You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

Chapter 574 The Qin Family’s Background

As dusk deepened, the sky outside the window was dyed a dark gray. Tang Yin was about to continue asking questions when he was distracted by the movement outside the window.

One after another, figures like puppets slowly passed by the field of vision.

He squinted his eyes and observed carefully, noticing a group of villagers crossing the path in front of the police station from right to left. Their gait was strangely uniform, their heads bowed, as if they were being pulled forward by invisible ropes. Their expressions were hard to discern in the dim light, but their listless dejection was particularly striking.

Tang Yin felt a strange feeling in his heart. This scene seemed like the beginning of some strange ritual.

"What, what's going on?" He couldn't help but ask, with a hint of trembling in his voice.

"They are going to the watering hole." The police officer answered calmly, as if it was a very ordinary thing.

"Water field..." Tang Yin repeated the unfamiliar word.

"It's the canteen. People here eat three meals a day in the canteen." The police officer explained, with an imperceptible flash of complex emotions in his eyes.

So that’s it. This is one of the secrets of Baifeng Manor.

"What a strange custom." Tang Yin deliberately acted surprised.

"Well, I heard there was a fire in the mountains before, and then they banned fires. The only fires were secretly lit in the water yard." The police officer sighed and continued, "People here are used to not cooking at home. They all go to the water yard to eat. And the Qin family, one of the four elder families, is in charge of these food activities."

At this moment, the door of the police station was suddenly pushed open. A soft male voice interrupted their conversation: "What happened to our family?"

Tang Yin and the police officer turned simultaneously to see a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit standing at the door. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, a polite smile on his round face, and was of medium build, slightly overweight. His every move exuded the calmness of a child from an aristocratic family.

"...It's nothing, Xiao Qin." The police officer's tone became noticeably more reserved.

Is he one of the Qin family, one of the four elders' families? Tang Yin pondered in his heart. He remembered Chen Xiang's experience - this woman who married into the Qin family from another place and was banished to Wuyin Village after her husband's death. Could this gentle and refined man in front of him be a relative of Qin Ming and Qin Yi?
From the outside, it's hard to associate this middle-aged man in a suit with his tragic past. But Tang Yin knows that beneath the surface often lies a deeper secret.

This brief conversation, however, revealed crucial information: the people of Baifeng Village were required to eat at the canteen known as the Water Field, and the Qin family had been in charge of the food there for generations. This seemingly simple system actually gave the Qin family immense power—through their control over the villagers' food and drink, they reaped significant economic benefits and social status.

The stream of people outside the window continued, moving silently toward the water field, as if on a silent parade. As the night deepened, the village was shrouded in a mysterious atmosphere. Tang Yin felt as if he had touched upon one of the most central secrets of this ancient village.

Tang Yin gazed out the window at the slowly moving crowd, and a crucial realization flashed through his mind: Food is essential for human survival, and for a group without cooking skills or tools, even the thought of preparing their own meals was a luxury. Behind this mode of survival lay a vast network of power.

The Qin family monopolized the entire Baifeng Village catering industry, an influence far beyond superficial economic benefits. Like an invisible net, it controlled the lives of all the villagers. Thinking of this, Tang Yin thought of Chen Xiang's predicament.

Her position managing the Kirigakure Village cafeteria was likely no accident. Perhaps this once-prominent daughter-in-law of the Qin family was carefully placed there, tasked with some special mission. This makes the Kirigakure Village's situation even more intriguing—it's not simply exiled and abandoned, but rather secretly controlled by Baifeng Manor.

Just as Tang Yin was immersed in these reasonings, the round-faced man with glasses suddenly spoke.

"Everyone is talking about it, who is this person?" His tone was gentle, but with a hint of subtle temptation.

The police officer introduced him a little awkwardly, "...Ah, his name is Tang Yin. He suffered a lot of misfortunes and was planning to commit suicide, so he ended up here."

"Oh...it seems it's really not easy." The round-faced man showed just the right amount of sympathy and a warm smile on his face.

Tang Yin quickly bowed his head and apologized: "No, it was me who was too willful and caused trouble for everyone."

"It's nothing, don't mind it." The police officer comforted.

"Is that so?" The round-faced man nodded. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Qin Zhi, the person in charge of miscellaneous chores at Baifeng Manor."

"Um, hello, I'm Tang Yin."

Qin Zhi looked Tang Yin up and down, a flicker of approval in his eyes: "You are dressed very fashionably, and you are very handsome."

"Thank you for the compliment." Tang Yin responded modestly.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Qin Zhi's tone was filled with concern.

The police officer seemed to have noticed something and quickly interrupted: "...We are just about to eat. How about we talk later?"

"Really? I remember you guys always cooked your own meals. Oh, right..." Qin Zhi suddenly turned to Tang Yin, "Tang Yin, you haven't had breakfast yet, right? Do you want to go to my cafeteria to eat together? It's my treat."

His voice grew softer. "If possible, I hope you can tell me what happened. Just think of it as taking care of everyone. After all, this is part of my responsibility."

Tang Yin noticed that Qin Zhi's eyes flickered behind his glasses as he spoke, a deeper meaning hidden beneath his otherwise benign face. As a representative of the Qin family, what was his plan behind this overture? In this village, where the Qin family firmly controlled the food supply, a simple breakfast invitation might have held a deeper meaning. "As long as it's about Baifeng Manor, no matter how big or small, I have to know about it. That's it." Qin Zhi's face still wore that gentle smile, his voice soft as if he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

Tang Yin silently studied the man before him. On the surface, Qin Zhi did appear approachable, his every move revealing the refined elegance of an intellectual. But beneath this gentle exterior lay a quality that forced one to be wary.

In the previous conversation, Qin Zhi had calmly demanded disclosure of information from a police officer with a public authority background. This matter-of-fact attitude clearly illustrates the true power structure at Baifeng Manor—here, the four major families held sway over even law enforcement.

Tang Yin secretly winked at the police officer, hoping for some hint. However, he remained uncharacteristically silent, as if he had suddenly become a silent statue. According to the previous conversation, the police officer and his wife should have invited him to breakfast, but after Qin Zhi made the invitation, the police officer remained silent, as if on mute.

This strange atmosphere made Tang Yin realize that perhaps here, even if someone wanted to oppose the Qin family's intentions, they would ultimately have no choice but to remain silent.

"Is it really possible?" Tang Yin asked tentatively, glancing at the police officer intentionally or unintentionally.

The police officer seemed to force himself to speak, his voice a little dry: "...Can you let him come back after dinner? I have a few things to ask him."

This sentence further confirmed Tang Yin's guess - in Baifeng Manor, when Qin Zhi was present, no one would dare to talk directly to outsiders past him.

"Yes, yes, of course." Qin Zhi agreed readily.

In this way, the breakfast arrangements were easily finalized.

The early spring sunshine was bright, almost blinding, as Tang Yin followed Qin Zhi along the streets of Baifeng Village. Along the way, Qin Zhi explained the basics of the village. It turned out that Baifeng Village had a population of nearly a thousand. To accommodate the dining needs of such a large population, the canteens were not concentrated in one location, but were spread out across several key locations throughout the village.

They walked into one of the cafeterias. The moment they pushed open the door, the rich aroma of food filled their faces. Although the room was already packed with people, strangely, when Qin Zhi appeared, everyone nodded in greeting as if they had been trained, and then tacitly made way for him.

The villagers' actions seemed respectful and polite, but they also revealed an unpleasant deliberateness. When they noticed Tang Yin's unfamiliar face, they all cast wary and inquiring glances at him, as if they were looking at an intruder.

Fortunately, Qin Zhi's tall figure perfectly blocked the way, like a moving barrier, blocking those scrutinizing gazes. Through the gap, Tang Yin observed the scene inside the cafeteria. Aside from a slightly cold attitude towards outsiders, the people here behaved and spoke like ordinary rural residents. They chatted and laughed, discussing the crops and family matters, as if this uniformly managed lifestyle had long been a normal routine.

But Tang Yin knew that beneath the seemingly calm surface, there must be an unknown undercurrent. And he was moving step by step towards the core of this mystery.

Tang Yin carefully observed the villagers coming and going in the cafeteria. Their faces were brimming with life, a stark contrast to the listless demeanor he had seen on the street earlier. He couldn't help but wonder if his previous impression was just an illusion. After all, even city dwellers tended to look bleary-eyed when they woke up early in the morning.

The cafeteria was bustling with activity. Most of the villagers wore farm clothes stained with earth, while a few business-looking people in suits hurried by. Several students, carrying backpacks, walked together. Their uniforms were identical to those of the students of Kirigakure Village, giving Tang Yin a subtle sense of familiarity.

This dining hall is a typical wooden structure, and while it bears a strong sense of age, it's significantly more spacious than the dining hall in the Hidden Mist Village. The carvings on the wooden beams, while not elaborate, possess a unique, rustic charm. The natural wood beams and columns, polished by time, exude a warm luster, conveying a sense of the building's solidity and heaviness.

A row of plates were neatly arranged near the entrance, and several women in white cooking uniforms were busy distributing rice and soup bowls. This scene reminded Tang Yin of the student cafeteria during his university days, except that there was no option to order food here. However, if there was a dish that didn't suit his taste, he could choose not to order it.

"Oh, it's okay. I'll take care of him," Qin Zhi said gently to the women. He greeted each woman with familiarity, like a kind neighbor. As he maneuvered, the suspicious glances directed at Tang Yin gradually dissipated.

To Tang Yin's surprise, they simply took their plates and left after eating, without any payment involved. Presumably, these expenses would be rolled into some kind of organization's membership dues; this kind of management was quite consistent with the nature of communal living.

After passing through the crowded crowd, the interior of the cafeteria suddenly opened up. Several rows of long wooden tables were neatly arranged, and Qin Zhi took him to find an empty seat at one of them.

"Sorry, it's a bit crowded here. Please enjoy your meal." Qin Zhi made a gesture of invitation.

Tang Yin looked at the food in front of him, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart. For someone who had just experienced a terrifying night, having a hot breakfast at this moment was already a great comfort.

On his plate sat a large bowl of steaming rice, next to a bowl of thick vegetable soup. The side dishes were a light salad and a small dish of cooked beans. To his surprise, a few slices of meat floated in the vegetable soup, which he had assumed would be vegan.

"This is pickled animal meat. You may not be used to it, but it shouldn't taste too strange, right?" Qin Zhi noticed Tang Yin's inquiring gaze and took the initiative to explain.

"Pickled animal meat...is it wild boar meat?" Tang Yin asked curiously.

"No, here any meat from wild animals is called beast meat, such as wild deer meat and wild boar meat." Qin Zhi explained patiently.

"So it seems that this word was indeed used to refer to meat in the past." Tang Yin nodded thoughtfully.

"You're quite knowledgeable." Qin Zhi smiled approvingly. "Hunting has been popular in this area for a long time. Even today, people still share their prey with everyone."

Being able to enjoy wild game in a public dining hall was truly a rare experience. Tang Yin eagerly took a bite, only to find the entire meal surprisingly bland. The salad had only a faint hint of soy sauce, and the sweetness of the cooked beans was extremely restrained. The vegetable soup was more like a thick stew, presumably because it used only pickled animal meat as the main seasoning.

He took another sip of the soup and discovered that the slightly overcooked meat still retained a hint of the unique fishy aroma of game. Although this breakfast wasn't particularly delicious, Tang Yin felt a surge of joy at being able to savor such a local specialty. Perhaps this unique eating habit held a deeper secret within Baifeng Manor.

Looking at the calm expressions on the faces of the people around him, Tang Yin suddenly realized that for the villagers living here, this kind of meal had long been a daily routine. But as an outsider, he could smell a completely different atmosphere from the outside world in this ordinary meal.

(End of this chapter)