The middle-aged woman knew that Frank Warren would be suspicious upon seeing that one of the parties to the contract was left blank, so she couldn’t help but show off a little. But then, thinking the other party was just a newly enrolled xiucai who didn’t understand these tricks, she explained, “As long as you’re willing to pay two taels of bonus silver, the household office’s clerk Liu will stamp the official seal on the contract. And if you give an extra two taels, it doesn’t matter if this spot for the contracting party is left blank, the official seal will still be stamped. Later, you can just add your own signature and fingerprint. With the government’s recognition of this death contract, no one can question it!”

These shady tricks were things Frank Warren was hearing for the first time, so he just kept them in mind for now. But what concerned him more at the moment was that he might lose his xiucai title. He had no desire to get involved with this “grand gift” at all, so he shook his head and said, “I can’t accept a reward for no merit. I’ve received Mr. Carter’s letter, but please take the contract and the person back.”

The middle-aged woman, being an experienced broker, had handled such matters before, but this was the first time someone had refused. She quickly forced a smile and said, “Young master, Mr. Carter is sincerely apologetic. If you don’t accept, isn’t that saying you refuse to forgive Mr. Carter?”

“My injury was due to my own carelessness, falling into a thief’s trap. It has nothing to do with Mr. Carter, so there’s no reason for him to compensate me. If word gets out, people will think I can’t tell right from wrong!”

Seeing Frank Warren so unappreciative, the middle-aged woman thought of the reward Mr. Carter had promised her for handling this matter, and she became anxious. Taking advantage of the fact that Frank Warren was just a country bumpkin, she lowered her voice, but her words carried a threat: “Young master, you may be a newly enrolled scholar, but you’ve been recuperating for half a month and probably don’t know what’s happening outside. There are all sorts of rumors about you in the county town. Mr. Carter comes from a powerful family—if you get along with him, he can ask his elders to speak on your behalf. But if you reject his goodwill and anger him, it’ll only make things worse! Young master, please think carefully. Among scholars, gifting good servants is a fine tradition, not a bad thing!”

It seemed those rumors really were wild—if even a mere broker knew about them and dared to use them as a threat!

“With a clear conscience, I fear no gossip. Please go back and tell Mr. Carter that I appreciate his kindness, but I absolutely cannot accept the person. My injury hasn’t healed, my wrist is weak, and I can’t write a letter, so I can only verbally thank him for his good intentions.”

The middle-aged woman looked Frank Warren up and down, seeing that he wouldn’t budge. Only then did she realize that the person she was dealing with was a naive young scholar, and that she’d spoken too harshly just now. She knew the matter probably couldn’t be settled, and felt disgruntled. Forcing a polite farewell, she smiled at the eldest sister, Second Lady, and the youngest sister, then stepped forward, grabbed Autumn Ford from the ground, and left in a huff.

As soon as she left, Second Lady, who had just been held back by the eldest sister, stomped her foot angrily and said, “Brother, what on earth is going on!”

“If you’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask?” Frank Warren raised his eyebrows listlessly, then muttered to himself, “This is such a rip-off!”

He had thought that, having been given a second chance at life, he could be a leisurely little landlord with a scholarly title. Who would have thought he’d be facing a crisis over his title and being sent a servant who might be a catamite? What a rip-off!

Seeing Frank Warren turn and head back inside, James Gold hurried over to help him, while the eldest sister felt a splitting headache. Remembering how the middle-aged woman had spoken quietly with Frank Warren just now, her unease only grew stronger. No one offers favors for no reason—if not a thief, then a schemer. Even though her little brother didn’t accept the person today, what exactly was Mr. Carter up to?

Second Lady pondered for a long while before finally asking in confusion, “What does ‘坑爹’ mean?”

The youngest sister blinked inexplicably and said with a straight face, “Second sister, you’re so silly. Didn’t James Gold call brother ‘dad’? ‘坑爹’ means dad got tricked!”

Chapter Three: Diary and Sleep Talk

Using his injury as an excuse, he sent off the obviously broker-like middle-aged woman with a verbal message. As evening approached, Frank Warren returned to his room, ate a little something to stave off hunger, and, feeling physically and mentally exhausted, simply lay down and went to sleep. Half-asleep, he vaguely heard women’s voices outside, but couldn’t be bothered to listen to their gossip.

It was only when trouble landed on his own head that he realized—even the smog, toxic food, and environmental pollution he used to curse on internet forums were better than suddenly being thrown into such a strange era!

He slept soundly. When Frank Warren woke again, seeing the mosquito net above, the cedar bed beneath him, James Gold sleeping at the bedside, and the bright daylight outside, he had no choice but to accept reality and seriously consider what to do next.

After all, the original owner of this body seemed to have vanished completely, leaving behind no memories of social interactions. Up to now, he could only deduce from clothing and conversation that this was most likely the Ming dynasty—though it could also be a completely different alternate world.

He glanced around and suddenly noticed a book in the corner of the bed against the wall. Earlier, he’d been too upset to notice, but now he carefully shifted his body and reached for the book. Opening it, he saw the cover read “Collected Annotations on the Analects,” authored by Zhu Xi, and immediately felt annoyed.

He had never liked Zhu Xi!