Chapter 135: Cobbler |
“Hurry inside.” Yuan Dajun hurried forward to help, taking the other slab of meat from his son's shoulder.
Back in the living room, by the moonlight through the window, Yuan Dajun saw the blood-stained clothes on Yuan Ming and his heart tightened, “You're hurt?”
“Mm, just a small injury.” Yuan Ming froze for a moment, then nodded.
Hu Huilan quickly asked, “Where are you hurt?”
Yuan Ming sheepishly replied, “My butt. I slipped coming down the mountain with the meat and sat on the ground.”
When the meat was being divided, Captain Qin had pointed at his butt and joked that he got a work injury today, so he should get an extra two catties of meat.
Everyone else in the group had laughed at that.
Because from today’s hunt, he was the only one who got hurt, and it was from a careless fall on the way down.
Hearing his son, Hu Huilan scolded, “Serves you right for not watching where you were going.”
To be honest, even he, as a hunting team captain, was tempted.
After doing this so long, his accumulated meat wouldn't equal what this kid earned in one day; what kind of divine team was this?
Zhang Zihan fell silent. She had previously looked down on Yuan Ming, but now he’d earned this much meat in a day; meat was hard currency.
This was no different from working several days and receiving a million bonus in one go.
But Zhang Zihan still refused to admit she had misjudged him; she told herself maybe he was just lucky and happened to trap a large prey.
Her father currently ranked seventh in the Alliance’s internal card distribution sequence; once the six ahead of him received theirs, the Alliance would allocate a card, and then their family could activate Home!
“This is just the meat, there are other rewards.” Yuan Ming knew that the simplest way to convince his parents was to present it as “pay.”
“Other rewards?” Hu Huilan looked puzzled, glancing around—this child already had nowhere to put more things.
Zhang Liang vaguely guessed one possibility, but he thought it exaggerated.
Dividing so much meat was one thing, but surely they wouldn’t even...
Then he went silent.
Not just him, everyone in the room stared without blinking as Yuan Ming pulled a Blank Expansion Card from his pocket.
“This is the card Captain gave me.” Yuan Ming said, “Mom, Dad, we’ll be able to have Home too.”
“This... is that kind of card?” Hu Huilan’s mind went blank. It seemed the residential complex had reached 20% of people obtaining Home, but as individuals, the vast majority still didn’t have cards. Some hadn't even seen a card before.
The Blank Expansion Card emitted a faint white glow, thin and the size of a playing card, yet it radiated strange magic.
Yuan Ming held the card with emotion. Actually, he had once had a chance to get a card before: Captain Wang had decided the altar card would go to him the next day. But then they met the Alliance’s hunting team, the altar was taken, and the card never materialized.
That was also why he didn’t want to join the Alliance’s hunting team.
He pinched the card, and set the new expansion area to the balcony.
Outside the balcony railing, the view blurred; when the light faded, a wide space of uniform gray-white, like a slab of carved rock, was revealed.
Seeing this miracle-like scene, everyone in the room was a little stunned.
Until they saw the Home little glowing ball float in front of Yuan Ming.
In that moment Hu Huilan finally understood why her son said he’d joined a very good team.
She wanted to go offer thanks, but felt it would be presumptuous to approach rashly.
So she said earnestly, “Xiaoming, you’ve met a benefactor. When others treat you well, be grateful. Don’t be half-hearted, and don’t be lazy, understand?”
Yuan Ming thought his mother’s turnabout was too quick; he was more used to her defiant demeanor.
Standing behind his father, Zhang Zihan had all her pride shattered, like a peacock caught in the rain.
The more Lin Xing looked at Yuan Ming, the more pleased she was, like a mother-in-law admiring a son-in-law.
But when she glanced at her daughter, she sighed inwardly. Who knows a daughter better than a mother? Xiaohan’s personality was too arrogant; Yuan Ming was outwardly gentle but inwardly strong—on the surface easygoing, actually very ambitious. Trying to match them up would be difficult.
...
After dividing the meat, the group salted away part of what they had brought back.
This batch of salted meat totaled over a thousand catties.
When the work was done, looking at the dark mass of refugees standing before him, Qin Ziwen shook his head inwardly—there were simply too many people.
Although he could feed them, it wasn't necessary.
The nature of refugees meant they couldn't fight hard battles.
Refugees were temporarily attached to him; if they were dissatisfied, they could leave at any time.
Liu San and Dazhuang were the same.
They hadn’t signed contracts with him like Du Yu had.
But the salt well was short-handed, and Li Tieshan also needed two assistants, so he kept six people; but an extra thirty people was too many.
Qin Ziwen stood on the high platform and scanned the crowd, “Is there anyone here with a particular skill?”
“Master, I can farm, does that count?”
“I can farm too.”
“Who here can’t farm? It’s just I don’t have any land to farm.”
The crowd of refugees jostled and made a fuss.
“Farming doesn’t count.” Qin Ziwen vetoed. There was only one field in Home; it wasn’t even a full mu, and after a special effect was applied, there was basically nothing to do.
“I can hunt.” A man raised his hand.
A hunter, then.
In ancient times, hunters were excellent military recruits.
Typically a hunter knew bowcraft and was skilled in stealth, tracking, and reconnaissance—after a little training they could become excellent scouts.
But... this was a hunter among refugees, prone to bolting.
Seeing Qin Ziwen remain silent, the man withdrew his hand slowly, the light in his eyes fading.
“Master, I used to be a leatherworker, can I stay?” At the edge of the crowd, an old man asked cautiously.
A leatherworker? A cobbler?
When Qin Ziwen didn’t reply, Du Yu leaned close and whispered into his ear, “Master, a leatherworker is an artisan who tans and processes leather. Pair a leatherworker with an armor smith and they can make leather armor.”
Qin Ziwen understood, “You can stay.”
The old man nodded cautiously to the other refugees, then slowly stepped away from the crowd and stood behind Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen asked again, “How many hunters among you?”
Besides the hunter who had just raised his hand, another person raised a hand.
“All right, you two can stay as well. The rest of you, after you finish your supper, you can disperse.”
At the announcement of dismissal, the refugees began to clamor.
In the end they left one after another.
Looking at the three who remained, Qin Ziwen asked, “What are your names?”
The old leatherworker said, “This commoner’s family name is Chen. My family has been leatherworkers for generations, so I go by Chen Pi.”
The two hunters were named Zhang Meng and Shi Xiong.
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