Chapter 38 A Belly Full of Schemes

Across from him, a thin and small man forced a grin and said, “Well, well, Brother Xu, I really didn’t mean to. I didn’t see it, and the stones just got mixed in…”

“How could it not be intentional? After you left with the previous bundle, I already felt something was wrong. You went out to gather firewood in the morning like everyone else, yet before anyone had returned, you were already back so quickly. When I split it open, there were several stones inside. I was going to find you, but Brother Chen said you didn’t have it easy and let it go, telling you not to do it again. But you still did it—half firewood and half stones. What do you take Brother Chen for? What do you take me for? Do you think we’re all fools?”

Liu Chenxu was furious, pointing his brush at Zhou San.

One bundle of firewood weighed forty kilograms. An average person could cut at most two bundles a day. With Zhou San’s small build, returning so quickly with two bundles was already suspicious.

“Next time, next time I definitely won’t.”

Zhou San showed no shame at all, grinning shamelessly.

“Zhou San, you’re really not decent. Brother Chen gave us the chance to work, and you pull this? Aren’t you ruining our reputation? How will Brother Chen trust us in the future?”

“Exactly. One rotten rat dropping spoils the whole pot of soup.”

“You’ve been stealing since childhood. Even after getting your leg broken for it, you still won’t change. Honestly!”

The women nearby angrily scolded him.

“I—I really won’t dare again. Brother Chen, please spare me this once…”

Zhou San put on a pitiful face and looked toward Li Chen in the distance.

Liu Chenxu didn’t know what to do either and could only look toward Li Chen for a decision.

Li Chen didn’t even glance over. He calmly picked up a bite of food and said indifferently, “Chenxu, handle it.”

“Understood, Brother Chen!”

Liu Chenxu instantly grasped his meaning.

Turning back with a darkened face, he extended his hand to Zhou San. “Return the money for the previous bundle. As for these two bundles stuffed with stones, take them back. We won’t accept them.”

“Don’t! I—I’ll give you this bundle for free. Just don’t take back the money from the previous one…”

Zhou San shouted anxiously.

“Don’t force me to get rough, Brother Zhou.”

Liu Chenxu said coldly.

Zhao Dashi rolled up his sleeves and stepped over, glaring at Zhou San like a tiger ready to pounce.

“Fine, fine. I was wrong. I’ll return the money.”

A flash of resentment flickered through Zhou San’s eyes. He took out the money and slapped it onto the table, then threw away the stones, laboriously hoisted the two bundles of firewood onto his back, and left.

“What a thing!”

Zhao Dashi muttered angrily behind him.

Once a group exceeds a hundred people, there are bound to be all kinds. Naturally, the village had every sort of person.

So this was merely a small incident amid their busy labor, and it did not stir much of a ripple.

With money to earn and food to eat, the grateful women worked with astonishing efficiency.

By evening, they had boiled two hundred fifty kilograms of coarse salt in a single day.

At this rate, in two days they would finish refining all the fine salt. He could deliver it to the salt shop ahead of schedule.

Inside the main hall, several people were weighing and calculating the salt.

“My husband, in total we’ve refined sixty kilograms and three hundred fifty grams of fine salt.”

The little maid-wife calculated the accounts, her heart blooming with joy.

If everything went according to her husband’s calculations, refining all five hundred kilograms of coarse salt would yield at least one hundred twenty kilograms of fine salt.

They only needed to deliver one hundred kilograms to the salt shop to receive one thousand taels of silver. And their household would still have more than twenty kilograms of fine salt left.

Just thinking about it, her large eyes seemed to turn silver, with faint golden sparkles shining within.

“Ha…”

Even Li Chen had not expected there to be so much surplus.

It seemed his earlier rough estimates had been inaccurate.

Still, surplus was surplus. Some would be kept for the household to consume, and the rest stored carefully to await an opportunity.

But no matter what, while his brothers could share it, he absolutely could not let misplaced compassion lead him to distribute it to the villagers.

That could easily disrupt the market, and in the end, this business might collapse.

After finishing the accounts, the little maid-wife happily returned to spinning thread, while Liu Chenyi sat beside her holding Little Tiger and helping.

Liu Chenxu continued calculating the day’s expenses and expenditures, flicking the abacus beads rapidly.

Zhao Dashi followed Li Chen’s instructions and went outside with a pile of useless swords and blades. In a stone mortar, he vigorously smashed them into fragments.

Brother Chen had said the finer the better. He had use for it.

Though Zhao Dashi had no idea what use a pile of scrap iron would serve, he swung the stone pestle with all his might—finally having a place to apply his strength.

Hou Xiaobai sat in the workshop, holding the crossbow components he had made. Li Chen explained each part to him, pointing out flaws and assembling it on the spot.

Though his injured hand prevented heavy labor, he could still handle delicate tasks.

The next morning, they continued training, refining salt, and collecting firewood and grass.

Watching the entire village happily earning money, Zhou San folded his arms and wandered about the village, his eyes filled with jealousy.

“Damn it. So what if I mixed in a couple of stones? What’s the big deal? You’re so rich—would you really care about a few copper coins? Bah! What nonsense!”

Zhou San spat thickly onto the ground as he looked up toward the busy villagers halfway up the mountain, faint laughter drifting down to him.

His stomach rumbled loudly, hunger making him even more furious.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves echoed from afar. He looked up and saw two men riding into the village, glancing around.

Seeing they were unfamiliar, he had no intention of paying attention and turned to leave.

But the two had already noticed him and rode over.

They were both men. One, around forty years old, was missing an arm. The other, over fifty, had a face full of wrinkles.

“Little brother, may we ask you something?”

The one-armed man smiled at Zhou San.

“What is it?”

Zhou San replied indifferently.

“We’re from Baisha Village. Over the past two days, several young men from our village have gone missing. They haven’t returned for two days. Their families are deeply worried and asked us to search. Have you seen any young men from our village come here recently?”

The one-armed man asked.

“Young men from Baisha Village?”

Zhou San’s heart stirred, and he quickly asked, “You mean Wu Tian and his group?”

“Yes, yes, Wu Tian and the others. Have you seen them?”

The one-armed man nodded eagerly.

“Wu Tian… yes, I’ve seen them.”

Zhou San’s eyes rolled, and malicious schemes began bubbling up inside him.

“Damn it, Li Chen. You don’t want me to earn money? This time, I’ll make sure you suffer.”

“Where did you see them?”

Both men asked at once.

“They came to the village a few days ago and got into a dispute with someone before leaving. Then someone from the village chased after them with a bow and arrows. Whether that person harmed Wu Tian and the others, I wouldn’t know.”

Zhou San said with a venomous look.

“Who was the one carrying the bow and chasing them?”

The older man’s eyes sharpened as he stared at Zhou San.