Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Qin Dingsong rolled his eyes: "What era are we living in? Still hiding soldiers in caves?"

"This is the cave where our ancestors took refuge from disasters; the good things are hidden inside."

"Keep up."

Qin Dingsong and the old hunter raised their torches, then crouched low and led the way inside. The dogs scurried in after them, and Zhang Dabiao steeled his resolve—

钻！

Surely they wouldn't come all this way to kidnap me and demand a ransom, would they?

There's no need for that.

Something good is here—Zhang Dabiao's heart started racing.

The things that the older generation considers good are really not bad!

After crawling around in the cave for almost fifteen minutes, we finally arrived at a more open area.

On a slightly larger rock platform, there were several old wooden crates.

Qin Dingsong didn't waste any time and immediately laid it out for Zhang Dabiao to take a look.

6 boxes!

Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up when he saw six whole boxes of gold, silver, jewelry, porcelain, and antiques!

When illuminated by the firelight in the darkness, they turn green, just like wolves in the night!

He had only managed to collect a few small yellow croakers after more than half a year of being here, and now they've given him six boxes right in front of him!

They were all old-fashioned wooden crates, each one probably being at least half a cubic meter in size…

The 3 cubic meters were crammed full of gold, silver jewelry, porcelain, and antiques!

It's out!

Let alone 2000 catties of grain, even if you asked for 20,000 catties of grain every month, I would still be able to get it done!

I, Zhang Dabiao, am a man of my word and I'm loyal to my friends!

I must respect the elderly and care for the young!

I want to promote traditional Chinese virtues!

Zhang Dabiao grabbed a handful of jewelry: large pearls, a gold necklace, and unidentified headdresses and gold ornaments...

Zhang Dabiao didn't know how to appraise gold, silver, porcelain, or antiques, but there was no need to make so many fakes to fool him in Qinjiatun. With this skill, he could easily swindle and cheat his way into getting some grain.

Qin Dingsong asked, "Da Biao, is this enough to barter for grain?"

Zhang Dabiao nodded: "Old man, you should have said so earlier! If you had told me you had these, exchanging them for some grain wouldn't have been difficult at all!"

The old hunter shook his head: "If you take these things out, one or two pieces are fine, but if you take out too many, it's hard to explain."

"There's a Party Secretary in the brigade, and people from the commune are keeping an eye on us. Besides, we don't know how much money we can get, so we're afraid of being scammed."

"Even if you exchange the money and buy grain on the black market to bring back, you'll still be targeted."

"We villagers are completely clueless about this."

The old hunter was telling the truth; they didn't even know where the black market was, where to exchange gold and silver jewelry for money, or how much they could get for it.

"But you're a purchasing agent, and you have 20. Even if you buy in bulk, people will believe you have that much money."

"It's safest for you to do this."

"Everyone believed that a poor man would take the risk of reselling grain."

"But if a rich person with 20 yuan buys 2000 jin of grain, especially high-priced grain, no one will care too much."

That's the gist of it, but in practice—

Zhang Dabiao gave a wry smile: "I'll think of a way. I have the funds, but 2000 jin is no small matter."

"Buying so much food on the black market at once will definitely attract attention. I'll think of another way."

Qin Dingsong lit his pipe: "Just go ahead and do it boldly. All these treasures are yours. In addition, someone from the clan has been chosen to sign a waiver of life and death."

"I'll go to the city with you, and he'll be in charge of transporting the things. If anything goes wrong, he'll take the blame, and that way you'll have nothing to do with it."

These words made Zhang Dabiao shudder.

"A death contract?"

"Pay with your life?"

Do you really not care about human lives?

"Who?"

"Qin Huairu's younger brother, Qin Mancang, was in a hurry to marry into the city, and Qin Huairu also wanted to earn some dowry money for her brother. But she didn't expect the Jia family to be so stingy, only giving 5 yuan as a dowry."

Speaking of this, Qin Dingsong sighed, saying that every action has its own destiny.

Zhang Dabiao looked on incredulously: "Their family is willing to do that?"

"The child was chosen by drawing lots from all the male members of the clan who were over the age of 16. It was destined by fate, and there was nothing their family could do about it."

"She married into the city for her brother's sake, and she betrayed you."

"Now, in order to let you handle the grain for the clan without worry, her brother has drawn a death warrant and signed a death pact, making you his scapegoat."

"This is called karma, and retribution is inevitable. Back then, your father saved Qin Mancang, and that's why their family promised Qin Huairu to you as their wife. But they broke the promise."

"This is karma coming back to bite you."

Qin Dingsong took out a piece of paper that was folded several times and showed it to Zhang Dabiao.

The top part was simply a confidentiality agreement; anyone who violated it would be executed by the entire village, and all the ancestors of the Qin family would bear witness. Below that were countless handprints…

They're serious.

Zhang Dabiao lit a cigarette, sat down cross-legged, and offered one to the old hunter as well.

"Won't Qin Mancang harbor any resentment towards their family?"

Qin Dingsong's expression remained completely unchanged: "He either dares to tell anyone, or he's run away."

"We wiped out their entire family."

"Is it even a question to choose between one person's life and the lives of the entire village?"

Zhang Dabiao, cigarette dangling from his lips, was stunned—[Holy crap, so ruthless!]

If I don't agree today, will they...?

[It shouldn't be, right? Because he only brought me to the treasure cave after he promised.]

Zhang Dabiao felt a little irritated. He had been mentally prepared to be constrained in every way since he came to this era. The biggest characteristic of this era is helplessness.

Moreover, he was self-aware and didn't think that having a cheat code would make a difference in this era.

But upon arrival, he was schemed against by the capitalist Lou Bancheng, and then by the village chief of Qinjiatun...

Well, Zhang Dabiao accepted his fate. He wasn't a smart person to begin with, so suffering a little loss in front of these old foxes would be a lesson he would learn.

In comparison, what's the point of all that calculating in the courtyard houses? It's all about fighting over a pittance, a room or two, or a single workstation. It's pointless.

"Do the village secretary and the militia captain know about what you're doing?"

Qin Dingsong shook his head. "Our village is quite large, so it's a production brigade. The Party Secretary is from the commune and doesn't live in our village."

"This matter distracted him today; he doesn't know the truth, and even if he did, there's nothing he could do. If he insists on arguing with us..."

"We don't mind changing the Party Secretary."

Suddenly, Qin Dingsong's expression turned sinister and vicious!

"Anyone who tries to stop the people of our village from living will have their life taken by me. At worst, I'll drag a member of my clan to pay with their life."

Zhang Dabiao swallowed hard. This was too big a deal for his small frame.

No wonder they had to find a scapegoat for him; they had already planned this out.

"Militia, there's only the militia captain in our village. He's one of us, and he'd never tell anyone. You can rest assured. As long as you can get the food, everything else is none of your business."

"I've agreed, but it'll take time, maybe a week or two. I'll think of a way."

Zhang Dabiao's plan was to procure supplies from Hong Kong. The black market in Beijing only sold 2000 jin (1,000 catties) of goods per month, which was too conspicuous and would make him easy to catch.

If all else fails, then try to find Lou Bancheng to see if he can solve the problem. He must have some connections, right?

Lou Bancheng shouldn't be too stingy with this small amount of face; he could simply give him some gold and silver jewelry in exchange. In business, it's always the same: if you have the money, buying directly from a merchant is the most convenient option.

"Alright, just hurry up, the village really doesn't have enough food left."

"When you leave, Qin Mancang will go with you. He will be in your care from now on."

Is this considered risking one's life for oneself?

"Okay, but I have one more request."