Chapter 129: Preparation (Double Chapter)

Liang Fengnian listened intently.

He told her, “My father always said that when facing evildoers, the best thing to do is to avoid them whenever possible. If escape is impossible, then self-preservation comes first.”

Yan Yu shook her head. “Isn’t that too dangerous? You might escape once, but what about the next time? What if you really run into trouble—are you going to rely on the bad guys to suddenly grow a conscience?”

Liang Fengnian pressed his lips together tightly and said in a low voice, “I think the people in your village are all very capable. And your uncle… I think he did the right thing!”

“You mean when my uncle led the people to kill the mountain bandits?”

“Yeah!”

“At first, we only wanted to protect ourselves,” Yan Yu said. “If we didn’t want to be harmed by the mountain bandits, we had no choice but to strike first. Bandits move in groups—if you kill them, you make enemies of them. Instead of waiting for them to come after us, it’s better to act first.

“When we first encountered bandits, there were only a few of them. We were terrified, but we had no choice but to fight back. We made a lot of preparations… Later, we realized that although the bandits were fierce, they weren’t invincible.”

“Fengnian, you’ve heard about it, right? Guanzhou frequently suffers raids from the barbarians. My uncle says they’re even more brutal than mountain bandits. We may still be young, but there’s a lot we can do. The adults can’t always keep an eye on us. If something happens when they’re not around, at the very least, we need to know how to protect ourselves.

“Besides, we’ll grow up eventually. Who’s to say that when we’re older, we won’t be even stronger than them? Haha! When that time comes, we’ll be the ones protecting them!”

“Brother Xiao’er, take me with you to train!” Liang Fengnian’s voice trembled slightly. “I… I want to become strong too.”

“Of course!” Yan Yu grinned. “Didn’t I already promise? From now on, you’re part of the Young Scouts too.

“Oh, by the way, did you ask your parents if they’re okay with you coming to my house to earn work points?”

Liang Fengnian nodded. “My parents agreed. Whenever there’s work to do at your place, Brother Xiao’er, remember to call me.”

“Alright! I’ll call you when the time comes.” Yan Yu sized him up and said, “You’re a bit shorter than me. I’ll ask Uncle Qi to carve you a wooden staff later.”

“Come on, let’s go help out.”

—

The bone broth had been finished, so they added more water and bones to the pot. In the meantime, Yan Lao’er never let the crowd sit idle.

He advised the refugees to only drink boiled water, warning that drinking raw water could cause stomach problems.

Since they had the chance, he told them to clean themselves up to prevent illness.

With the scorching sun overhead, they needed to be careful of sunburn. Those who knew how to weave grass hats should make some for shade.

They should also prepare more water containers—the heat wasn’t going away anytime soon.

When traveling through the mountains, it was best to carry medicine for insect and snake bites. If they couldn’t find any themselves, they could try trading with the mountain folk.

For those who wanted to continue along the official road, it was best to travel in groups…

Yan Lao’er chattered on, filling their heads with useful knowledge so they wouldn’t grow restless while waiting.

He also answered some of their questions.

The refugees, deeply grateful, were eager to know more about him and his people.

When did they plan to set off? What time would they rest each day? Would they travel quickly? If they avoided the official roads and went through the mountains instead, would the journey be shorter? Would they risk getting lost?

Some people had seen the villagers modifying carts and asked if it was possible to make some handcarts to sell to them…

No matter how thoroughly the bandits looted, some had still managed to hide away silver coins that hadn’t been discovered.

Yan Lao’er discussed it with Qi Wu and the others.

They decided that this business could work.

He told the crowd, “We can only build them during our rest breaks, so it won’t be quick. Anyone who wants one will have to wait.”

The man who had asked was thrilled and stepped forward to thank him repeatedly.

“Just so you know,” Yan Lao’er warned, “our work is rough. It won’t be pretty, but we’ll make sure it’s sturdy.”

“That’s fine, I don’t care about looks. A handcart would make things so much easier. My mother sprained her foot and can’t walk.”

“If you’re carrying someone, the cart will need to be bigger,” Yan Lao’er noted. “Can you handle pushing it?”

The man scratched his head, looked around, and pointed to a handcart the villagers had already made. “That size will do. My mother can sit on it. I have a younger brother, and we’ll take turns pushing—it’ll work.”

Yan Lao’er nodded.

They settled on a price, and the man left two silver coins as a deposit.

“Qi Wu, take this,” Yan Lao’er said, handing him the silver.

“If you need to chop trees or move lumber, just say the word. Figure out what we can make and assign the work—we’ll follow your lead.”

Qi Wu’s face turned red as he waved his hands. “Brother Yan, I can’t take this. You keep it.”

“What do you mean you can’t take it?” Yan Lao’er scowled. “You have to! In the future, when we work for you, you’ll be the one paying us in copper coins. If you don’t take this now, are you expecting us to work for free?”

“I… I’m not good at handling money. Brother Yan, can you keep it for me?”

“Then let Qi Si take it,” Yan Lao’er said. “You’re the boss, but handling such simple accounts shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

Qi Si thought for a moment and accepted the money.

“Brother Yan, how much do you think we should pay the helpers?”

“We’ll take our breaks at midday and in the evening. The sun is too harsh at noon, so it’s better to work at night for a short while. After walking all day, everyone is tired—one or two hours of work won’t interfere with rest.

Most of the labor will be done by the five Qi brothers. The rest will involve carrying and lifting, plus some small tasks. Let’s set the pay at ten wen per person. What do you all think?”

The Qi brothers naturally had no objections. They knew that Yan Lao’er wouldn’t let them suffer a loss.

Once the first person placed an order for a cart, more followed.

The four of them hadn’t expected such high demand for handcarts.

And they had to complain about the mountain bandits—those guys didn’t act like decent people. They found the carts too bulky, so they either abandoned them on the main road or chopped them up for firewood…

When Yan Yu heard that her father and the Qi uncles had taken on the business of making handcarts, she was speechless.

Eight hundred wen for a cart—it sounded like a lot, but who would buy a cart while fleeing a famine?

Cutting trees and sawing wood were labor-intensive tasks.

Of course, for the Qi uncles, that probably wasn’t a big deal.

But the more work they did, the more they ate. If one calculated the costs carefully, it was hard to tell whether this business would make a profit or a loss.

Still, she had a vague idea of her father’s intentions—he probably just wanted to help the refugees, and making money was secondary.

The number of refugees lining up for soup was decreasing, but now the villagers were joining in, bowls in hand.

After taking a sip, they smacked their lips and remarked, “It’s a bit bland, but you can still taste the salt in it!”

“Yan Lao’er said the leftover bones can be dried and ground into powder to mix into livestock feed.”

“Speaking of which, have you noticed? Yan Lao’er keeps secretly feeding the village’s mules and donkeys.”

“Of course I noticed! I even saw him once—sneaking around like a thief, thinking no one saw him.”

“I tried feeding his family’s cow once, but that cow is too picky—it wouldn’t eat a single bite from me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the Yan family raised that cow well—it only recognizes its own people.”

…

Everyone was preparing to set out.

The team fetching water from the mountain formed a long line.

The steaming pot for mantou never stopped burning, and all the village women were helping out.

Everyone had learned how to make them from Yan Lao’er. Even those who were clumsy at first gradually improved their skills.

Not only were they making their own food, but they also started taking orders from the refugees.

This idea came from Yan Lao’er and his group.

The men could make and sell handcarts, so why couldn’t the women steam mantou to trade for more water and grain?

Yan Lao’er had set a price—one jin of flour and one jin of water in exchange for seven large mantou. This rate was for villagers only; for outsiders, they added an extra half jin of water and flour, giving them nine mantou instead.

It wasn’t much profit, just hard-earned money.

But as more people came to trade, their stock of flour gradually increased.

Seeing the growing sacks of grain, the women felt motivated and worked even harder.

Among the refugees, many still had hidden silver. As they moved around frequently, they soon discovered the Yan family’s fragrant soap.

Yan Lao’er, the chatterbox, held a significant presence among the refugees.

People remembered everything he said, whether it was useful or not.

Keeping oneself clean and fresh…

Reduced the risk of illness!

Looking at the villagers, they truly were much cleaner.

Then they looked at themselves—their families, and the stinking crowd around them…

When someone came looking for Yan Lao’er, he had gone up the mountain with Sanbao to fetch water.

Li Xuemei, along with Da Ya and the village women, was preparing food for the journey.

Yan Xiangheng was patrolling the outskirts of the group.

Only Yan Huaiwen, the scholar, was at home.

The visitor cautiously made their request.

Yan Huaiwen pondered for a moment and said, “This item was made by my second brother with great effort. It is no worse than those sold in regular shops. Since we have never sold it before, I do not know what price to set. If you have bought it elsewhere, you may purchase it at the same price.”

The man happily placed a piece of broken silver down and took the uniquely shaped scented soap that the scholar handed over.

At first, he was a bit puzzled, but after sniffing it and rubbing it lightly in his hands, his face lit up with delight.

Though the shape was odd, it was indeed better than the ones he had previously bought in stores—more moisturizing and not drying.

After the man left, Yan Huaiwen picked up the broken silver.

The moment it touched his palm, he could tell the weight.

Eight qian.

Having lived in a higher position for so long, he had already forgotten the market prices.

So, this scented soap could be sold for eight qian in stores.

If Tianyou found out, who knew how happy he would be?

Thinking of this, Yan Huaiwen curled his lips into a smile and carefully put away the broken silver.

He was looking forward to it.

Every time Tianyou received money, his expression was always… quite amusing.

It never got old, making him want to keep giving more.

…

Yan Yu returned with several children.

The Young Scouts had done well in their task today, but the most outstanding performance came from the child who pulled someone out for cutting in line.

Without question, the other children unanimously voted him as the top contributor.

The rewards promised by Yan Xiao’er’s father had yet to be added to their communal warehouse, so there was nothing to distribute at the moment.

Thus, this achievement was noted down for now.

Each child who participated in today’s task had their contributions recorded, and Yan Xiao’er told them that if they accumulated enough, they could trade them in for a bigger reward.

Having successfully completed a mission, the children were all in high spirits.

They strutted back home, holding wooden sticks with pride… before seamlessly transitioning into helping their families pack up their belongings.

From mighty Young Scouts members to little laborers at home—it was a natural shift.

Among those Yan Yu brought back, some wanted to exchange work points.

Only two of them had the required five work points under their names, while the rest planned to pool their points together to trade for a copybook to share.

As Yan Yu listened to their discussion about whose points to use and how to split their study time, even the two children who originally had enough points changed their minds and decided to do the same.

Silently, Yan Yu gave them a thumbs-up in her heart.

Good job—skimming off her resources right in front of her!

But she didn’t mind.

All the children chose to exchange for copybooks.

They even specifically asked which characters made up their names.

Luckily, Yan Yu had left plenty of blank spaces, so she carefully wrote their names in.

Ahem, she hadn’t realized until now—but looking at the names, there were quite a few duplicates.

In the village, children’s proper names weren’t commonly used. Most went by their childhood nicknames, and only after coming of age and being officially registered did they receive formal names—usually just their surname and a birth order designation.

Cui Langzhong’s sons, Big Dog and Second Dog, were among the rare ones with more complex names.

It turned out Big Dog was originally named Cui Duzhong, while Second Dog was Cui Gegen.

Yan Yu immediately memorized them!

After writing down the brothers’ names, Big Dog—no, Brother Duzhong—carefully held up his copybook and left.

Brother Gegen followed closely behind him.

The other children hesitated.

“Yan Xiao’er, can you leave this space blank for now? We’ll ask our parents to give us proper names later, and then you can write them in.”

“Sure!” Yan Yu readily agreed.

Liang Fengnian stood behind her like a little shadow.

He was quiet in front of the other children, speaking very little.

Now, hearing this request, he hesitated.

Once the children took their copybooks and left, Liang Fengnian finally spoke up.

“Xiao’er-ge, do you think their parents can come up with good names?”

Yan Yu turned to look at him. “That’s not something for us to worry about.”

“I was thinking… maybe we could find a few characters for them to choose from.”

“No good!”

A sudden voice startled Liang Fengnian.

Both children turned to see Yan Huaiwen dusting off his clothes—it looked like he had just been rummaging for something under the cart.

“Uncle, are you looking for something?” Yan Yu asked nervously.

Her uncle never involved himself in these trivial matters, and even her older brother and Da’ya only took care of their own belongings.

Most of the Yan family’s possessions were managed by just their immediate family of three.

She remembered very clearly—there were several inconspicuous bundles filled with wheat straw.

And hidden inside were privately stored white rice and fine flour, all mixed together.

These things couldn’t withstand scrutiny. One look, and it would be obvious that something was off.

They had been too relaxed—they hadn’t expected Uncle to suddenly conduct an inspection!

Yan Huaiwen gave a small nod. “This brush is damaged. I was looking for another one to use.”

Saying that, he was about to discard the broken bamboo brush.

“Uncle!” Yan Yu stopped him. “Don’t throw it away yet. When Father gets back, let him see if he can fix it.”

Yan Huaiwen paused and examined the damaged brush in his hand.

The shaft was slightly bent, and the bristles were worn down.

But if Tianyou could repair it, he could still use it for a while longer.

“Alright, then I’ll wait for your father to have a look.” Yan Huaiwen agreed easily.

Then, he turned to Liang Fengnian and said mildly, “A person’s name carries the hopes of their parents and elders. Outsiders shouldn’t interfere. Every character has its own meaning.”

Yan Yu added, “Uncle, this is Fengnian, from Uncle Liang’s family. I mentioned him to you before.”

“Fengnian greets Uncle Yan.”

—End of chapter—