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Mwah.
Then Li Yue had a choice.
There was only one option: "Money".
Li Yue still remembered an article called "Money Can Connect the Gods" that she had read a long time ago.
Especially when it read, "Money can reach 100,000 strings of cash.
Can connect the gods, there is nothing that cannot be returned. "She had a deep impression of it.
She understood that money was not omnipotent.
However, in such a feudal society, money could solve most of the problems that she might face in the future.
Being a rich woman was not a good idea for the current Li Yue.
It was the simplest and easiest thing to achieve.
Especially since she could still borrow the "power" of the Li family's veteran caravan.
However, she did not plan to completely rely on the Li family's shop to do business. She wanted to have her own people and shop.
Therefore, Li Yue set her sights on the Long Dragon, who was in the midst of internal strife.
The Long Dragon was one of the local gangs in Shuo Zhou City.
The headquarters was in the West City, so it was relatively more trustworthy. It was also the most powerful one among the local gangs. However, the gang members were all local ruffians.
There were no martial arts masters in charge.
One of the characteristics of the local ruffians was that they bullied the weak and feared the strong. It was easier to deal with them. At the same time.
Their minds were also more flexible than ordinary people.
They were more suitable for scouting for information and expanding trade routes.
Li Yue had always been a person of action. On the day she integrated the Long Dragon and confirmed her position as the leader of the gang, she ordered people to go to the West City to buy raw materials for making soap.
When the vendors in the West City heard that the Long Dragon had come to buy things,
They were very nervous.
They did not dare to sell.
They did not dare to not sell. When they really got the money from the Long Dragon, they were stunned. They felt like they were dreaming. One of the vendors even bit himself, leaving a bloody bite mark before he let go.
There were only two main raw materials to make soap — oil and alkali.
Shuo Zhou City was located outside the pass, and there were often nomads selling cattle and sheep in the West City. Naturally, there was no shortage of oil.
However, Li Yue had a headache when it came to alkali.
The most suitable base to make soap was sodium hydroxide, but with the current industrial level, it was very difficult to buy this stuff. Li Yue could only settle for the next best thing, which was to buy all the alkali and halogen alkali that could be bought on the market.
Now that the materials were all prepared, all that was left was the actual operation.
In the courtyard of Changlong Gang Headquarters, which was originally used for gambling and frolicking, several large pots were set up. Following Li Yue's instructions, a dozen or so men dressed in coarse linen robes, hats on their heads, and masks on their faces, divided into several groups and surrounded the large pots.
They added firewood, added raw materials, stirred, and tried to make soap in silence and care.
The firewood under the pot was burning fiercely, and the oily paste inside the pot kept rolling along with the stirrer's movements. A strange and rich smell mixed with the white mist permeated the air, making the faces of the burly men turn ashen. They secretly felt that their Sect Master was deliberately causing trouble for them.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard was very strange. Some of the more timid gang members who had just returned from the West City almost fainted when they saw the people and pots in the courtyard.
The older gang members also did not understand what their Gang Leader was trying to do. They touched the warm silver in their sleeves and felt that the Long Dragon was going to die soon. Should they spend some time looking for their next boss?
Recently, Li Yue did not have the fortune to personally see the courtyard of her own gang, which was like the scene of a Hogwarts potion class. Naturally, she could not understand the feelings of the gang members who were troubled by the strange smell.
These days, there was no winter or summer vacation. As the new Gang Leader of the underworld, after the seventh day of the New Year, she obediently carried her cloth bag and went to school.
The children in the school were still immersed in the New Year's atmosphere and had not recovered. Before the teacher appeared, they were chattering non-stop. Their topics could not stray away from fireworks, new clothes, and New Year's money.
Li Yue looked around the classroom in boredom and found that a few people were no longer in their seats. Lu San Egg was one of them. She cast a questioning look at Zhu Er, but Zhu Er gently shook his head. Obviously, he also did not know where Lu San Egg went.
The children did not argue for long before the old teacher pushed the door open and entered the classroom.
Suppressing the doubts in her heart, Li Yue studied and wrote as usual. When it was time for lunch, the old teacher brought her to the study without warning and asked her a few questions about her studies with a pleasant expression. Then, he tactfully hinted that she could bring her parents with her the next time she went to school.
When she suddenly heard that her parents were called, Li Yue was a little worried for a while. She suspected that the old teacher had discovered that she was one of the instigators of the trouble she had caused at school in the past. However, the old teacher's attitude was too amiable, and it did not seem like he was looking for trouble. For a short period of time, she was quite puzzled.
When Li Yue told Li Xunhuan and Uncle Fu that her parents were called, Tanhua Lang put down the wine pot in his hand and was stunned for a moment. Uncle Fu immediately reacted and even congratulated Big Li And Little Li with a smile.
"Little Miss has always been intelligent and eager to learn. She has always been the best in school. This old man reckons that the teacher wants to recommend Little Miss to Shuozhou Academy."
Li Xunhuan turned to Uncle Fu and asked, "The provincial and county academies outside the border also accept female students?"
"I haven't heard of it, but Little Miss has always been wearing men's clothes. I'm afraid that the teacher didn't think of this."
Tanhua Lang looked at the little girl in front of him who wore simple clothes and only had her hair tied up in a ponytail. Since he was born, the women he had come into contact with could be generally divided into four types. The first type were well-educated and well-mannered ladies like Lin Shiyin. The second type were ordinary women like the servants at home who worked hard for a living. The third type were prostitutes like Xiao Hong and Xiao Cui who used their beauty to serve people. The remaining type were all women of the jianghu who had different personalities and styles.
Facing Li Yue who was completely different from other children of the same age and who was exceptionally intelligent and lively, Li Xunhuan knew that he could not treat her in the usual way. The education he had received since childhood made him have the idea of teaching Li Yue to be a traditional woman who did not leave the house. However, the moment this idea was born, the voice in his heart also sounded.
He should not and did not have the qualifications to intervene in other people's lives. Therefore, if the little girl wanted to do something, even if it was something that deviated from the norm in the eyes of the world, he would not oppose it. He only needed to quietly watch and when appropriate, reach out his hand to prevent the little girl from falling.
Li Yue looked at Li Xunhuan and the light in her eyes changed several times before finally stabilizing. She knew that the other party had made a decision, but she rushed to say her own thoughts in front of him:
"Uncle Li, I don't plan to leave school and go to Shuozhou Academy. I also don't want to take the imperial examination."
"Even if you don't mention the imperial examination, going to a provincial or county school to study is beneficial for ordinary people."
"But, has Shuozhou Academy ever produced an A-level scholar?
Not to mention an A-level scholar, since the founding of the country, there have only been a few Jinshi in Shuozhou.
Besides, there's still Tanhua Lang at home, Uncle Li. Do you not have confidence in me or in yourself? "
Li Yue patted her cheeks. Not long after, she began to talk nonsense again:
"Putting everything else aside, what if in a few years I pass the imperial examination and become a son-in-law?
Do you want to see me being hit with embroidered balls by all the noble ladies in the capital?
With my face, not to mention noble ladies, maybe even princesses will take a fancy to me. If I don't pay attention and become the Prince Consort, then — "
"Nonsense — Cough, cough, cough —"
"Uncle Li, are you okay?"
Li Xunhuan coughed for a long time before he stopped. Li Yue took the opportunity to change the wine pot in his hand into hot tea. He did not say much and just waved his hand to let Li Yue go back to her room to practice calligraphy.
Before the little girl left, Tanhua Lang's face was still suffused with an almost sickly pink color, which made Rio feel alarmed.
In the original work, when Li Xunhuan appeared, he looked like he was half dead from chronic illness. Li Yue could not remember whether he had a hereditary family disease or a lung disease caused by drinking too much. Since there were symptoms now, she should make plans early. She decided to tell Uncle Fu and Tie Chuanjia to have the family's kitchen make Tanhua Lang snow pear stew every day in the future.
Not long after Li Yue left the study, Tie Chuanjia pushed open the door and came in. Li Xunhuan looked at the smiling Uncle Fu and then looked at the bearded Tie Chuanjia. He coughed softly:
"Recently, did Xiao Yue … buy any storybooks from the bookstore?"
Uncle Fu and Tie Chuanjia shook their heads in unison. Tanhua Lang frowned:
"That's strange. I don't have any storybooks in my study, and the teachers in the school will not let them read books other than the Book of Songs. Where did Xiao Yue learn these strange words? Could it be … that child?"
Lu San Egg, who was practicing martial arts with his master in the suburbs, inexplicably sneezed loudly.
The word "debt" probably touched the boy's heartstrings. He finally let go of Li Yue's wrist and lifted the quilt to get up. Li Yue hurriedly pressed the boy back on the bed.
"Hey, hey, don't move. You haven't recovered yet."
"… I can't continue to owe you a debt."
The boy, who had just woken up, still sounded a little hoarse, but his complexion was much better than before. He didn't dare to use too much force on Li Yue and only gently brushed away Li Yue's hand. It was obvious that he had made up his mind to leave the room.
Seeing Hoodlum stand up in his underwear and pick up his sword to leave, Li Yue was so angry that she wanted to laugh. She sat on the edge of the bed and suddenly shouted to stop Hoodlum from stepping out of the door:
"Stop!"
The boy stopped in his tracks. He hesitated for a moment before finally turning around. His expression was cold as he faced Li Yue.
As soon as she met the young man's gaze, Li Yue's heart was filled with irritation. However, when she saw Hoodlum's slightly pale and handsome face, her anger instantly disappeared. She took a deep breath and maintained her composure. She raised her chin and looked at the young man. Then, she patted the edge of the bed beside her.
"You don't want to owe me a debt, right?
Come and sit down. Let's settle the debt. "
Hoodlum squeezed the sword in his hand. He didn't sit beside Li Yue. Instead, he expressionlessly walked in front of the little girl and stood still. His actions were filled with stubbornness.
There was already a height difference between the two. When one sat and the other stood, the taller one was taller and the shorter one was shorter. Li Yue could only look up to see Hoodlum's expression. She recalled the image of a landlord in a movie she had seen in the past. She simply took off her shoes and jumped onto the bed. She looked down at Hoodlum as if she was flying:
"Is this the attitude of someone who wants to repay their debt?
Do you think that if you leave my house now, you can reduce your debt to me?
Do you know how much money I spent to hire a doctor to brew medicine for you while you were unconscious?
Hmph!
You owe me so much, and now you want to run away?
Let me tell you, whether you're willing or not, you have to stay here obediently and recuperate!
Otherwise, if something happens to you again, who am I going to look for to collect my debt? "
Li Yue spoke rapidly to Hoodlum. Hoodlum looked at her without blinking.
When her mouth was dry and she thought that the youth would definitely refuse with silence, the other party suddenly opened his mouth and responded:
"I understand."
Without waiting for Li Yue to say anything else, Hoodlum added:
"I won't run away before I repay my debt."
"Hmph!
Do you think that I … you … "
At first, he was so difficult to communicate with, but now, he was so easy to talk to. Li Yue really couldn't understand what the youth was thinking. She didn't care about anything else. It was fine as long as he could stay obediently.
Thinking of Bai Feifei's previous actions, in order to prevent the youth from changing his mind again, Li Yue didn't rush to jump off the bed. Instead, she counted with her fingers and settled the debt with Hoodlum:
"Hey, let's make it clear first. You owe me money for your medicine, so you have to work to pay off your debt.
In order to ensure that you have enough strength to work, I will provide food and lodging during this period. The money for food and lodging will also have to be paid off by your hard work.
As for the debt of gratitude, let's count it this way. You owe me two wishes. If I need them in the future, no matter how hard you work, you have to fulfill them for me.
Is this fair enough? "
"… Okay, I promise."
Li Yue let out a long sigh of relief in her heart. She still had that "I'm super fierce" look on her face. She wanted to slowly climb off the bed, but she felt that it would ruin her image. She could only instruct the youth to bring her shoes over and make him turn around.
Hoodlum did as he was told and obediently stood with his back to the little girl.
Li Yue's "negotiation" was successful. With a complacent expression, she sat on the edge of the bed and slowly put on her shoes. When she finished putting on her right foot and was about to put on her left foot, Li Xunhuan suddenly pushed open the door and entered.
After the person who came in third looked around the room, his expression turned from gentle to strange.
"Just now … What were you doing?"
It was no wonder that Tanhua Lang had a strange expression. After all, Hoodlum and Li Yue's current expressions and actions, as well as the messy clothes on the bed, were like the aftermath of a mountain king defiling an innocent girl.
Of course, the innocent girl was Hoodlum, and the mountain king was Li Yue.
Coupled with the fact that Li Yue had previously said something about a "child bride", if it weren't for the fact that they were still young, Li Xunhuan's blood pressure would have increased.
Tanhua Lang restrained himself. In the end, he didn't reprimand Li Yue in front of Hoodlum. He only said to the latter coldly:
"You … Come to my study for a moment."
Li Yue's hand that was holding her shoes paused. Her face immediately fell.
Although she had explained to Tanhua Lang what she had done in the study, and Li Xunhuan didn't say what she had done wrong, Li Yue still carried a small mountain of copybooks back to her room.
She originally planned to ask Hoodlum to share some of the tasks, but after the youth came over and wrote a few words, Li Yue immediately gave up on this idea.
The reason was simple. Not only was the style of the youth's handwriting different from Li Yue's, but it was also better than Li Yue's handwriting. It was too easy to see through it.
The next day, Li Yue went to school as usual. She ordered Hoodlum to stay at home to rest.
During the break, she didn't disturb Zhu Ting who was sleeping on the table. Instead, she thought about Hoodlum's future.
With the youth's current age, it wasn't suitable for him to go to school with her. According to his personality, he didn't like to be involved with others. Li Yue thought about it and remembered the scene when they met in front of the tavern during the New Year.
As soon as she got home after school, Li Yue went to the backyard and grabbed the little fox that was burrowing all over the ground like a groundhog. When she slipped into the front yard, she immediately saw the youth holding his sword in deep thought under the plum tree. She suddenly had the idea of teasing the youth, so she tiptoed behind the youth in an attempt to scare him.
Hoodlum was used to living in the wilderness and was very alert. When Li Yue stepped into the front yard, he had already heard the little girl's movements. When Li Yue suddenly jumped out from behind him with the little fox, he didn't even bat an eyelid.
Li Yue put the squeaking little fox into Hoodlum's arms and put her hands behind her head.
"Well, Uncle Tie has always been taking care of Mao Mao, but Uncle Tie has been busy recently and has no time to take care of it. The others also don't have the experience of taking care of foxes, so your first job is to take care of Mao Mao. Don't let it destroy the plants in the yard and don't let it escape from the backyard. Do you understand?"
The youth nodded and skillfully changed his position so that the little fox was nestled in his arms.
After arranging the work at Hoodlum and dealing with the Long Dragon, Li Yue stretched and turned around to find Tie Chuanjia.
On the day off, the children of the same age were playing around. Li Yue sat on the Long Dragon's high chair with one hand supporting her chin and listened to the hoodlums' work reports.
After the Long Dragon announced that there would be no compulsory collection of protection fees, not many people were willing to pay the higher price of the security fees even though the gang members had repeatedly promoted it. Many of the vendors still held the protection fees and begged the hoodlums to lower the fees.
Li Yue didn't need to think to know that most of the people who paid the security fees did so because they didn't want to offend the local tyrant, the Long Dragon. They weren't willing to hire the Long Dragon's security personnel.
Wang Sanqian, who was in charge of security related matters, said that the gang's profits had plummeted this month and asked the Gang Leader to punish him. Li Yue didn't respond and just waved her hand to let him continue to wait.
He Lao Er, who was in charge of the sales of soap, had a happy expression and confidently reported the profits of the month to Li Yue. Wang Sanqian, who was standing at the side, had a bitter expression on his face.
These days, people mostly used soap and charcoal to clean their clothes. They also only used hot water when bathing. Only high officials and nobles could afford to use soap.
The cost of soap was higher than soap, and the cheaper soap didn't clean as well as soap. In addition, Li Yue had Zhu Ting made a large number of templates with different shapes and some natural dyes. It was completely able to satisfy the different needs of the Shuo Zhou City's residents.
The location of the soap shop was near Xi City. The shop was bought by Li Yue herself. Before the official opening, Li Yue had the gang members cut the soap into small pieces and distributed them to passers-by on the streets. Then, under the guidance of Uncle Fu, she gave a few gifts to the political officials in Shuo Zhou City.
Although the residents of the city had doubts, they quickly discovered the advantages of the soap after trying it out. Therefore, on the opening day, there were still people lining up to buy it.
In addition, with the help of the Li Family's caravan, the business of the soap shop was exceptionally prosperous. It was as if the supply couldn't meet the demand.
He Lao Er hurriedly hoped that Li Yue would allow him to expand the production of soap. Li Yue didn't agree. She wasn't worried about the scarcity, but she felt that the gang members didn't have enough manpower. Just making soap already took a lot of people, and they also needed a lot of people to sell it. If it wasn't for the fact that the security work hadn't been fully developed yet, the gang would definitely lack people to patrol and guard.
The prosperity of the business naturally made others jealous. If one gang was the only gang, it would attract even more jealousy. It wasn't uncommon for people to come looking for trouble or secretly do things in order to get the secret formula of the soap.
Li Yue had thought of this early on. After she became the gang leader, she had already cleaned up a wave of people in the gang.
Therefore, the people in the gang who knew about the raw materials of soap were all reliable elders. They had already been beaten by Tie Chuanjia. Later on, when the business of the soap shop started, they would invest money in it and get a share of the profits.
With a stable income and Tie Chuanjia's "guidance" from time to time, there were very few people who had thoughts that they shouldn't have.
Even if there were people who had disloyal thoughts, they would weigh their own weight again and again to see if they had the life to earn money.
In a short period of time, they couldn't find a breakthrough from the Long Dragon Gang members. Some people simply spent money to hire thieves to try to steal the secret formula.
Although they were all in the underworld, different professions were like different mountains. If it wasn't for Tie Chuanjia coincidentally guarding the main hall that day, the thieves would have succeeded.
Although Tie Chuanjia caught the thief, he didn't beat him ruthlessly because the thief was a child. He looked like he was only a few years older than Li Yue.
Li Yue looked at the pitiful appearance of the child lying on the ground. Her heart softened, but she was very clear-headed. She only told the gang members to lock the child in the firewood shed and didn't directly let him go.
The child had been starving in the firewood shed for two days. He was a lot more well-behaved. His eyes didn't roll around and look around like before. However, when Li Yue asked him who ordered him to do this, the child made up a bunch of nonsense and didn't tell the truth no matter what.
The gang members were so angry that they wanted to beat the child. Li Yue shook her head and signaled them to let him go.
The child was very clever. After he left, he didn't directly go back to the place where he lived. Instead, he hid in the streets and alleys for a few nights. In the early morning, he sneaked back to a broken courtyard.
When Li Yue and Hoodlum were buying snacks in the downtown area, she saw the child again. However, the child didn't have four limbs like he did when he went to steal things. He was lame in one leg and had a broken arm. He was lying on the side of the street with a foul smell all over his body. He kept kowtowing to the people coming and going.