Chapter 40 The Villagers Regretted It

Aunt Zhang watched the commotion at the entrance of the village, burning with anxious anger as she continuously stamped her feet.

"Are they all crazy?!" she exclaimed. "Roots like that won't even catch fire if you use them for firewood, so why trade precious grain for them? Besides, they cover the entire mountainside—if you really want them, you can just dig them up yourself! Isn't this sheer waste? I actually thought Big Brother Su had finally come to his senses, but it turns out he's even more out of his mind."

Hearing Aunt Zhang incessantly disparaging Su Yanwen, Dalang felt a little displeased. Yet, he couldn't bring up the feat of the four hundred catties of grain from the previous night. He simply said, "Everything Big Brother Su does has his reasons. Don't judge him."

Aunt Zhang looked at her husband with a hint of astonishment, then let out a cold snort. "You're actually taking his side! No, this won't do. Out of the mere three catties of grain we had, he gave us one catty, and now we're using half a catty of that to trade for worthless grass roots. How much will even be left? I'm going to dig them up too, so I can at least bring some grain back."

Dalang hurriedly tried to stop her, but once Aunt Zhang's stubborn temper flared up, she was completely unstoppable. She strapped a bamboo basket to her back and stormed out of the house.

It was no joke—lately, she had been eating better than anyone else and had strength to spare. She swung her hoe faster than anyone else in the village.

At the village entrance, Su Yanwen wore a somewhat awkward smile. Dalang stood with his back basket on, looking a bit aggrieved.

Aunt Zhang had managed twenty catties. The others, contributing in trickles, totaled a mere thirty catties among a dozen people. Once the grain ran out, who would keep working? They might as well go back to chewing on tree bark.

By the end of the afternoon, the harvest was fifty catties of bracken roots.

Looking at that pile of useless weed roots, Aunt Zhang sighed softly. Weighing the bit of grain in her hand, she said, "Big Brother Su, hold out your hand."

"What?" Su Yanwen asked, momentarily bewildered, but he obeyed nonetheless.

Aunt Zhang gently placed those few ounces of grain right into the palm of his hand. Smiling, she exhorted, "Grain does not come easily. You mustn't be so wasteful from now on, understand?"

Hearing these words, Su Yanwen didn't hesitate a second. He turned around and shouted to the crowd, "I still have grain! Does anyone else want to trade?"

This move left Aunt Zhang completely dumbfounded. What kind of nonsense was this? If it were just for today, fine, but Su Yanwen actually kept making this trade every single day.

Every day, he traded one catty of rice in exchange for a hundred catties of bracken roots.

Seeing Aunt Zhang's huffy expression, Jiang Beichen advised, "Aunt Zhang, I think you should stop digging for bracken roots. Why don't you come up the mountain and help me instead?"

Aunt Zhang didn't immediately understand what helping him up the mountain entailed. But once she climbed up and saw Zhao Yue'e processing the bracken root starch, she was utterly astonished, never imagining that such unwanted grass roots could be transformed into delicious food.

After experiencing it for just a single day, Aunt Zhang realized that the mountain wasn't as terrifying as they had imagined. She immediately hurried back home and brought her children up to the mountain as well. Though the children were small, they were perfectly capable of handling such effortless tasks.

Su Yanwen was quite happy to see this. Cao'er was lonely on the mountain by herself, and having company was a good thing. However, that wolf remained a constant safety hazard.

With four hundred catties of grain backing them up on the mountain, they were in no shortage of food whatsoever. Making the bracken starch was simply a way to keep the workers well-fed.

Seeing how efficiently Aunt Zhang worked, Su Yanwen thought it would be best to include her permanently, promising to build two extra rooms for her family when the houses were constructed.

Old Man Cai never expected that bringing people up the mountain would come with such generous perks. Although he didn't know what the food was made of, it was not only delicious but also genuinely filling.

Everyone worked harder and harder, because aside from the small piece of meat promised to them, Su Yanwen also gave each person a catty of bracken starch to take home every day. A family sharing a catty of noodles might not be completely stuffed, but in a famine year, it was enough to keep the hunger at bay.

The news that working for Su Yanwen could earn meat and grain spread like wildfire. Soon, everyone in the village hoped for a chance to work for him. As for how the noodles were made, no one had a clue.

Every night, the black wolf would prowl just outside the courtyard.

"Daddy, the dog outside is so fierce. Cao'er is scared."

The soft, milky voice sounded once more, Cao'er's face filled with terror.

It was one thing for the beast to drive him down the mountain, but now it was frightening his daughter. How could he possibly let that stand?

"Don't worry, Daddy will take care of it," Su Yanwen said.

With that, he rummaged through his things and brought out some dog meat he had put aside long ago. The dog had died of poisoning, and the meat was laced with toxins—which was precisely why no one had dared to consume it back then. But it was fittingly perfect for dealing with this black wolf.

He chopped the dog meat into chunks, tossed them where the wolf usually haunted, and then hid back inside the small wooden cabin to observe the scene outside.

Thanks to the workers' back-breaking efforts, they already had three large houses erected. Not only that, but they were also building a smaller house next to them for Dalang's family.

At present, the small cabin was used solely for storing grain; the door remained locked, and no one could enter.

Su Yanwen hunched over, peering out through a gap.

That cursed dog seemed unnaturally perceptive. Even though it was clearly lured by the aroma of the dog meat, the black wolf merely sniffed at it, let out a low howl, and used its paws to shove the meat aside. It even walked over and sprayed a jet of fresh urine directly onto the tainted chunks.

*Could this beast refuse to eat its own kind?* Su Yanwen wondered, perplexed, considering both dogs and wolves belonged to the canine family.

Yet, if he didn't get rid of it, it wouldn't be safe for the children to play around here. With this thought, Su Yanwen decided to head down the mountain to exchange some silver for a stronger poison.

The past few days of construction were drawing to a close, and with Dalang and Zhao Yue'e at home, he didn't need to worry. Every day, Old Man Cai would lead the crew up the mountain and guide them back down at the appropriate time.

Filled with bitter determination, Su Yanwen hurried down the mountain. The few copper coins gripped tightly in his palm were slick with sweat; his single-minded goal was to buy a packet of rat poison and make that black wolf vanish. How could the children play freely with it lurking around the house all day?

As soon as he stepped into the village, a crowd rushed forward and surrounded him.

Su Yanwen's body stiffened abruptly, and he swept a vigilant gaze over the group. A mocking curve touched the corners of his lips as he said coldly, "Rest assured, my house is already built. It won't pose any threat to you."

Who could have expected that the villagers would suddenly drop to their knees with a collective thud?

Old Man Li, leading the pack, wept tears of snot and remorse. "Brother Su, we were all blind and possessed by greed! We shouldn't have mocked you before, or wished for you to die on the mountain."

"Just look at those who went to help you build your houses—they all get to carry home a catty of noodles and an ounce of meat every single day. Our intestines are turning green with regret!"

"We know we were wrong now. We beg you, in your great magnanimity, to forgive us this once."

"From now on, Sister Zhao Yue'e and little Cao'er are our entire village's own kin, and we will treat them with the utmost care."

"We only ask that you let them help out with the work too, and give us a chance to redeem ourselves."

Looking at the scene before him, Su Yanwen experienced a tangled vortex of emotions. The grievances of past ridicule and ostracization welled up in his heart, yet seeing these people groveling in such a humble manner, he only found it absurd.

With a cold chuckle, he said, "Now you know how to regret it? What were you doing before?"