Servants were not slaves – they were a product created under the oppression of capitalism.
Families too poor to survive would sell children over the age of 14 to companies.
The company would pay the family a sum of money, and then sign a labor contract spanning over 80 years with the child they purchased. The contract stipulated that as the first party, the company would provide the child with benefits such as basic salary, accommodation, and training, whereas the child, as the second party, was obliged to work under the company for 80 years.
During the term of the contract, if the second party wanted to terminate the contract, they needed to pay an astronomical amount of liquidated damages to the company.
A price they would never be able to afford.
Under the Inner World’s law, the maximum duration of labor contract was limited to 80 years, with 14 years being the minimum age required to sign one.
If a servant started his service at the age of 14 and did not die until the age of 94, he would then obtain his freedom.
But in reality, servants rarely lived to the age of 94.
So over time, the term servant was coined to call them by.
It wasn’t that people in the Inner World have returned to the era of slavery, but when the law no longer protected the weak, you would understand just how terrifying the power of capitalism was.
There were in fact quite a considerable number of such servants, most of them having no better choice than to sell themselves into wealthy families.
Therefore, when old man Qin Cheng saw the teenager’s actions, he pinned it to the status of a servant.
Currently, as the teenager waited for the middle-aged man to finish his porridge, he packed up all the various tableware and had even set up a tent for him.
The leisurely middle-aged man got into the tent to sleep, but the teenager only found a leeward rock to lean on, closing his eyes for some rest.
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It seemed like the huge camping bag only contained enough supplies for the middle-aged man and nothing for the teenager, even the single tent was only meant to accommodate one person…
From time to time, the teenager would open his eyes and add some wood to the fire so it remained sufficiently bright at all times, illuminating the area where the tent was located.
To be honest, even the family of hunters thought the boy was rather pitiful.
That middle-aged man didn’t seem to treat him as a person at all.
The wind picked up in the middle of the night, bringing with it a gust of coldness. It was as if the warmth of the bonfire had been blown away by the wind.
Old man Qin Cheng glanced at Qin Tong, his eldest son. “Don't provoke those two, the people who dare to come to the wilderness aren’t fools. That middle-aged man is obviously someone of wealth and status, he might’ve already had genetic injections up to Level B.”
Qin Tong nodded, “Don't worry Dad, I'm not stupid.”
The woman beside old man Qin Cheng said, “The boy doesn't have any mechanical limb, and he doesn’t look like he’s been injected with genetic medicine either. The servants of big figures shouldn’t be so weak, that middle-aged man might just be a C-Level.”
Qin Cheng shook his head. “Don't underestimate people, even if he’s only at Level C, he’s still not someone we can offend.”
The old man rolled another cigarette for himself, silently thinking for a while. He then told Qin Tong, “Go to the car and get a blanket for that boy. We can't curry favors with big figures, but we can do it with their servants. When servants become their boss's confidants, the things that spilled past the cracks of their fingers will be enough for us to eat for two or three years. Furthermore, the people they come into contact with are all of similar status, which is in line with our business of catching pets for rich folks.”
“Okay,” nodded Qin Tong, rising up.
But before he could fully stand up, he was grabbed by the girl beside him. “Brother, I'll get it.”
After saying that, the girl trotted all the way to the pickup, leaving Qin Tong to sigh behind her.
As a girl who lived in the wilderness all the year round, she was very free-spirited. Neither her parents nor her older brother could control her.
With a blanket in her arms, she slowly approached the boy with some caution and curiosity.
But just when she was two meters away from the boy, he instantly made his move, blowing up the pile of fallen leaves on the ground in a flurry.
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Out of nowhere, the boy took out a dagger in his hand, barely stopping a mere moment before it could cut the girl’s neck.
His movements were clean and agile, a total contrast to his previous harmless appearance.
With a loud prance, the group of people in the camp beside them stood up altogether, as if about to jump to the rescue.
On the other hand, the girl made use of the close distance to peer at the boy, not looking the least bit afraid. “I'm here to bring you a blanket, in case you catch a cold.”
The boy calmly looked at her and replied, “Thank you, but there’s no need.”
The girl never once showed any intention of resisting, only fixedly staring at him.
“It's really cold now, you'll get sick if you sit outside all night,” insisted the girl.
“Thanks for your kindness, but I don’t need it.” The boy leaned against the rock and sat back down.
“Alright then. Remember, my name is Qin Yiyi.” Holding the blanket, the girl returned to her own campsite.
Qin Tong was frowning, “Do you know how dangerous it was just now?”
“It wasn’t,” the girl turned to look at her brother, “He didn't have any murderous intent.”
Moreover, as he was sitting down, she had a clear look at the outline of his face.
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He was indeed very handsome.
“You little girl, what do you know about murderous intent.” Old man Qin Cheng took a moment to think and said, “It doesn't look like he wants to have anything to do with us, so let’s not waste the effort. I’ve made my decision, tomorrow, we’ll go to ‘that place’ and look for traces of prey at the borders.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a black box from his side and opened it. Four unmanned drones slowly floated up to the air and flew away from the camp in separate directions.
Upon reaching the designated area, each drone projected a soft white light underneath, providing the vicinity with some lighting.
Red light beams were drawn between the four drones. Once an unknown creature encroached the area, the drones would automatically enter defensive mode and sound out warnings.
It's necessary for hunters who sought life in the wilderness to have some means of self-defense.
…
The next morning, Li Shutong walked out of the tent full of vigor. He looked at Qing Chen who slept against the stone and smiled. “Have your feet gotten any better?”
“Much better,” nodded Qing Chen. “Although the wounds keep reopening due to our long trek, they’re still healing thanks to the ointment, it’s really amazing. I estimate it’ll take about… two more days, for a full recovery.”
“Since it’s healing well,” Li Shutong smilingly said, “then you can start preparing for breakfast now!”
He glanced at the camp beside them, where someone was currently cutting strips of cured meat into the iron pot filled with cooked porridge.
Qing Chen looked up at Li Shutong and spoke, “Teacher, I know your intention is to train me, but isn’t it too much to put only your personal supplies in the camping bag? Also, why did you even bring something like a folding stool? Can’t you just sit on a rock?”
“Oh, it’s too cold to sit on rocks,” Li Shutong reasoned, “Also, Ye Wan weighed the backpack and said it was less than 30 kg, so I told him to put the folding stool inside. A cultivator requires cultivation. You’ve only had a short period of training before our trip, you can’t delay your practice just because we’re on the road. With the aid of the breathing technique, you’ll improve at a miraculous speed by marching with the extra weight. According to my calculations, by the time we reach Forbidden Land No. 002, your physical fitness will be enough to pass the mark.”
“But you can obviously throw away things like raisins, red dates, and wolfberries to make room for some supplies for me,” Qing Chen still felt rather unsatisfied.
“I'm not young anymore,” Li Shutong earnestly said, “Your teacher needs to maintain his health.”
Qing Chen took out a thick paper book from within the camping bag and bitterly asked, “Is that why you also told Ye Wan to stuff a health awareness handbook into the bag? Finding a physical book in this day and age couldn’t have been easy, right!”