"Joey, am I dreaming?"

The bearded man held a heavy money bag in his hand, his face filled with disbelief.

"ah--"

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."

Joey withdrew his right hand from the bearded man's leg, casually weighed the money bag in his hand, and felt satisfied.

"It should hurt, if it hurts, it's definitely not a dream!"

The two men had just received their pay from the quartermaster, each receiving 120 silver coins. This was only because they were new; if they had been there for a long time, they would receive at least 180 silver coins per month.

This is much higher than the 60 silver coins they earned per month when building the bridge, and it doesn't require as much physical exertion.

Although the new job had just made Joey feel somewhat risky and she was about to back out, the thought of such a generous monthly salary made her feel that the risk was worth taking.

This also reminded Joey of a joke from his past life:

-5 yuan?

Who do you take me for?!

-50 yuan?

I'm not that kind of person!

-500 yuan?

Tonight I am yours!

-5000 yuan?

Don't treat me like a human being tonight!

-piece?

No matter how many people come tonight!

-piece?

-Whether you're human or not tonight!

While the jokes may have been embellished, they do reflect some of the realities of society.

People die for money, birds die for food. When the reward reaches a certain level, some people will be willing to risk their lives to gamble. There are quite a few people with a gambler's mentality.

"Joey, we've got the money. How about we go grab a couple more drinks?"

With so many silver coins in his pocket, the bearded man felt he couldn't let himself go without spending some.

"Okay, we can't go out now anyway, and it's pretty boring staying here!"

After discussing it, the two headed towards the tavern together.

Before even reaching the tavern, Joey could see a large crowd gathered in front of it from afar.

They quickened their pace and headed towards the tavern.

"What happened?"

When the bearded man saw Bob, the tavern owner, locking the tavern and a carriage in front of the door neatly piled with barrels of wine, he sensed that things might not be going well.

"War is brewing. Captain Puff has issued a no-alcohol order at Tiger Rock Mountain. I have to go!"

Bob looked helpless. Money was easy to earn in Tiger Rock Mountain. Although he had to pay tribute to the government, it was still much better than running a tavern outside. He was reluctant to leave.

"Are you trying to kill us?"

Upon hearing Bob's words, the bearded man immediately flew into a rage, and the joy he had felt upon receiving the money bag vanished instantly.

"If we can't go out and we can't drink, aren't we going to suffocate here?"

The bearded man shouted, but no one echoed him.

"Alright, alright, bearded man, Captain Pouf's orders aren't something you can change!"

"Everyone, please disperse!"

Joey pulled the bearded man aside, telling him not to block Bob's carriage.

The others could only swallow their saliva as they looked at the tavern on the carriage and slowly dispersed.

"Bob, let's see you off!"

Without waiting for Bob's reply, Joey jumped straight into the carriage.

Seeing that Joey had already boarded the carriage, the bearded man hurriedly climbed up as well, sitting astride a large wine barrel.

Bob was speechless. He had only met them yesterday, and today was only the second time they had met. What kind of relationship did they have that he needed them to see him off? However, when he saw the bearded man sitting on the barrel, sniffing the aroma of the wine, he immediately understood.

"Alright, then you guys see me off!"

Bob climbed onto the carriage, flicked the reins, and the wooden wheels began to turn slowly.

The transaction was completed quickly. When the carriage arrived at the gate of the village, most of the wine barrels on the carriage were gone, and Joey and the bearded man were no longer on the carriage.

"Joey, we can't possibly finish all this alcohol in a short time!"

The bearded man still didn't understand why Joey had exchanged all his silver coins for this wine. Including the wages for building the bridge, he had a total of 420 silver coins. After Joey bargained, he got 42 full barrels of wine in return.

"Big Beard, let me tell you, you have to keep going to your regular job, but you also have to keep doing part-time work. Otherwise, how are you going to accumulate initial capital and make your silver coins grow bigger and bigger?"

Joey filled in the last shovelful of soil, and the underground wine cellar was completely sealed.

"Part-time job? Initial capital accumulation?"

The bearded man muttered the two words to himself, completely unable to understand them, but Joey promised him that the silver coins he exchanged for wine today would be returned many times over in just a few days, and he had no doubts.

It was nearing midnight.

The entire Tiger Stone Mountain fell silent, with only the occasional chirping of insects failing to disturb the sleeping soldiers.

"Sam, where did you get this liquor?"

David suddenly sat up in bed, making quite a commotion because he was wearing plate armor, waking up everyone in the dormitory.

"The aroma of wine?"

A tantalizing aroma of wine drew the group of hungry gluttons over, and they gathered around the bearded man's bed.

The bearded man hurriedly hid the wine glass behind his back, pretending to know nothing.

"Where did this wine come from? You've got the wrong thing!"

But no one believed him; the rich aroma of the wine had already excited the group of hungry people who had been craving it all day.

David quickly circled around behind the bearded man and snatched the wine glass from his hand.

He turned the glass upside down, shook it into his mouth, and a few drops of wine dripped onto his parched taste buds.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!