noveltune Chapter 10 Taking advantage of the chaos, the silver dollars are in hand!
Chapter 10 Taking advantage of the chaos, the silver dollars are in hand!
"What, more money?"
Outside the warehouse of Huang's Rice Shop, Manager Zhang wore a surprised expression.
Having lived for so many years, this was the first time he had ever heard a laborer make a request.
These laborers are really taking advantage of my kindness.
If it weren't for some recent issues within the manor, he would have kicked them out immediately.
Li Xiao nodded slightly, but remained silent.
Old Gang, standing to the side, spoke up: "We've found out everything. Your rice shop has lost seven employees these past few days. Adding Wang Sheng, that makes eight people. It's really strange!"
Upon hearing this, Manager Zhang's expression changed slightly.
He hadn't expected that these laborers would find out about the rice shop so quickly.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "How much?"
Li Xiao held up five fingers, "This amount per day, settled on the same day."
Manager Zhang frowned and asked, "Five silver dollars?"
The surrounding laborers swallowed hard; Li Asi really dared to ask for so much.
Five dollars a day? That's way too much!
"Hehehe..."
Li Xiao smiled and said calmly, "Not five, but fifty!"
"What?"
Manager Zhang immediately jumped up and shouted, "Fifty silver dollars? Are you kidding me? Fifty silver dollars per person, nine people is four hundred and fifty silver dollars! The goods you've moved from this warehouse aren't even worth that much! Are you crazy or am I crazy?!"
The laborers behind were also dumbfounded.
This is outrageous! Li Asi is really daring to ask for it!
"That's impossible. Forget fifty silver dollars, you can't even dream of five."
Manager Zhang waved his hand, indicating that there was no room for negotiation on this matter.
Li Xiao said calmly, "Don't rush to refuse. Go ask your boss first. If it's okay, we'll stay here tonight to keep watch. If not, we'll leave immediately. We won't stay even if we lose our job at the docks."
Manager Zhang waved his hand impatiently: "No need to ask, that's impossible. You're all just money-grubbing!"
"Alright, let's go now."
With that, Li Xiao waved his hand and said, "Brothers, our lives are at stake! Let's retreat!"
The laborers hesitated, but Lao Gang immediately waved his hand and said, "Listen to Ah Si, we're not staying here. It's just a few bucks, not worth risking our lives! A living person can't be killed by holding their pee, can they?"
With Lao Gang taking the lead, the others followed Li Xiao and headed towards the door.
As everyone approached the main gate, about to leave...
"etc!"
Manager Zhang caught up, gritting his teeth, and said, "Fine, you win. Wait here, I'll go ask the master and make you give up!"
Actually, Manager Zhang felt that asking was pointless.
But in order to absolve himself of responsibility, he simply agreed to their unreasonable demands.
Once the employer made the offer, he wasn't held responsible.
"Okay, then we'll wait."
Li Xiao waved for everyone to turn back, and then stood at the entrance of the rice warehouse to wait.
Steward Zhang gave Li Xiao a deep look before walking deeper into the courtyard.
As soon as he left, the laborers around him immediately surrounded him.
"Ah Si, you're too ruthless! Asking for fifty silver dollars?"
"Yeah, this warehouse full of goods isn't worth that much, not to mention we're just moving the goods."
"They'd rather not have this item than pay for it, right?"
No one believed that the Huang family could give so much money.
Old Gang then looked at Li Xiao and said, "Ah Si, tell me the truth, is this reliable?"
Li Xiao shook his head and said, "I don't know if it's reliable or not... Let's give it a try anyway. Let's start by raising the price high. If that doesn't work, we can lower it. If all else fails, five silver dollars will do."
Upon hearing this, Lao Gang suddenly realized: "Oh, I see, this is the way of business. I didn't expect you to know these things, Ah Si. Give a high price first, and the low price will be easier to accept."
Yes, that's exactly what I meant.
Li Xiao sighed and said, "To be honest... I really hope the rice shop owner refuses."
Old Gang asked, "Why is that?"
Li Xiao said leisurely, "If we agree to even these conditions, I'm afraid... we're really in grave danger. That's our... money to buy our lives!"
......
......
The inner hall of the Huang family mansion, the room of Master Huang.
Huang Shoucai looked even worse than yesterday, and he was starting to feel cold. He was wearing a thick coat and holding prayer beads in his hand, muttering something unintelligible.
"Master, master."
"Come in."
The door creaked open.
As soon as Steward Zhang walked in, he shouted, "Sir, those filthy laborers are really desperate for money. They made me come and ask you, saying they want more money—fifty silver dollars a day each—before they'll keep watch at night. Otherwise, they're yelling that they want to leave. I think we should just tell them to get out of here..."
"Agree to their request."
Before he could finish speaking, Huang Shoucai interrupted.
"answer..."
Manager Zhang was struck dumb. He scratched his ear, thinking he had misheard, and after a long pause, he stammered, "Master, you mean you agreed to their request..."
"Yes, agree to them."
Huang Shoucai nodded.
"..."
Manager Zhang hesitated for a moment before walking towards the door. Halfway there, he turned back and said, "Sir, we can't let those laborers get away with this. Let's spend some money and hire another batch of people. Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged people are everywhere. Three silver dollars, at most three will do..."
"Was I not clear enough?!" Huang Shoucai's face grew increasingly cold, his wrinkles deepening into a menacing expression. "Get it done now, don't let them leave!"
"Yes... I'll take care of it right away."
Manager Zhang was startled and bowed as he retreated. Before leaving, he mustered the courage to ask again, "Master, could it be that our Huang family is truly haunted by some evil spirit...?"
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"
"yes....."
Manager Zhang dared not linger any longer and hurriedly left the room.
The room became quiet again.
Only the gray smoke from the incense burner lingered in the room.
Huang Shoucai stood before the incense burner, his hands clasped together: "Only two more people are left, and we'll have ten living people to sacrifice... God of the Granary, you promised that after this final sacrifice, you would depart..."
......
......
"You're lucky, my husband took pity on you!"
At the rice shop's granary, Manager Zhang, looking displeased, distributed silver notes to the laborers.
The banknote was just withdrawn from the accounting office; it was a banknote from Xingsheng Bank with a face value of fifty silver dollars.
After distributing the silver notes, Manager Zhang walked away with a displeased expression.
"I'm rich! Hahaha, I'm rich!!!"
"My goodness, this really is fifty silver dollars!"
"Fifty silver dollars a day, enough to buy a rickshaw in two days!"
"I've worked these past two days, and if I buy a rickshaw to pull a cart, I'll earn more than a manual laborer..."
Kai Zi, Hai Gen... these laborers were completely immersed in the joy of making a fortune.
Danger was long forgotten.
Li Xiao was even certain that even if they knew beforehand that it was dangerous, they would still take on the task for the hefty reward, for fortune favors the bold.
"Ah Si, thanks to you, you're a real lucky charm!"
Old Gang carefully placed the silver note into his chest and looked at Li Xiao with delight.
He had lived most of his life and this was the first time he had received such a large sum of money.
The others also looked at Li Xiao, expressing their gratitude.
Li Xiao said, "Don't be too happy yet. This money is not easy to get. Money is only valuable when you are alive; once you're dead, it's just a piece of paper."
After these words were spoken, everyone quieted down.
"Ah Si, you decide what to do next?"
Now everyone started asking Li Xiao for his opinion.
After what just happened, everyone felt that he was quick-witted and capable of making decisions.
If it weren't for him, they wouldn't even dare to dream of asking someone for fifty dollars a day.
"I don't have any good ideas either, but I feel that this filthy thing comes out to harm people at night, not during the day, and it can only harm one person at a time. I suggest that all of us stay up tonight, sit in a circle with our eyes open, and take turns sleeping during the day tomorrow. Anyway, no one will be supervising us."
Li Xiao thought for a moment and offered a good solution.
"Hey, that's a great idea! Ah Si, you're really something!"
After hearing this, Lao Gang was overjoyed.
The plan was for everyone to take turns sleeping and for several people to keep watch at night.
But Li Xiao's method is safer. Everyone stays awake. What can we do about that dirty stuff?
Hold on for a few days, grab the money, and leave!
"Great, this method is even better!"
"We'll all listen to Brother Si, no one's going to sleep tonight!"
"I've made so much money, I can't sleep even if you ask me to!"
"Let's finish the work quickly, take a quick nap before dark, and not sleep at all tonight..."
The other laborers echoed the sentiment, and some even offered new ideas.
Soon, everyone was immersed in the joy of making a fortune, forgetting all about the danger.
"I hope so..."
Li Xiao murmured to himself.
But in reality, he felt even more uneasy than before.
He asked for fifty dollars, which was actually to test his own ideas.
The fortune teller came to the Huang family yesterday; she must have been invited by Master Huang.
Li Xiao knew that the fortune teller was truly capable!
It's likely that Master Huang knew of the fortune teller's abilities and sent her over to handle the situation.
But even after the fortune teller left, the Huang family still wanted to keep them.
This indicates that the fortune teller is unable or unwilling to handle this matter.
Fifty silver dollars is a touchstone, a test to see how deep the water is!
Clearly, this is a very deep situation!
Mr. Huang's attitude remained the same: he wanted to keep them and was even willing to spend a lot of money to retain them.
In other words, the filth here will definitely continue to harm people; it will absolutely not stop!
Perhaps it was because Mr. Huang himself was in danger and was willing to spend money to save his life.
With such a large family fortune, what does this small amount of money mean to his life?
Li Xiao also speculated that it was very likely... that these laborers were scapegoats for the Huang family!
Li Xiao wasn't entirely sure about this, since he had very little information available and could only speculate in this direction.
In short, Li Xiao had a feeling that more people might die tonight...
But Li Xiao firmly believed that the one who would die would not be himself.
He still owed the fortune teller ten thousand silver dollars.
What kind of lender lends money to a dying person?
If a fortune teller senses that she is about to die...
How could they have given me spiritual magic and promised to lend me ten thousand dollars?