When Ye Wenxue brought Doctor Chen to the valley again, she was greeted by Xu Lin's response.
Xu Lin was a decisive and straightforward person. Once he made up his mind, he immediately stopped hesitating and agreed to the matter with Ye Wenxue.
His hesitation stemmed from worrying about his father's health, but since his father had already agreed, what was there for him to hesitate about?
Given how bad things are at home anyway, we might as well take a gamble and maybe we can find a way to survive.
Ye Wenxue wasn't surprised. She invited Doctor Chen to come inside and take Old Master Xu's pulse again. Sitting under the thatched shed, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did you suddenly agree?"
Xu Lin gave a bitter smile and pulled out a prescription from his pocket—the same one Doctor Chen had written for his father yesterday: "My father insisted on agreeing, and besides..."
His gaze fell on the prescription.
Moreover, his family didn't even have the money to buy medicine for his father, so he couldn't continue to wallow in self-pity.
Ye Wenxue is right. His father is the one who supports the whole family, but his health is damaged and he can't hold on for much longer. It's time for him to pull himself together and find a way to earn money to support the family.
After examining Old Master Xu's injury, Dr. Chen left the room with a stern face: "If your father doesn't take medicine, it will probably take three to five months to heal. You... sigh."
Looking into Xu Lin's lifeless eyes, Doctor Chen swallowed the words of blame he had for not getting the medicine.
Every family has its own difficulties.
Like him, if he hadn't been desperate, why would he have joined the bandits' stronghold instead of staying in the village as a law-abiding citizen?
Ye Wenxue tried to smooth things over: "Dr. Chen, could you please take another look at Xu Lin's eyes? Since you've agreed to cooperate, I'll go call Baldy in."
"Bald?" Xu Lin and Lan Qing asked blankly.
This name doesn't sound like that of a good person.
"Well, his name is Zhang Suinian, but he's bald, so he's nicknamed Baldy."
Xu Lin remained noncommittal; since they had already agreed to cooperate, there was no need to nitpick.
As long as the other party doesn't pocket his share of the money, it's fine.
Xu Lin had read many miscellaneous books and was somewhat prepared for the coming harsh winter, and also anticipated the promising charcoal market that Ye Wenxue had planned.
Baldy, however, was filled with anxiety. On the way there, he kept asking Ye Wenxue questions, fearing that the charcoal business would fail and he would lose money instead.
The hundreds of brothers in the mountain village rely on selling charcoal to survive the winter, so they can't afford any mishaps.
Ye Wenxue was annoyed by the questions: "If you're worried about losing money, then I'll cooperate with the Xu family and hire the brothers in your village to do hard labor. When we make money, the Xu family and I will split it equally, and you can earn the little bit of money you would have earned doing the hard labor."
If you keep nagging her, you'll get a beating sooner or later.
The bald man dared not speak.
But he was really uneasy. After walking a distance, he cautiously asked again, "Boss Ye, you're suddenly being so nice to me and the brothers. I can hardly believe it. Hey, it's not that you've been bad to the brothers before, it's just... it's just..."
In short, he meant the same thing: he didn't understand why Ye Wenxue was willing to help them make money.
After all, the way the two met was, well, not exactly pleasant.
Ye Wenxue explained things to him clearly: "It's not that I want to help you make money, it's that I want to sell charcoal safely. If I want to make more money by selling charcoal, I need enough manpower, and these manpower should preferably be fierce-looking and intimidating enough to scare away bad guys."
“The people in your mountain stronghold are exactly what I need. In addition, my eldest son heard Sanyuan talk about you and thought you cared about your mother and were a genuine person.”
"Instead of hiring other unpredictable strangers, it's better to cooperate with you. At least you won't embezzle our money halfway through."
As for petty thoughts like trying to win someone over or owing them favors, there's no need to explain them to the bald man.
Upon hearing this, the bald man's eyes welled up with tears. After stammering for a long time, he managed to utter a few words: "If only you hadn't gone down the mountain back then..."
Ye Wenxue may be a bit cold-hearted and not easy to mess with, but he knows how to lead his brothers to make money and make a living, which is much better than someone who doesn't care about anything after becoming the boss.
Ye Wenxue assumed he was joking: "What, you've had your fill of being the second-in-command? Haven't you ever thought about becoming the chieftain?"
The bald man lowered his head.
Of course I've thought about it.
But he knew his own nature; he was too soft-hearted and too stupid. He was fine as a second-in-command, but as the leader, he needed to be clear about rewards and punishments, and act decisively and with courage, which he couldn't do.
Ye Wenxue ignored the bald man's thoughts and warned him again before entering the valley: "Even if things don't work out, you can't come looking for trouble. If things do work out, you absolutely can't rob them of their money, otherwise even if you escape to another county, I will find a way to kill you."
"Hey, Boss Ye, don't worry!"
Baldy had witnessed how Ye Wenxue killed the chieftain, killing him with a single blow from a great distance. He didn't want to be killed in the same way.
During the tripartite talks, Ye Wenxue specifically asked Grandpa Xu to stay in the room and listen.
He was the technical support; without his help, it would have been a pipe dream to produce high-quality charcoal in a short time.
Before finalizing the collaboration, Dr. Chen told Ye Wenxue about Xu Lin's eye condition: "It's not incurable, but the necessary medicinal materials are expensive and hard to find."
There was only one pharmacy at the foot of the mountain that was still operating without fleeing the famine. In order to gather enough medicine to treat Xu Lin's eyes, in addition to money, it would also require time and luck.
Ye Wenxue waved her hand: "Prescribe some mild medicine to help him recover. Write down any medicinal herbs that are temporarily unavailable so that the brothers can keep an eye out for them when they go down the mountain to sell charcoal."
Dr. Chen responded and turned to his desk to write a prescription, not joining in the conversation.
Old Master Xu had just woken up from his serious injuries and remained silent while the three of them were planning and discussing, even appearing somewhat drowsy.
It wasn't until Xu Lin and the bald man started arguing about which way to sell the charcoal first that Old Master Xu coughed twice and then spoke up:
"I can't go to Shuixi Village anymore. It's been occupied by refugees who are ruthless and merciless. If I hadn't often gone up the mountain to chop firewood and knew the way, I almost wouldn't have been able to get back."
The three men's expressions instantly turned serious.
The valley where the Xu family lives isn't far from the back mountain of Shuixi Village, only about half a day's journey away. What if the refugees stumble upon the valley unknowingly...?
The bald man looked left and right, then tentatively invited, "How about staying at our mountain stronghold for a while?"
Xu Lin looked disgusted.
He may be blind, but judging from the man's tone of voice, he knew that the bald man's background wasn't exactly clean.
If it were just him and his parents, it wouldn't matter if they went; it might even be safer. But Lanqing is still at home. She's a young woman of marriageable age. If she goes to a bandit's den, isn't that like a lamb being led to the slaughter?
No, absolutely not!
If the bald man knew Xu Lin's true feelings, he would feel extremely wronged.
He changed, he really changed!
Just as the group was hesitating, Ye Wenxue suddenly spoke up: "Let's move to the bamboo house instead."
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