Chapter 280: I Say, Where'd Your Integrity Go?

The capital could not be allowed to fall into chaos. If some major disturbance truly erupted right beneath the emperor's eyes, Huyan Wei could not shoulder that responsibility.

Yuan Gang said, "We're hiring workers. These are poor people looking for work so they can eat. They haven't even secured the jobs yet. Nothing will happen."

Huyan Wei did not agree. His expression grew somewhat more serious. He beckoned one of his attendants over and ordered him to go to the barracks under his eldest brother's command and transfer a unit of troops here as a precaution. The man jumped onto his horse and quickly galloped away.

Only then did Huyan Wei ask, "Brother An, with this many people here, exactly how many are we hiring?"

Yuan Gang turned and stared straight at him. How little attention did this fellow pay? Half the city seemed to know how many workers his own business was hiring, yet he himself had no idea?

"What do you think?" Huyan Wei mistook the stare for admiration. "I just had the beard trimmed. Everyone says it looks good. Last night, the girls were practically throwing themselves at me with their lives on the line!"

He smugly stroked the thick beard covering his cheeks with both hands, clearly proud of his own handsome whiskers.

Yuan Gang said coldly, "Three hundred."

Huyan Wei looked astonished. "We're only hiring three hundred? Then why did this many people come?"

He had never seen a business recruit several hundred workers at once. Ordinary shops rarely hired hundreds of people in one batch. He did not think three hundred positions was a great many. He merely found the number of applicants astonishing. Shopkeeper Gao badly wanted to say one thing. The terms were good, with food and lodging included!

Yuan Gang gave a different answer. "It means the State of Qi has many poor people. If everyone could eat their fill and live well, who would rush here and stare so desperately at a chance like this?"

The words made Huyan Wei lower his head in thought for a moment.

Then he glanced sideways at Yuan Gang with deeper meaning and patted him on the shoulder. "Brother, I understand the choice you made. But words like that are fine when you're speaking to me. Don't say them carelessly in front of outsiders. Some people don't like hearing such things."

Yuan Gang said, "Third Young Master, let's begin hiring."

Huyan Wei looked lost, as though he had no idea where to begin. "How?"

"There are this many people for you to choose from. Pick whoever you want. Once you've selected three hundred, we're done."

Shopkeeper Gao broke into a faint sweat. Was this really how people hired workers? Shouldn't they at least see whether the applicants were suitable? These two really had enormous hearts.

Even Huyan Wei, inexperienced as he was, felt something about the method was wrong. Suspiciously, he asked, "Just pick anyone? That old fellow over there with the crutch who's missing a leg—you wouldn't hire someone like that too, would you?"

He raised a hand and pointed into the crowd.

"So long as someone is suitable, any kind of person can be useful," Yuan Gang said.

The moment the words left his mouth, a faint memory stirred. Master Dao seemed to have said something similar in the past, though the meaning had been different.

Huyan Wei looked Yuan Gang up and down and seemed to want to put some distance between them. "Brother An, stop messing around. You may not care about losing face, but I do. If I personally come here to recruit workers and end up hiring a cripple for my own shop, won't people laugh at me?"

"Can we please be serious? I'm counting on the Tofu House to make money. Don't start doing something ridiculous."

He now felt it had probably been right for him to come handle the hiring. If he had not come to watch over matters and this stubborn fellow recruited a whole collection of oddballs and cripples, Huyan Wei's friends would laugh him to death.

Seeing Third Young Master take a position, Shopkeeper Gao hurriedly agreed. "Right, right, right. Proprietor, Third Young Master is correct. The people we're hiring will have to carry shoulder poles around the city every day. This gentleman is missing a leg. Even if we give him a carrying pole, he won't be able to use it properly."

Yuan Gang's face remained expressionless. "Then we'll recruit young men who are capable, strong, and full of energy. Does Third Young Master think that standard is acceptable?"

That standard sounded excellent.

Afraid Yuan Gang would stubbornly do something strange again, Huyan Wei nodded at once. "Good, good, good. That's a fine standard. We'll use that."

He even shot Shopkeeper Gao a meaningful look.

Shopkeeper Gao hurriedly nodded along. "Good standard. Very good."

"Then begin." Yuan Gang extended a hand toward Huyan Wei.

Huyan Wei had never done anything like this before. "How exactly?"

"Third Young Master can simply point people out. If someone catches your eye and meets the standard, select him."

Just point people out again?

Could this man be any less reliable?

Huyan Wei had become wary of him. He turned and asked Shopkeeper Gao, "Will that really work?"

"It can work, but if we're choosing at random, we won't know anything about their character. What if we pick someone lazy, gluttonous, or light-fingered..."

Shopkeeper Gao stopped halfway through. Yuan Gang was looking at him coldly. That was the gaze of a man who had killed before. It carried a chilling murderous edge. Shopkeeper Gao immediately changed his tune.

"But then again... I think it'll work. We can hire them first. Anyone suitable stays, and anyone unsuitable can be dismissed at any time. With this many people, if we questioned every one of them carefully, we'd probably still be doing this several days from now."

The moment Huyan Wei heard he might have to waste several days on this miserable affair, he immediately wanted no part of it. "Brother An's method is good. We'll do it that way. Start, start. Hurry up and start!"

Naturally, the actual organization of the hiring fell to Shopkeeper Gao. Yuan Gang stood aside and watched coldly, observing the situation. If anything went wrong, he could step in and adjust matters at any time.

Huyan Wei, meanwhile, clasped his hands behind his back and wandered around, glancing at the sky and then the ground, visibly impatient.

Shopkeeper Gao asked the yamen men to help maintain order and arranged for the applicants to pass before them in a line. After that, matters became simple.

Huyan Wei watched person after person walk past him. Whenever someone met the agreed standard, he pointed with the horsewhip in his hand.

"You. Step out!"

The selected person would then go to a table off to one side, register his name, and count as hired. After all the fuss, the method still ended up exactly as Yuan Gang had said. Huyan Wei really was simply picking whoever looked pleasing enough to him. Anyone crooked, weak, or shabby enough to offend his eye was naturally never selected. In the broadest sense, everything proceeded within Yuan Gang's expectations.

The candidates he had personally chosen and trained had undergone more than a year of conditioning. Their energy, bearing, and spirit were simply not comparable to ordinary people.

Almost without exception, whenever one of them passed in front of Huyan Wei, Huyan Wei pointed him out and selected him. As the line continued to file past, the one-legged old man with the crutch inevitably appeared as well. Huyan Wei's gaze slid straight past him.

But Yuan Gang extended a hand and pointed the man out. "You. Come over."

The old man came forward on his crutch. Huyan Wei's eyes went wide. Surely not. Was this bastard really determined to turn him into a joke?

He hurriedly raised a hand and stopped the line, then grabbed Yuan Gang's arm. "Brother, we agreed I was doing the hiring. You can't go back on your word!"

"I'm only asking about his circumstances."

Huyan Wei plainly did not believe him. "What's there to ask? There are pitiful people everywhere beneath Heaven. Can you look after all of them?"

The fact that he could say such a thing showed he understood what Yuan Gang was thinking. His words were often unpleasant, but they frequently contained a practical truth. Yuan Gang caught his wrist in one hand.

Pain twisted Huyan Wei's face. "Fine, fine, fine! You're strong! Ask him, ask him!"

The instant Yuan Gang loosened his grip, Huyan Wei snatched his hand back and hurriedly rubbed his wrist several times. Shopkeeper Gao watched from the side and sighed inwardly. This proprietor truly showed Third Young Master no courtesy whatsoever.

Yuan Gang asked the old man, "How should I address you, sir?"

The old man answered respectfully, "Young Master is too polite. This old fellow is Yuan Dahu."

Yuan Gang asked, "What happened to your leg?"

The old man sighed. "No one is born with only one leg. I was once a member of the State of Qi's iron cavalry. Twenty years ago, when the State of Jin invaded, I fought at Black Iron Mountain and was wounded. This is what became of me."

Yuan Gang asked, "With you in this condition, your family still feels comfortable letting you come apply for work?"

The old man smiled bitterly. "My family is long gone. I wasn't married when I was wounded. Once I became like this, the army had no place for me either. After I came back, even looking after myself was difficult."

"Everyone has their own hardships. No girl wanted to marry me, and I understood that."

"With my leg like this, finding work has always been difficult. I've simply muddled through the years."

"Young Master, don't think I can't do anything just because I'm missing a leg. As long as it's work that doesn't require two good legs, I can do it. I don't care if the wages are lower. As long as I have something to eat, that's enough."

The old man's manner of speaking suggested he possessed at least some experience and understanding.

Yuan Gang fell silent briefly, then pointed toward the registration table. "Go register."

The old man had not even had time to thank him before Huyan Wei exploded.

His eyes widened like bronze bells. "Brother An, what about integrity? I say, where'd your integrity go? You can't go back on your word! Didn't you say you were only asking him about his circumstances? How did that turn into hiring him?"

Yuan Gang asked, "Did I ever say I wouldn't hire him?"

"..."

Huyan Wei was left speechless. Thinking back, Yuan Gang really had never said that.

He turned in an angry circle. "You're playing word games!"

Yuan Gang said expressionlessly, "I won't have him work in the shop. I have another use for him."

Huyan Wei pointed a finger straight at his nose. "Those are your own words! Fine. I'll give you this face."

There was not much choice about giving it. If this stubborn brute insisted on taking the old man, Huyan Wei knew he could not stop him.

Turning to Shopkeeper Gao, he ordered, "Remember this. That old fellow is not allowed to work in the shop. I can't afford that embarrassment!"

Shopkeeper Gao answered meekly and secretly glanced at Yuan Gang. The old man understood perfectly well that they despised him for being crippled. But when survival was at stake, dignity had long since stopped mattering so much. Leaning on his crutch, he repeatedly bowed in gratitude. Then, however, he hesitated and did not immediately go to register.

Yuan Gang asked, "Is there some problem, sir?"

The old man glanced toward the crowd. "Five of us came back wounded together that year. Now, besides me, only one old comrade is still alive. He also wants to put in some effort for Young Master. If it isn't too inconvenient..."

Huyan Wei whipped his head around. "I'm warning you, don't push your luck!"

The old man looked deeply embarrassed.

Yuan Gang said, "Call him out. Let me see him."

Huyan Wei's eyes widened.

Yuan Gang ignored him completely and repeated to the old man, "Call him over."

"Yes!" The old man bowed, then turned and shouted toward the crowd, "Old Gu! Come out! Hurry over here!"

Before long, a thin old man was allowed through the line and came forward to salute. Huyan Wei took one look. Wonderful. This one was missing an arm. Paired with the one-legged old fellow from before, they really did complete each other. Yuan Gang looked at him only once. Their eyes met for a single moment, and Yuan Gang made his decision immediately.

"Go register."

The two old men thanked him repeatedly. Huyan Wei was so furious that he looked ready to tear his beard out.

Yuan Gang calmly watched him and said slowly, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. Men wounded for their country should not be left without a way to live. I'm taking these two."

"You..." Huyan Wei had no answer.

The two old men, numbed by years of hardship, suddenly found tears welling in their eyes. Their lips trembled as tears ran down their faces. Their emotions were plainly difficult to control.

"Go register." Yuan Gang tilted his head toward the table.

Unable to speak, the two old men bowed deeply to him and made their way toward the registration desk. Among the crowd, the team members Yuan Gang had brought with him watched him one after another with solemn attention.

[End of Chapter 280]