Chapter 101: Living Off a Woman
“Do you know what Shanpian is?” the chubby boy licked his lips and asked.
Shi Qi nodded. “I heard someone mention it while working today.”
The chubby boy frowned. “Those brats are so stingy. I just asked for one Rongpian to eat, and they wouldn’t give it to me. No respect for their teacher at all. I am their teacher, you know.”
Although he was a noble, he had always respected his teachers. It was a pity these brats were so annoying. Even when he tried to be polite, they’d go tattling to his parents.
“I heard there’s a little shop in this village. As long as you have work credits, you can buy stuff,” Shi Qi said to himself. Such a small village, but full of odd things.
The chubby boy nodded. “Yeah, I heard that too. But the students I teach said I only have 10 work credits, basically calling me a poor loser.”
As the third young master of the Merdes family, Lan Hu had grown up in luxury. It had never crossed his mind that one day someone would call him a “poor loser.” The kids in this village were just too hateful.
He muttered, “There are so many pretty people in this village! Even Lichiya has been overshadowed.”
Shi Qi’s expression shifted slightly. He nodded. “That’s true.”
Lichiya was a famously beautiful woman in the capital, and many people had tried to woo her. Lan Hu was no exception—he’d done many foolish things for her. But Crescent Village really was filled with beauties, and Illya’s looks easily surpassed Lichiya’s.
“Do you know Chu Feng?”
Shi Qi nodded. “Yeah, the human who interrogated us the other day.”
The chubby boy puffed up his cheeks. “That guy is amazing! I heard that half the people in the village want to sleep with him. Even the brats in my class talk about him like he’s a god.”
He knew about the grudge between the elves and humans, but he didn’t get it—Chu Feng was a human too, so how was he so popular? Half the elves wanted to sleep with him, but no one wanted anything to do with Lan Hu. And he was a noble! The injustice!
“Chu Feng really seems popular,” Shi Qi remarked. While helping repair the roads today, she’d heard several coworkers talking about him with admiration. Some half-beast workers even joked about marrying off their sisters to him.
“Let’s go check out the shop,” said the chubby boy.
Shi Qi nodded. “Okay.”
They asked for directions and eventually found their way to the small shop.
The chubby boy stood outside and looked in, surprised. “The shopkeeper is even prettier than Lichiya.”
Shi Qi nodded and thought to herself, Half-elves are definitely in high demand outside. There are many striking half-elves in Crescent Village. No wonder the village guards them so closely—it’s bound to attract elven hunters.
“Her clothes look weird,” the chubby boy commented.
Shi Qi nodded. “Yeah.”
Qinglan’s outfit had been picked by Chu Feng and Illya. As the face of the shop, Chu Feng thought she needed to look presentable.
Qinglan had always been beautiful, but now dressed in a branded gown, she looked elegant and regal—so much so that she had many of the village’s bachelors swooning.
There were quite a few customers gathered at the shop entrance.
“There are actually people here,” the chubby boy remarked in surprise.
Shi Qi secretly rolled her eyes. Back in the capital, crowds were normal. But now, in this foreign land, just seeing a few people seemed noteworthy.
“Hey,” the chubby boy greeted someone nearby, “Hi there! Were you captured too?”
August shook his head and smiled wryly. “No, I was bought.”
August looked at the chubby boy with a touch of melancholy. The Merdes family was a great noble house—under normal circumstances, someone like him wouldn’t even be qualified to speak with this young master. But now, stuck in this place together, no one could really look down on anyone.
The chubby boy tilted his head as he eyed the slave ring on August’ hand. “Did Chu Feng buy you?”
August nodded.
The chubby boy puffed up his cheeks, feeling a bit inferior. At least August had been bought—he, on the other hand, had been captured.
Qinglan glanced at the group and asked, “You here to buy something?”
Shi Qi stepped forward. “I’d like to buy some potato chips.”
Qinglan nodded. “We’ve got chips for 3 work points, 5 points, and 10 points. Which kind do you want?”
Before Shi Qi could respond, the chubby boy answered for her. “One of each.”
Qinglan gave him a quick look and said bluntly, “Living off a woman, huh.”
The chubby boy blushed, embarrassed.
Qinglan looked at Shi Qi. “Chu Feng pays you pretty well.”
Shi Qi frowned slightly. She hadn’t fully understood what a hundred work points meant at first, but now she was getting the idea. A hundred work points was basically the highest wage in this village. Chu Feng hadn’t looked down on her just because she was a slave.
Qinglan looked at her and said coolly, “The location of Crescent Village can’t be exposed, so we won’t be letting you all go. Winter’s coming—you should save up and buy a blanket.”
Shi Qi asked curiously, “Blanket? You mean animal skin?”
Qinglan pulled a blanket from the corner and said, “This kind.”
The chubby boy reached out and touched it. “Not bad! Pretty soft.” It wasn’t much worse than what he used back home.
Qinglan smiled. “Of course. Three hundred work points each.”
Shi Qi asked in surprise, “That expensive? Normal folks wouldn’t be able to afford that, right?”
Qinglan nodded. “Yeah, they can’t. But the boss gives out supplies. You two are captives, so you don’t get anything. If you want it, you have to buy it.”
Lan Hu frowned. “I’m the third young master of the Merdes family!”
Qinglan gave a cold laugh. “I hate nobles the most. Lots of people in the village do. If you don’t want to get beat up, stop bragging about your ‘young master’ status.”
Lan Hu: “…This place is too much! Nobles have no human rights here!”
The chubby boy puffed his cheeks, glared at Qinglan, and left with his arms full of snacks.
As he munched on chips, he said in surprise, “Wow, these are actually really good! If I’d known there were snacks like this here, they wouldn’t have needed to go through the trouble of capturing me—I’d have come willingly! The treatment for slaves here isn’t bad at all.”
Shi Qi: If the master and madam knew their son was willing to be a slave just for some snacks, they’d probably die of rage.
Lan Hu was sitting at the lectern, teaching class. While giving a lesson, he crunched on chips.
Lan Hu looked at the chips and thought, These taste as good as instant noodles!
Duoduo stared at him and said, “Teacher, can I have some?”
Lan Hu looked at all the eager, wide-eyed faces and thought, If I give one of them a piece, the rest will swarm me.
Paiyuan wiped his mouth and said, “Teacher, give us some too!”
Lan Hu muttered inwardly, No way I’m sharing. After all, when he asked for food before, these brats didn’t give him anything.
Hill looked at himself in a mirror and said, “Teacher, you better not eat too much. Boss Chu Feng said too many chips are bad for you.”
Lan Hu asked curiously, “What’s so bad about them?” He looked down at the chips in his hand and wondered, Don’t tell me these things are poisonous?
Hill rolled his eyes and said, “They’ll make you fat! That’s not a small thing.”
Hill narrowed his eyes and said with a serious face, “Boss, if you get fat like a ball, you won’t be able to live off women anymore.”
Lan Hu scowled. “Who are you saying lives off women?!”
He glanced at Tiantian and thought, Why does this cute little kid have so many hair clips? Doesn’t she find them annoying?
Tiantian was a tiny thing who had clearly come just to join the fun.
Lan Hu waved a hand. “Scram, brat. Go play somewhere else.”
Tiantian raised her head, puffed out her cheeks, and glared at Lan Hu in defiance.
In many noble households, children started education early. Lan Hu’s older brother began formal schooling at age five. Lan Hu started a bit later, beginning with a tutor at age seven. He thought to himself, This brat looks like she’s only three or four. What are the people in Crescent Village thinking, sending someone this young to class? What could a toddler possibly learn?
Even though he was now a prisoner, Lan Hu still had a noble’s temper—and that wasn’t something that would change overnight.
“Living off a woman isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” said Paien.
Hill nodded in agreement. “Exactly! Brother Illya lives off a man, and he looks really happy.”
As soon as Hill said that, the whole group of little kids suddenly got excited and started discussing the correct way to live off a woman.
Chu Feng stood at the door, rolling his eyes. Seriously? I brought Lan Hu here to teach these kids to study hard and aim high! And now this brat’s gone and completely misled them. None of them want to study anymore—they’re all thinking about how to sponge off someone. What a disaster.
Chu Feng pushed the door open and walked into the classroom. The rowdy kids immediately fell silent.
Chu Feng looked at Lan Hu. “How many characters have you taught them?”
Lan Hu scratched his head. “Not many yet.”
Hands on his hips, Chu Feng looked over the whole class. “Ten days from now, we’ll have a quiz. Whoever can recognize the most characters will win 100 points.”
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. Chu Feng could immediately feel the motivation in the room rise. He crossed his arms and thought, Now that’s more like it. Kids should be focused on learning and improving themselves—not dreaming of freeloading.
“Teach them properly,” Chu Feng said to Lan Hu.
Lan Hu nodded. “Got it.”
