Chapter 164: Chapter 164
The next morning, Lin Xue went to town early. She knew Zhang Yuan would definitely come back today, and besides, it had been a long time since she settled accounts with Wang Cheng, so she needed to go and collect the money.
She always left as soon as she dropped off the supplies, and she knew where Wang Cheng’s home was. This time, she decided to settle the account directly.
When she arrived at his house, she found Wang Cheng sitting at the front door, looking wary, with his wife beside him. She had no idea what the two of them were up to.
The gate was locked, and it was a young man, about sixteen or seventeen years old, who opened the gate just a crack to ask who she was looking for.
It was Wang Cheng who recognized her voice and let her in.
"Xiao Xue, you’re finally here! Hurry, hurry! Come inside with me!" Lin Xue knew what Wang Cheng was up to! He was guarding the door! She hadn’t come to collect money for three weeks, and the supplies had all been sold. Over the past three weeks, she had provided more supplies than before, adding canned goods and candies, so the money must have piled up.
"Uncle Wang, what’s the rush? What are you in a hurry for?" she asked deliberately.
"Why haven’t you come by, girl? I checked often, but didn’t see you, and it was driving me crazy!" He was so anxious that he didn’t even address her properly as "young lady."
Resources were running low now, and he was a bit scared due to the sheer amount of money, fearing someone might come knocking.
"I’ve been busy recently, so I couldn’t make it here! Let’s go inside!" Lin Xue led the way inside, but only Wang Cheng followed her while everyone else stayed in the yard, becoming very well-versed in this situation.
Once inside, Lin Xue just sat down when Wang Cheng plunked a big bag beside her and then went to grab a wooden box before he started speaking.
"Young lady, here is the income from these three weeks, one hundred thousand and two thousand five hundred bucks, plus these fifteen small yellow fish!"
Upon hearing the amount, Lin Xue felt like she was floating. In these times when families could barely scrape together a hundred bucks, her assets had now exceeded a hundred fifty thousand at most, and with those small yellow fish, she could easily lay back and relax.
However, she was a businesswoman by nature, with great ambitions. She couldn’t be satisfied with this, as it was pitiful compared to her asset in her previous life.
It’s just that she couldn’t do business openly yet. Otherwise, how could she possibly have just this meager amount of assets?
She needed to work hard for now. Once individual enterprises became possible, she would expand her endeavors.
"Okay! I’ll take everything with me in a moment! I’ll bring more supplies over tomorrow!" Unlike Wang Cheng, who couldn’t sleep well over having so much money, Lin Xue, while a bit excited inside, didn’t show it.
"Young lady, I was just about to say, all the supplies have been sold, and we don’t have much stuff left!" Wang Cheng said.
"I noticed! Don’t worry! But be careful and don’t be careless with your work!" Lin Xue instructed.
"Don’t worry, young lady, I have ten men here, all young fellows. To them, this job is a blessing, and there’s no way they’d do anything to let the lady down! Even if caught, they’d claim it’s just their solo operation, with no smuggling consortium!" Wang Cheng confidently assured her.
"Good! That’s great! I’ll cover this month’s food! Make sure your people are well-fed!" Lin Xue generously declared.
She was incredibly generous to Wang Cheng. Not only did she give him a ten percent cut of the sales revenue, but she also paid the wages for the people he recruited and now began covering meals.
Because she knew one principle, to keep a horse running fast, you must feed it well.
"Thank you, young lady! This is wonderful; those guys are probably overjoyed! After all, in the current situation, money is less important than food!" Wang Cheng also felt incredibly thrilled. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Although he was making good food money, he was still buying food at black market prices every month! This saved his family a considerable amount.
"Once a week, provide a meal with rice or white flour! Those who follow me won’t go hungry at the very least!" Lin Xue waved her hand dismissively.
"It’s not just not going hungry, young lady, but a life-saving grace to us!" Wang Cheng earnestly expressed, first moving himself with his words.
During these famine times, everyone looked pale and underfed, while he, with his wife and children, not only filled their bellies but occasionally enjoyed some meat.
It’s like living the life of a deity, and all this was thanks to the young lady before him! How could he not be excited and grateful?
"Okay! I have something to do, so I’m heading off! You can come to my courtyard the day after tomorrow to move stuff! And one more thing! Next time, we might need to switch locations! I’ll notify you then!" Lin Xue said as she picked up the bag of over a hundred thousand and the box of small yellow fish, striding boldly out.
Watching this, Wang Cheng couldn’t help but sweat nervously for her.
Lin Xue didn’t feel anything, though. Anyway, her home wasn’t far, and once home, she’d store everything in the space. What was there to fear?
Moreover, looking at Wang Cheng’s money bag, anyone who didn’t know would think she was a beggar, with its tattered and patched condition.
Who could tell there were enormous sums of money and gold inside?
Wang Cheng, along with his wife and the young men who were there, saw her off. Only when she disappeared around the alley corner did he turn back, lock the gate, and breathe a big sigh of relief, pulling his wife inside.
"What’s the matter? Why are you pulling me?" his wife asked, still baffled.
"Quick! Let’s hide our money properly!" Wang Cheng closed the inner room and stood guard at the door attentively.
"Oh no! I almost forgot! Okay! I’ll hide it well! Keep an eye out, alright? Make sure no one comes in!" his wife said, starting to rummage through boxes and chests, pulling out the more than ten thousand that belonged to them and hiding it.
She had never dared to imagine she could become a millionaire one day.
But now, as millionaires, they couldn’t even sleep peacefully, fearing someone might come for the money.
The couple discussed back and forth, creating a mechanism on the wall in their bedroom and buying a new wardrobe to put in front of it. The hidden hole in the wall was perfectly disguised, showing no visible sign of a hole, then secured by the heavy solid wood wardrobe.
This was the only way they could relax.
The couple had agreed that if the young lady hadn’t come, they would find a way to hide the money themselves. Luckily, she came, and they only needed to hide their share.
After working for half a day, sweating on their foreheads to return everything in place, they went outside to find five or six young men in the yard, summoned by Wang Cheng. Since there weren’t many supplies at present, these fellows hadn’t gone out and stayed home.
Now they stood wide-eyed, staring at the couple, causing Wang Cheng’s heart to sink, fearing the young men discovered his stash and were plotting something.
While Wang Cheng was lost in thought, the youngest spoke up.
"Uncle Wang, young lady said before she left that we should eat fine grains once a week, and this week is almost over. Are we eating fine grains?" he asked, salivating at the thought.
Though their wages were high, they had never eaten fine grains, and most of the money was sent home, with no spare money for such luxury.
"Eat! We’ll make big buns for dinner! Let your aunt make them! There will be enough to eat!" Wang Cheng, hearing this, breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand generously.
Instantly, cheer erupted in the yard, filling the air with excitement.