Ye Wenxue smiled and beckoned to the bald man who was silently counting his money in his mind:

"This matter also requires some manpower..."

Baldy, eager for the money, quickly agreed: "I'll do it. I'll call the rest of the brothers from the mountain stronghold to come together."

Ye Wenxue shook her head:

“Before I’ve earned enough money, I don’t want to teach the method of sprouting beans to people I don’t trust. So I’d like to bring your mother, Xu Lin’s mother, and Lan Qing along. Go and ask them if they’re willing.”

Zhiwu and Zhiwang had already been moved back to another room. Xu Lin was being held down by Su Jiu to take a medicinal bath in his own room. The only one who could talk to the three of them, including Baldy's mother, was Baldy.

The bald man hesitated slightly. He didn't want his mother to work too hard, but she had previously said that if Boss Ye ever needed her help, he should just ask...

"Okay, I'll go ask them."

The village has recently taken in a few more orphans with good character, so we need to find a way to earn more money.

Watching the bald man leave the house, Ye Wenxue looked at Dazhuang and held out her hand to him: "What did you write? Let your mother see."

Seeing that she hid the paper behind her back as soon as she came in, this guy is definitely hiding something from her.

They both glanced at their older brother with pity, not daring to utter a sound.

Da Zhuang, seeing Ye Wenxue's deliberately stern face, reluctantly handed over the paper in his hand:

"Zhixing encountered some trouble in Longxing Prefecture and asked me to help him think of a solution. After I finish writing this, I will need to discuss it with Uncle Xu before we can decide on a final strategy."

Ye Wenxue quickly scanned the contents of the paper: "Corruption between officials and merchants? A prince deliberately inflating the prices of grain and charcoal to make exorbitant profits? Refugees are gathering outside the prefectural city, and public resentment is boiling over?"

Ye Wenxue flipped the paper over and glanced at the solution Dazhuang had written—it was only two short sentences: Sell the charcoal as quickly as possible at market price, and return immediately.

She looked up at Dazhuang, who was engrossed in fiddling with his calligraphy brush: "Do you think Longxing Prefecture is about to descend into chaos?"

Zhiwang was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Dazhuang.

Zhiwu and Shuangshuang couldn't understand, nor did they know where Ye Wenxue had come to that conclusion. After scratching their heads for a moment, they went outside to practice martial arts in tacit agreement.

The three of them didn't care whether Zhiwu and Shuangshuang stayed or left.

Dazhuang nodded seriously: "Mother, there are too many refugees. People are dying all the time outside Longxing Prefecture. I reckon it won't be long before the refugees start causing trouble."

The city is a place of plenty, warmth, and stability, while outside the city, the snow is heavy, the weather is cold, and there is no food—it's like hell on earth.

With such a stark contrast, the people outside the city will inevitably lose their composure and cause trouble sooner or later.

Although the city's constables and the prince's private army are guarding the city, the refugees may not be able to break into Longxing City, but they will definitely cause chaos.

Even if the imperial court sends people to provide disaster relief and suppress the rebellion, it will still take some time.

Ye Wenxue patted Dazhuang's head and continued reading, her gaze suddenly falling on a few medicinal herbs written after the casual conversation.

These were all precious medicinal herbs that Su Jiu urgently needed in the recuperation prescription she had given her, herbs that couldn't be bought in the small town at the foot of the mountain.

Ye Wenxue instantly realized that Su Jiu probably couldn't resist Sanyuan's pleas and told the children that her health hadn't fully recovered.

No wonder that after that day, several children took turns following her around every step of the way.

She also took care of all the work, which made things much easier for Siwang.

"But... what if it doesn't cause a scene? Wouldn't it be harder to earn money from the prefectural city in the future?" Zhiwang asked hesitantly.

Besides selling charcoal, Zhixing had another important mission in Longxing Prefecture: to open up the city's secrets.

In this way, no matter what business you do in the future, you won't have to start all over again.

Of course, this was a goal that Xing Ge set for himself and did not tell anyone else.

Dazhuang gripped the brush tightly, his expression solemn: "Life is more important."

Ye Wenxue thought about it carefully. In the original book, Yuan Cheng, who used sweet words to persuade the refugees to cause trouble, occupied Longxing Prefecture City by stepping on the blood and flesh of countless people, and killed the vassal king, was already dead.

It is almost impossible for a group of refugees to come up with a leader who is roughly equal in intelligence and strategy.

In addition, once spring arrives, the imperial court will send troops to quell public grievances, appease the people, and distribute seeds so that they can return to their villages to cultivate the land...

However, Da Zhuang is right; life is more important than money.

Ye Wenxue took the brush from Dazhuang and wrote her thoughts on it:

"Adapt to changing circumstances, don't be greedy, and retreat quickly if things look bad."

She pushed the paper back to Dazhuang's hand: "Zhixing is quite smart, he must have his own ideas. Go ask Xu Lin later and try to give Zhixing some feasible suggestions."

Selling charcoal is also helping her earn money; she can't just ignore it and let him be trapped in Longxing Prefecture.

Dazhuang nodded in response.

Ye Wenxue smiled at the eldest child: "I'll go check on the progress on the bald man's side."

As soon as Ye Wenxue stepped out of the house, before she could find the bald man, she was stopped by Lan Qing, who was waiting for her.

Lan Qing looked around and, seeing no one was there, pulled her aside and whispered:

"Several new faces were among the bandits who came to transport coal yesterday."

Out of consideration for Xu Lin's family, the bald man arranged for the same group of people to deliver the firewood and transport the charcoal. They never changed the same person after several trips, and they all became familiar with each other.

When the coal carrier changed yesterday, Lan Qing immediately sensed something was wrong, but she didn't dare to ask the bald man.

Upon hearing that Ye Wenxue had arrived, I rushed over to inform her.

After listening, Ye Wenxue understood everything. She looked at Lan Qing and whispered a few words of reassurance: "Don't worry, I know about this."

Lan Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Baldy and his gang were, after all, mountain bandits, and had no prior connection with the Xu family, so it was understandable that they couldn't be trusted.

Ye Wenxue looked at Lan Qing, a girl of fifteen or sixteen who was already worrying herself sick over the simple-minded Xu family, and suddenly raised her hand to touch the scar on her face:

"Shall I ask Dr. Su to take a look at you? It's not good for a girl to have scars."

Lan Qing took a step back, feeling a little uncomfortable, and shook her head: "I don't care about this, and neither does Xu Lin."

If she really cared about her appearance, Lan Qing would have asked both doctors to take a look at her when Dr. Chen came for a consultation or when Dr. Su came for acupuncture.

Ye Wenxue respected her idea, peeked at Shuangshuang who was sparring with Zhiwu, and pulled Lanqing into the room where Xu Lin's mother was.

As soon as they entered, the two old ladies smiled and patted the warm kang (heated brick bed), inviting Ye Wenxue and Lan Qing to sit down.

The bald man, who was about to fawn over Boss Ye by bringing him a stool, remained silent.

Ye Wenxue sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), listening to the two old women talking back and forth.

“Suinian told me about your plan, and I think it’s feasible, but we don’t want to do business with you.”

Ye Wenxue and the bald man were both taken aback.

Especially the bald man, who slapped his thigh in frustration: "Mom, didn't you just say you wanted to think it over carefully? Why the sudden change of heart..."

Baldy's mother gave him a gentle glare: "What's the rush? Don't say anything yet."

"oh……"