Chapter 7: Time and Days

A sturdy, dark-skinned young man was pushing a manure cart filled to the brim with horse dung as he walked out of the barracks.

Chen Mo had eaten quite a lot over this past month, and with the extra income from privately selling horse dung, he was able to buy some meat to eat every few days.

Therefore, his physique was clearly much stronger than when he had first started shoveling manure; the two-hundred-plus-pound single-wheeled manure cart moved back and forth with ease in his hands, without the slightest bit of strain.

"Let's move fast; if we keep a good pace today, we might even be able to go check out the market," Chen Mo shouted to Ding Bao, who was pushing the manure cart with him.

Shoveling and delivering manure was hard labor, so ever since Chen Mo became able to push the cart, the three of them began taking turns resting.

The soldiers responsible for guarding the gate were already used to them, waving their hands while covering their noses to signal them to leave quickly.

After pushing the small cart for over ten miles, an old man in hemp clothing appeared by the side of the road, holding a steelyard and carrying a basket on his back.

He was the manure collector; the horse dung they had been privately selling during this period was all sold to him.

"Old man, hurry it up," Chen Mo stopped the cart and, seeing the old man's slow movements, could not help but urge him.

The old man nodded in agreement, though his pace did not quicken much.

"Forty-four catties and seven taels; I'll just count it as forty-five catties for you. How about fifty wen?" The old man lifted the steelyard and spoke only after looking at it carefully.

"Deal," Chen Mo nodded with satisfaction, having no objections to this price.

Although the price would be higher if they walked another ten-plus miles to sell this manure directly to the farmers, the chance of them getting caught would be too great.

Trading with this man was all about safety and peace of mind.

It was impossible for the old man to betray them, because having a stable source of horse dung allowed him to earn quite a bit of extra money every month.

Taking the copper coins handed over by the old man, Chen Mo counted them once in front of him before putting them into his own purse.

After the transaction, both sides nodded to signal the end, and Chen Mo continued pushing the cart along the main road.

"Brother Mo, do you think we'll be able to get in when General Sun selects his Personal Soldiers?" Pushing the small cart, Ding Bao took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Chen Mo.

Ever since Chen Mo gave them the idea a month ago to proactively confess the manure-selling matter to He Maguan, the two of them, while not completely won over, were quite respectful toward Chen Mo and wanted to hear his opinion on everything.

As for the matter of the Personal Soldiers, it was only after Chen Mo had discussed it with Ma Cai that he decided to tell him.

The two of them had been keeping it from him, but they might not have been able to keep it hidden forever.

If Ding Bao found out later that the two of them had been hiding it from him, it would only damage the harmony among them.

Ma Cai had connections, but Chen Mo did not; if Ma Cai were selected as a Personal Soldier and left, he would still have to continue getting along with Ding Bao.

"Who knows? There's no set procedure for this; let's just focus on feeding the horses," Chen Mo replied casually.

The Transformation Pearl in his abdomen had already accumulated nearly seventy percent of the Qi and Blood he needed, and he now only hoped that the selection for the Personal Soldiers would be delayed.

Although he did not know the specific criteria for selecting Personal Soldiers, as long as he could complete his first rebirth, an increase in strength should be enough to get him selected.

The two of them pushed the cart off the main road, passed through a rural path, and arrived in front of a military camp.

Calling it a military camp was a stretch; it was actually more like a manor.

The three hundred mu of land belonging to the Commandant's family were all farmed by the soldiers stationed there.

The harvested grain naturally belonged entirely to the Commandant, and for the soldiers tilling the land, being able to get enough to eat was already considered quite good; this treatment was not much different from being sold as a Slave.

Dumping the two carts of horse dung by the manure pile, the two of them pushed the carts away.

After walking another three or four miles, they arrived at a market that was about to close.

Spending one wen to have someone watch their small cart, the two of them began to stroll around.

Chen Mo had a clear goal: to eat meat.

A flatbread made of dead dough weighing over a catty, wrapped with more than half a catty of sauce-marinated meat—Chen Mo ate most of it in just three or five bites.

Feeding horses and shoveling manure was already a physically demanding task, not to mention that he also had to replenish the Qi and Blood for the Transformation Pearl; Chen Mo's appetite was much larger than that of an ordinary person.

He took the copper coins from his Huai to pay the vendor, ate the remaining half of the wrapped bread, and went to buy a catty of white sugar and half a catty of pig's head meat for He Maguan.

This was something he had been instructed to do when he left, and he had been given the money beforehand.

After buying these things and retrieving the single-wheeled cart, a moment later, Ding Bao returned with a flushed face.

"Let's go," Chen Mo was not surprised by this, knowing that the other man had gone to the small wine stall again.

By the time the two returned to the camp, the sun was already setting in the west.

Walking into the shed where the steamed buns were made, Chen Mo lifted the lid of the pot to reveal thirteen or fourteen buns still steaming with heat.

It wasn't just him who stole this horse feed to eat; in fact, everyone did, it was just that others didn't eat as much as he did.

Chen Mo ate two first to pad his stomach, preparing to save the rest for a late-night snack.

There would be a meal served by the kitchen later, so it wasn't good to eat too much now.

For them, the horse grooms, each meal consisted of five coarse-grain buns and a large bowl of vegetables, while the other soldiers only got three.

As for the Commandant's few Personal Soldiers, not only could they eat fine grains every day, but they also didn't have to do the heavy or menial work in the camp, and they even had people to wash their clothes and received a monthly salary.

Furthermore, they got a day off every ten days, along with half a catty of wine and a catty of meat.

And that was just the treatment for the Commandant's Personal Soldiers; one could imagine that the treatment for General Sun's Personal Soldiers must be even better.

"Brother Mo," Ma Cai returned from the kitchen with food and greeted him loudly when he saw him.

"What's up?" Chen Mo asked while wiping the table.

"Did you see the notice posted in the camp? In another month, General Sun will be recruiting Personal Soldiers from within our camp." Ma Cai's rugged face was full of joy.

The reason he had joined the army was to wait for this opportunity, and now he had finally waited for it.

"Did it say how they'll be selected?" Chen Mo asked in pursuit.

There was still a month left; as long as nothing went wrong, he would definitely be able to accumulate enough Qi and Blood to undergo his first rebirth.

"It didn't say, but I reckon it's most likely lifting stones to test strength," Ma Cai said with a certain tone.

To select Personal Soldiers from a group of foot soldiers who had only done menial labor and had basically no training, it was impossible to test military skills like riding and archery.

It would likely be a test of strength to see the foundation of their bodies; as long as the physical foundation was good enough, everything else could be trained slowly.

"We'll see when the time comes; I don't know if any of us brothers will be able to get selected," Chen Mo replied.

Things a month away were neither too far nor too near; the most important thing was to eat well and accumulate more Qi and Blood.

"I feel like I can do it." Ma Cai smiled confidently; the reason he dared to join the army was that his physique was definitely robust, and among the three of them, he possessed the greatest strength.

Chen Mo smiled and said nothing more, using chopsticks to skewer four steamed buns, then took the white sugar and pig's head meat he had bought to deliver them to He Maguan.

"Master He." Chen Mo pushed the door open and walked into the barracks.

He Maguan was busy tidying up the brushes used for grooming horses; warhorses had to be brushed and washed frequently, either every few days or after being ridden.

Most of the time, water was not used; only brushes were used to scrub away dust and dirt.

Grooming horses was also a task that required considerable effort and experience; warhorses had fiery temperaments, and among the grooms, only Master He could brush them.

"This is the meat and sugar, and I've also brought your steamed buns for dinner."

Chen Mo placed the items he had bought onto the table one by one, then took three wen of copper coins out from his Huai.

"The pig's head meat was sold at the end, so the price was a bit cheaper; these three wen are what's left."

After accounting for the origin of this money, he took out another twenty-six wen of copper coins and placed them on the table.

"The manure was sold for fifty wen; this portion is yours."

He Maguan swept his gaze over the copper coins on the table and couldn't help but reveal a smile.

He had not failed to ask others to help him buy things before, but they would either occasionally make mistakes or forget to buy them, or they would shortchange him on the weight.

Only Chen Mo not only never shortchanged him on the weight, but even regarding the money from price fluctuations of the goods, he would never covet a single wen.

"You know about General Sun wanting to recruit Personal Soldiers, right?" He slowly gathered the copper coins on the table and asked.

(End of this chapter)