43: persuade

Su Ming knew the time was right.

He looked up at his frightened family, at his father consumed by immense anxiety.

"Father, you're right."

His calm voice was exceptionally clear in the oppressive room.

"This formula is a hot potato. If our family keeps it, it will sooner or later bring disaster. So..."

He paused, met his father's gaze, and uttered the words he had long deliberated.

"So, we cannot keep it to ourselves."

Su Shan was startled: "Not keep it ourselves? Then what do you want to do? Give it away?"

"Not give it away." Su Ming shook his head, "Father, think, in this village, who has the most authority? Who least wants trouble in the village?"

Su Shan blurted out almost immediately: "The Village Head."

The Village Head, the head of a village. Although his official position wasn't high, in this small domain, he was like heaven. Village taxes, corvée labor, disputes—all were decided by him. More importantly, his position was stable only if the village was stable.

"Exactly, the Village Head." Su Ming's eyes sparkled under the oil lamp, "Father, we'll offer this formula to the village!"

"What?!"

This time, not only Su Yang but even the usually silent Su Feng cried out in shock.

"Xiao Ming, are you crazy? We worked so hard to create this treasure, and you're just giving it away to the village for free?" Su Yang couldn't understand.

"Not for free!" Su Ming emphasized, "This is called 'technical equity participation'!"

Lin Yu had taught him this term, and he had learned it perfectly.

Seeing his family's bewildered expressions, he switched to a more common explanation.

"Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, think about it. The formula is ours; only we know how to make it. We'll present the formula, saying it's to help everyone in the village live better lives. Who wouldn't give us a thumbs-up for that reputation?"

"We'll go to the Village Head, hand him the formula, and let him take the lead. He'll organize the villagers to build a village-run paper-making Workshop."

"At that time, the Village Head will be the chief manager. He has connections and prestige. If ruffians from town come to cause trouble, he'll have to deal with them. This is making him shoulder the risks."

"The uncles in the village have strength but nowhere to earn hard-earned money. We'll give them a way, let them cut bamboo, make pulp, and they'll receive real copper coins every day. What will they think of our family? Living Bodhisattvas!"

Su Ming's words were like opening a window in a dark room.

The uncertainty in Su Shan's eyes gradually gave way to deep thought. He loosened his grip on his pipe, leaning slightly forward, clearly captivated by his son's words.

"Then... what about our family?" Su Feng couldn't help but ask, "Our family provides the formula and the technology; what do we get?"

"We just sit back and collect money." Su Ming stated decisively.

"Collect money?"

"Yes!" Su Ming held up three fingers, "Our family, as the owner of the formula, as the only ones who understand the technology, won't have to do any manual labor. For every hundred copper coins the Workshop sells, our family will take thirty! Not a single percent less!"

Thirty copper coins!

Thirty percent!

This number made everyone in the room gasp.

This was simply... getting something for nothing!

"Can... can this work?" Chen Shi asked worriedly, "Will the Village Head and the villagers agree? We do nothing and take thirty percent; that's too much."

"Not too much!" Su Ming immediately retorted, he had rehearsed these arguments countless times with Lin Yu, "Mother, think, without our family's formula, that bamboo is just bamboo, wood ash is just garbage, not worth a single copper coin. It is we who turn these worthless things into paper that can be sold for money! We provide the pot that allows the entire village to eat meat; taking thirty percent of the broth is perfectly reasonable!"

He looked at his father and continued: "The Village Head bears the risks and manages everything. He takes twenty percent; that's his rightful management fee. The remaining fifty percent is distributed among all the villagers who contribute labor. This distribution is something no one can find fault with! Who would dare say our Su Family is greedy?"

Lin Yu was applauding wildly in Su Ming's mind.

"Excellent! Absolutely excellent! Disciple, with your eloquence, it would be a waste not to go into multi-level marketing! Transferring risk to power, sharing benefits with the masses, and firmly holding the core technology in your own hands! You truly grasp the essence of my The Way of Cautious Survival! Your Master's heart is greatly comforted, greatly comforted!"

Su Ming ignored his Master's antics. He nervously watched his father, awaiting the final verdict.

Su Shan's breathing grew heavy.

His mind, which had been confined by loess and sweat for a lifetime, was now operating at an unprecedented speed.

He could almost see the scene.

A village-run Workshop, built under the Village Head's command.

The idle men and laborers in the village all had work, happily collecting wages every day, and when they saw his family, they would all bow and call them "Gods of Wealth."

And his Su Family, without doing anything, only needing his son Su Ming to occasionally "guide" the technology, would have a continuous stream of white copper coins flowing into their pockets.

Most importantly, this enormous secret would no longer be borne by his Su Family alone.

It would be borne by the entire village!

Whoever dared to steal the formula would be an enemy of the entire Su Family Village! The Village Head would be the first to object!

This... this was simply turning a treasure that could invite calamity into an indestructible protective fortress!

How could his frail younger son, who usually only knew how to read, come up with such a comprehensive and shrewd plan?

Could it be that reading too many books could truly open one's mind?

Su Shan couldn't figure it out, but he knew this method was feasible!

He looked up, and an unprecedented light burst forth from his cloudy eyes. He looked at Su Ming as if seeing a stranger.

After a long while, he tapped the ash from his pipe onto the ground and straightened his body again.

His back, which had been hunched for a lifetime, seemed to straighten a few degrees at this moment.

"Good."

He said only one word.

Then he looked at Su Feng and Su Yang, and then at Chen Shi and Wang Chuntao.

"Family matters, as usual. Keep your mouths shut; if anyone leaks even half a word, they are no longer part of my Su Family!"

Finally, his gaze returned to Su Ming, his tone carrying a solemnity he himself hadn't noticed.

"Xiao Ming, tomorrow morning, before dawn, you'll come with me."

"Where to, Father?" Su Ming asked, though he knew the answer.

Su Shan took a deep breath, as if to expel decades of poverty and oppression.

"To the Village Head's house!"