Juan Ramon Sereno: The Wise Slave

Chapter 20: The Three Leaders of Egypt

Being one of the two Governors of Egypt is not easy, but I can't really say that I'm struggling. Joseph and I had to preside over many things, like taking note how much grain we manage to store each day, but I haven't needed Orloff's advice as of now, which is a good thing because his wound still hasn't healed up completely and I forbid him to stand up from where he lies down (which is the ward located inside Joseph's newly-made palace; I live there now) even if he said that he can already fulfill his duties ("Don't complain if you don't want me to summon King Adeaez here"). A few days have passed after the seven years of plenty here in Egypt so we already harvested a lot of grain, but the crops kept on coming by the hour.

"John, I daresay that we're harvesting grain that might match the number of grains of sand beside the sea," Joseph told me while he was resting from counting sacks of grain. "How can we possibly count these within seven years?"

I would believe Joseph regarding his comment on the amount of grain, but I think I'm thinking of something Joseph, Adeaez, or any other person in Egypt hasn't thought of yet.

"Don't these have the exact same measurement?" I asked Joseph while I pointed at what looked like small buildings where we store the grain.

"Yes, I think," Joseph answered.

"How many sacks have you counted on one of them?" I asked.

"Uh, give me a minute..." Joseph said while the thought for a few moments. "Around a hundred. Give or take a few sacks."

I nodded slowly while I started to count the buildings within our sight.

After a few moments, I surprised Joseph with what I said next.

"Joseph, we can store around eighty thousand sacks of grain in this area," I said after counting inside my head.

Joseph stared at me for a long time before he can speak again. "How were you able to do that, John?"

"Oh, please wait, don't be impressed by me too much, Joseph," I told him. "I just assumed that each shed is exactly the same and each one can store up to a hundred sacks. I just counted how many sheds are in this area then I knew how much grain we can store here."

Joseph thought for a moment and spoke again. "There are other sheds like this all around Egypt. If that's the case..."

"... we just need to count how many sheds are there, then just multiply it to a hundred," I finished for him. "We can then easily arrive to the answer on how much grain we have stored if all of them ever get full."

Joseph just nodded slowly.

"Anyways," Joseph uttered in a would-be casual voice, "when do you plan on marrying Alana?"

I froze at his question. I also felt my cheeks flush when he mentioned Alana.

"Uh, well, um," I stammered. "Well, I haven't really thought of confessing my feelings to her. Besides, don't you think I'm too young to ask for anyone's hand in marriage?"

I scratched the back of my head in bashfulness, but I also remembered something.

"Wait a minute, how long did you court Asenath?" I inquired.

Joseph thought for a while then said, "Around six months. I also don't know why, but when King Adeaez introduced her, I couldn't understand my feelings. I just knew one thing back then: she was the one who would complete me as a man."

I couldn't answer to what he just said because I'm not sure if I should hear that kind of remark in love or maybe because it's somewhat chauvinistic in my book, but because of that, I felt something heavy has been slammed on my back.