Douluo: Law of Heaven and Earth

Chapter 971 Lu Qibin's Past - Extra Chapter 32: Unease
Although Lu Qibin's account of the past has entered its final stage, in reality, this entire period of the past has little to do with him personally.

The protagonist of this final stage is not Lu Qibin, who let Li Yang go one night ten years ago, but Li Zhao from Lanke Village.

After Huo Xing died, a new group of refugees arrived in Lanke Village. Among them was a mother and son. The mother's surname was Huo, which she took from her husband, and the son naturally also took the surname Huo.

Are these Huo Xing's wife and son?
Of the past events Lu Qibin knew, he wasn't certain, but he hoped it was...
···
Fifteen-year-old Li Zhao led a new batch of refugees into the village and arranged for them to live in dilapidated houses that the villagers had previously looked down upon or rejected.

The drought is long over, but the villagers' lives have not improved much.

Fortunately,

A man named Li Zhao appeared in the village.

She is not a cultivation genius.

It wasn't that he was less talented than Li Ming, but rather it was due to his environment.

Due to the village's dilapidation and the large number of refugees, Lanke Village seemed to exist in name only, and even the Martial Soul Branch Halls in nearby towns seemed to have forgotten their existence.

Therefore, Li Zhao hadn't even awakened her martial spirit, and there were countless cases like hers in Lanke Village.

Thus, it's not a matter of talent or not; they don't even have a path to cultivation. Their only hope is to survive.

But why is it said that it was lucky for Lanke Village to have Li Zhao?

Because she was the only literate person in the village and was good at thinking, even Edward, who taught her the basics, did not expect that under the leadership of this daughter of the craftsman Li, the situation in the village would improve slightly.

At her suggestion, the villagers united and went to nearby dilapidated villages to scavenge for scraps, mainly cloth, followed by pottery, and lastly metal items.

Logically speaking, metals are the most valuable, but Li Zhao knew very well that everyone knew the value of metals. If metals became the main target for scavenging, the villagers of Lanke Village might not be able to defeat them, but none of them had doctors. If they were injured, developed fevers or infections, it would be very likely to reduce their numbers.

Therefore, she believed it was essential to avoid conflicts with scavengers from other areas as much as possible. She suggested collecting rags, hemp, and pottery, bringing them back to the village, mending and repairing them, and then selling them in nearby towns and villages, which could generate a considerable income.

It was enough to barely feed the villagers.

During this process, Li Zhao also suggested to the village chief that they recruit some able-bodied refugees to strengthen the village. The villagers should try their best to avoid fighting with other scavengers, but they must also consider the possibility that they might deliberately come to rob them, so increasing the number of people is key.

With more people, there will be more people working, which will allow the village to develop faster.

The whole village is one big collective!

Moreover, it is unknown whether it is because the villagers of Lanke Village do not cultivate the land or farm, but only rely on scavenging to make a living, that they have not paid taxes for many years, and the tax officials have not bothered them for many years either—or they look down on the defunct Lanke Village.

This is also a great thing for the entire Rotten Chess Village.

"village head."

On this day, Li Zhao found the village chief of Lanke Village and suggested to him, "In order to make more money, I think it is necessary to change some of the village rules."

The villagers of Lanke Village are a collective. They eat and work together, and the money they earn from selling is shared among them. However, a portion of the money is handed over to the village chief for safekeeping, serving as collective assets for unforeseen needs.

However, as the population of Lanke Village increased, Li Zhao also discovered that some people would slack off. When scavenging, they would collect the least amount of goods, but when it came time to divide the money, they would receive the same amount as those who worked hard.

If this continues, it will greatly affect the mindset of other people at work.

Why should lazy people get the same amount of money as them?

Among those who work hard, some will inevitably think this way, and then they will slack off... If this continues, the number of lazy people in the village will keep increasing, leading to complaints from the hardworking villagers, and even internal strife in the end. To avoid such a thing from happening, Li Zhao felt that the rules for scavenging should be changed: more work, more pay; less work, less pay.

This will motivate hardworking villagers to work even harder, while those who are lazy and unwilling to work will find that they are getting less and will have no choice but to start working harder.

Moreover, this can also encourage competition among villagers.

"No."

Although the villagers of Lankecun survived and even grew stronger than before thanks to Li Zhao's advice, the white-bearded village chief disagreed with encouraging competition among the villagers. Speaking to Li Zhao in the tone of an elder, he said, "You are very smart, but you are still young and inexperienced. You don't know—"

Some people gain more, while others gain less. The latter will definitely be jealous of the former and will think of causing trouble rather than competing.

This is not good.

The villagers had barely made it through and had achieved an unprecedented level of unity. Although they had different surnames, they were now all one family.

compete···
This will cause people to distrust each other again.

Unity is of utmost importance.

Li Zhao was quite exhausted.

She had made similar suggestions to encourage competition several times, but the village chief had rejected them each time. Moreover, she knew that besides the reason of "unity," the village chief was also worried that if the village made too much money, it would once again attract the attention of the officials of the Star Luo Empire, and they would start collecting taxes from them again.

Although Li Zhao was intelligent, she did not have much prestige in the village because she was neither a Soul Master nor an adult. She could only make suggestions to the village chief to get the villagers to take action.

In the eyes of most villagers, the village chief was the great hero who led Lanke Village through the ordeal and was highly respected.

"Li Zhao, I've seen all your contributions to the village, but I can also tell that you seem to really need money?"

The village chief was most puzzled by this: “We don’t lack money right now, we have enough to survive, and even if we encounter another severe drought, the common property that the village has kept is enough to buy enough food from the nearby town to keep everyone going.”

Li Zhao sighed.

This is the source of the conflict between the village chief and her.

Just want stability.

If I were a Soul Master, would the situation be very different?

This idea was immediately dismissed by Li Zhao.

If she were a Soul Master, why would she stay in such a dilapidated little village? And why would she patiently chat with such a rigid old village chief?

At the very least, one should go to the city, find a wealthy family to be a retainer of, and be treated with utmost respect, without having to worry about so many problems!

"You are the hero who made the village rich." Seeing Li Zhao's silence, the village chief took out a sack containing a large pile of copper soul coins. "If you need money, I can help you on behalf of the entire village."

"No, I don't lack money, it's just... I'm a little uneasy."

"disturbed?"

"I'm alright now." Li Zhao sighed and bid farewell to the village chief...

(End of this chapter)