Published: March 11, 2025
Chapter 33: Sudden Inspiration
Although they were busy, smiles adorned their faces—smiles filled with hope for life that made it clear they were living with energy and purpose.
Zhao Hai couldn’t help but smile as well. He turned and walked to the area where the corn stalks were placed, putting the corn stalks he had collected that morning back on the ground.
Zhao Hai had never thought about hiding things from these people. They were slaves of the budah family, marked with the family’s brand, and their fates were tied to the budah family for life. There was no need to keep secrets from them.
The slaves seemed to have started to adapt to Zhao Hai's various extraordinary performances. So, when they saw him producing so many corn stalks, they didn’t react much.
Zhao Hai glanced at the female slave holding corn stalks and said, "These can be used for laying on the ground or for kindling a fire. But remember, be careful when lighting a fire; we don’t want to start a fire disaster. Also, these corn stalks are still a bit damp, so it’s best to let them dry before using them."
The few female slaves promptly acknowledged him, but this time, they didn’t rush to kneel. It seemed Meg had communicated well with them.
In fact, Zhao Hai had guessed wrong this time; the credit wasn’t entirely due to Meg. Although she was a servant, she was also the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Dabu family. Even when the budah family was not in decline, very few people in the budah household dared to show her a bad attitude, and she was much higher in status than those commoners. Moreover, she had seldom interacted with those commoners, making her less skilled in communicating with slaves who were lower in status.
The change in the slaves was entirely due to Ju. Although she had been a commoner before, she had been a slave for several years. Now, with the budah family’s brand on her, even though she regained her commoner status yesterday, in the eyes of these slaves, she was still more approachable than Meg.
Most importantly, even after regaining her commoner status and changing her room, Ju still worked alongside them and shared laughs, making it easier for the slaves to accept her.
Slaves were the lowest class of people on the continent. Sometimes, they were treated even worse than their masters' dogs. It was said that if a noble's dog died, they would kill a hundred slaves to accompany it in burial, showcasing how lowly the status of slaves was.
Because of this, slaves were extremely wary of anyone with a slightly higher status or any connection to nobility. They never trusted the words of anyone related to the nobility.
Ju’s status was special. She was still a slave, but now she had been restored to commoner status, and she was always honest and got along well with the other slaves, which allowed the others to accept her quickly.
Women naturally chat together, and slaves were no exception. As Ju worked with them, they naturally asked her questions about Zhao Hai. Ju didn’t hide anything and told them everything, surprising the slaves as they hadn’t expected Zhao Hai to be so easy to talk to.
Similarly, Ju learned from Merlin that Zhao Hai didn’t like people kneeling in front of him, so she conveyed this to the other slaves. Coupled with Zhao Hai's friendly demeanor in recent days, the slaves’ wariness decreased significantly, and they no longer kneeled in front of Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai didn’t mind. To be honest, even though he had accepted Adam’s memories, he still felt uncomfortable with people kneeling before him every day. However, to avoid comments from Merlin and Galen, he accepted it. Now, the slaves no longer knelt upon seeing him, which made him feel a bit more at ease.
Zhao Hai and Merlin went to the yard again. When Meg and the others approached to pay their respects, Zhao Hai waved his hand to stop them. He walked to a piece of open ground beside the yard and took out the stone he had just received from the space.
Then Zhao Hai turned to see Meg and the others weaving straw mats. Clearly, those slaves were accustomed to this work, their hands and feet nimble. Even those who had never woven before learned quickly. On the other hand, Meg lagged far behind them.