"Sis, not all of it is gone, there's still some left, there's still some..." Tang Wen quickly reassured her.
"How much is left?"
Tang Tang immediately grabbed her younger brother's arm.
Her grip was so strong that even Tang Wen, whose physical attributes were as high as 1.09 and who was no less robust than a healthy adult, felt a sharp pain.
"For moving, we paid 300 catties of grain, and the annual rent is 240 catties, but the place is a courtyard with a well and a woodshed, very safe..." He observed his sister's expression and spoke cautiously.
Tang Tang straightened up instantly: "300 plus 240, that's 540 catties! That scared me, but we still have quite a bit left. I've already packed the pheasants, and we'll give them more foxtail millet since moving is such a hassle."
Tang Wen: ...
A few minutes later, he came out carrying a small burlap sack and handed it directly to Xiao Liang.
"Pheasants? So, little brother, you're a hunter?" Xiao Liang took the bag, his smile widening.
The cart driver brought down a scale from the donkey cart.
Tang Wen glanced at it a few times, and no matter how he looked at it, the scale seemed more like a product of advanced technology.
He casually asked, "Is this a scale? I've never seen one like this before."
Xiao Liang proudly replied, "It's a new gadget brought by the merchant caravan. There are also clocks and looms. In a couple of years, when you join the guard, you'll see more of these."
As they spoke, the siblings brought out jars and buckets of foxtail millet from the house and poured them into the burlap sacks the cart driver had brought.
Once a sack was filled and tied, it was time to weigh it.
The cart driver and Tang Wen together placed the large sack on the scale.
Tang Tang kept her eyes fixed on the scale.
The cart driver read the numbers aloud, "One hundred seventeen, uh, one hundred eighty-nine catties."
As he spoke, Xiao Liang, who was standing nearby, suddenly placed one foot on the scale and calmly asked, "See it clearly?"
"Clearly! One hundred eighty-nine catties! And then some," the cart driver said with certainty.
Tang Tang looked at the scale, then at the foot, her clear eyes revealing a sense of "so that's how it's done."
"Alright, 189 catties of foxtail millet," he announced loudly, loud enough for passersby to hear.
The passersby, seeing his red armband, didn't linger, as if staying even a second longer would mean they'd be asked for rent.
A few minutes later, the second sack of foxtail millet was weighed.
Xiao Liang repeated his trick, turning one hundred fifteen catties into one hundred ninety-three!
Tang Tang's eyes sparkled with a look she'd never had before: giving her brother a pheasant to hand over was totally worth it!
With the two sacks combined, the total weight of grain Tang Wen had handed over reached an astonishing 382 catties.
Only 158 catties short.
Xiao Liang pulled Tang Wen aside, "Brother Tang, for the rest, it'd be best if you could hand over some chicken meat."
"Sure, sure."
Xiao Liang smiled and explained in a low voice, "Chicken meat doesn't keep well. I can arrange for everyone to eat it tonight."
"Got it, got it!" Tang Wen's doubts vanished. Earlier, he had been worried—would this mess up the accounts? He wasn't short on grain, but he didn't want to cause any trouble that couldn't be resolved.
Hearing this, he understood and felt even more eager to join the guard organization.
He went back inside and brought out two pheasants. Weighed on the scale, they came to 11 catties, and then some.
"One catty of meat is worth fifteen catties of grain, plus Brother Tang already paid 30 catties in rent, so you've overpaid!"
Xiao Liang looked at the cart driver and said, "We can't take advantage of Brother Tang like this. Let's make the effort and help Brother Tang move."
"Alright, I'll follow your lead!" the old cart driver responded promptly.
He first drove the donkey cart back to the guards' quarters to deliver a load of foxtail millet, then hurried back to help Tang Wen and Xiao Liang move their belongings.
The donkey cart was quite spacious, managing to carry everything in a single trip.
As the small house was emptied and the siblings were truly about to leave, Tang Tang's eyes revealed her reluctance, and she turned back multiple times along the way.
"House number 6 on 5th Street, this is it."
Liang Min, also known as Xiao Liang, took out a key to unlock the brass lock and pushed the door open.
Tang Tang curiously looked around, her eyes darting here and there.
The courtyard was sizable, allowing the donkey cart to turn around easily, comparable in size to the backyard of the nearby blacksmith's shop.
The toilet was in one corner of the yard, and the woodshed next to it was empty.
The house was built with blue bricks, consisting of three rooms with doors and windows.
Inside, apart from dust and cobwebs, there was nothing.
Liang Min handed a set of keys to Tang Wen and left with the cart driver.
Before leaving, Tang Wen discreetly gave the old cart driver three Red-billed Finches.
"Brother Tang, whenever you need the cart, just come to the guards' camp to find me!" the old cart driver grinned broadly.
"Sure, take care, Brother Liang."
Tang Wen went to the blacksmith's house to borrow tools for cleaning his new home. Upon mentioning it at the blacksmith's shop, Li Da Niu also became excited: "Brother Tang, you've moved here? To house number 6 on 5th Street? Great, great! I'm at number 18, we're quite close! Wait, I'll close up and come help you clean."
"That won't do, your wife is heavily pregnant, she can't be left alone at home!"
"Ahem," Li Da Niu suddenly blushed: "She's not alone, I bought a maid to take care of her."
"Oh!" Tang Wen suddenly understood, giving him a knowing look. So, you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have taken a concubine.
Really, enviable.
In the camp, there were more women than men, so it was normal for a strong laborer to have multiple women.
"It was your sister-in-law who insisted I buy her, a poor family's girl, very efficient at work."
"Yes, yes, I understand," Tang Wen gave him a look.
Old Li got anxious: "It's really true!"
"Uh-huh, really, really."
The two carried brooms and dustpans to Tang Wen's new home.
The three of them worked hard until dark, finally getting everything clean.
Li Da Niu didn't stay for dinner, so the Tang siblings simply built a stove in the yard and managed a meal.
"Two wild chickens left, two bags of foxtail millet, half a bag of potatoes, half a bag of sweet potatoes, five bundles of firewood..." Like a squirrel preparing for winter, Tang Tang meticulously counted the remaining supplies at home, insisting on storing all the food in their bedroom.
Considering the increasingly cold weather, Tang Wen planned to build a heated brick bed in the house in a few days.
Although he had never done it before, he had seen others build it when he lived in his hometown as a child.
He understood the principle, and the materials weren't hard to find, so it should be feasible.
The next day, a thick fog enveloped the area.
Tang Wen braved the dense fog to visit the carpenter's house.
For the price of one wild chicken and thirty catties of foxtail millet, he took away a set of tables and chairs, a cabinet, and two single beds.
Once these items were moved in, the previously empty house immediately felt more lived-in.
Li Da Niu brought a large iron pot and some commonly used iron kettles and shovels.
In return, Tang Wen gave him the last wild chicken.
Although it was a bit of a bargain, he could repay it slowly in the future.
In this world, he had finally made some friends.
Moving from a shack to a brick house, the siblings were still very excited.
In the evening, Tang Wen practiced his saber skills, the Eight Section Brocade, and his Flying Knife Skill in the courtyard.
After finishing his training, he boiled water and took a bath.
Although he only had plant ash and rice-washing water to clean himself, he still felt refreshed after the bath.
Before going to bed, Tang Tang suddenly said, "Little Wen, this is even better than our old home."
After a moment of silence, Tang Wen softly replied, "It will get even better. Let's sleep now."
"Mmm, now that we have a house, it's time to find you a wife, little brother."
"Ah?" In the darkness, Tang Wen shook his head repeatedly. In these troubled times, becoming stronger was the real priority. Women could wait!
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years and 10 months]
[Body: 1.09]
[Spirit: 1.05]
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
[Skill: Flying Stone, Proficient (19
99/3000)]
[Skill: Eight Section Brocade, Beginner (967/1000)]
[Skill: Flying Knife Skill, Mastery (901/1000)]
[Skill: Wind-splitting Saber, Beginner (451/500)]
After days of rigorous training, Tang Wen was on the verge of another transformation.
(End of Chapter)