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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 said, "Money can connect the gods with one hundred thousand strings of cash,
There is nothing that cannot be returned. "She had a deep impression of it.
She understood that money was not everything,
But in such a feudal society,
Money could solve most of the problems she might face in the future.
Being a rich woman was the current Li Yue,
On the contrary, it was the simplest and easiest thing to achieve, especially now that she could 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,
Relatively speaking, it was more trustworthy,
It was also the most powerful one among the local gangs,
But the gang members were all local ruffians,
There were no martial arts experts in charge.
One of the characteristics of local ruffians was that they bullied the weak and feared the strong,
It was easier to clean up. At the same time, their minds were more flexible than ordinary people, and they were more suitable for scouting out 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,
She ordered people to go to the West City to buy the raw materials for making soap.
When the peddlers in the West City heard that the Long Dragon had come to buy things,
They were very nervous,
They didn't dare to sell,
They didn't dare to not sell. When they really got the money from the Long Dragon, they were stunned and felt like they were dreaming. One of the peddlers even bit himself and left a bloody tooth mark before letting 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 in the West City who sold cattle and sheep, so there was naturally 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 burly men's faces 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 didn't 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 hadn't had the fortune of personally seeing the courtyard of her own gang, which was like the scene of a Hogwarts potion class. Naturally, she couldn't 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 hadn't recovered yet. Before the teacher appeared, they were chattering non-stop. The topics couldn't be separated 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 didn't know where Lu San Egg went.
The children didn't 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. He then tactfully hinted that she could bring her parents with her the next time she went to school.
Li Yue was a little worried when she suddenly heard that her parents were called. She suspected that the trouble she caused at school in the past had been exposed and that the old teacher had found out that she was one of the instigators. However, the old teacher's attitude was too amiable and didn't seem like he was looking for trouble. For a short period of time, she was quite confused.
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 worn men's clothes since she went to school. The teacher probably 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 came into contact with could generally be 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 couldn't treat her in the usual way. The education he received since childhood made him have the idea of teaching Li Yue to be a traditional woman who didn't leave the house. However, the moment this idea was born, the voice in his heart also sounded.
He shouldn't and didn't 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 was against the norm in the eyes of the world, he wouldn't oppose it. He only needed to watch quietly and reach out at the appropriate time 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 county school to study is also beneficial for ordinary people."
"But, has Shuozhou Academy ever produced a top grade scholar?
Not to mention a top grade scholar, since the founding of the country, the Shuozhou Academy and the Jinshi Academy haven't produced many people.
Besides, there's still Tanhua Lang at home, Uncle Li. Do you have no confidence in me or in yourself? "
Li Yue patted her cheeks. Not long after, she began to ramble:
"Putting everything else aside, what if in a few years I pass the imperial examination and am taken in as 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 a princess will take a fancy to me. If I don't pay attention and become a son-in-law, then — "
"Nonsense — cough cough cough cough —"
"Uncle Li, are you okay?"
Li Xunhuan coughed for a long time before stopping. Li Yue took the opportunity to change the wine pot in his hand into hot tea. He didn't 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. Seeing this, Rio's alarm bells rang in her heart.
In the original work, when Li Xunhuan appeared, he looked like he was half-dead from chronic illness. Li Yue couldn't remember whether he had a hereditary family disease or a lung disease caused by drinking too much. Since there were suspected signs now, she should make plans early. She decided to tell Uncle Fu and Tie Chuanjia to have the family's kitchen make Tanhua Lang stewed snow pear with rock sugar every day.
Not long after Li Yue left the study, Tie Chuanjia pushed the door open and entered. 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. The teachers in the school wouldn't 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 far away in the suburbs practicing martial arts with his master, inexplicably sneezed loudly.
"As for the price, no problem, no problem. I just need to trouble mother to help this little one connect …"
The human trafficker and the brothel madam flirted with each other while discussing the price of the little girls who were being sold as goods. They didn't care at all that the little girls who were huddled together in the cold wind were shivering because of the long period of travel and hunger.
The most valuable one among the little girls, although her clothes were ragged and her face was covered in dust like the others, it still couldn't hide her beauty. It was a pity that she was still young. Her eyes were dull and her expression was dull. She lived like a fool standing alone in the cold outside the crowd. It was inevitable that people would wring their hands and sigh.
The brothel madam and the human trafficker discussed the price for a long time before settling on the transaction amount. The other little girls were all taken away by the fierce-looking women in the brothel. Only the most beautiful little girl was brought to the brothel madam's boudoir and personally washed up and dressed up.
After the little girl changed into a new set of clothes, the brothel madam's eyes lit up as she patted the little girl's head. It was as if she was looking at a mountain of gold and a sea of silver:
"Jiaojiao, you were born with such a beautiful face. It's fine even if you are a little foolish.
The people at the border are all rough people who don't care about poetry and talent. It's best if they can serve their customers well.
You eat well. Mommy has the best chef in the brothel to teach you.
In a few years, when I give you a bath, mommy will pick a good tempered one for you ~ "
The little girl sat motionlessly on the bed, letting the brothel madam talk to herself as she imagined her future life of earning a lot of money. In a place where the brothel madam couldn't see, the little girl rolled her eyes and cursed the brothel madam's family in her heart.
This seemingly foolish and pitiful little girl was naturally not truly foolish, but she was indeed pitiful. She was born in a poor family. When she was five years old, both her parents died. She didn't have any other relatives. Just as she was about to wander the streets, a kind female neighbor took her in.
The female neighbor was a kind person. Originally, she wanted to keep the little girl as a child bride for her infant son. Unfortunately, her husband was not a good person. He had a bad temper and was addicted to gambling. One day, a debt collector came to the house. The female neighbor and the little girl were both bedridden. The man had already lost all the valuables in the house. He couldn't take out anything to repay the debt, so he decided to use the little girl as a bargaining chip.
At that time, the little girl's face was covered in dirt. It was impossible to see what she looked like. The people in the casino simply let the human trafficker take her away.
The human trafficker was very smart. He felt the little girl's bones and measured her age. Then, he quietly mixed her in with the other girls who were sold as bargaining chips and took them away from the town.
On the way to the border, the human trafficker never gave the children enough food to prevent them from having the strength to escape.