The Immortal Cultivation World of Male Inferiority and Female Supremacy-Chapter 112 - . Strategic Partner
Chapter 112: 112. Strategic Partner
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After leaving the gourd space, Fang Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This had gone much better than he anticipated. He had prepared for the worst scenario where he would engage in a fierce battle with the gourd children, and both parties would be hurt, as he wasn’t sure whether they would seek revenge after knowing about their grandfather’s death.
It seems that their kinship with their grandfather wasn’t as firm as he had imagined.
Ling Xiaoyue was still in the house sorting the small collected goods. Seeing how proficiently she worked, it seemed she had done this quite often, an eligible small vendor indeed.
Fang Zhou asked Ling Xiaoyue for paper and a pen, and wrote two Contracts, outlining the scope of cooperation, responsibilities, and rewards with the gourd children.
It might have seemed redundant, but Fang Zhou wanted to make it official, to create a serious ambiance to impress these unsophisticated rustic, oh no, rustic demons.
After finishing, Fang Zhou waited for the ink to dry before carefully folding them. He planned to test whether he could bring objects into the gourd using his consciousness.
He closed his eyes, entered the consciousness of the gourd, but his hands were empty; the Contracts could not come with him.
Whether it was due to lack of skill or a fundamental impossibility, that question had to be explored later.
Fang Zhou went back out, used the gourd to suck in the two Contracts, and then entered the gourd space with his consciousness.
After finding the sucked-in Contracts, Fang Zhou flew towards the gourd children.
In the gourd space, time flowed differently and much faster. The time outside that Fang Zhou took to write the two Contracts had already become several days inside the gourd.
From afar, Fang Zhou saw the seven gourd children hiding on a flat boulder on the garbage mountain.
Upon seeing Fang Zhou appear, the gourd children did not rush over shouting and fighting; they must have deliberated whether to accept Fang Zhou’s proposal.
However, their gaze towards Fang Zhou was devoid of goodwill; whether there was animosity was indiscernible, but hostility was evident,
Especially the third child, whose eyes still brimmed with rage. It’s baffling where this lass got such resentment; Fang Zhou hadn’t really wronged her at Lanruo Temple.
From the second youngest to the seventh, none moved, only the eldest approached, likely having reached a consensus.
“We agree to cooperate with you.”
The eldest directly went to the point, but once the words were out, the determined expression collapsed, showing a look of anguish.
As if from then on they would be slaves.
It seems the gourd children truly did not trust Fang Zhou’s talk of equal partnership; they thought Fang Zhou would inevitably enslave the seven sisters.
If possible, Fang Zhou wouldn’t mind doing so, but he clearly understood that slavery was a very backward system, and slavers did not meet good ends; there were too many risks involved.
He still needed the gourd children to help him with work in the future. If he enslaved them, they would harbor grievances—keeping a group of demons by his side who were full of resentment, even hatred, would be foolish.
Fang Zhou also wasn’t interested in imposing too many restrictions or reeducating them, nor did he have the energy; it was better to be clear from the start.
“Don’t rush into agreement.”
Fang Zhou handed the Contract to the eldest, “Take a look at this first.”
The eldest took the Contract with a puzzled look, glanced down, then looked up at Fang Zhou, displaying an awkward expression.
She couldn’t read.
He isn’t exactly illiterate; Big Sister can recognize the characters on a chessboard, but beyond that, nothing more.
Fortunately, among the gourd creatures, there is one who can read, and that is Second Sister. When Fang Zhou first met Second Sister, he found her reading a book, her appearance gentle and scholarly like a literate scholar.
Big Sister took the Contract back to Second Sister for her to read, and the group of gourd creatures huddled together whispering.
“What is this?”
“This is a Contract.”
After Second Sister read through the Contract from start to finish, she looked puzzled, “It mentions something about cooperation with us.”
“Cooperation?”
Third Sister quickly said, “Isn’t he trying to turn us into slaves?”
Second Sister also shook her head in confusion, indicating she was also unclear, then she read aloud the contents of the Contract to her sisters.
Although the content was plentiful, it wasn’t complicated. Fang Zhou tried to write in simple, straightforward sentences, using fewer idioms, to avoid confusion for these magical creatures.
The first sentence of the Contract was about forming a strategic partnership, emphasizing the responsibilities and rewards for both sides. The gourd creatures were responsible for following Fang Zhou’s commands, ensuring his personal safety, with a work period of ten years. Throughout these ten years, Fang Zhou would take care of their daily needs, and after ten years, they must be granted their freedom.
There were many other detailed clauses, such as the gourd creatures must not slack off, betray, or hurt their employer; and Fang Zhou must not ask them to do deadly tasks or intentionally endanger their safety.
There were also several benefits, like receiving basic living necessities, being allowed to go outdoors in turn once a day, and even receiving bonuses for good performance.
After listening to Second Sister’s explanation, the gourd creatures were bewildered, and couldn’t help thinking – could this person be a fool, to offer such favorable conditions to these defeated subordinates?
The victor enslaving the defeated is a common occurrence among magical creatures, and even humans. Losers lose everything and are disposed of at the victor’s mercy; being tormented then killed or eaten is the most common outcome.
Fang Zhou choosing to cooperate as equals was indeed a bizarre and rare notion.
Of course, if Fang Zhou had truly chosen to enslave them, the gourd creatures, forced by circumstances, would accept it, but they would regard him as an enemy destined to be killed, rather than merely calling him a foolish idiot under their breaths.
Fourth Sister interjected, “Can we trust this?”
Fifth Sister immediately retorted, “It’s written in black and white, how can we not trust it?”
“Who told you that just because it’s written, it’s trustworthy?”
“Why write it down if it can’t be trusted?”
Seeing that the twins were about to argue again, Big Sister quickly intervened, “Stop bickering, do we even have a choice? Our current situation is already much better than what we anticipated.”
Indeed, under someone else’s roof, they had to bow their heads – life and death were controlled by the victor, and all the losers could do was accept everything.
Although Fang Zhou’s approach was unexpected, whether true or not, it was much better than direct enslavement; they had even prepared themselves mentally to be collared by Fang Zhou.
Moreover, having made it so formal, even presenting a Contract, perhaps he really intended it that way.
Big Sister, holding the Contract, approached Fang Zhou, this time the other gourd creatures followed, looking at him with strange expressions.
“We agree to the content of this Contract.”
Big Sister said to Fang Zhou, this time without showing any pain, only a face full of puzzlement.
Seeing the gourd creatures agree, Fang Zhou showed no particular surprise; they would agree to enslavement, let alone his proposal for equal cooperation unless they were out of their minds.
