strictlysupreme Chapter 27 The hope of the whole village
Chapter 27 The hope of the whole village
Yun Dan and her group returned to the village with a batch of supplies, and the children all ran over to watch.
"Sister Xiaoya, did you bring us candy back?" Little Snotty ran over as soon as she saw Yun Dan return.
Yesterday, Little Sister Ya said that she would bring back candy to eat after she sold the soap today. Little Snotty and a few other children ran to the village entrance every incense stick's time, looking forward to Little Sister Ya's appearance.
"Yes, yes, everyone gets one. Everyone line up and get one."
All the dozen or so children stood in line, waiting for Yun Dan to assign them to their places.
Everyone took a handful of candy, put it in their pockets, thanked Yundan, and ran off to play again.
The adults distributed the daily necessities they had bought in the ancestral hall, and each household received what they needed.
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"Dad, uncles and elders, after we finish eating, are you going shopping?"
"Yes, we just happened to be in town today. The villagers are all waiting for us to buy some things to take back with us."
"Alright, Dad, I'll go buy some pastries and candies for Xiaoman and the others later. I'll come find you after I'm done."
The scene just now was that each family sent someone to collect their goods; they were going to town to sell soap today.
The villagers asked them to bring it back on their way back, since it would take two hours to go back and forth, and with shopping and browsing around, a whole day would be wasted in town.
After Lin's father and the others finished distributing the goods, the village chief and his men came over. When they saw that several baskets of soap were gone, they knew that they had all been sold.
"Xiao An, have you sold out of soap?"
"Uncle Village Chief, they're all sold out. But I have some good news to tell you."
"Good news? These soaps must be really popular!"
"Not only that, not only that, today that little girl went with me to the rouge shop to discuss cooperation, and the shop owner agreed that from now on we can only sell our soaps to her."
"Good, good, as long as they can be sold."
"Well, we sold these soaps to her for 6 coins each, which is a bit lower than our original price of 10 coins," Lin's father honestly told the village chief and the others.
Old Master Lin said, "You good-for-nothing brat, it's good enough that you can even sell it, yet you still complain about the price being too low."
"No, Father. It was the maid who negotiated with Manager Liu. I think the maid was the one who made these soaps, so I can't make the decision for her."
But she actually signed a contract with Manager Liu, and there's a clause in it that if either party breaches the contract, they have to pay the other five thousand taels of silver. I've been feeling really uneasy about this since noon."
When the village chief and the others heard that they had to pay five thousand taels in compensation, they were all shocked.
A group of people went straight to Yun Dan. They'd gotten too big for their britches; they signed a contract without even blinking an eye for so much money.
Before he even arrived, Grandpa's voice could be heard from dozens of meters away.
"Lin Xiaoya, come here right now."
Yun Dan was also completely confused. What had happened to make the old man so irritable? Had he been stressed out lately?
"Grandpa, what's wrong? What happened?"
It would have been better not to ask; the question only made the old man angrier.
"Tell me, what's the story behind those five thousand taels of silver?"
"Five thousand taels of silver? What five thousand taels of silver???" Yun Dan had already forgotten about signing the contract.
Anyway, for Yun Dan, the two thousand bars of soap could be made by having a few aunts and uncles work out each month.
Such a simple thing doesn't need to worry her at all. She already has more than two thousand yuan in stock, and it will only increase in the future, so there's no need to worry at all.
"Grandpa, what are you talking about, five thousand taels of silver?"
"Wait, five thousand taels?"
"Did my father talk to you about the contract, which is why you're all so worried?"
Upon hearing Yun Dan's words, the village chief said, "You silly girl, how dare you sign such a contract? If we break our promise, our Su Family Village won't be able to scrape together even if we sell everything we own, let alone five thousand taels. How could you be so...so reckless?"
"Don't worry, everyone. As long as we send two thousand bars of soap every month, we won't have to compensate the rouge shop five thousand taels of silver."
I've calculated it; we can produce over three thousand pieces in the first month. I've even considered that if we run out of tree sap in any given month, we'll have some stock to use.
"If that doesn't work, we can buy some lard to make up for it, but if we use lard, our costs will increase, and we might earn less."
The group of old men felt a little relieved after hearing this. Five thousand taels had indeed frightened them, but it had also put them under pressure.
From that day on, the old men instructed their children that if they went into the mountains, they should scrape off more tree bark and collect more tree sap.
When they had nearly 10,000 yuan worth of inventory the following year, they finally felt relieved.
Yun Dan wasn't worried at all. She had finished all her work and had plenty of income.
Every day, I would go into the valley to cultivate for a while, make charcoal, help out with soap making, and also make toilet paper.
Nowadays, every household has accumulated a lot of toilet paper, not only for daily use but also for packaging soap.
Yun Dan secretly did the math in her mind. If she wanted to build a house and an academy, she could rely on the income from soap and charcoal. If she calculated that soap would cost 144 taels a year, plus another 16 taels for charcoal, her annual income would be 160 taels.
Each household is paid 20 taels for building a house. They make the adobe bricks themselves, but need to buy the tiles in town.
It would take three years for all thirty households to build their new houses. Thinking about this, Yun Dan was speechless. Should she go to the county town to see if there was any family that needed to rob the rich to help the poor?
Just as Yun Dan was lost in her fantasy.
Inside the cosmetics shop, Mrs. Liu, the proprietress, was sitting in a chair reading a stack of letters in front of her.
There was a knock on the door, and someone called out: "Come in."
A slender young woman with curves in all the right places walked in and knelt on one knee.
"Meet the Empress"
"Well, how's the matter I asked you to investigate going?"
"Your Majesty, I went to the outer border and surveyed the area. It seems to be the work of Fei Du (You), the second-ranked assassin of the Shadow Tower from the Qin Kingdom. However... however..."
As the young woman spoke, sweat poured down her forehead.
"Just say it directly, instead of being so hesitant."
"Yes, after investigation by my subordinates, it appears that Fei Du was hired by Prince Liu Yang."
"Fourth brother? Does that old bastard Song have some kind of leverage over him?"
"Yes, keep an eye on this matter. Don't let anything happen to that old man Song. The Shadow Tower's second assassin has failed in his assassination attempt; this is going to be quite a show."
"Anything else?" Boss Liu continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, after several days of investigation, I have found that they are from Su Family Village, a group of ordinary farmers who make a living by farming every year."
They were ordinary people who migrated from the north during the war about 50 years ago.
The young woman paused for a moment and continued:
"This little girl is named Lin Xiaoya. Fifty years ago, during the war, her great-grandfather led his family to Fengdang Town in Lingguo, where they endured hardship to escape famine."
Her grandfather's eldest brother, while protecting her grandfather, also died on the way to escape the chaos. Eventually, her grandfather's family was reassigned to live in Sujia Village, Fengdang Town, a small border town.
"About a year ago, Lin Xiaoya was picking wild fruit in a tree when she accidentally fell from it and spent three days recovering from her injuries."
Mrs. Liu read the letters while listening quietly.
"Um, any more?"
"What's strange is that after she woke up, a few months later she learned medicine and helped the villagers treat minor illnesses, make charcoal, and create straw paper and soap. All of these were made by that Lin Xiaoya and the whole village together."
While I was at the riverbank in Sujia Village, I saw a wooden wheel that could turn on its own. The wheel was used to transport water from the river to the fields. It was the first time I had ever seen such a convenient object.
There were also the children in Sujia Village; several of my subordinates sensed that they seemed to be radiating a trace of internal energy.
Our subordinates were still in the valley of Sujia Village when they saw some trees with marks left by people using light-footed skills.
"Oh, they have soap, they can make paper, they can make charcoal, they have a wooden wheel to transport water, and they also have medical skills and martial arts."
This is truly remarkable. Could it be that they have a powerful figure helping them from behind the scenes?
"No, last time I sat so close to her, I didn't sense any internal energy in either of them. Could it be that she has already broken through to the Lesser Vehicle realm?"
How old is she? Maybe ten? Or does she not have any internal energy at all, only medical skills? Interesting, really interesting.
Where is Qian'er now?
Upon hearing the question from Mrs. Liu, the young woman quickly replied:
"Miss Qian'er is currently in seclusion, and it has been more than two months. She is preparing to break through to the Lesser Yuan Realm. She said it will take at least a year, or as little as half a year."
"Okay, have Bai Lingxing keep an eye on Su Family Village, but don't disturb their lives. Stay away from them or even live there yourself, just make sure they don't notice anything unusual."
"Your Majesty, Bai Lingxing is not currently in the Ling Kingdom. She went to the territory of the Western Korea last month. I heard that things are not very peaceful there, and there are signs that she is about to take action."
"Hmm, I remember now, there was such a thing. I thought she would send someone."
I didn't expect her to go alone. Well, let Hua Lingxing go then, but tell her to be careful first.
"Yes, Empress."
"Alright, alright, go down now. Report back when you have any news."
"Yes, I am resigning."
The proprietress put down the letter, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on it. After putting the pen down, she walked to the window and looked towards the direction of Sujia Village.
"It's really interesting that the little girl became so clever and quick-witted after just one fall. She can make charcoal, waterwheels, paper, and soap."
Could it be that there really is someone exceptionally bright and insightful? Otherwise, how could a ten-year-old girl come up with so many wonderful ideas?
I hope you can bring more benefits to these people and make their lives better.