Zhong Bao was a very busy 8 year old.

Sure, he was 8 years old, but he was also working hard to support his mother every day.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but Zhong Bao's mother came down with an incurable illness, slowly degenerating until she became bedridden 2 months ago and it had completely crushed young Bao's heart.

His once beautiful, kind, and caring mother became so ill, she could barely even speak without experiencing pain. So despite only being 8 years old, Zhong Bao was a young man worthy of respect, who threw vast oceans of determination and grit at his obstacles so that he could earn money and help his mother.

"Hey kid!"

Yes, Zhong Bao was a prideful young child, who took no amount of pleasure in being more responsible than his peers, but he didn't let it go to his head. He'd heard no end to the stories of a cultivators greatest sin: arrogance.

"Yo, I'm talking to you! The 5 year old wearing rags!" An annoying voice finally broke young Bao from his thoughts, snapping his head around to look at the man calling him.

'Well, that's not something you see everyday.'

Standing at about 6'1~6'2, the man was certainly taller than the average he'd seen around, standing at about half a head or a head taller than any normal person. His hair was even more interesting, with it being a dusty blonde and naturally wavy, curling around his head like a forest of cowlicks.

The man - who Bao was sure looked no older than 20 - focused the attention of his blue eyes upon him - they were an oceanic green in colour; what had that seamstress mentioned the colour was called again? Cerulean? Cobalt Turqoise? It was some kind of light blue, that much was sure.

Bao ignored most of that though.

"I'm 8, you prick!" He shouted back at the man, who seemed no less offended than he was before he'd said it.

"Oh uh," He scratched the back of his head. "Thanks? No, not thanks - sorry. Yeah, that's the right one."

He continued to look up at the man with narrowed eyes, suspicious and confused.

'Man, this guy's weirder than he looks, and he certainly doesn't look normal.'

"Anyway!" The man seemingly ignored the suspicious look and continued to speak, rubbing his hands together and approaching Bao with a strange glint in his eye.

"How would you like to earn a lot of money? I promise, you'll learn to love it once you're done~"

Bao had heard speeches like this before by loan sharks and gangsters in the southern area, trying to get young girls to sell themselves off into pampered slavery. He'd even heard it near where he lived, when an unfortunate housewife had to sell herself off due to her husband's gambling debts.

"U-Uhm, I don't think your c-clientele like a s-small boy like myself..." He began to break out into a nervous sweat, trying to slowly back away from the now far more suspicious man.

"Nonsense, they'd love you! Just look at those cute cheeks!" The man seemed much more enthusiastic, selling his pitch as best as he could.

"...would they...?"

Let it never be said that Bao was not a filial child. It's been getting harder and harder to make ends meet recently, and work has been getting tougher to find. Bao had no idea whether his mother would be able to survive a week without the medicine he brought home, so he had to make money.

Even if he had to sell his body.

"But isn't this against the law? I thought children weren't allowed to do... that."

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Upon hearing his question, the man paused and pressed a finger to his chin, thinking for a moment.

"So long as we sign a contract, I'm sure the authorities will let it slide." He let out a large grin and pushed a hand out towards Bao, inviting him over.

This was it. This was where Bao sold away his dignity.

But if it was for his mother, then he'd firmly clasp a demon's hand.

***

"Man, that was way easier than I thought it would be!" Jacob laughed to himself as looked at the contract in his hands, signed by some random kid he found on the street.

Well, technically he was his random kid now, but semantics.

"I never thought it'd be so easy to exploit child labour, I can see how companies back on earth relied on the stuff! This is super easy!"

[You're scum.]

"Huh?!"

[Find the nearest rock and atone by bashing your skull against it.]

"Lalala, I can't hear you! I'm too busy taking advantage of this small child!" Jacob turned away from his bossy system with his fingers in his ears, walking off until he found his new kid, twiddling his thumbs nervously in the middle of his restaurant.

Ethics be damned, child labour is the cornerstone of successful capitalism.

What is a business if not a microcosm of capitalism? Thus, child labour!

"Um, Sir.." The boy asked, tentatively looking up at him with apprehension oozing from his pores. His eyes were watery and he looked as if he was on the verge of crying. "Do...do I take off my clothes now, or..?"

"Don't worry about it for now. We have an outfit ready for you, but before we do that we have to train you and get you to become the role you'll be playing."

The boy nodded with uncertainty, before croaking out a question he's had on his mind for a while.

"S-Sir? Where are the other employees? Usually you'd see them around in a brothel - at least from what I've heard.."

...

"HUH?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Sir! That was a dumb question, Sir!" The boy looked even more stressed than he was before, slowly trying to pull off his rags before Jacob punched him over the head, a large lump rising from his forehead.

"Where the hell did you get the idea that this was a brothel?! We're a restaurant!" Jacob was entirely confused and concerned, his brows furrowed as he questioned the kid.

"B-But you offered me a bunch of money, and said I'd love it once I'm done." The boy looked down at the floor, looking for all intents and purposes like a kicked puppy. "Y-You s-said that your clients would l-love my cute cheeks, and...and... that the authorities w-wouldn't mind so long as we had a contract..."

Oh.

Okay, yeah, that does sound pretty bad now that I look back on it.

"Look kid," Jacob got down on one knee, bringing himself down to the child's height. "I only need you for a job at my restaurant. This could be a temporary or full-time position depending on how well you do, and I assure you that you'll get your pay. I would never mistreat you as an employee, I just need someone to help me out with my ad campaign."

"Ad campaign..?" The young child looked up from the floor, his watery eyes looking back at twin pools of cerulean. "What's an ad campaign?"

"Oh trust me, you'll learn soon enough." Jacob gave a small laugh, evil and sinister as it progressed into a mad cackle.

Bao still looked just as apprehensive as before, but decided he'd take his chances here.

He doesn't really have much else in terms of choices anyway.