Chapter 2
When the merchant kicked him awake again, Li Gou Wa felt that he hadn't thought about it enough the previous night. He picked up the leftover bread crumbs from the merchant's table and swallowed them, listening to the merchant's gruff laughter as they drank and chatted. When he heard that they were going to be escorted out today, he turned his eyes to the merchant who was talking and nodded inwardly. Finally, it was over.
If he hadn't been unable to make his own decisions, he would have felt that even the money from selling his body shouldn't be shared with the merchants, and he should have kept it for himself. Now that he was in Chang'an, compared to those sobbing children, he had the final say in selling himself. At least he knew the copper coins would keep him fed, and maybe even buy some meat.
But at this point, he couldn't decide his own fate. He could only be led out like an animal, standing in the streets and alleys, listening to the shouts of the merchants around him. The occasional buyer he encountered would be scanned from head to toe by a discerning gaze. Li Gou Wa listened to the constant stream of bids, steadily decreasing from three taels. Even if he couldn't understand the connection between seven hundred and fifty wen and three taels, he knew that the glittering silver was much more valuable.
He watched as the children around him were taken away one by one, and at noon, when his mouth was dry, someone finally bought him. Li Gou Wa flexed his fingers. At that time, he only heard the sound of bargaining. As for the price of the transaction, he had no idea anyway.
Fortunately, he had come to terms with it. The people being taken away didn't look much younger than him, so at least he wouldn't be constantly hearing those unpleasant cries. He wiped the blood from the cuts on his hands onto his clothes, which made it look less ugly.
The person leading them—perhaps a steward—was slower than the merchants. Li Gou Wa still remembered the heavy-looking bag of silver he had just taken out. He had picked out four or five of them in a row and bought them all. The steward had someone bring up a wooden basin and told them to wash first and then change into new clothes.
Li Gou Wa took off his clothes and splashed some water on himself, then gritted his teeth and thought, "They're all the same kind of people." He had to slow down to prevent the boiling water from splashing into some invisible crack and burning the newly grown skin.
It took a while to wash off the dirt and grass debris on his body. Although they called it new clothes, they were just the linen they had been used to wearing since childhood. He relied on his remaining strength to pick out the one that fit him best and put it on.
The smell in the room was naturally not pleasant. Even with the windows open just after noon, there wasn't much summer air to cool the air in. Just as Li Gou Wa was about to push the door open, the steward who had left came back with a handful of linen and told them to line up and take fingerprints, identifying the person as they went.
Li Gou Wa squeezed in at the back, biting his finger until it bled. When the steward asked him his name, he shouted it out. Regardless of the derogatory name the steward used, all Li Gou Wa could hear was "Food and shelter provided, but be obedient." The first half of the sentence was what he heard; the second half served as a summary of the long list of rules that followed.
Anyway, he didn't remember it, so he just followed the servants assigned by the steward and started to work. Li Gou Wa thought for a while, and when he was about to reach out and do the work according to the steward's instructions, he was picked up by the steward again.
He kept flexing his wrists, following the steward step by step. When he saw him bow and call out "Sir", he also bent down and said the same thing, then quietly raised his eyes to see the person who could make the steward so respectful.
The man wore a long robe that was neither black nor black, with patterns woven from gold thread. He wore cloth boots that went all the way down to his trouser legs. Li Gou Wa could still smell a faint fragrance, probably the kind used by wealthy families. The first time he smelled it, it made him feel nauseous.
The master seemed to examine his stature carefully before asking the steward to make proper arrangements. The steward hurriedly responded, and he followed the steward's lead, bending down and averting his gaze. The last thing he heard was a snort of laughter, which nearly frightened him as it rang in his ear.
He assumed that the gentleman was the owner of the house, but in the end, Li Gou Wa only remembered the robe he wore and a faint fragrance. He followed the steward all the way to the courtyard, but he didn't understand a word the steward said. There were quite a few people in the house—probably all bought like him, but all as strong as him.
Li Gou Wa drank the meaty crumbs from his bowl, glancing longingly at the others. He didn't care about feeling sick, and after wolfing down his food, he remembered he should drink it slowly, mouthful by mouthful. The aroma of porridge still wafted through the room, and only when the steward pushed the door open did he reluctantly put down his bowl and lick his lips.
"Come here and get your badges. Since you have received benefits, stay in the yard and don't walk around casually. When the time comes... someone will come to pick you up. If you lose your badge, then..." The manager stopped talking and handed out the wooden badges to them one by one, as if he was counting the number of people, then he raised his sleeves and walked out.
Li Gou Wa stuffed the wooden sign into his arms and, while no one was reacting, sat down on the wooden bench. He had already felt the sign thoroughly, but apart from finding words he didn't recognize, he couldn't find anything unusual. After feeling it, he smelled something on his hands, just as nauseating as the aroma.
The room was packed with five or six children of similar age. No one spoke first, but they each placed their wooden signs as instructed by the steward, occasionally glancing at each other. Li Gou Wa grabbed a stool first, sat on it, and drank half a pot of tea before washing down a wave of nausea. Of course, he managed to suppress the nausea, even washing away the salty taste of the minced meat in his mouth.
He mentally cursed himself for wolfing down his food. Seeing someone approach, he simply pulled his legs back and continued to sit on the stool, savoring the meal. It was getting dark outside, making it clear they were just servants who hadn't had to work for a while, so no one would come to light a lamp.
Li Gou Wa climbed onto the couch in the dark, squeezing himself out between the others. His head was facing the window, and when a breeze blew in later, it only brought a slight chill to the edge of the couch. He wasn't sure if anyone else could sleep, but with that little space, at least it wasn't like sleeping in the wild the other day. So he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
For several days, nothing changed. They could exchange a few words, though. Their names were all pretty much the same; they'd all been sold by their parents back home. Li Gou Wa asked about the price, which reminded them of the days before. Some couldn't remember clearly, but most were worth no more than one or two taels. He compared the figure with his own; seven hundred and fifty wen seemed low.
It just so happened that selling myself wouldn't get me much in return, so I'd blame my parents. The steward came over every day, saying nothing else but telling them to stay put and take care of themselves, lest they die prematurely and bring bad luck. Li Gou Wa pouted after him. It wasn't his turn to sit on the stool today, so he simply sat cross-legged on the floor.
The yard was covered in nothing but stones and grass, and with the sun blazing brightly outside, few people were willing to venture out for a walk. Among the naughtiest of them all was Li Gou Wa, who couldn't stand being idle. Every day he would sit in the yard, watching the servants work outside.
He still didn't know what the wooden sign was for, but he vaguely knew the steward wouldn't let them eat for free. But when he savored the broth served daily, he didn't dwell on it, simply thinking he'd earned it for free, and that he could come back later.
That morning, when the steward opened the door, Li Gou Wa was still fast asleep, sprawled across the couch. Awakened, he rubbed his eyes and stood in a row. Looking outside, he realized it had been raining since some time last night and had been going on continuously. The breeze blowing into the house finally brought a chill.
The steward checked each of their wooden signs, reiterating that they held on to them carefully before leading them out of the courtyard. Li Gou Wa had been counting the days. That day was the ninth; another day or two would have stretched the days beyond his reach. As he followed the steward out, he realized the vastness of the master's compound—almost as large as their entire village.
The steward led them out of the house and into the alley. Rain continued to fall from the sky, and only a few people were on the long street, all hurried along with umbrellas. He wiped his eyes, rubbing away the raindrops that had almost dripped in, and followed the steward into the new courtyard.
As soon as he stepped inside, he could smell a strong medicinal odor, and something irresistible—Li Gou Wa had no idea what it was. It smelled a bit like chicken blood, mixed with meat, and it hit his nose straight in the face. He clenched the wooden plaque in his hand, and through the touch of his palm, he kept mentally tracing the patterns carved on it, or perhaps it was words he didn't recognize, subconsciously gritting his teeth as he guessed.
He had always been a brave man, used to the wilds of the village, and even encountering wild animals at the foot of the mountain wasn't a bit of a fear. But at this moment, he felt an inexplicable panic, and his hair stood on end. The steward was standing in front of them, waiting for something.
Li Gou Wa glanced around. The door in front of the steward's house was tightly shut. Water dripped from the eaves and splashed onto the ground with the rain. Each drop, as if foreshadowing something, intensified his panic. He wiped his face again and soon realized that the steward was also waiting for someone.
The man was dressed in a black robe, covered in indistinct dirt, and carried a stronger scent of medicine. It was much stronger than the one they had just smelled, and there was an even more unpleasant smell that needed to be covered up by such a strong smell of medicine.
Li Gou Wa followed the steward's instructions and handed the wooden plaque to the man. When he tried to take a closer look, he was met with a pair of dark eyes, staring intently at him, as if examining an object. With this uneasy feeling, he followed the man into the room filled with the smell of medicine, determined to see what the scent concealed.
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