Chapter 5: A Solution

Chen Mo shoveled up a spade of horse manure mixed with horse urine and carefully poured it into the wheelbarrow.

Ding Bao stood to the side, carefully teaching him how to shovel manure in the most effortless way to avoid getting any excrement splashed onto himself.

He had been a horse groom for two and a half years and had quite a bit of experience in shoveling manure.

A cart of manure was soon filled, and Ma Cai pushed the cart away, casting a glance at Ding Bao as he left.

Seeing that both of them had left, Chen Mo grabbed an apple from the side used for feeding the horses and took two fierce bites.

The horse, seeing its fruit being stolen and eaten, let out two surprisingly angry neighs, though it was a pity it could not speak.

Chen Mo quickly devoured more than half of the apple, tossed the remaining small piece to the neighing horse, and began shoveling manure again.

Ding Bao and Ma Cai did not stay away for long before returning, pushing an empty small cart.

"I told you so," Ma Cai said, looking at Ding Bao.

Chen Mo did not say much, understanding that these two must have some secret matter to discuss with him.

"We didn't tell you before because you weren't shoveling manure, but now that you are, you need to know about this."

Ma Cai did not dare to speak loudly, keeping his voice very low.

"We have been secretly selling horse manure for some time now, and we can make forty or fifty wen a day."

Horse manure is a good thing, especially since the warhorses eat quite a bit of refined grain, making the manure more valuable.

Although this manure is supposed to be sent to the Commandant's estate, if they secretly sell a little bit, no one would ever notice.

The two had discussed whether or not to tell Chen Mo, because if he knew, there would be one more person to split the money with.

But if they didn't tell him, they were afraid he might find out one day and report them, so it was better to drag him into the water now.

"Does Master He know about this?" Chen Mo asked the two.

If Master He also knew about this, then it wouldn't hurt for him to take a share, and not taking one would actually be inappropriate.

But upon hearing his question, the two fell silent for a moment.

Of course, they understood that it would be best to include Horse Official He in this, but since they hadn't told him at the start, the longer they waited, the more afraid they became to speak up.

"If you do this, aren't you afraid of being discovered one day!" Chen Mo looked astonished.

He truly had not expected these two to be so bold.

If Master He had also taken a share of the money, then even if the matter were exposed, he would at least protect them to some extent so that he himself wouldn't be punished too severely.

But if Horse Official He didn't know about this, then if the matter were exposed, being beaten to death by military law would be considered a light punishment.

"If we are careful, we shouldn't be discovered, right?" Ma Cai's voice grew lower as he spoke.

If you don't want people to know, you shouldn't do it; since they had already done this, exposure was only a matter of time.

"What if you are?" Chen Mo asked in return.

Ma Cai lowered his head; his family did indeed have some connections in the military, but they weren't very strong, otherwise he wouldn't still be here feeding horses.

If this matter were truly exposed, even if he could save his life, he would certainly be given dozens of military floggings and driven out of the camp.

"I didn't hear what you said, and I won't tell Horse Official He; I only shovel manure, and I won't ask about the business of sending it out," Chen Mo said proactively, drawing a line between himself and this matter.

With the Transformation Pearl on his person, he only needed to slowly accumulate Qi and Blood and wait for his rebirth.

He did not want to get involved in this matter that could affect his own stability.

But the two had helped him a lot during this time; although it was only small things like lending him soap pods or a water bucket, he would never report them for that reason.

"We are comrades after all, you can't just stand by and watch us die! Tell us what to do? We'll both listen to you!" Ma Cai's tone was anxious, his heart panicked.

His family had pulled many strings to arrange things for him after he entered the military camp; if he were driven out because of this, everything would have been in vain.

He had lived in the same room as Chen Mo for half a month and knew that Chen Mo was definitely not an ordinary disaster victim.

Because he could actually read, even if only a few characters, which was very rare among a group of Soldiers.

So at this moment, he hoped Chen Mo could help him come up with an idea.

The reason Chen Mo was literate was, firstly, because the characters in this world were relatively similar to the world he was in before he transmigrated.

Secondly, because when he was sold into service, since his appearance was decent, he was transferred to be a book boy after working as a kitchen hand for half a month, and he learned a few characters through constant exposure.

"Either stop doing it forever, or if you still want to do it, take all the money you've earned so far and give it to Master He, and tell him the whole truth."

Out of consideration for the help they had given him while they were together, Chen Mo gave them his advice.

As for whether they listened or not, that was up to them.

After shoveling two full carts of horse manure and rinsing his hands, he went to steam corn buns for the horses.

He ate more than two catties of corn buns himself and set aside an extra eight.

The military camp only provided two meals, lunch and dinner, with nothing to eat in the morning, so he had to set aside eight when steaming them in the afternoon so that everyone could have two to get by tomorrow morning.

After Chen Mo finished steaming the buns and feeding the horses, the two who had gone out to deliver the manure returned, smelling foul.

"Brother Mo," Ma Cai said in an intimate tone, his face full of smiles.

Even though he was a year older than Chen Mo, he was shamelessly calling him "Brother," clearly asking for a favor.

"What is it?" Chen Mo became alert; there is always a motive behind uncalled-for displays of courtesy.

"Nothing much, it's just that we only have radishes and cabbage all day long, so I bought a chicken to treat you."

Ma Cai pulled out a braised chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, emitting a savory aroma.

On the way to deliver the manure, the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became; compared to the twenty-plus wen of daily income, the price he would have to pay if he were discovered was simply too high.

He wanted to stop, but Ding Bao was somewhat reluctant; the two were now grasshoppers on the same string and had to advance or retreat together.

And even if they stopped, this matter might still be exposed in the future.

The two discussed it for a long time, and after thinking it over, they decided to use the second method Chen Mo had suggested.

"What exactly is the matter? Tell me," Chen Mo asked, though he could vaguely guess three-tenths of it in his heart.

"We two intend to listen to you and tell Master He everything, but if we go alone, we'll surely get a beating, so we want to ask Brother Mo to help us."

He rubbed his hands and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

What the two of them had done, even if they handed over all the money, was absolutely worth a sound beating.

Therefore, the two of them dared not speak of it.

Chen Mo had not yet participated in this matter; if he went to speak first, Master He would accept the money and his anger would dissipate by three parts, and at most he would reprimand them a few times afterward, so he likely would not whip them.

Even if they were whipped, it would definitely be lighter than if they ran straight into the line of fire and got whipped.

Once he was injured, it would inevitably affect his strength; even if his family had paved the way for him, he still had to strive for some success himself.

"Can't you two just go yourselves? What use is it for me to go?" Chen Mo shook his head and declined; he himself did not really want to get involved in this matter.

"Brother Mo, please help us just this once. If you help us, we will each give you another one qian of silver later," Ma Cai said, gritting his teeth.

"This..." Chen Mo appeared slightly hesitant; two qian of silver was quite a lot, enough to buy plenty of meat to help him accumulate Qi and Blood faster.

"Brother Mo, if you help me, we will be brothers from now on, and brother will tell you a good thing that you absolutely do not know," Ma Cai said with a solemn expression.

This matter should not have been told to others casually, but he could not care about too much right now.

If Chen Mo was willing to help him, then he could tell him this matter; if he was unwilling, then forget it.

Moreover, he understood that even if he did not say it now, everyone would know about this in another two months.

"What matter?" Chen Mo felt quite interested.

Ma Cai's family had some connections, so the good thing he spoke of should not be a lie.

(End of this chapter)