Chapter 2:

Chapter 2

'The fox did not look much like a fox.' Were my thoughts upon spotting her.

It was now my turn to look after the stranger as the woman who was here before me left a few minutes ago from boredom.

She had the tail and ears for it, that was true, but she did not look like the stories in both my lives told me foxes should look. There was no foxy grin, no glint of human-like intelligence or even the false humility of merchants. She wasn't even that pretty despite being young, her features were as plain as any other woman's and her scowl did not help her much in that department either.

The woman looked downright miserable to be here in the center of the village. I was at the edge near one of the benches she was forbidden to sit on as a merchant and decided not to sit on them to not mock her.

The brown robed woman with red hair scowled at me as I was watching over her. She was standing at her small cart with a variety of books filled with poems and paintings as well as strange idols arranged in front of her. There were even brushes to write with and some ink.

"Are you going to buy anything, or are you going to be looking at me the entire day?" She asked with a scowl.

"I'll look only miss. My wife's calligraphy is better and I don't read poems." I replied politely.

"At least you're more polite than the rest of the country bumpkins, I wasn't expecting that from a barbarian of all things." She declared with a huff.

I raised an eyebrow at that. I was a shade or two too tanned to even be a worker that was true, but the only person that can call me a barbarian is my own wife.

"I was born here, same as my father. We both look like this because my grandmother was a barbarian but my father's line is filled with loyal citizens of the Empire." I explained proudly.

"What an Empire, filled with country bumpkins that can't appreciate the written word or respect the people connecting them with their fellows. I deliver letters, teach children how to read and make poems and this is how I am treated?" She whined.

She did not like having a minder each day and be treated like a thief they hadn't caught in the act yet. It was a fair complaint but not one the village cared form as we've heard plenty of stories of people scammed by her kin.

I was however more interested in the fact that she knew how to read and write than her social status. My wife knows some characters yes and is very good at writing them, but the written language here is complex and nobody but the village head knows how to read and write fluently.

"You being a fox could have been excusable if you did something useful for the community, but being a merchant and a fox means nobody trusts you. Why are you here even? You've been here for three days and you've sold little." I said.

There were a few brave souls that bought some things from her but she hasn't made nearly enough too justify putting up with us which only made us more suspicious of her.

"I am here to win a bet with my father. He told me that one can only succeed by going along the logn threaded part, while I said that one needs to look for opportunities. I told him there's money to be made where few merchants ago as there's no competition and he made me take a bet with him. If I win I get shares in his business, if I lose I get to marry who he wants." She explained tiredly.

I agreed with her point of view, the issue is that she was very bad at it. Also shares huh? I did not know they existed here. I wonder how they made it work without a digital exchange.

"Then why are you here? Looking for opportunity is one thing, looking for it where others have already looked upon and found none is another. A barren field won't make you grain no matter how much of it you own." I asked.

The woman looked at me with annoyance before, but that look quickly turned to hate.

"Then what do you suggest?" She asked with barely restrained anger.

"Find something we need and can trust you with that you can provide. Nobody is going to give their children to a fox to learn from, the vast majority of us don't bother with calligraphy. I'd suggest song or interesting stories or to find a family that is willing to vouch for you that will be willing to let their children learn from you" I offered.

I did not care much for her feelings on me, but I did want to learn how to read and write properly as the little I managed to get with Bao was barely enough to understand the gist of a text but it was not a proper education.

There was also nobody to learn from, no priests to learn from, no educated men settled here to run from a busy city life in peace, nothing but peasants that had little bits and pieces of the world around us and rationed it among ourselves.

Her ears started shifting cutely as her brows furrowed.

'She needs a better poker face too.' I thought with amusement.

The clan woman was horrible at hiding her thoughts, this I could easily see just after a few minutes of interacting with her.

"If you won't buy from me what do you want?" She asked plainly.

Good, I was wondering when she'll start to catch on.

"I want to learn how to read and write well. I am willing to convince my wife to call you a peer in calligraphy if you'll teach me and my family how to read and write for free." I offered.

She did not like the extortionate offer as learning such was expensive at the best of times for a single individual. Having to teach multiple people for free? I might as well have robbed the woman. It would have felt more honest too.

"And you'll be vouching for me for it?" She asked trough gritted teeth.

I nodded.

"You will get a local family that looks to you as a teacher, that is willing to take you to other villages and introduce you as a fox first and merchant second. You'll be getting an introduction to an 'untapped' market and protection in exchange for the service." I explained smiling.

Her face went through multiple emotions until she settled on happiness? Strange woman

"How mercantile of you my friend. It is good to see a fellow kindred soul" She said with relief.

I chuckled at that, my past life's mentality was coming in use now. Who knew that a life in the digital era wasn't useful in a pre-industrial one most of the time? I certainly didn't before being reborn, but greed is universal.

"Indeed, now come pull your cart to my family's home and I'll teach you how to present yourself teacher."

"Hao Wen, my name is Hao Wen my student and I insist you call me as such." She declared proudly as she did just that.

I would have helped but I am no merchant and the last thing I know is for my family to be known as a family of merchants. It was a shame, but hopefully one day my new teacher won't need to pull her own cart, not alone at least.

"Very well, teacher Hao Wen, I am sorry I can't help you but you know the law." I replied.

She nodded tiredly at that and followed me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't like having a merchant in my home husband." I complained to my husband.

My voice was but a whisper, but you don't interrupt you children when they learn how to read. There's being trash and there's being vermin and only vermin sabotage their children.

My son and daughter I have to share were learning in my boy's room while the two of us watched from the central room of the house to make sure the creature doesn't try anything.

"I know Shu, I don't like it either but the fox is teaching our son and his wife how to read and the two of them need that if they want to join a sect when they turn eighteen, they're only two years away from it and she's doing it for free." My husband Long Su tired to explain.

My dragon of a husband was mighty, but both him and my son were not capable of resisting feminine wiles of women they let into their homes and merchants were the worst of the lot. They have no morals, no sense of belonging and can't do anything themselves so they leech off their betters and claim it help.

The Empress shouldn't have allowed the filthy things to return, they should have all been forbidden from becoming parasites and do something useful with their lives. Maybe the creatures would have had some Virtue then or maybe not.

It's only those without Virtue that go and become merchants.

She moved in a way that was far too casual near my boy when Bao wasn't looking.

A stick broke in my fingers and she resumed standing at a respectful distance.

'Who cares that the thing is a fox? The worms won't care once they get to her.' I thought

My husband thought it's her being a fox that's dangerous, but the man who managed to pretend to breath fire and scared off many bandits into the spears of lord Xi's Guards didn't get me freed from my chains because a fox sold me there, but because of my merchant father selling me to cover debts.

Cute little Bao was too busy learning to protect my boy and it will remain up to me to look after the trash to make sure she won't try anything she shouldn't.

"You should rest my love, I'll look after the fox to make sure she doesn't try anything while our boy and his wife learn in peace. You're pregnant, you really shouldn't be standing up too much" My loving dragon said.

"Merchants don't care for such things, the only way I am resting with a creature like that in my home is with another woman present to make sure she's not trying anything." I declared and raised my voice to make sure the trash hears.

The woman pretended to not hear but her ears betrayed her and I scowled at the duplicitous creature.

'My son should have been able to find another teacher, he's a smart boy he doesn't need this creature to teach him.'

My husband sighed. He wanted to call Rong but it was late and my older sister who was more like a mother to me and who taught me how to be a proper woman was old and so late that the sun started to set she and Old Man Mu were already sleeping.

None of us wanted to wake her up and so I'll have to make sure her youngest daughter and my husband won't have their marriage spoiled by trash.

"They'll stop the lessons once the sun sets woman, then they'll go to sleep in separate rooms.

I scowled.

"Why do I have to share a roof with a Virtueless skank husband?" I complained.

The last thing I want is for this thing to steal our taels.

"Because our boy promised to treat the woman teaching him how to read properly for free like a teacher and you don't let your teacher to sleep outside in a small cart. Swindling is for merchants to do my love and neither of us are merchants." My love said as he tried to calm me down.

I bit back a retort, no we are not merchants, and perhaps the trash will earn some Virtue by actually doing work as opposed to merely charging people extra for the work of someone else.

The skank chose that moment to prove me wrong and once again tried to get herself too close to my boy and my stick broke a bit more and she stopped.

'No, as long as she remains a merchant she'll be nothing but trash.'

At least their lesson will be done shortly as the sun is setting.