Chapter 98 - The Clerk

Translator: ryangohsff Editor: ryangohsff

The next day when Ouyang Shuo logged out of the game, Song Jia phoned him.

“Hey, woodsy1, the method you were saying really works! My brother had purchased a grade 3 village in Lingnan region, it’s called Tianshuang Village.” Song Jia was really happy when she spoke of the news.

“Congratulations, a grade 3 village is really good already, how much did it cost?” Song Wen was really quick, it was only one day and he had already purchased a territory.

It was not a surprise that Song Wen had chosen the Lingnan region, most of the lord players actually preferred having their territory in the same region as their real world’s living region, after all, with their native feelings for their homeland.

“Guess.” Song Jia said naughtily.

Ouyang Shuo took the value of a grade 3 village and translated it into gold coins, giving a rough estimation and said: “10 million?”

Song Jia shook her head, gave a wry smile and said: “Another 0 at the back.”

“Huh? Seriously?” Shuo couldn’t believe it.

“It’s all my brother’s fault, wanting to buy it immediately. Ended up that the former lord gave an extremely unreasonably high price, yet, he did not even bargain and straight away bought it. Even worse, he still thought he had benefited from the deal.” Song Jia protested coquettishly to Ouyang Shuo of her brother’s act.

That was not just a small benefit he had earned, Ouyang Shuo quietly said in his heart, using the credit points that were about to be void in the future in exchange for a grade 3 village, this was definitely the best deal ever. No wonder the civilian lord players in the past life had been selling off their territories. These upper-class nobles were so “generous”, offering a hundred million for a territory. If Ouyang Shuo were willing to sell off his Shanhai Town, it would be easily priced at ten billion credit points, except that it was impossible for him to sell his territory.

“Either way, he had successfully gotten himself land, didn’t he? Your family is rich, this is nothing.” Ouyang Shuo smiled.

“What? Even if we are rich, it doesn’t mean we can spend it recklessly!” It seemed that the Song family’s inner council did not tell the female members everything: the real intention, true purpose, and the truth of Earth Online. Even up until now, Song Jia still took it as a game. What an innocent girl.

Ouyang Shuo did not linger on this sensitive topic much longer, instead turning and asked: “Did you shift along with your brother to Tianshuang Village?”

“Yeah, I am finally able to relax. Every time I wore the set of equipment you gave me, I was really pressured and worried that someone with bad intentions might have their eyes on me.”

“Oh, and about the <Yue Nu Swordsmanship>, I suggest you practice it in free mode.” Ouyang Shuo suddenly remembered that Song Jia had not yet understood the secret of the swordsmanship. Out of fear that she might have missed out on the golden opportunity, he mentioned the matter intentionally.

“Alright, I too think this swordsmanship thing is quite fun.”

“Great!”

“By the way, my brother says he would like to express his gratitude with a million credits, but I stopped him. He then said he would like to buy you a meal, do you want it?”

Ouyang Shuo shook his head. He didn’t want to get too close with the Song corporation in real life, so he gently rejected the offer: “Thank you but it’s alright, all I did was just give a suggestion. It’s not a big deal.”

“I knew you wouldn’t accept it. Then what if I am the one buying the meal, you wouldn’t decline would you?”

“A beauty’s dining invitation, I will always be ready for it!”

“Then I shall invite you, I haven’t washed up yet, See ya!”

“Bye-bye!” Ouyang Shuo ended the phone call and walked out of his room.

Today was Saturday, and the small little girl Bing’er was still unwilling to wake up. Instead, Sun Xiaoyue had just logged out of the game in her pajamas, she was ready to brush. Coincidentally, she met Shuo in front of the toilet door.

“So how was it? Is everything fine?” Ouyang Shuo randomly asked.

“Mhmm, it was really fun. The Capital Architectural College teachings were really professional, it was all about Ancient China’s architectural structures, I felt like it was even deeper in details than my school’s library, Gaia is really impressive! Initially, I was just playing for the sake of fun, but after attending a few classes, I couldn’t help but fully immerse myself into it.” Sun Xiaoyue said with great relish.

Ouyang Shuo nodded and said: “Well then, learn properly, and eventually in the future, you can rebuild those ancient buildings in the territory.”

“Really!?” Xiaoyue exclaimed in delight.

“Of course, I promise you, as long as you present me the blueprints, I will turn them into real buildings, future master architect!”

“Hehe, a promise is a promise!”

“Promise!”

After Sun Xiaoyue went to the toilet, Ouyang Shuo turned and headed into Bing’er’s room. What a lazy kid she was. In fact, she actually slept at 9:30 PM last night. Such a lazy pig.

The young girl slept sweetly, hugging her little pocket-sized partner Xue’er in her arms, the scene was overflowing with pure cuteness. As an advanced AI, she was more sharp-witted than Bing’er, and she was alerted when Ouyang Shuo walked in.

After a period of living together, Xue’er was already close with Ouyang Shuo. She flew around Ouyang Shuo, dancing gracefully like an angelic fairy, and finally landed on his palm. Ouyang Shuo used his thumb to caress her small face, smiled, and asked, “Xue’er, do you think your little master is a lazy pig?”

Xue’er nodded and answered in a cute tone: “En, small pig pig!”

Exactly at that moment, Bing’er was awakened by the noise. She muttered upon hearing her partner’s answer, “Bad Xue’er, little traitor!”

Ouyang Shuo pinched her nose and said: “Baby sister, wake up. You are coming with me today for a jog downstairs, to get some exercise and breathe some fresh air.”

“And you too, bad big brother, disturbing my sleep and waking me up early in the morning.” She was clearly not fully awake yet as she was talking bad about everyone she saw. Ouyang Shuo didn’t want to spoil her, so he pulled and forced her out from the bed.

Under Ouyang Shuo’s strict orders, the little princess could only listen and went to brush up herself in the bathroom. As for Xue’er, she followed her into the toilet as well. She had just defamed her little master and she was now trying to coax and comfort her little master.

When she heard that Ouyang Shuo was bringing Bing’er for a jog, Xiaoyue was interested in it too. Hence, the three appeared together side by side on the running tracks. The two young adults and a little child, those who didn’t know might just think that they were a small family. Oh, and another little AI fairy was flying around the three, a warm scene indeed.

Bing’er followed her brother’s back, running while having an envious eye on Xue’er flying around, she said, “How great would that be if I could fly around like Xue’er.”

Ouyang Shuo shook his head while smiling. He didn’t take his sister’s words seriously.

Because it was the weekend, Ouyang Shuo had pushed off Song Jia’s invitation, changing the date to the following Monday. For a day’s time, he spent the morning watching television with Bing’er, and accompanying her while she did her homework. It had been a long time since he had spent time accompanying her while she did homework, so he felt a little guilty in his heart.

On March 26th, Ouyang Shuo came online on time. As usual, he trained hard for 2 hours on his spearmanship and Eight Extreme Fists, and then took a rest before entering his office.

On his table, he laid a letter from Qiushui Town. It had arrived that morning.

He opened the letter and took a look. It was written by Qiushui Town’s garrison general Zhang Daniu’s in regards to Qiushui’s military expansion request.

Zhang Daniu wrote in the letter that due to the upgrade of Qiushui into a grade 1 town, he requested to expand the garrison squadron to 200 men in order to cope with the town’s very complex defense system.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, since the request was reasonable and fair, he had no reason to decline. Hence, he approved the request and wrote a note in the letter:

_Request permitted, Qiushui Town given authority to establish a cavalry squadron. Present the captain candidate to the Military Affairs Department for approval. However, Qiushui will provide the funds by itself._

After he finished, he summoned the concierge and ordered him to send the letter to the Military Affairs Department. During the process of handling the government affairs, the numbers of documents and paperwork were increasing more and more, day by day, on his desk. He realized that it was time for him to recruit a clerk to assist him in such matters.

Ouyang Shuo immediately called over the Secretary of the House Registration Division, Du Quan. He needed the secretary to recommend him a clerk.

This was not just a simple task of selecting a clerk, it was also a test to the secretary’s insights and perceptions. Du Quan knew of the test and had promised that only the best candidate would be proposed to Ouyang Shuo.

A clerk’s job was to work in an office to keep records and accounts, and to undertake other routine administrative duties. Their duties may have seemed very insignificant even sometimes unnecessary, but in truth, it was one of the most desired positions. The nature of a clerk’s work had decided that they would be handling most of the territory’s core affairs, and it was a good position to gain experience. Naturally, the candidate must have strong communication skills, excellent management skills, and proficiency in strategies to a certain extent, in order to provide well-directed suggestions and niche-targeted advice while conducting their administrative duties, so the lord may give high considerations to their comments.

Most of the famous prime ministers and chancellors from ancient history started their political careers as clerks or something similar. For example, Tang Dynasty’s famous prime minister Fang Xuanling was originally an official in King Qin’s manor.

Shanhai Town’s first clerk, Gu Xiuwen had done a perfect job. Even after he was transferred to the House Registration Office, he still held a concurrent post as the clerk, and his service quality did not degrade, and Ouyang Shuo was still satisfied with his performance. However, ever since Gu Xiuwen was sent away to establish Beihai Town, Ouyang Shuo had lost his valuable right-hand man.

The following day, Du Quan had come out with a suitable candidate, and the two walked into Ouyang Shuo’s office in the manor.

Du Quan bowed, greeted Ouyang Shuo, and spoke with a joyful manner. “My lord, from the immigrants that came in today, I have found a young _juren 2_. I have personally examined him, and I believe he will do a good job as the clerk. Hence, I have brought him here in person to the lord, so you may evaluate him personally.”

As Du Quan finished his sentence, the scholar came forward, bowed and greeted Ouyang Shuo, respectfully said: “Bai Nanpu, greets the lord!”

He had the appearance of a 24 or 25 year old young man, dressed in a whitish single scholar’s robe, his hair black and tidy, his eyes bright and sharp, a young man with a decent and typical scholar look.

Ouyang Shuo nodded his head, his first impressions on Bai Nanpu were very good. In order to get a clearer picture of Bai Nanpu, Ouyang Shuo took a look at Bai Nanpu’s attributes.

Name: Bai Nanpu (Gold)

Identity: Clerk of Shanhai Town

Occupation: Civil servant ( _juren_ )

Loyalty: 75

Command: 25

Force: 15

Intelligence: 55

Political: 50

Feature: Erudite, widely read, and knowledgeable (Increase territory administrative efficiency by 5%), Meticulous reading (Increase document handling speed by 15%)

Evaluation: Scholar from a poor family, wide-read, and knowledgeable, skilled with strategies and tactics, a pure gentleman.

Indeed, he was talented and well suited for a clerk, Ouyang Shuo nodded approvingly and said, “Very well, I hereby appoint you as the clerk of Shanhai Town, you will be assisting me in governing affairs.”

“I will not disappoint you, my lord!”

_Woodsy 1 __: A nickname given to Shuo, saying that he is literally a ‘wood’_

_Juren 2_（举人） _:_ _Literal meaning of “recommended man”, a qualified graduate who passed the triennial provincial exam in the imperial examinations (a civil service examination system in Imperial China to select candidates for the state bureaucracy)_