British hegemon

Chapter 124 Gift-giving Request

In the Milk House Manor, in a thatched hut by the roadside that had just had its roof replaced, leftover food was scattered all over the ground, a few simple utensils were overturned, and the quilt on the bed near the hearth was crumpled up like a doghouse.

"Look what you two lazybones have done to this house."

An old woman's grumbling voice rang out, followed by the dull thud of a broom hitting clothes.

Bald Neil didn't dodge the relentless blows, muttering, "How can you blame me? We're trained like dogs every day, how can we have the energy to come back and clean this dilapidated hut?"

The old woman was tired from hitting them, so she stopped to take a breath, put down the broom, and bent over to scatter a handful of moldy wheat grains and bran onto the three half-grown chicks that were running around in the house, which caused the chicks to scramble for them.

"Soon we'll be able to eat eggs." The old woman squatted down and lovingly stroked the chicks pecking at the food, a glimmer of light returning to her eyes, which were half-blind due to pterygium.

Bald Neil, who had just been beaten, acted as if nothing had happened. He was holding half a piece of toasted bread, with one foot on chicken droppings and the other on the only three pieces of furniture in the house, a low stool. "Now I'm a person of status. This house is too dilapidated. When I get rich, I'll just buy the stone manor of the young widow across the street. Her husband died, and she's short of money."

The old woman stood up and pouted. "If the steward hadn't given me half of your military pay directly, you wouldn't even be able to afford this dilapidated house. Besides, the manor across the street has already been sold."

"Sold? Sold to whom?" Bald Neil stopped chewing, turned his head to look outside the door frame, and across the muddy street, there was indeed a small manor house surrounded by a low stone wall.

"That new craftsman, Tom. He's the head craftsman at Milk House Manor now. They say he made some kind of water-powered blower and got a huge bonus, so he's very rich now. And his wife is about to give birth, so the whole family has moved into the Stone House courtyard." The old woman's face was full of envy.

"He's just a foreman, a lowly person. I'm a soldier now, a respected gentry member, am I not more noble than him?"

The old woman rolled her eyes at bald Neil and said, "He still has the nerve to call himself a sergeant. Look at Ponytail. He's always been paid ten and a half pence a week, that so-called second-class pay. Now even Blackie has become second-class. These past few days, Lord Roger sent him off the island to pick up Ponytail, and his pay has doubled. Now he has a wife and children. I heard that when he comes back, he's going to build a new cottage on Milk House Estate."

"You're the only one still stuck at the lowest level, earning sevenpence a week."

"You spent your sevenpence on wine, and when will you ever save up a few silver coins in your purse?" the old woman said, pointing at bald Neil. "If I were you, I'd rather jump into the sea and drown."

The old woman, tired of scolding, paused for a moment. "I've spoken to the steward, and starting next week, all your military pay will be paid to me."

Bald Neil took a big gulp of beer, pursed his lips, and said, "I've already given you all the money I had before, and you old geezer are still going to deduct all my military pay?"

Bald Neil was extremely frustrated. "You've swallowed up all the profits from my five acres of military land this year from the estate."

"Besides, you also have a salary, so we're not short of money."

At this point, bald Neil put on a fawning smile. "Grandma, I'm going to Glasgow soon. It's a big city, and I'm a person of status. I can't be without money. Could you please give me some money first?"

Before Bald Neil could finish speaking, the old woman threw down the bran and walked out of the hut without a second thought.

Just then, a girl wearing an apron walked into the hut carrying a bucket of well water, and bald Neil stepped forward to stop her.

"Brother Neil, Grandma asked me to fetch water to wash clothes."

Bald Neil glanced at the old woman sweeping snow outside the hut and asked in a low voice, "Ponytail said he entrusted half of his military pay to you for safekeeping, is that right?"

The girl's expression suddenly tensed up, and she instinctively moved aside.

Before the girl could speak, bald Neil caught up with her: "Good girl, could you lend me two shillings? I'll pay you back double."

"Lola, ignore that bastard," the old woman's voice rang out from outside the door.

Laura responded with a soft "yes," then bent down, picked up the bucket, and slipped sideways into the house.

Bald Neil pursed his lips, kicked away the chicks pecking at the broken wheat grains around him, and muttered a few curses.

He was looking at the chicks, wondering whether he should steal them and exchange them for some silver coins in Brodick market town, when he heard a creaking sound coming from the low wooden gate of the courtyard.

A middle-aged man in his late thirties, along with a young man in his early twenties with a long face, bowed and scraped as they greeted the old woman.

Judging from the old woman's attitude, the old woman and her child must be acquaintances.

The middle-aged man politely handed a piece of smoked meat to the old woman. After feigning reluctance, the old woman accepted it with a smile, muttered a few words, and pointed towards the thatched hut.

The horse-faced youth saw Neil, the bald man, leaning against the doorframe, and his face showed even more reluctance.

"Yo yo yo, isn't this the Horse-Faced Brothers, the rangers from Arun Island? I heard you've become a big shot off the island, what brings you back now?"

Bald Neil spoke with sarcasm, because the young man known as Horse Face was his neighbor in Flea Nest and had once been one of the thugs who often beat and verbally abused him, but had later left Arron Island to make his own way.

"Hey, Brother Neil, you're really joking. How dare he call himself a knight-errant? He was just ignorant and disrespectful to Brother Neil before, so please don't hold it against him." The middle-aged man walked up to the bald Neil and forced a smile.

Bald Neil was secretly pleased with himself. Now he was a big shot on the island, and those who had bullied him in the past had to come and apologize with gifts.

He thoroughly enjoyed this feeling.

"Alright, I'm someone of status now, I won't argue with ordinary people. I'll accept the dried meat, and let's not dwell on the past, you can go back now."

The middle-aged man showed no sign of leaving. He smiled a few more times, rubbed his hands together, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Brother Neil, you are now a trusted confidant of Lord Roger. My son has no prospects since returning to the island. Could you perhaps plead with Lord Roger to let him work in the textile factory?"

Bald Neil glanced at the two men and realized that the father and son had come to ask for a favor.

"Him? He wants to work in the textile factory? Do you know how many people on the island are desperate to get into the textile factory these days?"

What gave him the right to get in?

The horse-faced youth's face turned red and purple upon hearing this.

Six months ago, Bald Neil was a madman that everyone on the island hated. Now, only six months later, he has actually learned to put on airs and mock people. Horse Face wanted to rush up and teach Bald Neil a lesson, but was stopped by Bald Neil's sudden glare. When he saw that Bald Neil's right hand had already touched the short sword at his waist, Horse Face's momentum immediately decreased by eight-tenths.