Buff didn’t know what other people thought, but he didn’t care. A monthly salary of 120 copper coins to be a clerk was extremely tempting.
He used to be a teacher in West Sun City, but most of the people in West Sun City don’t even have enough to eat, so how would they have money to go to school?
Therefore, he lived extremely poorly, and now that there was a work with a monthly salary of 120 copper coins, his heart was moved.
Buff squeezed out of the crowd, tidied his clothes, and went to the City Lord’s Mansion. He wanted to be the first to apply for the job to prevent others from taking it.
Liu Feng was standing inside the castle gate. He watched the commotion the crowd was making and couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s a good start.”
He also saw Buff walking by. A flash of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he brought him into the castle.
Liu Feng sat down in the main seat in the living room, looking at the nervous old man in front of him. He asked, “Are you here to apply to be a clerk?”
“Ye- yes,” Buff responded nervously. How could he not be nervous? The young man in front of him was the sky¹ of West Sun City- the only noble in this place as well as its city lord.
“Don’t be nervous, sit!” Li Feng waved his hand, and waited until the other party sat down before asking, “The work of a clerk is to assist me in managing the matters of West Sun City and the territory.”
“Yes!” Buff quickly nodded.
“Tell me about the situation in West Sun City.” Liu Feng said.
“Yes!” Buff quickly stood up and respectfully said everything he knew.
The more Liu Feng listened, the more wrinkled his eyebrows became. This time it was so wrinkled that it could squeeze a fly to death. The words were appalling.
West Sun City was basically a slum and refugee camp, and what made them like this was the exorbitant taxes. There were hundreds of unscrupulous taxes in West Sun City. The entrance tax, for example, required a person to pay a copper coin every time they entered the city. This caused many people to move out of West Sun City to live, or only return once every few days. The residents would rather live in the wheat field than waste 1 copper coin.
There were also passing by² tax, childbirth tax, wheat toll tax, marriage tax… Anyway, several noble city lords changed the laws to exploit the people.
Buff’s whole body was now trembling. He looked at the displeased Liu Feng, and he was currently regretting his decision to come and apply for the position of a clerk.
If he was to be responsible for collecting taxes in the future, he would immediately quit his job. Otherwise, he would be scolded to death by his friends and neighbors.
Liu Feng regained his senses and looked at Buff, who was full of sweat. He calmly said, “Starting today, remove all these miscellaneous taxes. Just leave a few basic taxes.”
“Ah?” Buff widened his eyes and looked at Liu Feng blankly. He suspected that he had been hearing things.
Liu Feng took out two rolls of sheepskin and quickly wrote on them. The first roll was a notice to remove those unscrupulous taxes; the other one was proof of Buff’s appointment as a clerk.
“Here, stick this roll of notice on the wooden board outside; you can come here to work starting tomorrow.” Liu Feng handed the 2 rolls of sheepskin to Buff and let him leave.
Liu Feng looked at the leaving Buff and couldn’t help but sigh. “Carter is really lucky that these people didn’t riot despite all the exorbitant taxes he had placed.”
“You really are different from normal nobles.”
The sudden female voice coming from his side startled Liu Feng. He turned his head to look at Mina who was silently standing beside him.
“Can you make sounds when you walk?” Liu Feng rolled his eyes.
“This is the instinct of the great cat warrior; it can’t be changed,” Mina said lightly.
“If a city lord can’t feed the people under him, then he isn’t a qualified city lord,” Liu Feng said.
Mina remembered what Liu Feng said when they first met: In life, you can have nothing, but you can’t starve.
Mina was silent. Ever since she was a child, she had always eaten a meal and starved a meal.³ She agreed with this sentence the most.
“Why haven’t you left?” Liu Feng asked curiously. Mina had been unfriendly to him at first, and yet, she was now staying here.
“None of your business!” Mina wrinkled her nose and shook her ears, then turned around and walked away.
…
Buff, still at a loss, walked out of the City Lord’s Mansion. When he came to the door and turned his head to look at it, he finally regained his senses. He looked at the rolls of sheepskin in his hands and a smile appeared on his old face.
The people outside also saw Buff coming out of the City Lord’s Mansion, immediately surrounded him, and began to ask questions.
“Mr. Buff, how is it? Did that vampire noble also add more taxes?”
“Yeah, what tax has been added? How else would it be possible to give such a high salary?”
“If it’s too much, I’ll have to move to another big city. Otherwise, I won’t be able to store wheat for winter this year.”
The more Buff listened, the more he felt that something was wrong. He couldn’t help but raise his hand to hit the people in front of him a few times on the head. He shouted, “What nonsense are you saying? Do you not want to live?”
“Uh…”
Everyone was silent, and they all looked at the excited Buff in surprise. Wasn’t this old man the one who normally complained the hardest? Why did he change today?
“Cough cough…” Buff waved the roll of sheepskin in his hand, and said, “This year has changed. A good city lord has come, and everyone will have good fortune.”
“Ah???”
“Has Mr. Buff been brought by the nobles?”
“It’s very possible. After all, it is a monthly salary of 120 copper coins. If it was me, I would be bought as well. It can let a family live a lot more comfortably and can even add more salt to the dishes.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ Not the literal sky. It’s a way of saying that someone is unreachable.
² 路过. Walk by. Yes, that kind of walking by, like walking on a road.
³ 吃一顿饿一顿. Literally, eat a meal hungry a meal. Basically saying that a person doesn’t have a stable lifestyle and can’t eat properly. They have to constantly worry about where they would get their next meal.