Chapter 1478 - 1482: Days of Hardship

The overseer watched Xia Qingqian silently walking with a broom toward the stinking sheep pen, feeling quite pleased inside.

From now on, someone would take over her work. She wouldn’t have to serve those sheep in the stinky pen anymore!

"Hurry up, hurry up! Why are you moving so slowly?" The overseer, with a thin toothpick clamped in his mouth, gestured and commanded Xia Qingqian, who was busy in the sheep pen: "The sun is setting soon, what are you standing around for? Quickly clean up the sheep pen!"

Xia Qingqian raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, ignoring the pungent smell on her hand.

She had been in the sheep pen for four hours, cleaning the sheep dung piece by piece. Her back ached, but she dared not make a sound.

Not even a single tear dared to fall from her eyes brimming with tears.

The overseer was terribly cruel, standing idly by without offering her a drop of water, a bite of food, or even a moment’s rest.

After four continuous hours, she could hardly hold on anymore, feeling her vision darken, and even the overseer’s voice gradually fading.

She collapsed straight onto the ground of the sheep pen.

Seeing this from a distance, the overseer was so scared his courage faltered. Staring for a moment, seeing Xia Qingqian not moving, he quickly opened the pen door and ran over, crouching down and slapping Xia Qingqian’s cheeks, asking, "Are you alright? If you’re fine, get up and keep working! The work isn’t finished yet! Don’t expect me to help you with this work!"

"Water... water... I want water..." Xia Qingqian opened her eyes, reached out her trembling hand to tug at the overseer’s trouser leg, pleading.

"You want water, is it?" The overseer, seeing her open her eyes, knew she was fine, breathed a sigh of relief, and then went to the water jar, scooped up a ladle of water, walked over to Xia Qingqian, and poured it directly into her mouth, "I’ll let you drink, drink to your fill!"

The water had a strong sheep smell, choking Xia Qingqian, who began coughing incessantly, reaching out to stop the overseer’s rough actions!

"Didn’t you want water? Now that I’m giving you water, you don’t want it? Don’t blame me for mistreating you then!" The overseer snorted coldly, threw down the ladle, stood up, and said, "If you’re alright, get back to work! If you don’t finish, there’ll be no dinner tonight!"

Bitter tears constantly swirled in her eyes, but she held back without shedding a single tear, got up, and continued her unfinished work.

The overseer’s endless nagging filled her ears, she’d been standing for so long without eating anything, and currently, her stomach growled with hunger.

She could bear the hunger, but there was a baby inside her, and thinking about having the baby endure this life with her made her feel terribly sorry for the baby.

As the sun set, the sheep entered the pen. The other ranchers gradually returned. Seeing this unfamiliar face, they felt surprised and asked the overseer who she was.

"You don’t need to know who she is; she’s a lowly maid assigned by the Young Master, the lowest maid in the castle. If you have any work you don’t want to do, just have her do it. This is from the top." The overseer raised his voice, almost like shouting in the marketplace.

Xia Qingqian only lowered her head, not arguing with the overseer.

And an elderly woman standing farthest away, looked at Xia Qingqian with a complex expression, full of sorrow, wanting to help but unable to do anything.

When she first arrived here, she too was bullied by this group of people, made to do all the dirty work.