Chapter 583: Leave It to You |
Publish Time: 2026-06-17 22:26:32
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The two men walked down the nighttime streets, ducking into any small alley offering shelter from the wind to peek inside. If they found refugees huddled there, they grabbed a handful of pieces of silver and gave it to them.
They walked like this, giving silver all along the way. Soon, the silver pouch was empty.
Ground Rabbit quickly ran back to the fertilizer store, found the large cart once more, and carried out another heavy sack of silver. Then he continued down street after street, distributing it block by block.
He managed just fine for the first two trips. By the third trip, however, Ground Rabbit was so exhausted white smoke seemed to puff out of him. As the Deity had said, his own strength was truly too weak. Even if the Deity gave him an endless supply of silver, how much strength did he really have? Carrying this silver to hand out to others became exhausting in just a few trips.
Saving the common people under heaven was no easy task!
Ground Rabbit exclaimed, “Hmph! Red gates wine… wine-something thing?”
“‘The wine and meat in rich families rot, while corpses freeze by the roadside.'”
“Ah, yes, yes! See, the Deity is much more knowledgeable.”
Li Daoxuan said, “Look at the street corner up ahead.”
Ground Rabbit’s gaze swept over. At the side entrance of a large restaurant, a big group of refugees huddled, seemingly waiting for something… After a short while, a table of those literary dandies finished their meal and got up to leave.
The waiter responsible for clearing the table picked up the plates and dishes containing leftover food and scraps, pouring them with clatters and splashes into a wooden basin. He then carried this basin, sneakily slipping towards the side entrance while the main manager wasn’t looking. He pulled the door open a crack and pushed the wooden basin out.
The refugees gathered outside surged forward, grabbing at the leftover scraps of food inside the basin and stuffing them frantically into their mouths.
The waiter hissed, “Shh! Quiet! Don’t make a racket. If the manager sees, I’ll be fired, and then you lot won’t get anything to eat!”
The refugees nodded vigorously, immediately slowing their movements.
The manager’s sharp voice shouted from inside the shop, “Siwa! Siwa! Where are you lazing off? I told you to take the scraps to feed the pigs! Where the hell have you slipped off to slack?”
The waiter was startled. He quickly raised his voice, “Coming! Coming! I was just taking a pee out back!”
The manager snapped angrily, “Lazy cattle and horses have the most waste!”
The waiter, all meekness, hurried over. The main manager grabbed him by the ear and unleashed a torrent of reprimands.
Ground Rabbit was furious. “Fuck this! I’m gonna kill that manager!”
Li Daoxuan shook his head. “No. Don’t commit wicked deeds under the banner of righteousness. That manager may seem sharp-tongued and unpleasant, but his faults don’t warrant death. Killing is easy. Judging who deserves to die and who does not is the difficult part. If you wish to be a great hero, the first thing you must learn is to clearly distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, and understand the principle of measured restraint. Otherwise, you won’t be a hero. You’ll just be a reckless, self-willed demon.”
Ground Rabbit fell silent.
Li Daoxuan continued, “Think carefully. Given this situation, what should be done to resolve it the best way?”
Ground Rabbit racked his brains. He thought, thought, and thought some more. After a long while, an imaginary ‘lightbulb’ seemed to ‘ping’ above his head. “Deity! Let’s go find the owner of this establishment! Buy the restaurant! Kick this manager out! Make that waiter the main manager!”
Li Daoxuan smiled, “A brilliant idea, but still not correct.”
Ground Rabbit asked, “Why not?”
Li Daoxuan replied, “Is that waiter literate? Does he have management skills? Could he successfully run this restaurant day-to-day? Just because you see his kindness, you’d entrust him with heavy responsibility? That might be a case of good intentions leading to disaster. If he’s incompetent and runs the restaurant into bankruptcy in just a few months… what then? If, consumed by guilt towards the owner, he hangs himself?”
Ground Rabbit faltered, “Ah?”
He started thinking again. After a good while, he finally had it. “I understand! We buy the restaurant! Then transfer someone here from Gaojia Village who’s skilled with writing and calculations to be the main manager. Then we can hire that waiter to be the second manager!”
Li Daoxuan said, “Correct this time. So noted. Tomorrow, during daylight hours, investigate who actually owns this establishment. If buying it is feasible, then proceed. Afterward, settle things according to the plan you just outlined.”
A delighted grin spread across Ground Rabbit’s face. “Following the Deity really teaches me so much!”
Li Daoxuan continued, “Xi’an is a special city. Gaojia Village cannot seize control of Xi’an openly. Doing so would invite countless troubles. However, what can’t be done openly can be done quietly – starting with all facets of this city’s trade, all its various businesses and shops.”
He patted Ground Rabbit on the shoulder as he said this. “While you have plenty of shortcomings, you lack two big ones – greed for wealth and lust for women. The common faults of ordinary men are absent in you. Even surrounded by this decadent whirlpool, your core principles remain unshakable. Your spirit won’t be eroded by sugar-coated bullets from the remnants of feudalism. Therefore, I trust you to keep a watchful eye on affairs here in Xi’an.”
Ground Rabbit was overjoyed. “Thank you, Deity, for trusting this humble servant!”
“I spoke only half just now,” Li Daoxuan added. “While you lack the ordinary man’s vices, your unique flaws are abundant.”
Ground Rabbit deflated. “…”
Li Daoxuan said, “Onwards to distributing more silver.”
Ground Rabbit pleaded, “Deity, I truly cannot carry any more! Hauling hundreds of pounds of silver through alley after street… I’m about to die!”
Li Daoxuan stated simply, “Then we’ll continue tomorrow night.”
Ground Rabbit could only sigh. “…”
…
Early morning, as the sky began to pale.
The county government grain store in Xi’an was bombarded with loud banging as commoners pounded on the door.
Wu Shen, ever attentive as the disaster relief Imperial Commissioner, was quickly alerted.
Throwing on his padded coat, he rushed outside the grain store to see a huge crowd of refugees jostling and yelling at the entrance. Those in front were still banging hard: “Open up! It’s almost daylight! Open up!”
The grain store’s main manager, looking thoroughly irritated, yanked the door open. “What’s all this racket? Is it any difference for you lot whether I open or not? None of you can afford it anyway!”
All the refugees shouted back, “We have money! We have money!”
The manager queried, “???”
The refugees opened their palms, each clutching one or several small pieces of silver. Every single person among the vast throng had some.
The manager stared, utterly dumbfounded. “What… what is this situation?”
Wu Shen, standing near him, was equally flabbergasted. “Where did they get the money?”
But never mind. That wasn’t the crucial point. The undeniable fact was that they now had money. Right before everyone’s eyes. And this wasn’t necessarily the worst scenario.
Wu Shen quickly waved his hand and commanded, “Sell them grain!”
The manager sprang into action. Shop assistants bustled about. Grain flowed in and out, was weighed, and bagged. Everyone was mobilized.
Nearly every refugee held a small silver piece, worth several qian. Enough to buy one dou of grain – ten pounds. Stretching that with wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots, if they ate frugally, it would sustain them for many days.
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