Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

It's midnight. Tonight is the beginning of the month, and a crescent moon hangs obliquely in the sky.

Lin Yuan got up, slung a bamboo basket over his shoulder, picked up a long-handled hoe, and hid his father's wood-chopping axe in the basket. Still not feeling safe, he also took a kitchen knife from the kitchen and tucked it into his waistband.

It was quite dark in the mountain village at that time.

Fortunately, he had been eating well during this time and did not suffer from blindness.

Favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious relationships!

He left the yard, carefully avoiding the houses with dogs, taking one step at a time and thinking three steps ahead, before taking a detour out of the village.

In the past, he often went to the river with his father at night to catch fish and shrimp, so he had some experience.

The reason for fishing at midnight is that the Lishui River is managed by the Black Snake Gang, and fishing there also requires paying a share, just like chopping wood and hunting in the Jiuling Mountains.

Even though Taoli Township was not the fief of the Marquis of Jiuling Township, he still extended his reach, and even the government couldn't do anything about it, let alone the common people.

This is the Black Snake Gang's living space. They work for the Marquis's mansion above and oppress the common people below. Anyone who wants to make a living in the Carp River has to ask the Black Snake Gang for permission.

Whether it's the legitimate or criminal world, they're all from these powerful families; it's impossible not to associate with them.

But as long as you don't get caught, nobody cares.

Lin Yuan arrived at the river fork. Just after crossing the river, he vaguely saw dark figures running along the riverbank. He subconsciously raised his axe and waited for a moment, but there was no movement.

He then got up and crossed the river. The river was flowing loudly at night. He used a long-handled hoe to support himself. The riverbed was full of stones, which were hard to step on.

They arrived safely at the Zhang family ancestral home.

Lin Yuan hid for half an hour, and seeing that there was no movement, he went into the water. In order to minimize the noise, he walked slowly, crouched down, and climbed into the house through the gap in the courtyard wall.

He kept recalling the lifelike scene in the mirror, comparing it with the scene in the mirror one by one, and quickly figured out the layout of the courtyard and found the backyard where the jujube tree was located.

The main path in the front yard is paved with bluestone slabs, which are hard but a bit slippery.

There are two large trees in the backyard, one is a jujube tree and the other is a plum tree, both of which are still alive, and the jujube tree has even borne fruit.

It is this plum tree!

Just as he was about to approach, a snake on the courtyard wall suddenly raised its head and puffed out its chest, its silver-scaled triangular head constantly flicking its tongue, as if mocking him.

Startled, he quickly dodged away, stirring the water to drive away the uninvited guests around him.

After circling the plum tree three times, he found the spot where Grandpa Zhang had buried the tree and immediately began digging up the soil.

With a splash, water sprayed everywhere, most of it hitting him.

"Why!"

He had little experience with farm work growing up and had no skill in using a large hoe. He tried several different techniques but none of them worked, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth, close his eyes, and continue digging.

As he dug the puddle bigger and deeper, he didn't feel tired at all.

This is the benefit of practicing martial arts.

"Crunch—"

Lin Yuan felt the vibrations of the iron scraping against the porcelain surface with both hands, his heart pounded, and he quickly put down the hoe, squatted down with the kitchen knife, and slowly cleaned it.

He reached in and scooped up a jar, overjoyed. "Three hundred taels! My three hundred taels!"

He lifted the jar out of the water, and just as he was about to take it out, he put it down again, covered the bamboo basket with the water, and quietly placed the jar inside.

After succeeding, he immediately restored the puddle and carefully left the Zhang family's old house.

He climbed ashore, wiped the mud off his face, and smiled like a chrysanthemum.

When he arrived at the river fork again, he heard wolves howling in the forest. He lowered his body and dared not move.

The mountains have been unsafe in recent years, with wild animals frequently attacking people, and many hunters have fallen victim to their attacks, including his uncle.

The sound of the river was loud, and he could vaguely hear human voices. He didn't dare to move and hid to the side to listen for a while.

It turned out that two people had come to the riverbank to steal fish. They were far apart, so it was hard to tell who they were.

Lin Yuan dared not cross the river for the time being, so he hid in the shadows and waited patiently.

At the same time, he began to have doubts. When he first arrived at Shangwei Village, the running shadowy figure was very likely there to steal fish.

I wonder if they've noticed me?

Lin Yuan kept recalling that he was crouching down with his head down, and it was dark, so his face was impossible to discern unless he got close.

We're all thieves; as long as we don't cut off the source of wealth, we'll usually go our separate ways.

After waiting for a long time, the two people still hadn't left.

Lin Yuan was a little anxious. Once the wolf howls stopped, he immediately took a big detour before crossing the river.

They returned safely to their own courtyard.

Lin Yuan immediately returned to his room to prepare to open the jar, but found it too dark to see clearly.

He then remembered that he didn't have an oil lamp or candles, so he ran to the kitchen, closed the door, and took out the tinderbox his father had made from the stove.

He blew on the firewood and lit it under the stove.

Upon examining the jar, a point of impact was visible at the mouth, surrounded by cracks, but it was not broken.

He didn't care; silver isn't afraid of water.

The jar was sealed very tightly with waterproof tarpaulin and wax dripped on it for added seal.

He used a kitchen knife to cut open the seal, and when he looked at it in the firelight, he saw a silvery glow inside.

When the contents were poured into the bamboo basket, silver coins kept falling out, but no water got in.

At the same time, pieces of paper and hard objects fell down, but there seemed to be a little too little silver ingot.

He grabbed a silver ingot, held it in his hand; it was slightly cool. He squeezed it hard; it was soft. "I'm rich! Old Master Zhang wasn't lying to me!"

This is also a private silver ingot from the Marquis's mansion, weighing one tael and one ingot, and it is engraved with "Jiuling".

He quickly counted them and found only one hundred silver ingots.

One hundred taels!

Wait a minute, Old Master Zhang clearly gave me three hundred taels.

Where is my money?

He searched around and found only a jade pendant and a few pieces of paper.

The paper was stained with mud and water, and the writing had become blurred.

He carefully held the piece of paper up to the firelight and could vaguely make out three lines of text.

"Master:

I wish to go on an outing with my classmates and would like to borrow ten taels of silver. I will repay it when I have achieved academic success.

"Unfilial grandson, Zhang Zhenjian."

Lin Yuan was immediately filled with question marks. What was going on?

He immediately took out a second piece of paper, "Master, I wish to broaden the horizons of my fellow disciples and borrow thirty taels of silver. Your unfilial grandson, Zhang Zhenjian."

The third slip of paper reads: "Sir, I'm currently short of money and would like to borrow forty taels of silver."

The fourth slip of paper reads: "Sir, I need to borrow some money..."

……

"Unfilial descendants!"

"How dare he?"

"This is my money!"

How did Zhang Zhenjian, that grandson, know about the silver his grandfather buried?

Since he knew about it, why didn't he take it immediately?

It seems he lives in the city and didn't have time.

Lin Yuan became wary and could only wait and see what happened, waiting to find out more when he returned to town.

He picked up the jade pendant; it was white and flawless, with intricate patterns carved on the back and the two characters "玲珑" (exquisite) engraved on the front.

If you haven't studied "Mengxue Qionglin" (a classic Chinese primer for children), you might not be able to recognize it.

Is this Zhang Zhenjian's courtesy name? Or something else?

He speculated that the jade pendant might have been placed there by Zhang Zhenjian.

However, he did not intend to resell the jade pendant, nor did he intend to carry it with him. It would be a pity to throw it away, so he could only store it away for the time being.

This amount of silver is enough for him to use temporarily for martial arts training, and it can also help his family pay the autumn tax.

Lin Yuan has a bottom line; he only takes what he is entitled to. Since he has already taken the jade pendant, he will compensate the Zhang family descendants as he sees fit once he becomes a martial arts master.

He put the jade pendant and Zhang Zhenjian's IOU back into the jar, then after thinking for a moment, he took out the IOU again and threw it under the stove to burn.

He left only the jade pendant in the jar, resealed the jar, extinguished the fire in the stove, and left the kitchen.

He hid the silver in the bamboo basket back in the house before carrying the jar to the courtyard.

He dug a hole in the yard so his family could hear him, so he ran out of the yard. To the west of the yard was a slope where two plum trees were planted.

The plums from this plum tree are the sourest, and the children in the village don't like to eat them, so few people walk around under the tree.

They dug a hole under the plum tree, buried the jar, and noticed that the newly turned soil was a different color. So, following Grandpa Zhang's example, they loosened the soil around the jar.

After finishing, Lin Yuan urinated on the plum tree to fertilize it.

He returned to the courtyard gate and happened to run into his father carrying a fish basket, in which fish were constantly splashing.

The two locked eyes, and the scene fell silent for a moment.

"Father, up so early?" Lin Yuan put down his hoe, his face beaming with a smile, breaking the silence.

Old Man Lin got up in the middle of the night to steal fish, but before leaving, he realized his youngest son was missing. So he went to the river to look for him, but couldn't find him. He had just caught some fish and brought them back when he was about to call his eldest son to go to the river to look for him. When he saw his youngest son, he immediately flew into a rage and said:

"You little brat, where have you been?"

"I had a stomachache in the middle of the night, so I came out to take a dump and pee," Lin Yuan said, noticing his father staring at the hoe. "I'm afraid of snakes, so I brought a hoe for self-defense."

Seeing him soaking wet, his father laughed in exasperation: "Why don't you poop and pee in your own latrine? You've pissed yourself all over!"

Lin Yuan gave an awkward smile: "How could that be? In this sweltering heat, you can't possibly sweat from straining like that."