Chapter 119: The Tour

"Stop playing these tricks; I won't be fooled again." Xu Jing took a step forward, closing the distance between herself and Xu Wenshan.

She had by now developed a set of strategies for dealing with him: never listen to his nonsense, or you would inevitably be led astray.

"How about this," Xu Wenshan suggested. "I’ll take you on a tour to see the fruits of our villagers' hard work over these past few days."

"Fruits of hard work? You actually have such things?" Xu Jing asked, her voice laced with sarcasm. In her eyes, Xu Wenshan was just messing around and avoiding anything serious.

"It’s not like I’m doing anything bad. Just come and see for yourself; you'll understand once you do."

With that, Xu Wenshan turned and walked away. Xu Jing knew that if she let him leave now, it would be difficult to catch him again, so she followed him.

Xu Wenshan strode ahead with long, purposeful steps. Xu Jing, with her shorter stride, had to trot to keep up. After walking for quite a while, beads of sweat began to form on her neck, and only then did Xu Wenshan suddenly stop.

They were standing on the Xu family’s farmland, the finest stretch of earth in all of Luhe Gully. To find such a flat, well-tended expanse in this deep mountain valley felt like a gift from heaven. Amidst the fields, tenant farmers sang folk songs, pulling plows and wielding hoes—a scene of ordinary yet vibrant rural life.

Xu Wenshan gestured toward the landscape and said to Xu Jing, "Look."

Xu Jing glanced at it. "Look at what?"

"Look at these tenants. How prosperous and content their lives are!"

A vein pulsed on Xu Jing's forehead. "May I ask how you possibly concluded that their lives are prosperous and content?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Xu Wenshan countered, surprised. "Before, each household was allotted barely two mu of land. After paying the grain tax to my family, there wasn't enough left for them to even feed themselves."

"And whose fault was that? Your family's exploitation was too heavy..." Xu Jing retorted.

Xu Wenshan cut her off. "Furthermore, in the past, if these peasants had daughters, it was fine, but if they had sons, they couldn't afford to get them wives and couldn't divide the household. Since one person could finish the farm work alone, the men would just idle about and cause trouble in the village. Now that they have work to do, they are incredibly diligent, singing as they plow their fields every day. Isn't that a good thing?"

Xu Jing was momentarily silenced. Xu Wenshan beckoned her to continue walking.

As they reached the entrance of the village, the crowd thickened, bustling and noisy. Most of the labor force Xu Wenshan had brought back was housed here, in makeshift sheds he had erected. These sheds served not only as temporary living quarters but also as gathering spots for midday breaks. It was currently break time, and the villagers were congregated in groups, some shirtless, some drenched in sweat, drinking water and chatting boisterously.

Xu Wenshan gestured to the scene. "Look!"

"Look at what?"

"What a simple, industrious scene! After a fulfilling day of labor, they rest here in harmony, enjoying the pleasures of life. Isn't this wonderful?"

The vein on Xu Jing's forehead throbbed again. She looked at the people gathered there; they looked vicious, some with shaved heads and tattoos, others covered in scars. Some were so thin they looked like skeletons, yet they carried piles of firewood as tall as mountains, pacing around the sheds. In her eyes, these people were no better than slaves.

"May I ask what is good about this?" she asked, her voice pained.

"They earn a day's wages here that equal a month of toil in the fields," Xu Wenshan replied. "Some of these men used to be bandits, but now they have turned over a new leaf and become hardworking, honest people. Isn't that a good thing?"

Xu Jing wanted to slap him across the face. He had actually admitted it! He brazenly acknowledged that these unsavory characters he had brought in were indeed bandits and thugs! And he was letting them live right at the village entrance, mixing with the locals! Good heavens! She couldn't imagine how someone could hold such contempt for the law. But then again, this was the same Xu Wenshan who had stolen the wealth of so many families overnight; he had always been lawless.

As they spoke, a man came scurrying over, bowing and scraping as he greeted Xu Wenshan: "Young Commander!"

This was, of course, Qian Dabin. His pride in his own talents as a strategist seemed to have had no effect on Xu Wenshan, who had simply treated him like any other laborer and dumped him in the shacks. As a self-proclaimed scholar, Qian Dabin could hardly endure the hardship. After two or three days, he couldn't take it anymore and spent every day trying to find Xu Wenshan, certain that his silver tongue could convince the young man to appoint him as a strategist.

But Xu Wenshan was elusive, and Qian Dabin couldn't find him. After a few days, his meager stipend was gone. Just as he was at his wit's end, he saw Xu Wenshan talking to a person who appeared to be a woman dressed as a man. He seized the opportunity and rushed over, calling out "Young Commander" so many times that it made Xu Jing’s skin crawl.

Xu Wenshan nodded at him. "Hello, how have you been?"

Qian Dabin paused, then gave a foolish grin. "Heh, Young Commander is truly humble and respects the learned. I have been... well, mostly. It’s just that living among these brutes is quite uncomfortable, and... I am very hungry."

As soon as he finished, his stomach gave a loud, resonant growl.

Xu Wenshan’s expression shifted. "Is the canteen not providing enough food?"

Qian Dabin said awkwardly, "No, it's just that I've run out of money..."

Since that wasn't Xu Wenshan's concern, he relaxed and asked, "Then why haven't you been working?"

"I am a scholar, after all; I am not cut out for manual labor..."

Xu Wenshan had actually kept an eye on Qian Dabin. He had intentionally sent him here as a test. If he couldn't handle even this much hardship and still clung to his status as a scholar, he wasn't suitable for the government work Xu Wenshan envisioned. It seemed his plan was only half-successful: Qian Dabin had endured the physical hardship but still couldn't let go of his scholarly pretensions.

It seemed that overturning the feudal mindset of these people would not be a matter of a single day.

Xu Wenshan gestured for Qian Dabin to follow. "I have a job that suits you. Come with me."

Qian Dabin joined the group, and Xu Wenshan led them forward, his destination now the office of Xi Yuan.