"System Vee.9, are you going to leave?" After hesitating for a long time, Nora finally asked, "If you leave, will everything I have now disappear?"
"Ding! Don't worry, System Vee.9 will not disappear before your natural death. Even if it disappears afterward, the rewards will still remain."
"That's good!" A faint light flashed in Nora's eyes. She looked up and asked with a smile, "System Vee.9, can you take a human form?"
"No, I cannot."
"That's really a pity!" Nora said sadly. If System Vee.9 could take human form, she would definitely want to pet it and play with it.
Since we have our own home in the capital now, let's go there! If it were yesterday, Nora wouldn't dare to go to the capital alone.
Now she has a master-level martial art and a space cheat, so she can protect herself completely.
Also, she carries many secrets, so it is not suitable to travel with others. Being alone lets her enjoy the food and scenery slowly without feeling bored.
Having made up her mind, Nora quickly packed. There wasn't much to pack, but she prepared a small bundle to avoid drawing attention. She put two sets of clothes inside, then stepped out with the morning sun.
Following System Vee.9's route, Nora rode a horse toward the capital city.
There is paradise above and Suzhou below. When she entered Suzhou, she abandoned land travel and switched to water travel.
Even in winter, the scenery along both sides of Suzhou's river was quite charming.
During this time, she earned a lot of silver from the system rewards. Nora didn't hesitate. She rented a two-story merchant ship and bought many special Jiangnan fabrics and tea products.
After thinking carefully, she hired some quick and capable servants through a middleman.
At first, she wanted to buy a few girls, but then she realized this place had many more men than women. Every girl was precious. Even the poorest would never sell themselves as slaves.
Also, how could a modern person buy slaves? Nora didn't think it was a big deal. In modern times, those labor workers and bonded servants were almost the same, just lacking a formal contract.
They were all ruthlessly exploited by capitalists.
In the end, Nora spent fifty taels to select ten servants. Five were tall and strong, fit for heavy work and guarding the house.
Two were a family: a man in his thirties and an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy. Since his wife abandoned him, he could only sell himself and his son.
The remaining three were one man in his forties who cooked well, and two fifteen- or sixteen-year-old twin brothers.
Looking at the boys, Nora felt the world's cruelty. At this age, kids in modern times would be carefree and studying, but here they had to sell themselves to survive.
Nora had no heavy work. She even did her own washing and grooming. The servants only needed to protect her and take care of her daily needs.
"Master, what would you like to eat tonight? I will prepare it right away," the twelve-year-old boy asked politely.
"Is it almost dinner time?" Nora looked up at the darkening sky. She waved at the boy and said, "Jamie, tell your father to cook fish slice porridge for me tonight."
"Yes, Master!"
Watching the boy's back, Nora sighed helplessly. So young, but already so serious and responsible. He had none of the liveliness typical for boys his age.
Jamie, Justin, and Jared were the names she gave to the three boys. The others could use their original names.
Worried that the master would be hungry, Jamie ran quickly to the kitchen, panting, and told the man inside, "Father, Master said he wants fish slice porridge!"
"Okay, I'll get right on it. You go serve the young master there. When it's ready, I'll have Jared send it over." Stephen immediately started working, quickly telling Adam to start the fire and cook.
In this era, men who wanted to please their wives all had good cooking skills. Jamie's father, Stephen, and Adam, who was over forty, stayed in the kitchen. Jamie was still young, so she ran around delivering messages. Justin and Jared took care of Nora closely.
They finished a simple dinner. Just as Nora was about to lean on the soft couch and read, she heard loud noise outside the door. Nora immediately became alert and took Justin and Jared up to the deck.
"How did it happen?" Nora asked. The sky was already dark. Although there were oil lamps on the ship, the light was poor, and the crowd made it hard to see. She had to ask.
Seeing Nora, the captain quickly stepped aside. "Young master, we just pulled the net to catch fish. We didn't expect to catch a person. We don't know if he's dead or alive."
"Simon, go check if he's still breathing." Nora ordered.
Simon checked the pulse and breathing. Then he respectfully answered, "Young master, he's not dead yet. There's still a faint breath."
"Bring him back to the cabin for treatment." Nora had watched many TV shows and knew that men found on the roadside could not be saved easily. At worst, they would become like Li Chengyin or Fu Shenxun. But a life was still a life. As a good youth who grew up under the red flag, she could not just watch him die.
Luckily, there was a doctor on board. After a few simple needles, the man was pulled back from the brink of death. It proved that Chinese medicine was profound. Although the man was still unconscious, at least his life was not in danger.
They changed him into clean clothes. Nora asked outside the room, "Doctor, how is he now?"
"This young master has no immediate danger to his life. If he doesn't get a high fever today, he can wake tomorrow. But his body is very weak and needs good rest. He must avoid anger and keep a happy mood or it will shorten his lifespan."
Nora sighed. In short, he was like a precious ancestor. They had to treat him carefully. If he was unhappy, he might die at any time.
She suddenly realized she had picked up a hot potato. Now she could only pray the man would wake and tell her his home address so she could send this problem back quickly.
To be safe, Nora specially said, "Justin, take good care of him tonight. If he gets a fever, notify me. I have medicine. If he wakes, ask for his address so we can send him home. He's been missing for a night; his family must be very worried."
"Yes, young master! I will remember!"
After giving instructions, Nora left the cabin. After all this, she had no mood to enjoy the night view.
Jamie and Jared exchanged a glance and silently followed Nora into the room. Jamie pulled out a book from somewhere and smiled as she sat beside Nora.
"Don't worry about what happened earlier, young master. I have this book and can read it to you to cheer you up."
Nora became interested. She did not like reading much, but if someone read to her, especially a handsome young boy, she enjoyed it.
She leaned on the soft couch and smiled, nodding, "Okay, Jamie, read well. If you read well, I will reward you."
"Thank you, young master!" Seeing Nora smile again, Jamie felt happy inside.