I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 32 Recruiting
"Your brother Shitou? He has only come back once since he went to the county town. I wonder if he still remembers this home!"

When Li Lan heard Xie Yuan asking about Wang Lei, she immediately started muttering.

At home, they complain that they can't make enough money; outside, they complain that men don't take care of the family. This is the status of men in the Dali Dynasty.

Xie Yuan was somewhat amused and spoke up for Wang Lei:
"Don't you send money back every ten days? Yunzhao is too far away after all."

Xiaoshi Village is dozens of miles away from Yunzhao County. It takes walking from sunrise to sunset, which is a long way to go for people in the mountain village.

"It's just a few things. It's better to stay at home. You don't have to work so hard. You will be exhausted in the restaurant every day."

Li Lan was somewhat dissatisfied.

Wang Lei asked a fellow villager to introduce him to a restaurant in Yunzhao County and worked as a handyman.

Xie Yuan laughed and said:

"Sister Lanhua is worried about Brother Shitou."

"Bah, who feels sorry for that boring guy? It's just that Tiger Boy never sees him and asks him where his dad is every day."

Li Lan spat.

"Okay, okay, it's Tiger Boy who misses Brother Shitou, but you don't."

Xie Yuan knew that Li Lan and Wang Lei actually had a very harmonious relationship.

Women in the village would never say "I miss you", that's hypocritical. Complaining is a way of expressing longing.

Li Lan rolled her eyes at him and snorted:
"Your brother Shitou is a tough guy. He doesn't need anyone to feel sorry for him. He will swallow the loss himself. How much money can you earn from doing odd jobs? He took it all home and didn't keep any for himself. I'm afraid he won't have enough to eat."

"How can a restaurant provide a full meal? It costs a lot of money."

Xie Yuan comforted.

Li Lan nodded:
"That's true."

Xie Yuan paused and said:
"Sister Lanhua, next time, tell Brother Shitou when to come back. I have an idea for a job. If it works, let Brother Shitou come and help. We can earn more money without leaving home."

"What kind of job? A good job that pays well and is close to home?"

Li Lan's ears perked up.

"Cut down trees. But the idea is not mature yet. He needs to come back to discuss it."

"Chopping down trees? Hmm... OK, he hasn't been back for a long time anyway, I'll ask him to ask for leave from his employer and come back to visit."

Xie Yuan chatted with Li Lan for a few more words, then walked towards the village and arrived at Zhu Dongming's home.

Zhu Dongming was at home, but he didn't see the other hunters today.

As soon as he saw Xie Yuan coming, he enthusiastically invited him to come in and sit down:

"Yuanzi, come and sit down first. The bear skin has been peeled and is almost done. I will find someone to buy it in the next two days. I guarantee that I can get you a high price."

Xie Yuan entered the room, sat down in front of the stove, stretched out his hands, rubbed them, and warmed them in front of the fire:

"Brother Zhu, you are an old hand. I trust you to handle things. I am not here to ask this."

Zhu Dongming was stunned and said subconsciously:

"So you're here...?"

"The other brothers are not here today?"

Zhu Dongming was even more confused:
"You want to look for Chen Yun and the others? Okay... I'll call them now."

"Brother Wu is recovering from his injuries, so there's no need to call him."

In the dead of winter, all things hide and most villagers stay at home.

After a while, Chen Yun and Zhou Feng arrived with Zhu Dongming.

"Brother Yuan! What do you want from us? Are you moving the bear again?"

When Zhou Feng saw Xie Yuan, he called out to him affectionately and with some admiration, and Chen Yun also nodded to him with a polite attitude.

This is a fierce man who can hunt bears alone. We can no longer look at him with the old perspective.

Seeing that the three of them were looking at him curiously, Xie Yuan spoke directly:

"Where are there so many bears to move? Haha. This time I'm looking for you all, um, first of all, have you had any gains from hunting recently?"

"What harvest? I can't catch a chicken with the traps I set in a month. I'm too lazy to go out."

Zhou Feng complained.

Zhu Dongming nodded:

"Yuanzi, you know, in the winter we basically just live off our savings."

Xie Yuan nodded slightly:

"Yes, I also guessed that everyone is free now. Life is not easy, so I just happened to have a job and wanted to invite everyone to join in." Zhou Feng's eyes lit up and asked:

"What is it?"

"Cut down the tree."

"Cut down a tree?"

The three of them were stunned and looked at each other.

Chen Yun coughed lightly:
"Xie Yuan, chopping down trees... you can't make much money from a bald tree, and as for a poplar tree, it takes too much time to cut down an axe. It's not worth it to cut down two trees and sharpen one. I used to chop down trees, but later I decided hunting was better."

The activities of mountain people often overlap, hunting, collecting herbs, and chopping wood. Chopping wood is the easiest, but it also earns the least money. If you can collect herbs and hunt, you generally won't chop wood.

To collect herbs, one needs to be accompanied by an old ginseng hunter. Xiaoshi Village is too small, too far away and too poor. The mountains here are not rich either. Those who have some skills have all run away. There are no herbalists, only woodcutters and a few hunters.

An old hunter like Chen Yun had naturally worked as a woodcutter and would chop wood for burning on a regular basis. However, since he learned to hunt, he no longer used chopping wood as a special means of making a living.

How much money can a woodcutter earn? His status is far lower than that of a hunter. It would be better for them to rest if they were asked to cut down bald trees to earn a few copper coins.

Zhou Feng and Zhu Dongming didn't say anything, but they had the same idea.

Xie Yuan shook his head and said:
"I look down on both the bald tree and the iron poplar. If I want to cut down trees, I'll cut down camphor and nanmu trees."

"Camphor and nanmu? They're hard to find, right? I'm afraid you have to go deep into the mountains, and the trees all look similar, so it's hard to recognize them."

Zhu Dongming asked.

"I recognize it and have found the place. There are many near the tiger and bear hunting place. It's not far away, so I need your help."

"That's it... But it's tiring to carry the wood for such a long distance. Even if it's the price of iron poplar, it doesn't seem so cost-effective."

Zhou Feng said again.

"I recently got a nanmu tree and sold it for this amount."

Xie Yuan stretched out a finger on each hand and crossed it:
"Twelve taels."

"Ten taels?!"

The three hunters widened their eyes and screamed.

Xie Yuan sighed:
"I didn't think of it at first, but the masters in the city like this tree very much. Ten taels of silver is nothing to them. Even a camphor tree can be sold for four taels a whole tree."

The hunters digested it for a while before swallowing the news. Information was not available in the mountain village, and even Zhu Dongming, who had been around before, didn't know that the price was this high.

Now they were very enthusiastic and wanted to agree immediately, but Chen Yun was mature and asked:
"I heard that these fine woods are not harder than iron poplars, and cutting them requires skills. If the grain is broken and it doesn't look good, the price will be greatly reduced."

"I know all of these and can teach you. As for the axe, Zhou Feng, ask your father to make a few fine iron axes. I'll pay for it first.

"When the time comes, you can cut the logs and I will process them and sell them in the town. I have the channels. Then everyone can share the money according to their work. How do you think?"

Seeing that Xie Yuan was organized and had basically arranged everything, the three of them looked at each other and nodded.

Wow, who knew you could earn so much money just by chopping trees? What's the point of hunting?

They immediately put aside their contempt for the woodcutter and were eager to start chopping trees right away. Zhou Feng even wanted to stare at his father and ask him to work overtime to get the axe ready!

But all these things mentioned here, all the intricacies of which can only be known by old woodcutters with many years of experience. There is no such thing in Xiaoshi Village. How come Xie Yuan knows it?
Moreover, he had connections in the town, and his coordination was very experienced, not at all like a teenager who had just eaten his fill.

The little guy who used to follow Xie Lun has become so capable now?
Xie Yuan was happy to see that they agreed.

With a helper, he can save a lot of time and focus on practicing martial arts, and he can also save money more efficiently - then his practice progress will take off.

Once the logging team is formed, let Brother Shitou go too. They can also earn money, it will be a win-win situation.

The next few days were the preparation stage. Xie Yuan first took them to identify the area, marked the trees, gave them a general explanation, and then waited for the axes to be ready.

In his spare time, Xie Yuan practiced martial arts seriously.

Then I realized that I am so different now.

His body was fully healed, and his health-preserving skills were still at the second level. Xie Yuan started practicing Iron Shirt. It was a bit exaggerated to say that he could make progress by a thousand miles a day, but a hundred miles a day was more than enough.

[Iron Shirt·Second Level: (658/800)]

In just three days, the progress increased by more than a hundred points!
In the past, this kind of progress would have taken at least ten days or half a month!

This change is too big.

Now that I am practicing normally, my speed is twice as fast as before when I was drinking the medicine soup!
If Xie Yuan is given a few more days to break through, he will be at the "cowardly" level.

With the feedback, he naturally has more motivation to practice.

On this day, Xie Yuan was practicing pole training when Li Lan suddenly ran over in a hurry.

Her face turned pale, and her voice trembled with anxiety:

"Yuan...Yuanzi, your brother Shitou has been detained in the county town!"

(End of this chapter)