Chapter 112

"Don't be too anxious, you have five days." Chen Wuji advised.

Yang Tiejiang sighed and said, "Wuji, your method leaves me utterly bewildered; I won't concern myself with these matters anymore—I'll just focus on forging iron. The feeling of having people wildly throw silver at me is truly exhilarating."

Having said that, Yang Tiejiang rolled up his sleeves, rushed into the workshop, and lifted his hammer.

Bang!

As the hammer came down heavily, he shouted loudly, "You little bastards, your chance to earn money has arrived—give it your all, work until you drop. Fifty cash per pot, and you'll be paid however many you make today."

That shout excited his strong, able-bodied nephews and relatives as well.

For laborers like Da Yu, the absolute favorite way to settle accounts is getting paid the same day.

No matter how much you say, nothing is as reliable as having the silver in hand right away.

Chen Wuji left the workshop and also settled today's wages for Chen Wuwei and a few others.

The orders from Li Si Fencha and Hengtong Business Business Business Business Business were his, so naturally they weren't included in the calculation.

The four of them together secured twenty-one pots, each earning two hundred sixty cash.

On the first day of work, Chen Wuji uniformly settled their pay at fifty cash per pot.

This also served to boost their spirits first.

Among them, Chen Bushi was undoubtedly the top seller.

He privately raised prices and secretly earned forty-eight taels, and his wages amounted to another twelve hundred cash.

"I never imagined I could earn copper cash this way—I'll have to come again tomorrow!" Chen Bushi shook the copper coins in his hand, making them clink, "Just chatting with people, exchanging a few pleasantries, and suddenly several taels of silver appear—how wonderful!"

"Little Wuji, remember to call for me when you leave tomorrow."

Chen Wuji looked speechless, "You can come, but don't raise prices privately—doing that will harm your reputation."

Having said that, he earnestly warned Chen Qun and the others not to follow Chen Bushi's mistaken example.

"Don't worry, it won't affect your reputation—I've always said I'm from the Bu Shi firm, I sourced the goods from Yang Tiejiang and then sold them myself." Chen Bushi said with a light smile.

Chen Wuji: ……

Damn, this person……

He's truly despicable!

"Forget it, do as you please—anyway, others are scolding you too." Chen Wuji shook his head, speechless, "You're supposed to be the Village Chief—how can you be this idle? Did you give up on what Xue Hongdou said?"

"How could I not? But I need to inquire first—Xiong Paozi has gone." Chen Bushi winked at Chen Wuji, "There's no work in the fields, and the Village Chief seems to have nothing to do either—I'm just idle. I'm using my free time to earn a few jugs of wine money from you; hearing your attitude, you're not happy about that?"

"Do as you like, do as you like—I don't mind at all!" Chen Wuji said.

Chen Bushi laughed heartily, then suddenly looked up and sighed, "In this world, we are merely passersby; doing different things and seeing different people is what makes life interesting."

"Don't cling to that pointless stuff—let's go, head back." Chen Wuji cut off Chen Bushi's suddenly welling emotion, whatever it was, and forcibly put an end to his showing off.

……

Chen Qun tightly clutched the cash he'd earned today, running under the sunset past a pond filled with frog croaks, splashing over the muddy path by the field ridge, and shoved open his family's dilapidated bamboo gate.

"Father, Mother, I'm home!"

Chen Li had just returned from the fields, sitting under the peach tree cleaning the mud from his feet, he looked up and asked with a smile, "How did it go? Didn't cause any trouble, did you? Although your elder brother Wuji is mild-tempered, he's actually quite strong-willed at heart—try to be careful in what you do, don't provoke him."

"Father!" Chen Qun flung himself onto Chen Li's side and pulled out the sweat-soaked copper coins he'd been clutching in his bosom.

"Father, look!"

Chen Li's face darkened instantly, and he reflexively grabbed the donkey whip leaning against the tree.

"Father, Father, wait!" Seeing his father's gesture, Chen Qun jumped up and hurriedly explained, "These are the wages Elder Brother Wuji gave me—they're not from some shady source!"

Upon hearing that, Chen Li grew even more furious, cracking the whip against the ground and shouting angrily, "You little brat, you've learned to lie now? Who would give a decent person this much wages in a day? I've toiled my whole life and can't earn that much silver in a day—how could you possibly make that much?"

"Selling pots—I'm helping Elder Brother Wuji sell pots!" Chen Qun shouted urgently.

"You little turtle bastard, you still dare to spout nonsense—could selling pots really bring in this much? Or did you pocket the money from the pots?" Chen Li had already imagined some very unpleasant things; furious, he lunged forward, grabbed Chen Qun's collar, and raised the whip to give his son a father's beating.

Just then, Chen Yan Shi stepped out from the courtyard, saw Chen Li's commotion, lunged forward and grabbed his collar, shouting, "You old fool, what madness have you taken up now? Let go!"

"This kid is stealing people!" Chen Li shouted.

"Huh?" Chen Yan Shi turned her eyes, the hand gripping Chen Li's collar smoothly shifted to seize Chen Qun's neck, "You little turtle bastard, you still dare to kidnap people? Though I'm not exactly a good person, I've never engaged in fraud or deceit—how dare you steal things!"

"Old man, beat him—beat that turtle bastard to death!"

Chen Qun collapsed.

He watched as his parents suddenly united against him, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

Could he really be their biological son?

"Eh? You still know you're not a good person?" Chen Li suddenly turned and asked Chen Yan Shi.

"Shut up—what I do has nothing to do with whether I know what kind of person I am? I'm asking you—does it matter? As a person, how could I not know what I am?" Chen Yan Shi glared and shouted.

"Give me the whip—you're a weakling both on and off the bed, all you know is to glare and stroke your beard; even if you beat me once, I'd still consider you a real man."

"You crazy woman, spouting nonsense in front of the child!" Chen Li roared.

That remark fully ignited Chen Yan Shi's temper; she jerked her neck up, "You haven't heard the worst of it yet, old woman—if you had any strength in bed, we wouldn't have only this one child, nor would you dare not to beat him to death!"

"This little bastard is kidnapping people—kidnapping them! If you don't beat him to death, what are you waiting for? Waiting until one day you go to the East Market Entrance to pick up his brains? Give me the whip—if you won't strike, I will; beat the old woman to death, find someone to bear another, and you raise it!"

Chen Qun: ……

He weakly lifted his head to gaze at the splendid twilight.

Suddenly he really wanted to run away—what should he do?

"Father, Mother, before you beat me to death, why not first ask Elder Brother Wuji whether I've lied or not? Just ask and you'll know." Chen Qun said weakly.

He had earned two hundred sixty cash today, yet he couldn't feel happy at all.

He seemed to truly possibly have been picked up from a crack in a stone.