Chapter 17: Opening a Shop in the County

Facing the group attack, Xu Mingwei primarily focused on blocking and evading.

His body moved in an S-shaped pattern, lifting his knees and swinging his arms to block.

When landing, his toes touched the ground, the explosive force concentrated at a single point, causing his speed to surge as he weaved between the several people.

Like a fire dragon traversing a marsh, he simultaneously possessed both flexibility and explosiveness.

This move was a movement technique from the Lesser Dragon Elephant Technique, Dragon Swimming Through Winding Marshes.

Moving back and forth like this, after more than ten breaths the three men's coordinated attack revealed an opening.

A sharp gleam flashed through Xu Mingwei's eyes.

With a sweeping leg technique, he directly sent two of them flying, then took advantage of the momentum to twist his body and leap into the air.

His right leg chopped down like a battle axe on the last person's shoulder.

That incomparable force was like a thousand-pound boulder, directly pressing him down to kneel on one knee, countless beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Let's stop here." Xu Chuan suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Xu Mingwei withdrew his foot.

He let out a long breath, his expression unchanged, without even a drop of sweat visible on his face.

The three men, Zhao Dalong and the others, stood up, cupped their fists and bowed to him, their faces full of admiration, saying in unison, "Thank you, eldest young master, for showing mercy."

"You're all too kind, I only managed to win by a slight margin through luck."

Xu Chuan nodded in satisfaction at this.

At this moment, a little girl as pink and plump as a porcelain doll walked over and called out crisply, "Father, big brother, second brother, breakfast is ready."

Li Er, Zhao Dalong, and the others also spoke up, "Then, family head, we'll take our leave first."

"Mm." Xu Chuan nodded.

If it had been before when he was alone, eating together would have been nothing but now that they had all started families and had their own descendants, continuing to eat and drink at the master's house was no longer appropriate.

The Xu family treated them well, with a monthly salary of five taels, which was absolutely unmatched in all of Dongxi Village.

"My little Xueji."

Xu Chuan walked over and scooped her up in his arms, affectionately touching her nose with his, making her giggle and say, "Father, it tickles."

The little girl was Xu Mingshu.

As the only girl, she was showered with endless affection in the Xu family.

On the eight immortals table, a large basin of minced meat congee was placed in the center, surrounded by scallion pancakes, egg pancakes, pickled vegetables, and preserved radish.

It was quite a sumptuous spread.

There were seven people in the Xu family, but only six sat here.

The missing one was Xu Mingxuan.

He had been sent to the Heavenly Dragon Martial Hall in Qingjiang County three years ago.

Li Tai'e had gone with him.

The two only returned home for one day every seven days.

"Tantou will return tomorrow, I wonder if he's gotten thinner."

Bai Jing served Xu Chuan a bowl of white congee, her eyes full of longing for her son.

"He's quite valued at the Heavenly Dragon Martial Hall, he won't suffer any grievances."

Xu Chuan said this matter-of-factly.

This immediately provoked Bai Jing's full stomach of complaints. She said with slight dissatisfaction, "There are plenty of martial artists at home, why did you have to send Tantou to the martial hall?"

"Martial halls are full of all sorts of people, how can you guarantee he won't be bullied?"

Xu Chuan didn't explain further.

Sending the two of them to the martial hall naturally had its purpose.

First, they would receive better training, and second, they would expand their connections.

Because of their talents, both had been taken as disciples by an instructor at the martial hall who was at the peak of the Postnatal realm.

With this relationship, this martial hall instructor also became friends with the Xu family.

After finishing breakfast, Xu Chuan put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Xu Mingyuan, "A couple days ago your Uncle Ergou proposed that our two families jointly invest in opening a fruit and vegetable shop in the county seat. What do you think?"

"Open a shop in the county seat? Auntie put him up to it, right?"

Xu Mingyuan was somewhat dismissive and said indifferently, "I heard from Daniu before that their family seems to have intentions of moving to the county seat."

"With the scale of farmland and mountain forest our two families currently have, the fruit and vegetable output could easily supply two or three shops with no problem."

"If we're really going to open one, I suggest our family open one ourselves."

"With the quality of our produce, plus having green jade pears as our signature item, even if business isn't the absolute best, it will definitely be booming."

Xu Mingyuan thought of something and continued with a smile, "I remember in a little over half a month, the green jade pears will ripen. Using them as the seasonal fruit, we can definitely successfully build our reputation."

"However, if we do this, the Xu San family's side..."

Xu Mingyuan glanced at Xu Chuan's expression. He knew that Xu Chuan mainly adopted a forbearing attitude toward the Xu San family.

Therefore, over the years, the green jade pears had still been sold to the Xu San family but every time he saw the arrogant faces of the Xu San family when they came to collect the green jade pears, Xu Mingyuan felt angry inside, wishing he could rush up and slap them across the face.

"The Xu San family." Xu Chuan murmured softly, then smiled faintly, "Since you already have a plan, then starting this year, we won't sell to them anymore."

"Excellent, Father!"

"I'll have Zhou Ming assist you in setting up the shop in Qingjiang County. Ask your mother for however much silver you need."

"Li Er, Zhao Dalong, and the others are all at your disposal as well."

Xu Mingyuan nodded with a smile, rubbing his hands together, his entire body full of energy.

This would be the first step in the Xu family's formal expansion into the county seat.

At this moment, Bai Jing suddenly said, "If we don't cooperate with Ergou's family, will they have objections?"

Xu Mingyuan said, "Mother, you don't know, when Uncle Ergou used to be in charge it was fine, but after Auntie took over, she repeatedly sold things privately, raised prices, constantly pulled little tricks..."

"Several times she nearly damaged the Xu family's reputation."

"If it weren't for Uncle Ergou and Father's friendship, I would have asked Father to terminate our cooperation with them long ago."

"Such things happened?" Bai Jing looked shocked.

Xu Chuan was quite calm about this matter, only offering an eight-character assessment, "Too clever by half, insatiably greedy."

"Since the shop matter is yours to handle, you also go explain things to Ergou's side. You understand how to explain it clearly, right?"

"I understand, I won't harm Father and Uncle Ergou's friendship."

Xu Mingyuan thought for a moment, then said, "I'll make a trip to his house right away, to avoid complications arising from delay."

He quickly scraped up the remaining white congee, then hurriedly left.

"Father, I'm also going into the mountains." Xu Mingwei also stood up.

"Mm." Xu Chuan responded.

At this moment, Xu Mingshu suddenly stood up, tugged at Xu Mingwei's robe corner, and looked up saying, "Big brother, I want a small animal."

Xu Mingwei hesitated somewhat. The fierce beasts in the mountain forests were all wild and difficult to tame, not something that could be brought back casually.

"If there are any young ones, bringing a few back is fine." Xu Chuan said.

"Understood." Xu Mingwei crouched down and rubbed Xu Mingshu's head, "Big brother will bring you some."

"Thank you, big brother."

Xu Mingshu had now been granted the fate talent Whisper of All Spirits.

This was the last unclaimed fate talent on the Blood Lineage Genealogy.

It allowed communication with all beasts, making them naturally affectionate, as for Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Harm, it had long been given to Xu Mingxuan.

"Xueji, and Yunnu, you two are also six years old now, you need to start practicing martial arts as well, understand?" Xu Chuan said.

Bai Jing's body trembled, but she didn't say anything more, continuing to clean up the bowls and chopsticks on the table.

"Yes, Father."

Xu Mingshu's eyes showed curiosity, while Xu Mingxian was somewhat excited, his small fists clenched tight.

"Then who will teach us, Father?" Xu Mingxian's eyes sparkled.

Xu Chuan chuckled, "I'll do it myself."