Old Ge said casually, “How many Dao Origin Stones are you allocated each month?”

Jiang Wang came from a formal Dao-affiliated state’s city Dao Academy and had not seen much of the lives of true grassroots cultivators.

However, the sordidness of human hearts is not new at any level.

Jiang Wang looked up at him but didn’t say anything.

Being called “sir” repeatedly, he really took himself for one.

This old cultivator, surnamed Ge, stayed for a while. Seeing that Jiang Wang didn’t respond, his face became unpleasant, and he left with a flick of his sleeves.

He didn’t avoid the doorkeeper, Shuanzi, when he spoke, and Shuanzi nodded and bowed as he left, as if he was used to this kind of identity recognition.

Jiang Wang sat quietly with his eyes closed for a while, and then Steward Hu trotted back.

Perhaps too excited, he called “A’An” too quickly, merging the two sounds into “An.”

“The bed has been made for you, go and see if it’s okay?”

Looking at his face, wrinkled like old tree bark, Jiang Wang got goosebumps all over his body and took a long time to recover.

He responded with a “Hey.”

The environment of the mine could not be very good, but the Hu family mine still prepared a small courtyard with separate entrances for the cultivators stationed here.

As for why there were six small courtyards for four cultivators, those who understood, understood.

As long as the Chongxuan family didn’t come to inspect seriously, these six small courtyards would never be fully occupied.

The food and lodging of the cultivators were separate from the miners, and they rarely interacted.

Walking to the entrance of the small courtyard, a drooping-eyed, scruffy uncle swayed over.

“Sir Xiang!” Steward Hu greeted.

The uncle, called Sir Xiang, just raised his hand as a response, not looking sideways, and walked away on his own.

Steward Hu was used to his personality and explained while pushing the door open, “Sir Xiang is just like that, not that he has any opinions about anyone. He’s just loafing around.”

Jiang Wang nodded.

The layout of the small courtyard was ordinary, but it was considered very good in a place like a mine.

Because it had just been cleaned, it looked clean, bright, and airy.

Jiang Wang looked around casually and said he was satisfied.

Steward Hu was a little awkward and said, “A’An, you’re new here, there are no maids in the courtyard yet. I asked Sir Zhang’s maid to clean the courtyard for you. We can only recruit new maids when we return to town at the end of the month.”

Steward Hu looked at Jiang Wang, seemingly embarrassed to speak: “These few days, how about you make do with Shuanzi?”

“Sir Zhang” should be the third extraordinary cultivator in the Hu family mine. Judging from Steward Hu’s words, he should be a relatively easy-going person.

As for maids…

Jiang Wang silently glanced at Shuanzi, who had a simple and honest face.

Shuanzi also smiled warmly.

Jiang Wang deliberately asked, “How come Steward Hu, in his high position and with his power, and being a relative of the Village Chief Hu, doesn’t have a maid to serve him?”

“If I had one, wouldn’t I transfer her to you!” Steward Hu said, leaning close to Jiang Wang’s ear, and added in a low voice: “My old woman comes to see me every month, and that woman is very sharp-tongued.”

Jiang Wang laughed and said, “Alright, alright, Steward Hu. I’m not that delicate, I don’t need anyone to serve me all the time. Just prepare meals on time.”

Seeing that he was so easy to talk to, Steward Hu’s old face was wrinkled with laughter, and he couldn’t help but find him pleasing to the eye.

He still said politely, “At the end of the month, I’ll definitely pick a clever and lovable one for you!”

Just then, Old Ge’s voice came from outside the door: “I heard that the cleaning of this courtyard was done with the help of Zhang Hai’s maid, how can this be? Isn’t this neglecting our little brother?”

He walked into the small courtyard with a fake smile, followed by a woman with her head lowered.

He looked at Jiang Wang with a playful look: “Before, my courtyard didn’t have enough maids, so I borrowed the one from here. Now that you’re here, I’ll return her for you to use. You don’t have any objections, right?”

Without waiting for Jiang Wang to speak, he turned to Steward Hu and said, “If you’re recruiting new maids at the end of the month, I’m tired of looking at the maids in my courtyard, so get me a new one.”

Steward Hu readily agreed, “Understood, Old Ge.”

Jiang Wang now understood what Steward Hu had been awkward about before. It turned out that this courtyard originally had a maid, but she had been taken away by the man surnamed Ge. He didn’t dare offend Old Ge, so he had to be vague about it.

He didn’t have any opinions about Steward Hu because of this, but he felt that this old man, surnamed Ge, was petty and annoying.

Whether to take back the maid from this courtyard or not, Jiang Wang didn’t care. But Old Ge deliberately came to his door like this, clearly wanting to disgust people.

However, Jiang Wang always remembered the purpose of his trip and would not expose himself before obtaining enough information.

So he just smiled: “Old Ge is getting old and needs to be served, I completely understand. Take this maid back with you. I’m not crippled, I can take care of myself.”

His expression was gentle, and his words were soft but barbed.

“You should stay.” Old Ge said half-jokingly: “Spring and summer are intersecting, be careful of catching a cold at night.”

“There’s no need.” Jiang Wang subconsciously refused again, but then stopped.

Because at this time, he saw the woman behind Old Ge raise her head.

It wasn’t that she was so beautiful.

But in her eyes, shadowed by dark circles, there was a hint of… silent pleading.

That faint light, a mixture of bitterness and hope, was really hard to extinguish.

No wonder she had been keeping her head down, because there was a wound on her face.

“Then stay.” Jiang Wang changed his mind.

“Did you hear that? Why aren’t you going over there?” Old Ge frowned.

The maid moved two steps lightly.

“You can’t do anything right! You’re so slow!” Old Ge grabbed her and threw her at Jiang Wang.

Even though she was suddenly picked up and thrown out like a weapon, the maid didn’t dare to scream loudly, but tightly closed her eyes.

But she didn’t feel the expected pain, only a gentle force enveloped her. It felt like she had fallen into cotton.

She opened her eyes and saw a young face. In addition to the original gentleness, there was a hint of determination rarely seen at this age.

Jiang Wang casually put her down.

Then he stepped forward and looked directly at Old Ge: “Ge, you’re too presumptuous!”

Although he came here for other purposes, he couldn’t let others bully him, as such forbearance would only arouse suspicion more easily.

“No need, no need. Come, come, Old Ge.” Seeing the situation escalate, Steward Hu hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over: “I just got a bottle of good tiger bone wine, won’t you come and taste it?”

Old Ge was just angry in his heart and deliberately came to disgust Jiang Wang, flaunting his seniority, but he didn’t really want to fight him to the death.

The older one gets, the more one cherishes life. Blowing things up would be a loss for him.

Hearing this, he just snorted from his nose: “Then I’ll go and try it.”

Steward Hu was worldly-wise and, while leading the way, turned back and said to Jiang Wang, “You rest first, I’ll send you a jar later.”

They walked away, and Steward Hu’s flattering voice could still be heard faintly: “You’re all cultivator sirs, how can you argue for us ordinary people, there’s no need, is there?”

For a time, the people in the courtyard left completely, leaving only Jiang Wang and the maid.

“What’s your name?” Jiang Wang asked.

The maid bowed and replied, “My name is Xiaoxiao.”

Her voice was a little childish, but slightly hoarse.

She was probably not very old, but had suffered a lot.

“Okay, go clean the room.”

Jiang Wang casually gave an order and turned to walk towards the bedroom he had chosen.

After taking a few steps, he turned back.

“I asked you to clean your own room, why are you following me?”

Although Jiang Wang’s voice was already very gentle, Xiaoxiao was still startled, not knowing where to put her hands, extremely panicked and at a loss.

Under her disheveled hair, was a still-immature face, one eye swollen and bruised, and the other eye filled with tears of panic.

She looked particularly pitiful.

Jiang Wang sighed in his heart, but didn’t show it on his face, just pointed to the left wing: “That’s your room.”