He sighed and put aside the thought and continue to take down each of their talents by the time it was done there was a long list mainly made up of the original’s talents, it made him wonder if he was really lucky to have ended up in the original’s body. Ju-Long shook the thought from his head and quickly made another notebook and then glued the first one on top of the other, he let it dry and then began to make his plans, he was good at agriculture and the original had studied much about so planting crops would be something he could do.

He was good at manual labor and very handy in trapping and catching prey while two of the weapons that the original were good at, the bow and spear, could help him with hunting, the original was very knowledgeable about the seafood of this time while he had knowledge of it from the future and the skills to put it to use. The original was good at management so he could create a plantation, hire people to work on it and then manage it, but that was when he grew tired of doing it all himself.

He wanted to become a landlord and that wasn’t because of the money because he had enough of that, what he needed was status so that if his children choose either to become a scholar or soldier he would be able to hold up the sky for them until they could do it themselves. Though the original never became either and instead became a merchant he was still very much respected because of who his parents and grandfather-in-law were and if he needed help he could always go look for their old acquaintances.

He continued to take down his plans until he heard a small cry and carried his writing tools inside and went over to check on them, but when he checked they didn’t need feeding or changing which means all they wanted was attention so he picked them up and walked around the yard, as he spoke softly. He took them back to the room when he felt they had enough sun and put them down to rest.

As he stepped out the door to go he looked up and spotted a ten-year-old child dressed in clothes made of coarse cloth that had patches all over it, but even though his clothes were in such a condition his skin was clean and his hair was pulled back neatly. He was looking into the yard curiously when Ju-Long had come out so he became startled and then blushed deeply.

Ju-Long only looked at him for a bit more before turning to sit down and continue his work, he wasn’t the least bit concerned about the curious looks he received since it was a child but if an adult was the one doing it he would have been alarmed. The boy stood there for a while and when he noticed that Ju-Long was no longer paying attention to him, he slowly walked into the yard and crept up Ju-Long’s side.

Ju-Long looked up at the child that was now standing next to him looking down at his writing curiously and almost scrambled to cover the pages until he remembered the child probably couldn’t read so he just continued to stare at him. A red tint ran up the child’s neck and face as he slowly turned to Ju-Long with a bit of shame shining in his eyes, Ju-Long arched his brow signally for the child to talk.

The boy quickly stood straight “h-hello brother Ju-Long, my name is Cai Shan, I live a few houses away from you,” as the boy spoke he pointed in the direction of his house and then looked back at Ju-Long “my father said to ask you if there was anything you needed help with that I could do and if you would pay me for doing it?”

The tint on the boy’s face deepened and Ju-Long couldn’t help but smile “yes actually, I’m lacking firewood and I was considering asking the children that love around her to get it for me since it is impossible for me to go and get it myself since my children are so young and can’t be left unattended.” The light in Cai Shan’s eyes brightened and he stuck his chest out, Ju-Long chuckled “if you’re willing to help me I’ll give you one penny per every large bundle and since I use a lot of firewood I will need you to fetch some for me every day, is that okay?”

Cai Shan nodded his head so fast that Ju-Long wondered if he would give himself whiplash, he smiled brightly and stuck his chest out further like a puffed-up bird “yes I brother I can do it, just tell me how many large bundles you need a day and I’ll get it for you!”

The boy’s loud voice ran out and Ju-Long glanced into the room worried the sound would wake his children but when they didn’t move he nodded to himself and looked back at Cai Shan who was looking a bit guilty, all the air gone from him. Ju-Long just smiled “okay I need five large bundles every day and since you’re small and can’t fetch all at once I’ll give you one penny for every two bundles you bring, but each must be the same amount and then I’ll give you the five pennies at the end of the day, okay?”

The boy nodded but spoke quieter than before as he agrees “okay I’m almost out of firewood so can you begin today?” The boy nodded and before Ju-Long could say anything he ran off, a chuckle left his lips and he went back to taking down his plans.