"Looks like old man Liu Sheng hooked in another catch again. This kid should have seen the previous labourer he hired. I saw that guy went to beg for death at the public offices only after six months of work. From a bulky man to a malnourished beggar in six months, only Liu Sheng can do it!" One of the other stand owners gossiped to the other stand owners.
"Hey hey hey! Stop spreading baseless rumours about me!" Liu Sheng, the peach stand owner, started to proclaim about his innocence to the other stand owners. However, inside his eyes, he was actually proud of himself. He had managed to squeeze out a lot of value out of the previous labourer he hired.
"How ruthless. Still, it's no trouble to me. Once I can cultivate again, I should be able to complete this job with ease." Tang Peng heard the side conversations, but didn't think too much of it. The stand owners returned to hawking their goods once they got tired of gossiping.
He looked at the shops again, and remembered their names. Indeed, a town had more value than a village. It had shops like, "Li's Healing Potions", and "Da Han's Weaponry Collection". Every customer who came out of these shops had a potions of various colours or new weapons slung on their back.
"What are you looking at? The public offices are the opposite way." Liu Sheng grabbed Tang Peng's arm forcefully, pulling him over to his side. "You should wheel the peaches to the public offices. Maybe I will give you a more favourable deal if you wheel it faster."
"Alright." Tang Peng grabbed the handles of the cart, but found out that it was much heavier than he had initially expected, as he began to push the cart. Sweat started to drip from his forehead, as he used almost all of his strength to get the cart to move. How did that fatso manage to do it?
As Tang Peng pushed the cart, Liu Sheng was shooing away all the people that was in the cart's way. He walked in front of it, and kept an eye on Tang Peng at all times, as he noticed that Tang Peng's arms were shaking. He didn't want his cart to fall and damage the peaches after all.
"Come on, you can do it. It's just a small distance away!" As Tang Peng continued to wheel the cart, he noticed that Liu Sheng had walked up a slope, and was gesturing for him to come up.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tang Peng shouted you Liu Sheng from below, upon which Liu Sheng just chuckled.
"It's what I have to go through everyday. If I can do it, then why can't you?" Liu Sheng belittled Tang Peng, which made his anger flare. He was not a weak person!
"I will show you!" Tang Peng used all of his strength to charge uphill, and managed to reach the top, before collapsing on the ground like a dead dog.
"Looks like I found a good worker again. With enough encouragement, he might even have the potential to exceed the value of the other one." Liu Sheng's smile kept growing bigger, as he offered a hand to Tang Peng. Tang Peng grabbed it firmly, using the hand as support.
"I... can... still... continue..." Tang Peng was panting heavily, as he grabbed the cart handles again. After looking around, he realised that Liu Sheng has not stuck around for him, and was already at the public offices that was just some meters in front.
"This man is not simple!" Tang Peng was put on alert by Liu Sheng. No normal man would be able to carry this cart here without being reduced to a pitiful state. However, it seemed that Liu Sheng has done it with ease.
"Just come on already. If you really want to work with me, you need to be decisive in everything you do." Liu Sheng showed his disdain towards Tang Peng's lacklustre attitude. Tang Peng continued to wheel the cart, until it reached the front of the public offices. Then, he entered inside with Liu Sheng.
The moment Liu Sheng entered, he headed for the reception counter. At the wooden counter, two men were sitting on stools, waiting for people to come in. When they saw Liu Sheng, their faces became amiable, showing that they were familiar with him.
"Is Chief Wei in? I need to hire a new labourer again." Liu Sheng inquired. The receptionists nodded to every word he said. "Our Chief Wei is available for you every time, sir, as long as you give us our bonuses."
Liu Sheng went outside, before plunging his hand deep within the peach cart. After fumbling around for a bit, he managed to take out a cloth pouch that was fastened with ropes.
He returned, and placed the cloth pouch on the counter. The receptionists removed the knots on the cloth pouch, before a few Qin silver rolled out.
Their eyes glinted with greed, before they quickly quietened down. With a straight face, they said, "You may visit Chief Wei now. He's at the usual place." They took out a key and handed it to Liu Sheng, who used it to open a metal gate. Behind the gate was an wooden spiral staircase, which was connected to the ceiling.
"Thanks. By the way, have some peaches." As Liu Sheng started walking up the wooden staircase, he tossed two peaches to each of the receptionists, who made a thumb-up sign after receiving them.
"His social connections seem to be quite good too. Maybe he was a former merchant of some sort?" Tang Peng took mental notes of his employer, and wondered about the mysterious identity of this peach stand owner.
As Tang Peng walked up the stairs, he could see how spacious the public offices was. The spiral staircase have him a better perspective, and he could see several reception counters, as well as people at the back handling the various affairs that was part of their jobs. Only a fairly prosperous town could manage to afford such a big building.
"Liu Sheng, old friend, what do you have for me today?" A deep voice boomed from the top of the staircase. As Tang Peng finally ascended the staircase, he saw a gruff looking man with Liu Sheng, arms slung over the back of their necks. If Tang Peng had not seen the bribery earlier, he would have really thought that they were best friends.
"I just need to have a labour contract drafted up for that kid over there." Liu Sheng pointed to Tang Peng, who just stood there, waiting for Liu Sheng to deal with the contract.
"Hmm... he looks like a young master from some noble family with that silk robe of his. Maybe he's a runaway. They can sell for a lot, you know?" Chief Wei suggested to Liu Sheng, who shook his head and proceeded to say, "Nah, he's not a young master. If he was, somebody else would have sold him long ago."
Tang Peng looked at his fingers, where he was wearing the ruby ring. For some reason, it seemed like people could not see it. It was good for him too, since he would be in deep trouble if anyone saw this valuable ruby embedded on his ring.
"He looks so scrawny and weak. Why would you hire him?" Chief Wei continued to hound Liu Sheng for his opinions, but Liu Sheng got fed up in the end.
"Just do what you're supposed to do. You don't have to ask so many questions." Liu Sheng told Chief Wei to draw up the contract, before telling Tang Peng, "Sign your name over here. From now on, I will become your official employer. Redeem your salary here."
Just like that, after all was said and done, Tang Peng finally got a job in Wei Town. However, he would not realise how much hardship was awaiting him by becoming employed by Liu Sheng...