Chapter 279: Third Young Master Recruits Workers

Qin Mian, on the other hand, looked as though she had just watched an entertaining show. Smiling, she came back from the window, sat down at the table, and asked, "Proprietress, did you test him like that because you think there's something wrong with him?"

Su Zhao said indifferently, "I only thought the man seemed a little hypocritical, talking about there being no distinction between high and low, noble and base. Look at the men who come and go from Among the White Clouds. Which one isn't properly dressed and respectable before he enters, only to turn into a beast afterward? I merely wanted to make him show his true colors and see whether he acts one way in front of people and another behind their backs."

Qin Mian fell silent for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Proprietress, I think this man may genuinely be a little different. What happened just now didn't look like an act... Not every man beneath Heaven is the same. There are still good men. There simply aren't many."

Su Zhao scooped up a small spoonful and put it in her mouth. "How did the arrangements go for having him visit Among the White Clouds and enjoy himself?"

Qin Mian smiled bitterly. "I used an excuse to mention it to Huyan Wei. I said we'd eaten tofu here for free last time and asked him to bring An Taiping to Among the White Clouds so I could return the hospitality as host. But Huyan Wei said An Taiping never visits places of wine, women, and pleasure. He said there's no point inviting him because he'd only refuse and spoil the fun."

Su Zhao's brows moved faintly. "Is there really such a thing as a cat that won't eat fish? Or does he look down on places like ours?"

Qin Mian said, "I don't know. Huyan Wei only said he isn't the sort who frequents pleasure houses and that An Taiping is stubborn as a single tendon. From what we've investigated, that seems to be true. He apparently has excellent martial skills, yet his superiors in the border army never liked him. Otherwise, with his ability, he would've earned some official rank there long ago instead of remaining unknown."

"Then again, if he weren't stubborn as a single tendon, he wouldn't have run all the way to the capital demanding justice. Doesn't everyone know officials protect other officials? How could people bold enough to smuggle warhorses not have backing above them? Still, he isn't stupid. He knew to seek out Huyan Wuhen. If he'd gone to someone else, he might have died without a burial place!"

Su Zhao slowly ate another bite. "Go find him. Have him come upstairs. Tell him I want to see him."

Qin Mian had no idea what she intended, but obeyed and left.

Before long, however, she returned alone and smiled bitterly. "He refuses to come."

Su Zhao asked, "You didn't tell him I was looking for him?"

Qin Mian sighed. "I did. He said that if we're dissatisfied with something, we should speak to the shopkeeper. If it's about anything else, we should go find Huyan Wei."

Su Zhao stirred the spoon in her bowl. "Looks like he still looks down on women from pleasure houses like us."

Qin Mian chuckled. "Maybe."

Outside by Ming Lake, Yuan Feng drove up in a cargo cart and stopped. Yuan Gang went over to inspect the goods he had brought.

After tying off the reins, Yuan Feng came over to help. Yuan Gang asked quietly, "How many have arrived?"

Only after a passerby behind them had gone by did Yuan Feng answer softly, "Two hundred and thirty-three so far."

Yuan Gang said, "We start using them tomorrow. Make the arrangements."

Yuan Feng asked, "There's still about half a month before the scheduled deadline. We aren't waiting for everyone to arrive?"

There were 292 men on the team in total. Only 233 had arrived, meaning nearly sixty were still missing, and no one knew when they would get there.

"The tofu becoming this popular was beyond what I expected," Yuan Gang said. "We're already short-handed here. Now Huyan Wei has suddenly gotten involved in expanding the business. We have deliveries to his friends, and we also have to supply the imperial palace. Dragging things out for another half month isn't realistic."

"The plan changes. We put it into operation early. We'll deal with the people who haven't arrived according to circumstances."

"Yes!" Yuan Feng answered.

"Later, settle all the purchasing accounts clearly with Shopkeeper Gao." Yuan Gang left those words behind and turned away.

"Understood." Yuan Feng grinned.

He had been away from Small Temple Village for so long, had spent so much time in Qingshan Commandery, and frequently encountered people like the Commandery Prince and Commandery Princess. Whether in outlook or state of mind, he was no longer the same boy who had once lived in that tiny mountain village. He had completely stepped beyond Small Temple Village.

Yuan Gang rarely showed himself in the storefront of the Tofu House. He had just been about to circle around it when Shopkeeper Gao ran out and caught hold of him again.

"Proprietor, we genuinely don't have enough hands here. When exactly are you going to hire people?"

Yuan Gang had been about to arrange precisely that. "When do you think we should hire them?"

Shopkeeper Gao said solemnly, "Naturally, the sooner the better!"

"Good. I'll have a notice posted today and we'll hire tomorrow. What do you think?"

Shopkeeper Gao looked as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and nodded repeatedly. "Good, good, good!"

Yuan Gang said, "Remember to notify Third Young Master. Tell him to come over tomorrow."

"Uh..." Shopkeeper Gao did not understand. "What do you need Third Young Master here for?"

"Naturally, Third Young Master will do the hiring." Yuan Gang left those words behind and walked away.

"..."

Shopkeeper Gao was speechless. Having Third Young Master recruit workers—only this man could come up with something like that. He very much wanted to ask whether Yuan Gang thought Third Young Master was the sort of person who did this kind of work.

But he was already accustomed to the proprietor's temperament. The man disliked useless talk and, once he said something, rarely changed his mind. If he gave you an assignment, you simply carried it out. There was little room to bargain.

Otherwise Yuan Gang would threaten to tell Third Young Master to replace him again, and Third Young Master would probably come kick him several more times...

The Tofu House by Ming Lake in the southern quarter posted a notice hiring workers. Wages would be paid monthly at five hundred copper coins per month, with food and lodging included. Applicants had to be hardworking and able to endure labor. The news caused quite a stir.

The wage itself was neither especially high nor especially low. The key was that food and lodging were included. With that added, the terms were genuinely quite good. Almost all the wages earned could be taken home to support one's family. So early the next morning, the open ground at West Bay beside Ming Lake was packed with people. The notice said they were hiring three hundred workers.

At least three thousand applicants were already present, and more kept streaming in. The entire area was so crowded that water could hardly have passed through. Quite a few women were craning their necks expectantly as well, plainly hoping they might be hired.

"Shopkeeper Gao, this is the capital. You've created this much commotion, so whatever you do, don't let anything happen. If trouble breaks out, I can't shoulder the responsibility!"

At the hiring site, the yamen had dispatched quite a few runners to keep watch. One official pulled Shopkeeper Gao aside and warned him repeatedly, genuinely worried something might happen.

If not for the fact that everyone knew this enterprise belonged to the Huyan family's Third Young Master, he probably would not have been nearly so polite. Shopkeeper Gao's expression was colorful as well.

The proprietor had not discussed any of this with him beforehand. Five hundred copper coins a month, food and lodging included—why spend all that unnecessary money? Yet the proprietor had simply done it. Shopkeeper Gao himself had only learned the details after seeing the notice. And now look at this. So many people had come that it was almost frightening. The man truly did not fear making a scene.

But now that the matter existed, Shopkeeper Gao had to help clean it up. He took out two gold coins, caught the official's hand, and quietly slipped them into his palm. "Please make allowances. Please make allowances."

The official did not even look at what was in his hand. Weighing the two coins was enough for him to know what they were. His eyes brightened, and he shouted at his men, "Watch carefully! No pushing or shoving!"

Shopkeeper Gao tried to leave by the way he had come, only to discover he could not get through the crowd at all.

He had no choice but to jump aboard a boat on the lake and have the boatman row him farther along the shore. Only then did he toss over a few copper coins, climb ashore, and run back toward the Tofu House.

When he reached the inner courtyard behind the shop, he found Yuan Gang still holding a horse stance, one massive stone cradled on each arm.

Shopkeeper Gao immediately became anxious. "Proprietor, there are enough people over at West Bay to gather a mob and start a rebellion! If this keeps up, something is going to happen. And you still have the mood to train here?"

Without moving, Yuan Gang asked, "Has Third Young Master arrived?"

"Not yet. But you need to go over and watch the site!"

"Did he say he was coming?"

Shopkeeper Gao looked up at the sun, already climbing into the sky. That Third Young Master really was not punctual.

He sighed. "He said he didn't want to come, but your fists are harder than his, so whether he wants to or not, he has to. From the look of things, though, who knows when he'll finally arrive."

He had figured it out. Every one of these people was unhurried and unafraid of trouble. He was the only one panicking. He had no choice but to panic. If something truly happened, Third Young Master would be fine. He would not let anything happen to this proprietor either. The one shoved out to take responsibility would definitely be Shopkeeper Gao. While they were speaking, hoofbeats sounded from the alley outside.

Shopkeeper Gao's eyes lit up. "That should be him." He turned and ran.

Sure enough, Huyan Wei came swaggering in. The moment he saw Yuan Gang planted in a horse stance with a huge stone resting on each arm, he remembered how this fellow had killed his mount with a single punch. The complaints already at his lips were swallowed back down. There was no helping it. This man was the very definition of stubborn as a single tendon. Once truly angered, what wouldn't he dare do? So what if Huyan Wei's family held power and influence?

Did being the Supreme General's son mean this fellow would not dare hit him? It was not as though Yuan Gang had never done it before. He had even dared abduct the Supreme General's son!

Someone as overbearing as Huyan Wei feared running into someone this savage. Worse, the savage brute was genuinely appreciated by his father. There was simply nothing Huyan Wei could do with him.

All he could manage was a bitter smile. "Brother An, I don't know anything about hiring workers. What exactly do you want me to recruit? Can't you just handle it yourself?"

Thump! Thump!

The two massive stones rolled smoothly from Yuan Gang's arms and landed lightly enough in his control, though the ground still shuddered twice beneath their weight.

"Hoo..." Yuan Gang exhaled deeply and stood upright. "Third Young Master, Shopkeeper Gao says if you don't go soon, something may happen."

Shopkeeper Gao was speechless.

Had he said that?

Then again, thinking about it, that was more or less what he meant.

Huyan Wei's eyes widened. "What's going on? Someone dares smash my place?"

"Not yet. If you wait much longer, I don't know whether that will still be true."

"I want to see who's got guts that fat. Come on, let's go take a look!"

Huyan Wei instantly seemed as though he had downed three great bowls of chicken blood. He turned into a fighting cock on the spot, every trace of the capital's spoiled young master bursting out of him.

He went outside, called his men together, ordered Shopkeeper Gao to run ahead and lead the way, then rode out with more than ten attendants on tall horses. When they reached the site, Huyan Wei pulled up on the reins and was visibly stunned. There had to be close to ten thousand people by now. If every one of them spat once, they could drown him where he stood.

With so many people pointing and murmuring in his direction, even his arrogant swagger weakened somewhat. One cheek beneath his thick beard twitched.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked Shopkeeper Gao.

Once he learned they were all merely applicants for work, he relaxed slightly. After hearing Yuan Gang's earlier words, he had thought this entire sea of people had come to smash his place. It had given him quite a fright. Yuan Gang strode over without the slightest hurry.

Huyan Wei had already dismounted. He immediately caught Yuan Gang by the arm. "Why make such a huge commotion? The capital has every kind of person mixed together. Gather a crowd like this, and if someone with bad intentions stirs them up, trouble can break out very easily."

He might be a spoiled scion, but a man born into a household like his still understood which matters were serious. He was not muddleheaded about everything.

[End of Chapter 279]