Chapter 656: Ascending to Heaven in a Day

After carefully discussing the division of labor and responsibilities, they realized it was time for lunch. The company commander then blew his whistle, letting the Slaves begin preparing the meal. This was the moment the Slaves looked forward to most; how could they have ever imagined before that a person could have food to eat at a set time? Most of the time, they had worked on empty stomachs and gone to sleep hungry.

The meals for Baifeng's servants were made by themselves. Among them, Xiafeng and Qiulei were trained cooks. Baifeng approved of the food the two of them made. Of course, because he had been here for such a long time, Baifeng's tastes were gradually changing. Now, his requirements for food were not as high as they used to be. If the people currently cooking were to go out and open a restaurant, they would be at the level of having their shop smashed.

Xiafeng and Qiulei were also there to teach the Slaves how to cook. They would select some among the Slaves who had a talent for cooking, teach them earnestly, and finally sell them to those Nobles and wealthy families as Slave cooks. After all, the overall level of catering in China was extremely backward. Many Noble households did not have a cook capable of making exquisite food; all they had was a Slave who knew how to cook.

The amount of oil dregs each Slave could have per meal was quantified; the water ladle was the measuring tool. They were not allowed to have more, nor could they have less, because they had to ensure they had the physical strength to train, and they would even participate in labor later. A more important point was that the Slaves needed to build up their bodies during this Winter, at least not looking so thin and weak.

Those in the Tents who had already stolen food were already scheduled to receive their next punishment. Of course, there might be some that the Soldiers had not discovered, those who might have stolen food at night, or even those who had colluded to steal without arguing. This was not a big problem; on the final day, everything would naturally come to light. The Tents with no grain left to cook would naturally be the ones that had stolen the grain.

After the Slaves finished eating, what puzzled them greatly was that the instructors actually told them to go back to their Tents to sleep. Sleep? This was truly too inconceivable; shouldn't they be working after being full?

But since the instructor had spoken, they could only obey. With uneasy hearts, they slowly fell asleep.

As the most special one among these Slaves, Xi received the most special treatment as well. He had clothes to wear, a room to live in by himself, and in the morning, there was actually someone to wake him up. Of course, this was not his standard configuration; it was just that considering he had just arrived and was not yet familiar with everything in Huaxia, someone was needed to lead him in adapting to life in Huaxia.

After he was woken up, dressed, and washed, on the way to being led to the orchestra, that servant even told him that as long as one heard the crowing of a chicken, it meant it was time to get up. As for what a chicken crow was?

The servant stood in place and carefully imitated it: "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Xi wanted to laugh a little, but he still did not know what the status of this person following him was. If he accidentally offended him, he feared he would be finished.

The servant naturally would not think of this. Although Xi arrived late, the gap in status between them had already been drawn. As a Slave, he was completely below a Citizen, even if this Citizen was penniless and not even as good as a tenant farmer.

"You should have heard this sound this morning; it's everywhere, so as long as you hear it, you should get up. After all, from now on, you have to prepare to report to the orchestra at this time every day, otherwise, you might have your wages deducted or something like that."

Xi could not understand what the servant was saying at all: "What, what is a wage deduction?"

The servant explained to Xi while walking: "People who work in Huaxia, except for those who farm their own land or hunt, only need to do their own specific job. For example, you, you are there to play instruments and teach instruments. Every thirty days, you will be issued grain. This grain, we call it a wage, and there might even be things like cloth."

Xi was exceptionally surprised, but very excited: "Then what about me? How much grain can I be issued?"

The servant shook his head: "I don't know about this; my status is not enough to come into contact with these things."

Xi continued to press: "Then what about you? How much grain can you be issued?"

The servant lowered his head: "I am a Slave, I don't have wages. I only have that fixed amount of food every day. Maybe the master will occasionally give some clothes, daily necessities, or something."

After hearing the word "Slave," Xi instantly lost his smile. He had spent all this time chatting with a Slave; he had thought it was some important figure. It was a waste of effort. He could not help but distance himself a little from this Slave, and he did not want to talk to him anymore.

The Slave noticed Xi's reaction and felt a wave of disdain in his heart. You weren't any better off yesterday, were you? Not even a day had passed, and you really think of yourself as a superior person. But he dared not say it, because he knew very well that he had absolutely no chance to change his status in Huaxia again. Of course, he did not know about the new policy regarding Slaves that Baifeng had formulated but had not yet promulgated.

Although the other person looked down on him, he still had to introduce Huaxia to him; this was his job. If he didn't finish it well, he would definitely be punished.

So he talked about some basic conditions of Huaxia, talked about the government structure of Huaxia, and most importantly, talked about the Ministry of Rites, and clearly told Xi: "There are more than fifty people in the orchestra now, among whom are the Changle Prince and Princess Miaoyin of Huaxia. The one teaching instruments is the Sage Zhishou from Kongtong Mountain. He was originally in the Xuanyuan Tribe, but now he is temporarily staying in Huaxia."

In order to make Xi recognize reality, he added another sentence: "By the way, there is also one inside who was once the Tribal Chief of the Chenshui Tribe, a tribe of several thousand people, and it even split off from a large tribe of over a hundred thousand people like the Shennong Clan. He is also in our Huaxia, now obediently learning instruments."

Xi was shocked by the Slave's words. He had not heard of Sage Zhishou, but that did not mean he had not heard of the Suiren Clan. It was said that the Jiangshui Tribe also split off from the Shennong Clan. As for the equally large Suiren Clan tribe, no one on this land did not know of them.

But he did not expect that the Tribal Chief of a small tribe that split off from the Suiren Clan had come to Huaxia to study? He really wanted to ask the Slave carefully, but he could not open his mouth, because he felt that the Slave's words were specifically meant for him to hear.

The Slave also continued walking without raising his head; in fact, the corners of his mouth were already slightly raised.

Xi had to ask about other things: "What is this 'master' and 'prince' you mentioned?"