A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 107 Money, no one ever thinks they have too much.

Xiao Ba was so frightened by the thought of his boss that he could barely speak.

Zhou Hanzhang was utterly bewildered. "What are you afraid of? Is she going to eat you?"

"She can't eat me, but she can dismantle me, or remove a part of me, leaving me unable to live or die."

"Even you robots have lives and deaths."

"You humans all have life and death, so why don't we?" Xiao Ba couldn't understand either.

"But your boss can't know what we said, so why are you being so cautious?"

"Are you kidding me? My boss has been doing research for so many years. Do you think she wouldn't know if I didn't tell her? She can extract my memories, you know that?"

"What? That's so advanced?"

Xiao Ba was also a little confused, "I remember you guys were already able to extract machine memories back in 2024? What did you call that thing you used to store memories? RAM?"

Zhou Hanzhang: "..."

“Indeed… such a thing exists, but do your robots also store memories using memory sticks?” Zhou Hanzhang found this very novel.

"No, it's been three thousand years, how could we still be so backward? Our current memory sticks are actually a concept. Although you can't see or touch them, they still exist."

Zhou Hanzhang: ? ? ?

"Are you speaking machine language? Why don't you speak human language to me instead? I can't understand you."

"No, you can't even understand something so simple? Fine, you ancient people, come here, let me show you."

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Ba brought up a large 3D holographic screen in front of Zhou Hanzhang. The structure of the holographic screen was very similar to that of a bookstore.

"This... isn't this just a bookstore?"

"It just looks like a bookstore, but it contains much more information. This is my memory stick, which covers all the history that can be covered from the Cambrian period to our year 5024, and also my memories with the owner."

Zhou Hanzhang snapped out of his shock. "I can see?"

"No, I can't show you the relevant content without the boss's authorization. My permissions only allow you to access some historical data."

Zhou Hanzhang thought to himself, "That works too. It's like having a mobile encyclopedia with you."

Xiao Ba continued, "However, we all value equal exchange and despise those who want something for nothing. So, if you want to know information, you need to offer something of equal value in exchange for it."

Zhou Hanzhang's mind raced. "So, if I take you in now, but you haven't provided me with any services yet, can I ask you for the equivalent exchange you mentioned?"

Xiao Ba: "...That makes sense, but didn't I say I wanted to stay by your side and be your bodyguard?"

"The equivalent exchange you're talking about should require mutual consent, right?"

"Of course, we never force anyone to buy or sell."

"Oh, that's fine then. I don't need you to stay by my side as a bodyguard. I can pay you on credit first, and I'll contact you if I need anything else."

"No, you..." Xiao Ba had never met anyone like this before, and they had completely baffled him.

"If you die here, you're really dead."

“I’ve been here for a while now and I haven’t died yet, which means I won’t die so easily. Besides, I don’t think I had any grudges against anyone back then, so naturally I was able to live to be a hundred years old.”

Little brat, a robot trying to negotiate with me.

"Look at you, it's fine whether you stay or not, but you ate that meal earlier, so you owe me one."

Xiao Ba's face showed a struggle, but when she thought of her boss telling her to stay by Zhou Hanzhang's side, she gritted her teeth and nodded, "I want to stay, I want to be by your side."

Zhou Hanzhang nodded in satisfaction. "Look, Xiao Ba, I actually have enough servants and maids around me. If you were to come with me, it would cause me some trouble. What should I do?"

My CPU is almost burned out. "Then should I owe you one more time?"

Zhou Hanzhang immediately smiled and said, "Oh, we're from the same hometown, it's really too much to talk about these things. There's no such thing as owing anyone. Just remember to help me out a couple of times if I ever get into any trouble."

Xiao Ba: ……

Something feels off.

Never mind, I'll ask the boss when he gets back.

From this day forward, Zhou Hanzhang will have one more person by his side.

He often followed her around, yet he wasn't a servant, leading people in the capital to speculate about the origins of this powerful figure—but that's a story for another time.

Zhou Hanzhang hurried back to find Madam Zhou to arrange for Xiao Ba. "Mother, I would like to arrange for Xiao Ba to stay in my courtyard. Don't I have a spare room there?"

Madam Zhou looked at Zhou Hanzhang and Xiao Ba who had returned, smiled at Xiao Ba, and said, "Xiao Ba, please sit here for a while. Zhang'er and I have something to talk about."

Mei Qing, serve the tea.

After saying that, she ignored Xiao Ba and pulled Zhou Hanzhang into the inner room. "Son, what are you thinking? You're a girl, how can you live with him?"

Zhou Hanzhang then realized that although he was still a man at the moment, he would one day be able to return to being a woman. Given the nature of people in this era, he wondered what they would say about him then.

As she was still thinking, Madam Zhou's voice came again.

"It doesn't matter to you now, but you will eventually have to revert to being a woman. What will happen if word gets out that you are still living with a man?"

“But I’m in the academy now, and I’m in the same dormitory as several senior brothers.” Although Zhou Hanzhang knew it was ultimately inappropriate, Xiao Ba was best kept by his side.

“Oh, what can I say? You have no choice. Never mind, how about I donate more money to your academy and ask them to build another dormitory for you, or just let you come back to live here.”

"Well, that's not necessary."

“Son, we have plenty of money at home, so don’t worry. Donating another hundred courtyards is nothing to us.”

Fearing that Zhou Hanzhang would be stingy with the money, Madam Zhou quickly explained.

“Mother, that’s not what I meant. We feel that our academy is actually quite wealthy, and Dean Mo Xuan shouldn’t need our money.”

Mo Xuan, who had just finished dinner, suddenly sneezed. He touched his nose and asked, "Who's thinking of me?"

Madam Zhou was skeptical. Of course, she believed in her own child, but she had become suspicious of Dean Mo Xuan.

After all, Dean Mo Xuan's enthusiastic attitude when they donated money before was really strange.

However, she didn't care much. "No one thinks they have too much money. Anyway, we have plenty of money at home, so it's fine. Just let your mother donate it as a contribution to your classmates at the academy."

Zhou Hanzhang truly admired Madam Zhou's magnanimous behavior, but she still did not forget to persuade Madam Zhou to keep Xiao Ba by her side.