The 174th chapter “clever little boy” (part 1)
Sandia is a 13 year old boy with a typical southerner’s last name. Due to his clever mind set, those around him would always address him with an affectionate name “Sandy”. Of course, those that hated him would call him “Sandy lttle liar “.
Born in the capital, Sandy would of course not be able to afford a teacher like those wealthy kids around him. Nevertheless, he still managed to receive a form of education in the temple’s welfare program. In merely half a year, he had already learned to write and read. More so than his peers, his ability to write his name and completely recite the first volume of the God’s Genesis book is exceedingly good.
Unfortunately, three months ago he could no longer continue his study. Though the temple claims to be offering “free” education for those children in need, but it came at a price. Once the children reached adulthood, these individuals must offer three years of their life to perform labor in the temple. In some cases, these people would directly become clergy’s – forever unable to marry and have children.
As a typical southerner, Sandy’s parent didn’t want their family’s lineage to be broken. In addition to this, Sandy also had no interest in the faith. By the age of 13, his interests in man and women matters were already in full swing. As such, he will often peek at his next door neighbor Ellie.
Maybe in two months, he could use his writing and mathematics to either become a bookkeeping apprentice in the nearby grocery store, or follow an old tailor at the street corner.
But these things are all in the future. In Sandy’s view, he already has a method to get rich.
Everyday he would wander around in the slave market. Unlike his older brother – a local gang boss- he is a real little bully. Because his older brother stole a purse from a housekeeper of a noble family, his brother was sent to the northwest last year to perform hard labor in a mine.
Different from his brother, Sandy is not a thief, nor will he do such bad things. Despite this, he would still manage to bring back a few copper coins each night.
The capital’s slave market is the gathering place of merchants from all over the empire. Many of these foreigners is a first timer in the capital’s slave market; therefore, they didn’t know anyone. Here’s where Sandy comes in. Acting as a guide, he will show the way for these people and help bargain with the slave traders. Of course, he will first explain some explicit “rules” of the trade before the customer makes a mistake.
Because of this situation, coupled with Sandy’s clever mindset, he would almost always come home with a few copper coins each day. If he gets lucky and the customer is a wealthy individual, his revenue would increase even more if he spent some extra effort in currying up his favors. His biggest wish right now is to save enough so that he can buy an old boot. The brother of his next door neighbor Ellie (girl) is currently serving in the local garrison. Often when facing the kids of Sandy’s age, the brother would always brag about his military boots. For this reason, Sandy became very envious.
Sandy is not only smart; his strongest point is his ability to judge a person from the crowd with a single glance. Which one is a fat sheep or a veteran, all he needs is one look.
Today, Sandy was finally able to locate a target after crossing his arms in a corner for half a day.
In the crowd, there is an odd duo. Though the two is comprised of a man and a woman, but they didn’t look like a couple because the man was much younger than the girl. As for the girl, she was around 20 years old and was way prettier than Ellie from next door.
The two may be wearing casual wear, but Sandy immediately recognized several features that wasn’t quite right: The way the guy’s eyes looked around acted like it was his first time in the slave market – full of curiosity towards everything around him. This feature was very important to Sandy. While the male is a good target, but the woman was the one that piqued Sandy’s curiosity the most: despite her feministic charms and her boiling hot legs, the woman seems to be a knight or warrior by trade in her movements. Though the two are clearly part of the same group, but the girl seems to be intentionally keeping a distance of half a step behind the male. Also, the girl was always jerk blocking anyone in the crowd that came too close to the male. Like that, a protective barrier was constantly maintained around the boy as if he was a young master of a wealthy family.
Yes, there’s no doubt!
After affirming his own speculation, Sandy then tugged his ragged cap against his head before pushing his way over.
“Sir! Sir!”
Du Wei is currently looking around because he really is curious about the slave markets. The slaves he previously bought for his shop wasn’t handled by him, rather, it was done by Marde. Now that he has come to the slave market for the first time, he would of course not le the chance slide by. In his previous life, the presence of a slave market is already near extinction. As he was looking around, a childish voice reached his ears.
Like a loach, a emaciated boy slithered out from the crowd and stood before him. The boy may look thin, but then again, it is quite normal for a child of a poor family. Surprisingly though, the boy in front of him was very clean unlike the dirty children’s he seen so far. Clean and tidy, the kid’s big eye carried a light that gave others the indication of his clever mind.
“Mr.” Sandy easily recited his well thought out lines, all the while not forgetting to put on his childish smile that could strike into the hearts of any adult: “Sir, would you like to buy slaves? Then I think you need someone like me.”
With only one look, Rolynn could already see through the kid’s purpose. With years of experience in his pocket, how could she not? However, just when she wanted to speak, Du Wei had already expressed his interest: “Oh, really? You? What can you do for me?”
“I can do a lot of things for you. Most importantly, I can save you a lot of trouble….. I can also save you a lot of time – for a distinguished person like you, time is very precious. You see all the people here? They are all here to buy slaves. And the many slave traders here want to sell slaves. You seem to be coming here for the first time, right? I can help you by introducing the situation here! Everything here is very familiar to me. I also know the slavers here: which one is kinder, which one is more cunning, which one is black hearted, which one is the fairest, I know all about it. You see? Am I not very useful to you?”
Seeing Du Wei was smiling at him, Sandy natural impulse is to push a bit harder. With the fish already in his mouth, there is no way he can let it go. Hurrying, he followed up with these words: “This place is very crowded with many thieves mixed in with the people. Don’t worry though. With me here, I can help you avoid a lot of these trouble…..” At this point, Sandy’s voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around like a ghost was nearby: “you see that man in a grey suit? He is a cheat, you have to be careful not to go near that guy; otherwise, the guy will steal your wallet.”
Du Wei blinked with understanding before smiling.
First impression, he liked the clean faced sly kid.
“How do you know my identity is high statute? The clothes I’m wearing are not expensive.” Du Wei shakes his head: “maybe you made a mistake, I’m just a guy that came here to take a look. I don’t need a guide.”
“You don’t need to bully a child like me.” Sandy very tactfully smiles, not showing too much only the forefront four teeth – and unlike other poor children, Sandy’s teeth are white. He is very attentive to his appearance because he understands that his targets are all people that liked a clean face.
“Your clothing may not be expensive, but the crop is not made from an ordinary tailor. You know, I’m almost became a tailor apprentice myself. My eye will not be mistaken… … There is also this young lady by your side, Oh, please forgive me for the liberty. Although she is such a beautiful young lady, but her attitude towards you is so respectful, if she’s not your wife, then she is your follower. Also, your hair is clean with a good shade. With one look, I can already see your posture is different from a poor person….. It’s like those nobles living in the northern district!”
Du Wei carefully looked over the kid before smiling: “Your observation is very detailed.”
“Of course!” Sandy quickly followed up: “I can save you a lot of valuable time, I can be your guide here, even when you buy a slave, I can save you a lot of money! Of course, if you can give you a few coppers in the end to buy a piece of black bread, then that’s enough.”
Du Wei showed a pleasing smile as he gave Rolynn a glance: “I like this guy, let him do it.”