68: Drive away the tiger to devour the wolf

Lin Yu's voice was cold: "Village Head thinks he's the king of the village, but in the eyes of those people, he's not even worth a fart. The entire Su Family Village is just a pigsty waiting to be slaughtered."

(Inner thoughts: "Sigh, how did the news suddenly spread? Could someone be fanning the flames? Logically, making some paper shouldn't attract this much attention. The merchant was also contacted before, it's just that Village Head found connections in town. I originally thought this Village Head had some brains, but I didn't expect him to be so stupid. Despite all precautions, we still capsized. I can only take it one step at a time. If things really go south, I'll just trick my apprentice into running away.")

Su Ming's heart sank little by little.

He had thought about danger, but he hadn't imagined it was so close.

"Then what should I do?" Su Ming's voice was a little hoarse. "Take my parents and second brother and run? Where can we run to?"

"Run?" Lin Yu snorted. "You can run, but can your parents? Away from Su Family Village, you'd be rootless duckweed, scattered by a gust of wind. You'd die even faster then."

(Inner thoughts: "Sigh, having a Family to drag along is such a hassle. If it were just me, I would have found a deep mountain forest to hide in long ago.")

"But we can't just sit here and wait for death!" Su Ming's fists clenched under the table.

"Of course not." Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of foxy cunning. "Disciple, drive away the wolves and chase the tigers."

Su Ming suddenly looked up, a gleam in his eyes.

"The Zhou Family?"

"A teachable child indeed." Lin Yu praised. "The Zhou Family is the biggest tiger in Qingshi Town. Why did Yu Lin help you today? Did he make a small bet of favor on you, gambling that you might repay him in the future?"

Su Ming fell silent. He recalled Yu Lin's gentle yet distant gaze, and understood.

"But why would the Zhou Family offend so many forces in town for our small Su Family Village?" Su Ming asked the most crucial question.

"Good question." Lin Yu's voice was tinged with a smile. "They wouldn't now, of course. Because you're not worthy enough. What are you now? A country boy with a bit of cleverness. The Zhou Family has seen many like you; they're not valuable."

"So, what you need to do is make yourself 'valuable'."

"How do I become valuable?"

"Pass the imperial examination and become a Xiucai." Lin Yu's tone became understated.

"Xiucai?" Su Ming was stunned.

"Yes, Xiucai." Lin Yu explained. "In this dynasty, a Xiucai holds an official title. They don't have to kneel before the county magistrate, are exempt from taxes and corvée labor, and ordinary people cannot easily insult them. This is not just a status; it's a protective talisman."

"If you go to Zhou Wenhai now and say you want him to invest in the paper Workshop, he'll likely refuse you. But if you go to him with the title of a Xiucai, saying you have a way to benefit his Family, how do you think he'll treat you?"

"He'll treat you as a 'talent' worth winning over, a 'friend' with whom he can converse as an equal!"

"At that point, when you bring up the Su Family Village matter, it won't be asking for his help, but a cooperation. You provide the technology, he provides the protection. He just needs to move his lips to make those jackals and tigers not dare to extend their claws. And what he gets in return is a Workshop that can continuously produce cheap, good paper, and the favor of a promising young Xiucai."

"Will Zhou Wenhai lose out on this deal?"

These words were like a sudden enlightenment, clearing Su Ming's mind.

"I understand." Su Ming let out a long breath, the gloom in his chest completely swept away.

He turned his head to look at Zhao Rui, who was still dispirited.

"Zhao Rui."

Zhao Rui looked up, his eyes blank.

"Do you know what that person surnamed Wei's Family does?" Su Ming asked.

Zhao Rui paused, then instinctively replied: "I... I heard they're the biggest cloth merchant in town, and they're somewhat related to the County Commandant."

"Cloth merchant..." Su Ming nodded, committing this information to memory.

Su Ming returned to the inn, carefully taking out the gazetteer of qingzhou county that Xu Qing had given him from his worn-out satchel, along with several books on classical essays and policy papers he had bought from a bookstall.

He neatly arranged the books on the table, then sat down, picked up a book, and began to read it word by word, by the light of dusk.

His movements were slow and steady, as if everything outside had nothing to do with him.

A month's time flowed away like water through his fingers.

In the room at the end of the second floor of Fuan Inn, Su Ming and Zhao Rui lived two completely different lives.

Su Ming's life was as regular as a precise clock.

Before dawn, he would sit cross-legged on the bed, cultivating the Breath Concealment Art. The Qi in his body flowed gently like a docile stream through his Meridians, washing over every inch of his body. His entire aura became increasingly introverted; sometimes, when he sat still, even the Waiter dozing at the counter would be startled by the figure lurking in the shadows when bringing water upstairs.

"Disciple, well done, well done, you have quite the demeanor of your master in his youth." Lin Yu expressed his satisfaction from within the ring. "Now, when you walk on the road, even dogs are too lazy to give you a second glance. This shows that your aura has successfully merged with the environment, reaching the Elementary Realm of 'harmony between man and nature.' Keep working hard to achieve the Perfection Realm of 'passerby A' as soon as possible."

During the day, Su Ming would hold the gazetteer of qingzhou county given by Xu Qing and several basic classical essays, reading for an entire day. He read extremely slowly and meticulously, as if he wasn't reading a book, but plowing with his eyes, planting every single word into his mind.

Zhao Rui's life, on the other hand, was a mess.

For the first few days, he pretended to study with his book box, but within a few days, his true nature was revealed. Either he complained that the bed board was too hard, or that the food was too plain. Su Ming strictly adhered to the daily budget of fifty wen: thirty wen for the room and twenty wen for food. These twenty wen were only enough for the two of them to eat two bowls of plain Yangchun noodles with clear broth at the noodle stall in the alley, at most adding an egg.

"Su Ming! Noodles again! I feel like my whole body is going to turn into a noodle!" Zhao Rui slammed his chopsticks on the table, his face full of indignation. "My father gave me forty taels of silver, not to cultivate immortality in town!"

Su Ming didn't even lift an eyelid, slowly finishing the last bite of noodles in his bowl, then took Zhao Rui's untouched bowl.

"If you don't eat it, it saves money for tomorrow morning's meal."

Zhao Rui's protests were drowned out by Su Ming's calm and resolute actions. After several such incidents, he also learned his lesson, but his face remained as long as the signboard at the entrance of the inn all day long.