Chapter 7: Balance

Cheng Feng left the city gate safely and securely, carefully memorizing the road back.

He planned to walk this path alone in the future.

Thinking of the half-grown boys in the village, perhaps they could be of use later, even if just to help run errands.

After putting away the day's harvest at home, Cheng Feng saw that the sky was still bright.

He walked toward the river to see if Lao San had caught any fish today.

It must be said that using earthworms as bait is truly a good thing.

This also reflects the value of the knowledge Cheng Feng possessed in his past life.

With just a bit of bait, the Lao Cheng family saw hope for heading toward a moderately prosperous life.

Diligence leads to wealth; the Great Red Flag truly does not deceive me.

Yet, Cheng Feng was still dissatisfied with this speed; it was too slow.

Cheng Feng knew that some things really could not be rushed.

Previously, Cheng Feng had thought about selling the bait, but after investigating the market, he found that neither adults nor children had any money.

The bait-selling plan died in the cradle.

Later, seeing that the fish in the river were not that plentiful and appeared only sporadically,

Cheng Feng gave up on that idea.

After all, the output was low and not even enough for his own family to eat, so how could he hand it over to others to share?

That was why he warned Shitou not to talk about it.

One does not fear a thief stealing, but rather a thief coveting.

After some time, when the Lao Cheng family had a solid foundation, if anyone came to ask for the secret to Fishing, it would be of no consequence.

Perhaps he could even sell it for a price.

But looking at the bright and shining More Children More Blessings talent, Cheng Feng was anxious!!!

It was like a lustful man seeing a beautiful woman.

The beauty says she will belong to you in the future.

But to use her, there is still a thin, faint veil separating you.

You have to take off the veil before you can use it.

Really, it was just that little bit away.

Cheng Feng was extremely distressed: "What a sin."

The place Cheng Feng found was some distance away from where the children first caught fish, and there was a small hillside behind it.

Ordinary people did not come here.

It was truly a good, quiet place for fishing.

Cheng Feng was afraid that Shitou would not be able to stand the loneliness, but he could still observe the situation for the next few days; after saving up some silver in a few days, Cheng Feng planned to let go of the Fishing income; Lao San had a somewhat impatient temperament, but he was still clever and needed to be tempered.

It is the nature of children to love to play; in his past life, that would certainly have meant having a perfect childhood.

But now, the Lao Cheng family's circumstances were not yet wealthy to that extent.

Cheng Feng had also found some work for Lao San.

It was not heavy work, nor tiring work; going back and forth every day, amidst the monotony, carried the family's expectations, which would always help Lao San mature a bit.

To make some contribution to the family.

Lao San was also willing to do such things for the family.

Bright, shining copper coins are always so charming.

In any society, they are needed to balance prices and settle large and small differences.

And Cheng Feng was preparing to learn archery.

Hunting was also a good production project.

Liujiacun backed onto deep mountains, and it was said that there were wolves, bears, and tigers in the forests.

Rabbits and wild chickens were even more countless; as long as one dared to struggle, one could always strive for wealth.

The most direct thing Cheng Feng heard was that a hunter family in the village hunted a bear; after the bear was injured and fell into a trap, the hunter used an arrow to shoot the bear to death from a distance; bear paws are delicious, bear gallbladders are used for medicine, bear skin is used to make clothes, and bear meat counts as meat.

Once Cheng Feng heard this, how was it any different from a villager in his past life winning 500,000 in the lottery?

He immediately took it to heart.

He arrived at the old spot by the river and watched Shitou's practiced operation.

There were two small fish in the bucket, and not a single big fish.

Watching Shitou catch fish, Cheng Feng noticed a situation.

Shitou was small, and the fish had become smarter these past two days; they would run as soon as they ate the bait.

With no one to cooperate with Shitou to surround the fish, he was not fast enough to scoop them up.

Seeing this situation, Cheng Feng had nothing to say, so the two brothers went at it together.

They finally managed to catch two big fish.

On the way back to the village, they ran into Mazi and another idler.

Cheng Feng had asked Cheng Fu, and the other idler was named Niu Si, who was the fourth in his family.

They both followed another man in the village named Liu Hu; Liu Hu had some connections in the city and sometimes organized villagers to do work taken from the city.

The wages were high, and his reputation was good.

It was estimated that they had just finished working for Liu Hu and were returning home to rest for a few days.

After knowing the bottom of things, Cheng Feng did not think much more about it.

Being from the same village, they wouldn't do anything like bullying children.

At most, they'll just ask around, letting the children in their families share in the benefits.

He greeted them as usual, picked up the bucket, and walked toward home.

Mazi looked at Niu Si: "Two?"

Niu Si nodded: "Two, for two days now. Should we go for it?"

Niu Si made a gesture to Mazi to follow someone.

Mazi shook his head, "It's only the second day; no need to rush."

Niu Si said indifferently: "You're smarter than me. When you think it's time, just give me a call."

Mazi didn't deny it: "Don't worry, we're old friends. You still don't know me?"

Watching the backs of the Cheng Feng brothers as they walked away, he narrowed his eyes: "Fishing really can make money, but if one could always catch fish, who would still go farm? It's not like there aren't people in our village who've had this thought, but why did they give up in the end? It's because it's unstable; they only gave up when they saw their fields were about to go fallow. A day or two doesn't count for much, let's keep watching."

Niu Si: "As long as you have a plan. There's work in town in two days, what will we do then?"

"Our kids are naughty and run around, unreliable. Lao Cheng's third son is only 14, he can do it, and our Lao Liu family's kids can do it too."

Seeing that Niu Si still had more to say, how could Mazi not know what Niu Si was thinking? "If they don't listen, just give them a beating; if that doesn't work, give them two. After that, tell your wife before heading out to work. If there really are fish for several days in a row, we'll just follow along and share the benefits."

Cheng Feng hadn't expected that a real-life version of "give them two beatings" would also exist in ancient times.

It was just tough on the children of the Mazi and Niu Si families.

His own unusual behavior over these past two days had also been noticed by those with ulterior motives.

Cheng Feng knew what he was doing; nothing major would happen.

His predecessor was relatively honest and shy, didn't pay much attention to interpersonal relationships in the village, and always thought that as long as he didn't cause trouble, he could just live his own life well.

The world is full of people like that.

Cheng Feng was different; his social experience as an adult made him pay extra attention to this aspect of the situation.

After all, coming from that era of information explosion, he had to know who was easy to talk to and who shouldn't be provoked!

What he was doing wasn't behind closed doors for his own amusement; it was certain to make people jealous.

If the jealous ones took action, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

Fishing has no barrier to entry, and there is no one to supervise or protect one's interests.

If someone really wants to know the trick, there will always be a way.

So Cheng Feng only had two choices: either make it public when the time comes, or hide it for now and choose a time to make it public.

Cheng Feng chose to keep the initiative in his own hands.

The worst case is to stop; I won't make money, and you won't be jealous either, let's all just stop doing it.

You want to know my secret after offending me?

Go eat shit.

Of course, it also depends on the situation. Cheng Feng calculated that it would be best to hide it for three months.

If there happen to be fewer fish in the river by then, it doesn't matter; his family won't have lost anything.

After this, except for windy and rainy days, the Cheng Feng brothers relied on earthworms to lure and catch fish. The next day, Cheng Feng would rush early to sell them, occasionally taking his older brother or Shitou with him, since one always needs to be familiar with the route.

Watching the copper coins pile up one by one.

In ten days, he had saved twenty-one copper coins.

With the extra, Cheng Feng bought 7 feet of coarse cloth for three copper coins, enough to make a set of clothes for each of the five people in the family.

He also bought a hairpin for Cheng Mu for one copper coin.

It made Cheng Mu grin from ear to ear.

Although Cheng Fu didn't say anything, watching the laughter and joy in the family, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

And Cheng Feng also felt that his voice in the family had gained some weight.

At least Cheng Fu could listen to him a bit more.

He wouldn't make decisions unilaterally.

Cheng Mu would sometimes chime in as well.

His older brother wouldn't doubt him at all.

This could be considered Cheng Feng's greatest harvest.

However, looking at the blisters on his feet from working from dawn till dusk, Cheng Feng felt it was time to change his method.

He asked around indirectly about where Mazi and Niu Si had gone, as he hadn't seen them at the village entrance for many days when he returned.

With the adults away, the wives and children of the two families started taking turns guarding the village entrance.

Just waiting to see his harvest.

The way they would "just happen" to run into him, chat for a couple of sentences, while their eyes would always inadvertently glance at the bucket, made Cheng Feng laugh inwardly.

Ever since Cheng Feng woke up in Liujiacun, apart from his family, he had always maintained a sense of vigilance toward outsiders.

Preparing for the worst, he sized up everyone around him who had the ability to cause him harm.

At first, he even wondered if someone would follow him or something.

Fortunately, the folk customs in Liujiacun were relatively simple and honest.

Looking at the twenty copper coins in his hand, Cheng Feng reckoned that when Mazi or Niu Si returned from work to rest for a few days, they would probably bring this up.

These past two days, their children had even started to take the initiative to greet Cheng Feng.

Calling him "Second Brother Cheng" or "Brother Cheng" at every turn.

If his predecessor hadn't been a "nobody," Cheng Feng would have really thought he was that popular.

He really should put down the work in his hands.

And learn a new skill for self-defense.

The biggest benefit of the Panmian right now is that it allows Cheng Feng to see if he has made any progress.

Name: Cheng Feng

Lifespan: (16/62)

Talent: More Children More Blessings

Skill: Fishing (Entry Level 5%)