Chapter 238

Three days later.

Wangchuan received a mass message from Su Wan:

A new person in charge of the gold-farming team had officially taken office.

Due to the expansion of the gold-farming team, two people had now been assigned to oversee affairs separately in Huishui County and Heilong County.

Lin Xun would be responsible for the gold-farming team in Huishui County;

Chen Hong would be responsible for the gold-farming team in Heilong County;

Lin Xun had formally withdrawn from the Land-Clearing Team and joined the gold-farming team.

When Wangchuan read the message, he merely paused for a moment. Then he tossed his phone aside, finished his meal, circulated 《Qingcheng Heart Method》 to dispel his fatigue, and returned to the bath pool to continue cultivating 《Xuanwu Art》.

What he did not expect was that Chen Hong would approach him through Su Wan, hoping to develop the gold-farming team using the Caobang’s territory and increase its income.

The gold-farming team under Chen Hong’s charge was indeed living rather miserably.

The villagers in Heilong County’s mountain villages survived by digging wild vegetables and mushrooms, hunting pheasants, and catching hares. There was little else to rely on.

Sometimes, when someone was accidentally bitten by a venomous snake, they would lose several days of work and have to spend silver on treatment and detoxification. The gold-farming team’s profits had never been able to rise.

Having just taken office, Chen Hong thought she might as well lead her gold farmers to Hejiang Town and attach themselves to Wangchuan’s branch helm dock. At the very least, their income could multiply several times over.

As colleagues from the same studio, Wangchuan naturally would not refuse.

But what he had not anticipated was that Chen Hong’s gold-farming team consisted of more than seventy people!

When Chen Ergou led the group in from outside the town, even Wangchuan could not help showing a look of astonishment.

“So many?”

He pulled Chen Hong aside.

“I thought you had at most twenty or thirty people over in Heilong County. You have this many under you now?”

“The gold-farming team’s situation has been rough lately.”

Chen Hong had crossed paths with Wangchuan three times before. She spoke frankly.

“For some reason, the company has been constantly expanding recruitment recently. They have taken in more than a dozen batches of newcomers! My group is not even considered large! Over in Huishui County, from the villages and the docks combined, Lin Xun is managing more than one hundred and seventy gold-farming members!”

…

Wangchuan stood there stunned.

Originally, the few villages in Huishui County had only dozens of people. Adding the thirty or so at the dock, the total would not have exceeded one hundred at most…

“The company has recruited this many people? What are they planning? Forming a gang?”

“If only it were that simple.”

Chen Hong lowered her voice, her expression bitter.

“A few days ago, one of the newcomers under me was bitten to death by a venomous snake. I do not even dare imagine how Instructor Yu managed to endure it.”

In this regard, women were indeed more soft-hearted than men. She could not bear to witness such tragedies.

“Wangchuan, please help me. Take them all in. If they stay at your dock, with you keeping an eye on things, I will feel more at ease. I will not have to worry every day.”

Wangchuan thought for a moment before agreeing.

“Very well. Standard daytime work can guarantee two hundred Copper Pieces a day. Those willing to work harder can earn around four hundred Copper Pieces.”

The branch helm had already been preparing to absorb more people. Taking in seventy-odd more would not be a problem.

“Thank you, Wangchuan!”

Chen Hong suddenly half-joked,

“By the way! Do you still need people? I am about to break through to first rank. I can leave my family soon. Why not let me work at your dock too? You can pay me a salary as well?”

“You?”

Wangchuan leaned back slightly in mock caution.

“Is this Director Su’s idea?”

He suspected Su Wan might have learned something and regretted giving up the deputy helm leader position here, and was now trying to place Chen Hong into his ranks indirectly.

Chen Hong shook her head.

“I have not told her. The Zhou Family’s rice bowl is not easy to eat. I want to strike out on my own. But I do not dare take on overly dangerous escort missions for fear of accidents. If I follow Caobang’s escort teams, at least there will be some security… Of course, the key point is that I can enter the Caobang’s armory to purchase second-rank martial manuals.”

“Caobang’s escort missions are not one hundred percent safe either. Be careful,” Wangchuan replied.

His meaning was clear—he accepted her.

After all, Chen Hong was about to become a first-rank martial artist. She would be an additional capable helper.

Chen Hong was overjoyed.

“Many thanks, Brother Wangchuan!”

“In the branch helm, you should address me as Helm Leader,” Wangchuan reminded her.

Chen Hong straightened immediately and clasped her fists.

“Understood! Helm Leader!”

Wangchuan handed her over to Hong Biao in the upper river sector, letting Captain Hong of the first team familiarize her with escort duties. Her monthly salary would be twenty taels of silver, with bonuses calculated separately.

After returning to his residence, Wangchuan could not help calling Wang Yuehui over.

“Yuehui, I have something to ask.”

“What has been happening recently in your Lingji Studio? Have you experienced large-scale recruitment of newcomers?”

Wangchuan went straight to the point.

The surge in gold-farming personnel at Warring States Game Studio made him feel faintly uneasy.

Wang Yuehui was meticulous by nature. Although he operated outside Lingji Studio’s gold-farming team’s direct sight, he paid close attention to studio affairs and replied immediately.

“I have heard from colleagues that over the past two months, the gold-farming team has indeed recruited nearly one hundred newcomers. The team has been split into old and new groups… The older members, who were previously frightened, continue to idle along; all the newcomers have been placed into a separate group and assigned fresh gold-farming tasks.”

“What is it, Helm Leader?”

“Has Warring States Game Studio also been recruiting heavily?”

Wang Yuehui reacted quickly.

Wangchuan nodded and explained Chen Hong’s situation, adding with concern,

“I thought Warring States Game Studio was expanding rapidly because business was thriving… I did not expect Lingji Studio to be accelerating recruitment as well.”

“That means this is not an isolated studio decision. It must be an order from higher up—to accelerate comprehensive promotion.”

Wang Yuehui’s face turned pale.

Wangchuan sighed.

“This damned game… What is there to promote so aggressively? Die in the game, and your soul withers to death in reality. Yet all these major studios are desperately recruiting people.”

Wang Yuehui seemed to recall something and added,

“I once asked some of the senior staff in our studio. They said that before last year’s fifteenth of the seventh month, the company’s gold-farming team was not large—only two or three groups. But after the fifteenth of the seventh month, the size of the gold-farming team directly doubled or tripled!”

“The fifteenth of the seventh month?”

Wangchuan froze, committing the date to memory.

“Does it have any special significance?”

“I am not sure.”

Wang Yuehui suggested, “Perhaps you could ask Captain Bai?”

…

Wangchuan fell into thought.

Captain Bai had entered the game long ago. Perhaps she knew something.

Though whether she would be willing to say it was another matter.

With his doubts unresolved, Wangchuan dismissed Wang Yuehui and logged off, continuing his cultivation of 《Xuanwu Art》.

It was rare for the branch helm to enjoy a period of calm ahead. Improving his strength through cultivation was the true path.

BOOM—

Not long after he logged off, the sky over 《spirit realm》 darkened. Heavy clouds gathered above Sanhe Commandery.