Chapter 524 - 526: Cannot Be Transported Out

Chapter 524: Chapter 526: Cannot Be Transported Out

Li Qiu had a real knack for compliments. "I can tell you’re all so capable. Everything is packed so neatly..."

The older woman loading the goods was so amused she couldn’t stop grinning. "You have such a sweet tongue, little miss. It’s a shame your masters are people we could never hope to associate with, otherwise I’d really want you to stay here in our village."

Li Qiu laughed heartily. Having been in Lu City for so long, she knew the people here were more open-minded and spoke without so many rigid formalities. "Thank you for your kind words, ma’am. But as servants, we naturally must follow our master.

And with such high-quality seafood from your village, I imagine the young men here have no trouble finding wives."

The woman smiled and nodded, a look of pride on her face. "You have a good eye, little miss. The young men in our village truly don’t have to worry about finding a wife. It’s just that we rarely see young lasses as fresh as you.

Let me tell you a little secret. When you followed me into the village just now, all those silly boys’ eyes lit up."

Li Qiu had been so focused on the seafood that she hadn’t noticed at all. Now, being teased by the woman, she couldn’t help but feel a little shy. "You must have seen wrong, ma’am. They were probably just curious about a stranger entering the village.

But with seafood this good, it must have taken a lot of effort to catch!"

"You’re not wrong. The villagers have to risk their lives, going all the way out to the open sea to get a catch like this. Every single one is hard-won." The woman’s tone grew somber as she spoke. "Sigh, in the end, it’s all the same—trading our lives for a living."

Li Qiu asked, "If it’s so dangerous, why not find another way to make a living?"

"It’s clear you’re an outsider, miss. Our families have been here for generations. Where else could we go?

The people in this village grow up in the sea from birth. Besides this one skill, we know nothing else. Forget about making a living elsewhere; we probably couldn’t even farm a plot of land properly if you gave us one.

See, this is all loaded up. Do you still want the other stock?"

Even while making small talk, the woman didn’t forget to push the other seafood products.

"We’ll take it all. See what else you have. As long as it’s of the same quality, we want it." ’There are just too many households the estate needs to send gifts to,’ she thought. ’I wonder if this haul will even be enough to go around.’

"You want that much?" The few women who were packing things up were all stunned. They had served nobles before, but never one who ordered such a large quantity.

"Bring out whatever good things you have," Li Qiu said. She had already asked about the price earlier. It was much cheaper than what they’d pay in the shops. With an opportunity like this, and with such high-quality goods, it was only natural to stock up.

Even if they had leftovers after giving out all the gifts, the Madam had restaurants under her name. There was no need to worry at all.

Faced with such a big spender, the women were both happy and worried. "But this is so much stuff. It’ll be too conspicuous to transport it all out.

Even though it’s not the delivery date yet, we’re afraid those merchants will come looking for trouble."

"Didn’t you agree on a set quantity with them?"

"That’s true, but there are additional conditions. If our haul is large, we’re still supposed to give them priority.

We thought you’d only want a small amount. This quantity is too large. I think I need to go ask the village chief for his opinion."

This was the first time Li Qiu had encountered such a situation, where someone would actually turn away business.

When the village chief got the news, he came to Jin Qianqian and said with some difficulty, "My lady, we can only spare a portion for you. We’ll have to forgo the rest."

Jin Qianqian remarked, "So they’re strong-arming you?"

Village Chief Xiao said, "Previously, our village signed a contract with them in order to secure a sales channel quickly.

Although there’s a fixed quantity, any surplus we have must also be offered to them first.

We can make our own decisions about small amounts, but what you’re asking for is too much. We..."

"Village Chief Xiao is certainly a man of his word."

Village Chief Xiao gave a bitter smile. "We’d be happy to earn more Silver, but your carts have to pass through other villages to get out. Some of those merchants live nearby. If they see this, I’m afraid you’ll get entangled with them."

"And what can they do if they see it?" Lichun asked, raising an eyebrow.

Village Chief Xiao replied, "These people have always been brutish. I’m afraid they won’t just hold it against our village; it will likely be difficult for you all to get past them as well.

However, if you’ll take an old man’s advice, just purchase a smaller amount. If the goods are just piled in the carriage, they won’t have the guts to actually search it.

But if there’s too much, they’ll catch the scent, and they won’t be so reasonable then."

Jin Qianqian hadn’t expected to run into the legendary local tyrants on a simple outing. "Well, this is interesting. How do you know they’ll cause trouble? Has this happened before?"

"Sigh," Village Chief Xiao sighed again. "Before, we felt their prices were too low, and they kept getting lower each time, so we thought about finding our own way out.

We hadn’t even gotten very far before those people blocked us and forced us back.

Ever since then, we’ve known that our village is under their constant surveillance.

But they have one good point: they don’t interfere with people who come here to buy small quantities. I suppose you could say they’ve left us a path to survive."

Jin Qianqian was speechless. ’...’ ’That’s not a path to survival,’ she thought. ’They’re just afraid you’ll fight back if you’re pushed into a corner.

Having a fishing village like yours under their control is practically a sustainable industry for them.’

"You could report them to the authorities."

"How is that possible? It’s useless. The officials and merchants are in collusion. The most we’d get for going is a good beating," the old woman standing next to the village chief said with a sneer.

Lichun asked, "So you just let them do whatever they want?"

Another woman pursed her lips. "What else can we do? We’re just powerless villagers. At least they haven’t pushed us to a dead end. The Silver they give us is enough to get by, so we just live with it.

If you ask me, Village Chief, you just like making extra work for yourself. If we give the goods to Wang Li and his men, we save ourselves some time.

Take my family’s village, for example. They sell their goods themselves and end up with less Silver Tael than we do."

"Mrs. Bai, doesn’t it weigh on your conscience to say that?" the first woman who spoke retorted, pointing at her. "That shoddy stuff from your family’s village can’t even compare to what we have here.

We have a chance to earn more Silver, and you want to push it away?"

"Stop arguing, you’ll be a laughingstock in front of our distinguished guest." Village Chief Xiao forced a smile. "We were just complaining casually before. Please don’t take it to heart, my lady.

What do you say we just settle the bill for these goods here?"

Jin Qianqian saw the few baskets they had brought out and decided not to make things difficult for them. "Alright, Village Chief, please calculate the total."

Village Chief Xiao didn’t even need an abacus, quickly giving her the total. "Cover it as best you can when you load the cart. If they stop you, remember to say you were just curious about the fresh catch and bought a little to take back."

This was the first time Jin Qianqian had ever bought something while feeling like a thief.

"Let’s settle the bill," Li Qiu said, pulling out the Silver. "Can you really not sell us any more? We’re not afraid of them causing trouble."