignored his insincere words and walked into the soup noodle shop first. Seeing the young boy still standing there, he shouted at him, "Come here!"
After sitting down, Lin Rui asked the owner of the soup and noodle shop to serve five large pancakes and two bowls of soup.
He was not hungry, as the food in the house was enough for his personal needs.
The pancake was a multi-grain pancake made from roughly processed corn and yellow rice. Lin Rui tried taking a bite, chewing it in his mouth for a long time, and soaking the pancake thoroughly with his saliva before swallowing it. During the swallowing process, he stretched his neck like a turtle, which was very funny.
It was so difficult to finish a mouthful, and I immediately washed it down with soup.
No wonder this place is called a soup noodle restaurant. Without soup, the noodles would be too dry to eat.
It is called soup, but in fact it is just a little boiled water with a little lard and a few chopped green onions. Only if you look closely can you see a thin layer of oil floating on the water.
On the contrary, the young man kept eating a pancake in each hand. He chewed and swallowed very quickly and did not need any soup to suppress his swallowing.
Lin Rui held his chin with his hand and looked at him and asked, "What's your name?"
The boy paused, swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, and shook his head: "My parents said that after they sell me, I won't have to go home, and my previous name...can't be used anymore."
Thinking of the sad things, the boy showed a sad expression on his face. Before Lin Rui could say anything to comfort him, the boy looked up at him again, his eyes full of hope: "Master, you are a good person. No one has ever let me eat such delicious cakes. The human boy asked me to follow you and protect you in the future. Please give me a name!"
Lin Rui thought of the three dogs he had raised in his hometown, named Da Mao, Er Mao and San Mao, which was enough to show that he was a complete bad at naming.
Looking at the boy's expectant eyes, Lin Rui pondered and finally came up with an idea: "Why not call me San Liang? I bought you with three taels of silver. If you have a name you like in the future, just tell me and I can change it back."
The young man shook his head happily: "Master, Sanliang is a nice name, I like it very much."
Lin Rui also smiled: "As long as you like it."
After eating five pancakes and drinking five bowls of soup, San Liang said to Lin Rui in a reserved manner that he was full. Lin Rui pressed him down and asked, "Are you really full?"
"I'm full." Sanliang said.
Lin Rui said earnestly, "Sanliang, I will be your master from now on. You should speak to me honestly and frankly, without any deception. As for me, I should have a general understanding of your appetite. Today is the first day we officially become master and servant, so let's celebrate it. There will be fewer days like this in the future!"
Sanliang lowered his head and stammered, "I can still eat a little."
Lin Rui laughed. This kid was being so subtle. It was just that he wasn't full yet.
Sanliang ate a total of twelve pancakes and ten bowls of soup before he burped in satisfaction.
Lin Rui finally understood why his return rate was so high: he ate too much. Living in a wealthy aristocratic family wouldn't be a big deal, but being born into an ordinary family would be a disaster.
After filling his stomach, Sanliang suddenly became energetic like a cabbage moistened by water. He wiped his mouth and said, "Master, where are we going now?"
"Go to the escort agency." The distance from Linjing to Longting Town is short, and the escort agency generally does not accept this kind of business. Last time he was lucky enough to meet an escort team transporting goods to the Linjing Escort Agency.
The ancient escort agency is the predecessor of modern logistics, but the ancient escort agency also has another function, which is to protect people's property and personal safety. One thousand taels of silver notes is a lot for Lin Rui, but it is not enough for the old escort leaders of the escort agency.
I'm just disappointed that there are no such short trips, so I can't get any free rides. Unless I hire a bodyguard myself, I can charge the price of a personal escort.
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