“Don’t worry! These items will only be used inside the castle.” Liu Feng said with a light smile. Everything he brought from Earth would be used internally first. The ones he planned to disclose would be simplified versions. For example, he planned to make and distribute paper, but the paper wouldn’t be very white or sturdy.
However, Liu Feng believed that the items would become extremely popular as soon as they were released, and a lot of manpower would be required to keep up with the demand.
“That’s good!” Mina breathed a sigh of relief. She took the contract and looked at it. She was half astonished when she saw it. “Eh? Monthly salary of 1 silver coin, fourth days off a month, includes food and housing, and small gifts on holidays???”
“Yes!” Liu Feng nodded. He copied some of the corporate contracts of Earth and revised them to use in this world.
Mina put down the contract. Her face was serious and her aqua-blue eyes were full of sharpness. She stretched out her hand to smack the contract, and shouted, “Lord Liu Feng!!! You are profligating! For someone like me, a monthly salary of 200 copper coins is enough! You also included 5 military knives, and one knife is worth plenty of gold coins, so it’s even fine to not give a salary at all and just provide food and housing. Of course, there must be polished rice porridge. Also, vacation and whatever is unnecessary. Wherever you go, I must follow as it’s my duty. Small gifts are acceptable…”
Mina pointed to the terms on the contract and talked through them one by one as if she was a housekeeper.
Liu Feng raised his eyebrows and stretched out his hand to hold down the worked up catgirl. He smiled, “This kind of contract is only available to my own people!”
“E…” Mina face instantly became red, her ears fell straight down, and her tail rolled up. She had been picked up. “What… what… I… I’ll just sign it.” Mina stammered with a red face.
“Let’s go and eat breakfast first, there are still many things to do today.” Liu Feng looked at Mina who signed her name, put the contract in a large safe, and gave Mina one of the keys.
“Okay!” Mina took the key and found a rope to hang around her neck.¹
She had looked at the safe. There were many documents and important items in there.
………………
Meanwhile, outside the city gate, a family of six strong men and two women came in.
This was Niu Ben’s family, whom Liu Feng had told Buff to contact the previous day, and so the family came to the city before dawn.
Buff left the city the evening of the previous day. When he arrived, he lived in Niu Ben’s house and accompanied them to the city in the morning.
Niu Ben was in his forties. He had neatly trimmed hair, a serious national face² full of toughness and seriousness, and he wore a linen coat. He was sitting in the bullock cart, chatting with Buff, and heartedly laughed from time to time.
“Niu Ben, your family is going to be lucky. I didn’t expect you to know Lord Liu Feng.” Buff said with envy. He knew that the Niu Ben family was very powerful. They were a well-known family in this territory. All of them were good men. There had been rumors in the past that said that Niu Ben was a real knight.
“We met him by chance, but I didn’t expect that Liu Feng would become a noble.” Niu Ben grinned. He also hadn’t expected that the young man he saved by chance would become a noble.
“Heng heng… I knew that Liu Feng wasn’t simple when I first saw him. Which family’s kid could grow so white clean in this western land? He is even well-mannered, just like a noble; his ancestors must also be nobles.” The middle-aged woman sitting on the side said loudly. She was Niu Ben’s wife, May. After saying that, she looked a her 5 sons, all of whom looked extremely. They didn’t look at all like civilized people
“Cough cough…” Niu Ben was a little embarrassed. He knew that his wife liked delicate people, but he didn’t expect that all his sons would grow crooked.³ Fortunately, his daughter was like her mother. He looked at the gentle and well-behaved daughter, who was sitting on the bullock cart while hugging her legs and in a trance.
“Nicole, what are you thinking about?” Niu Ben asked gently. Everything about his little daughter was good. Her only problem was that she was too quiet.
“She must be thinking of Liu Feng.” A strong male voice came from the side. It was Niu Ben’s eldest son, Niu Da, who was currently carrying a wolf. He had hunted it the previous night to give to Liu Feng as a gift.
“No, no…” Nicole blushed and waved her hands in a panic, like a little girl who had been caught stealing candy. Nicole was a seventeen-year-old girl and the jewel of the Niu Ben family. She was very delicate and had long flax hair.
“Ha ha ha… What are you afraid of, it’s fine if you think about him.” May smiled happily. She hugged Nicole and said, “Lil Ni, when the time is right, you’ll marry Liu Feng, I think he likes you too.”
“Ah???” Nicole’s face was red, and her eyes were almost spiraling, and she buried her head into May’s embrace.
“You actually got shy, that’s not good,” May teased.
Niu Ben shook his head. His wife just loved to tease her children. She didn’t even realize that her sons’ movements had slowed.
“Niu Ben, Lord Liu Feng must be inviting you to become knights. This is your chance.” Buff patted Niu Ben’s back, looked at Niu Ben’s broken right foot, and sighed. “If only your foot didn’t break. With your ability, you would probably have already become a noble.”
“Ha ha ha… I’ve already let go. Now is the time of the young people.” Niu Ben laughed. He looked at his sons with pride in his eyes.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ Yes, rope around her neck, not a necklace or a keychain or whatever.
² I have no idea what a national face is.
³ 长歪了. Literally, grow crooked. Not really sure, but I think it means that the sons were all looked fierce.