Chapter 106: Working Together Towards a Well-Off Society [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Qi Shan was already used to Shen Xiaolangjun's unpredictable way of thinking: "Naming? What name does Xiaolangjun want?"

Shen Tang's face was grave: "A village full of villains?"

There wasn't a single good person in the entire village.

They're all villains, truly deserving of the title.

Qi Shan: "..."

"No, no, this name will scare away newcomers. At first glance, they might think it's some kind of illegal pyramid scheme. How about 'Reformed Village'? That won't work either, it still doesn't sound very respectable. How about changing it to 'Joining Hands to Achieve a Well-off Life'?"

Qi Shan: "..."

He couldn't have much hope for Young Master Shen after all.

With a half-smile, she said, "Young Master Shen can have whichever he likes."

Anyway, we won't need it in the future.

Chen, a person with decision-making difficulties: "..."

She left the choice to God.

I grabbed a handful of wild grass, counted them—nine in total—and decided to choose the third one.

Let's join hands and work together to achieve a moderately prosperous society!

This is fate!

She brushed the grass clippings off her clothes and returned to the open space. Less than 30% of the people in the open space were there; they were all able-bodied young men. Gong Shuwu stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the crowd.

Shen Tang felt that something was not quite right.

Gong Shuwu intended to arrange for them to undergo labor reform? To repent and start anew? What about the others? Where did they go?

Where are Yuanliang and the others?

"Mr. Qi just sent a few people down the mountain to do some shopping."

Shen Tang asked curiously, "Purchasing?"

"Yes, Mr. Chu took Miss Lin to check the food reserves in the East Kitchen and found that the supply was not enough for three days. It just so happened that Young Master Zhai was also going down the mountain to meet his brother, so Mr. Qi took on this task and went down the mountain. He will return first thing tomorrow morning."

Of course, the most important thing is to take over his family's vegetarian business.

"What is Mr. Gongshu doing now?"

If it were labor reform, Shen Tang would prefer to send them to build houses or cultivate wasteland to grow crops; self-sufficiency is the best policy. Where would they get so much money to squander if they went down the mountain to buy things every time? Once Sibao County went to war, prices would skyrocket, and even mountains of gold and silver wouldn't be enough to sustain them.

Remembering the two gentlemen's advice, Gong Shuwu didn't speak too bluntly, for fear of frightening Shen Tang: "The world is not safe. If you want to live a peaceful life, you need to have martial arts skills. These young men are not very talented, but with more training, they can be used even if they are not very strong."

"I see. Yuanliang and the others were very thoughtful."

There are definitely more than just this one gang of bandits in the mountains.

In this dangerous world where war rages everywhere, creating a prosperous village cannot be achieved by simply farming. It also requires cultivating a certain amount of armed force to ensure the stability of the surrounding environment and prevent other villages from robbing it out of envy.

"By the way, where did those elderly and infirm people go?"

"Mr. Chu arranged other work for them."

It wasn't easy either; they had to clean, chop wood, cut down trees, and move stones.

"Where is Lady Lin?"

Gong Shuwu: "They should still be in the East Kitchen."

Shen Tang went to the East Kitchen instead.

From afar, Chu Yao and Lin Feng could be seen, each sitting on a small stool, huddled together, heads bowed, discussing something while looking at account books. Lin Feng would shake his head, frown, and then take out an old abacus, his fingers deftly manipulating the beads with a series of clicks…

Shen Tang: "???"

For some reason, a sense of shame welled up in her heart, and she felt like she had become an idle, jobless bum.

Even Lin Feng assigned her tasks. She was in charge of managing the dozen or so captured women—some were older, some were of the right age, and some were even younger than her—and had them do laundry, cook, and sew.

Shen Tang: "..."

Strictly speaking, isn't Lin Feng's sister a child laborer?

The key is that she wasn't stage-frightened at all.

On second thought, I realized that this was only natural.

Although the Lin family of Lingzhou wasn't a particularly high-ranking or wealthy family, they were still a respectable and well-off household. Including their estates and villas, they had over two hundred servants. If that unforeseen event hadn't occurred, Lin Feng should normally have been looking for a suitable match at thirteen, and betrothed at fifteen to become the matriarch of another family or the head wife of a household.

According to the education of women in the inner quarters of this era, Lin Feng could have been taken in by the matriarch of the Lin family at the age of five or six to learn household affairs, how to manage a household, and how to deal with people. Even if she only learned the basics, it would have been enough to manage a dozen or so people.

Chu Yao had asked Lin Feng for help precisely because of this. Upon meeting her, he discovered that she had exceptional comprehension and learned everything very quickly.

I couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

What a pity?

Unfortunately, Lin Feng was not born a man.

Since women cannot develop their dantian, they naturally lack both literary talent and martial prowess.

After discussing the matter to the last detail, Chu Yao finally remembered that there was Shen Tang beside him, who was staring longingly at Lin Feng. He then put away the account book.

"Is there something wrong with Goro?"

"Of course, I'm borrowing Miss Lin for a while."

Chu Yao's face fell, even though he knew Shen Tang didn't mean it that way at all: "Fifth Brother, be careful with your words, don't be offended."

Lin Feng was initially puzzled as to why Chu Yao had a dark expression, but upon hearing his words, he realized something was amiss and was so embarrassed that he covered half of his face with the booklet.

Shen Tang: "..."

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Wake up! How old is Lin Feng's sister?

"...Okay, okay, I'll be careful, I'll be careful. We can't delay any longer, or it'll get dark..."

Shen Tang, as if her pants were on fire, pulled the person away.

The Lin family guards didn't dump the bodies at a high point; below was a river with a rapid current. Some of the bodies fell onto the riverbank and became food for wild animals drawn by the smell of blood, while others fell into the river and drifted away with the current.

Some were lucky enough to be hanging on vines and tree branches growing on the mountainside, and were well preserved. Shen Tang climbed up and put the people down.

Those unrecognizable corpses could only be identified by their owners' clothing and attire; less than six out of ten corpses were found.

Seeing the little girl crying silently, Chen Tang wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to begin. At this moment, anything she said would be pale and powerless, so she could only say dryly, "First, settle your grandmother and the others in. Later, I will take you to look for them downstream... If they see you like this, they won't be able to leave in peace."

Lin Feng didn't react much, and cried even harder.

Shen Tang was immediately at her wit's end. She really couldn't bear to see such a cute, sensible, and beautiful child crying in front of her!

Looking at the old lady's relatively peaceful face, Shen Tang steeled his heart and solemnly said, "If the old lady is not far away, please hear what I have to say—from now on, I will treat Lin Feng as my younger sister. I dare not say that she will have no worries about food and clothing, but as long as I am alive, she will definitely be alive too!"

——————

"Teacher, look—"

A dusty horse-drawn carriage was parked by the river, and a bonfire was burning not far away, where an old man was grilling fish.

Hearing the noise, he got up and went over. Following the direction his disciple's little hand was pointing, he saw several corpses floating in the middle of the river. He raised his hand to cover Ayan's eyes and sighed, "Ayan, don't look."

Ayan looked up at him and said, "No, there's a living person."

Old man: "A living person?"

Ayan said, "One of them is still alive."

An old man and a young boy waded into the water and pulled the man, who was still breathing, out of the water. After a thorough examination, they finally understood why he was still alive. His heart was significantly deviated from the norm, and the penetrating wound in his chest had just missed a vital organ.

He had many injuries from the fall, including broken ribs, broken arms and legs, and he had been floating in the water for an unknown amount of time, losing a lot of blood. The fact that he was still alive was entirely due to Wenxin's good health!

Oh my god, my period came at the worst possible time... I'm just lying here in bed...

Let's see if I can recover my energy by tomorrow.

|ω) I forgot that my sleep schedule is different from yours.

He apologized loudly. (╥﹏╥)

(End of this chapter)