CH 79

An Laosi had been doing nothing since Changshu. He had a nominal position. He ate and drank every day, his heart full of mixed feelings. He felt he had great abilities, but Lin Yuan didn’t put him to use again. Hadn’t he done something worthy in Changshu?

At first, he was aggrieved and he could barely eat at all, but later he became uneasy.

Lady An said to him: “You are too arrogant.”

An Laosi didn’t understand, he asked his wife, “Shouldn’t I get any credit for Changshu? Can’t I even have real power?”

“You are from Huizhou.” Lady An said to him, “At that time, when you were asked to go to Changshu, I am afraid it was because the South Bodhisattva could not find a more suitable person. Otherwise, why bother to use you, a person whose loyalty is unclear?”

Lady An: “We are different from others, we are from Huizhou. And this is our biggest obstacle. But the South Bodhisattva ignoring you for so long means that he plans to continue using you.”

An Laosi: ​​”Use me?”

Lady An smiled and said: “Husband, it depends on the person whether he succeeds or not. If you are unable, what matters if you are given a heavenly ladder?”

An Laosi laughed: “Wife, don’t look down on your husband!”

Sure enough, Song Shizhao arrived the next day.

Song Shizhao went straight to the point: “You are asked to approach Xiao Ming emperor. As for the method, you have to think of it yourself.”

An Laosi was stumped: “You can’t expect me to castrate and become a eunuch?”

Besides, even if he became a eunuch, could a eunuch his age serve next to the emperor?

Song Shizhao smiled and said, “It depends on An gongzi’s ability.”

Song Shizhao left, but An Laosi remained sitting in the chair and couldn’t move. He wanted to achieve something big, but he never thought about not being a man!

Lady An came out to pour tea, only to see An Laosi shrunk in his chair and quaking like a quail, his expression blank.

Lady An asked a question, and An Laosi replied with trembling lips.

Lady An was silent for a while: “Did Manager Song mention a time limit?”

An Laosi shook his head: “No.”

Lady An laughed: “It can be seen that you are blinded by a leaf, getting yourself stuck in a corner on your own. How is this telling you to go to Xiao Ming emperor’s side, you are only asked to inquire about the news around the Xiao Ming emperor. Being a eunuch would not be a good method to go about it.”

An Laosi’s eyes lit up and he grabbed his wife’s hem. Seeing that his wife was unmoved, he quickly bowed: “Wife, please teach me.”

Lady An: “You go to the South Bodhisattva first and ask for money, and have the merchants go to Anfeng to inquire first. This time I am afraid that I will have to go with you. First you can use the money to open the way. If you can bribe an official, that would be best. If not then go be a minor official.”

“We are going to be the eyes and ears of the South Bodhisattva.” Lady An said, “If you have a mistress on the outside, take her along as well this time.”

“With a big family and big business, Anfeng’s people will not be suspicious.”

An Laosi coughed slightly: “This…..”

Lady An: “Did you think you could hide it from me, the person who sleeps on the pillow next to you?”

An Laosi was a man with a philandering personality, and he had quite a lot of mistresses and lovers on the outside. Since his wife had spoken, he could only beg for their help one after another.

Most of his lovers were widows. When these women heard that he was going to Huizhou, and even wanted to take them with him, they all didn’t agree. They clenched their teeth and wouldn’t let up. The lingering lovers of the past no longer recognized him out of the bed.

Seeing him continuing to pester, the more shrewish of them cursed at him: “It’s just that you are not bad in bed, so this auntie put up with you. Just take it as buying a gigolo. But you actually brazenly want this auntie to be your concubine? Go have your spring and autumn dreams elsewhere!”

These widows held property in their hands, and because women could also set up households the money was all in their own hands. Naturally, they wouldn’t want to be An Laosi’s concubines. After being kicked out several times, An Laosi finally gave up.

It was not uncommon for widows to keep men under Lin Yuan’s rule.

Most of them had children, and because their husband’s family was still alive, they didn’t want to go back to their natal family——if they took their money back to their natal family, would the money still be their own or their natal family? Their natal families didn’t only consist of them, most also had older brothers and younger brothers at home!

Their husband’s family also didn’t want them to go back either. With them still there, the property and money would still belong to them. But if they left, the property and money would be gone.

So this gave birth to a new industry——pimping for widows.

The widow was young and in her thirties. She was lonely and naturally needed a man but also did not want to remarry. What should she do?

Find a man!

These men were all good-looking, from poor families, and couldn’t find a rich family willing to recruit son-in-laws, so they went to live in the widow’s house. The widow would give him money every month, and he would serve as a walking dildo.

Sometimes it wasn’t all just being walking dildos. Widows would often meet with some trouble, and these men sometimes played the role of housekeepers or watchdogs.

So being a widow now didn’t seem so miserable.

If they gave birth to children from these walking dildos, the children would follow the mother’s surname, not the father’s surname, and their husband’s family would not recognize them. As for the future inheritance? They wouldn’t be able to touch their mother’s husband’s property, only move their mother’s dowry.

However, most of these widows did not want to have any more children. After all, some of them changed lovers frequently. So even if they got pregnant, they might not even know which one the child belonged to.

So they began to practice contraception.

Lin Yuan didn’t know how the ancients used contraception, so he asked Song Shizhao.

Song Shizhao said: “This union of men and women, if one wants to have children, one must send the sperm into the body. If one doesn’t want children, then just don’t send it into the body.”

Lin Yuan: “…..”

Those men could really bear it!

Sure enough, people had to bow their heads under the eaves. (TN: expression for being obedient/well-behaved while living under someone else’s roof)

“This matter must be managed too.” Lin Yuan said to Song Shizhao.

Originally, they did this kind of thing secretly, so Lin Yuan didn’t say anything, but now that it was out in the open, he could only take care of it.

These men go to the widows to serve as gigolos, but they don’t pay taxes when they get the money. How could there be such a good deal?

The labor force must go to work, only then could it be called the labor force. If it could not create social value, Lin Yuan would look at them as eyesores.

“Start with taxation.” Lin Yuan said to Song Shizhao, “Tell them to make up for the taxes.”

Song Shizhao was taken aback for a moment, and then said with a low chuckle: “It is indeed time for them to meet with some bad luck.”

So the pimps got the news that they had to pay taxes, not only did they have to pay, but the men who were sent out by them also had to pay. Where would the tax money come from? Naturally, it must come from the money they got.  It’s not like they could ask the widows to pay the taxes together with the money for the gigolos? Not many widows had such financial resources.

The men had to make up the previous taxes, which emptied out their original savings.

But they were still reluctant to give up the comfortable job as the widow’s walking dildo, so they could only go out to find a second job.

——

“Zhang Si!” The young man ran over and grabbed Zhang Si’s arm, “Did you inquire about what I asked you to last time?”

Zhang Si sighed. He was decently good-looking. Although he was from a farmer family, he was born with the best looks of the four brothers in his family. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, and a tall physique. The pimps took him to see four widows, and each one was very happy with him. In the end he chose the youngest and prettiest widow.

As a result, when the fellow villagers found out, they all asked him to help.

There were even people who wanted to serve the same widow with him.

Zhang Si sighed: “It’s not like you don’t know, you have to pay taxes for doing this now, and the tax is not low, it is almost equivalent to commercial tax!”

The young man smiled and said: “No matter how high it is, there should still be a surplus left? And even if there is no surplus, at least there is no need to eat at home.”

Zhang Si: “There weren’t many widows originally and the wealthy widows also found men a long time ago. Now, if you look for a widow, there will be some, but you have to serve her along with several other men.”

There were some wealthy widows who could even keep five to six men.

The young man’s expression was a bit complicated: “Is there no widow with no one at her side?”

Zhang Si: “Even if there were, she might not even consider you, so how could there be a chance for you to be picky?”

Seeing that Zhang Si was becoming impatient, the young man quickly said: “Don’t be angry, big brother, it’s this little brother who has high standards and little ability.”

Zhang Si became slightly appeased: “There is a widow in the east of the city, of the Li family, who is in her forties. She is not very good-looking but there is no one around her. However, her requirements are not low. If you are confident, then go try it yourself.”

The young man widened his eyes: “How can something like this be tried?”

Zhang Si: “She has a maidservant at home. If you go, the maidservant will give you a check over. You don’t have to do anything yourself.”

The young man went, and it was a black-faced maidservant who came to check him over. She took off his clothes without any further ado and said to another maid behind the door: “No spots and no marks, two fingers long, little hair and light odor, go report it.”

The maid at the door left.

The young man quickly put on his clothes, his face turned completely red.

He stayed that night. Li shi was not very good-looking, her physique was like a fat melon, her face masculine, and she also spoke very little. He served her nervously, lest she became unhappy. Afterwards, there was also nothing to talk about.

Fortunately, when she woke up in the morning, she said to him: “Three qian a month, I will pay the tax. If there is a child, it’s not your business.” (TN: qian=one tenth of a tael)

She was married at fourteen, and within two years of her marriage, her husband died. She had been alone for a long time without even a child.

Originally, she didn’t want to find a man. She was a young lady from a gentry family before she married, but wanting a child became an obsession. So she finally nodded under the persuasion of her old maidservant. To give birth to a child through surrogacy. The child would only be hers.

So the young man stayed.

He didn’t have to worry about food or drink every day, and could also earn three qian a month. He even saved enough money to buy a house in the city.

Li shi was very easy to serve. After his stay became longer, he and Li shi even developed some feelings for each other.

But this feeling was also strange. Their age difference was too large, and the young man was a lively person, so Li shi actually regarded him as a son.

But when a child really came, the young man was reluctant to leave.

“I will marry you!” the young man said to Li shi, “otherwise the child will have no father.”

Li shi shook her head at him: “I have to leave my family property to my children, not to you.”

The young man said: “I heard people say that we can do notarization now, we can go to the notary office, and put down in writing that all your money will be given to the children and I won’t be able to touch it. Is this okay?”

Li shi still didn’t agree.

The young man scratched his ears and cheeks.

He was not very well liked at home, and his parents preferred his younger brother. He hadn’t worn new clothes since he was a child, and he had to go work in the fields since he could walk. He didn’t know what it was like to be doted on by others until he came to Li shi’s side.

When he caught a cold, it was Li shi who took care of him. The first new pair of clothes in his life was made by Li shi herself.

Li shi spoke little, but she treated him like her own son. He loved her sincerely and wanted to marry her.

The young man said: “Then I will marry into your family, can I?”

This time Li shi did not refuse.

The two quickly became married.

Their case pointed out a new path for the men serving as gigolos.

There was no future in being a gigolo! Marrying into the family was the pinnacle they should reach for!

The trend of men not thinking about making progress and not producing had finally been curbed.