Yes, redemption.
He was the only one left in his family; his lineage had ended. He had truly lost the will to live and was just thinking of living one day at a time, and that he would just die when he died.
Now, he has the desire to live again, but he needs the permission of the lady of the house. He knows she doesn't support idlers who live off others, but he does have a skill: teaching, which he excels at!
Not long after, Lin Chaobei returned, his expression grim, and said:
"My mother said that if you want to stay, you have to sign a contract, a contract of servitude. Will you sign it?"
Lin Chaobei had a gut feeling that this person definitely wouldn't sign it, since if he signed the contract of servitude, he would no longer be himself.
Anyway, ever since he learned the consequences of signing a contract of servitude, that even his life was no longer his own and everything belonged to the buyer, he was very resistant to such a contract. Although his family had bought two families as servants, he felt sorry for them and never made things difficult for them. He treated them like ordinary villagers, only paying them little, since they ate and slept at his house.
Huang Banxian hesitated.
To think that someone as dignified as him would one day have to sign a contract to sell himself into servitude?
The key point is that he only hesitated, instead of pointing his finger at Lin Chaobei and yelling at him to get out.
Is this still the same person he used to be?
"I……"
"If you're not willing, you can sign an employment contract, that's what my mother said!"
Just as Huang Banxian was about to grit his teeth and agree, Lin Chaobei couldn't help but take a step back.
“Really! My mother said it! She just felt more at ease using someone who had signed a contract of servitude. She knew that you, a scholar, were too proud to agree, so that question was just a formality. You have to sign the employment contract, and you can no longer live in my house.”
He didn't know why his mother was playing such a trick on the teacher, insisting on asking him if he wanted to sign a contract of servitude first, and not afraid that the teacher would slam the door and leave in a fit of anger.
Oh, sir, he's not fully recovered yet and can't do something as dramatic as slamming a door.
But asking such a question is still quite embarrassing.
"Oh? I can't stay at your place anymore?"
The employment contract doesn't matter, but he wanted to stay because he wanted to live in their house. If they didn't agree to let him stay, what fun would it be for him to stay?
His stay of over a month wasn't for nothing. He could tell that the lady of the house was quite shrewd, though not much, because she only cared about making the most of her own life and didn't think about anything else.
He knew she had planned out all ten hills, with ten miles of peach blossoms, thirty miles of pear blossoms, apple blossoms, plus roses by the wall, lotus flowers in the pond, and surely other flowers in the future. It was more like a paradise than a paradise on earth. How could he possibly stay in such a wonderful place and go to live in other parts of the village?
"Yes, my mother said that not only you can't live in our house anymore, but neither can my brothers and I. Because in a few days, my mother will have people come to build houses in our house. At least one courtyard will be built on each hilltop. The servants will also live in their own courtyards. Unmarried people will live together, and the whole family will live together. Anyway, it will no longer be a big family crammed into one courtyard."
The thought of living alone on the mountain in Dongling that was assigned to him, with perhaps a servant assigned to him at most, made him feel lonely and bored.
"Oh, so even though we can't stay at your house anymore, we'll still live here, right?"
Master Huang stretched out his arm and drew a circle, then asked.
"Yes, definitely. You said you don't want tuition fees, so we'll definitely have to meet your condition of providing food and lodging!"
His mother said that his family had gotten a huge advantage in this matter!
I heard that the teachers in town can earn two or three hundred taels of silver a year for their tuition, not even including the gifts from the students for apprenticeship and festivals. If Mr. Huang agrees, it would be equivalent to saving his family two or three hundred taels of silver a year!
Moreover, those were just teachers at the academy; teachers at private schools charge even higher fees and have to be treated with great respect.
So, his only request was for food and lodging, and his family would definitely meet it!
"Oh, where's the contract? Hurry up and get it signed!"
Huang Banxian reached out his hand to Lin Chaobei, his eagerness suggesting that he was afraid Lin Chaobei might suddenly change his mind.
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