Chapter 42: Unimaginable Consequences

  Sun and his son packed up their belongings and bid farewell to the owner of the house, then got into their carriage and prepared to return to the county town.

  The trade fair is nearing its end, and many people who came to attend the trade fair are leaving. Sun Baicao drove his horse-drawn carriage along the official road leading to the county town, proceeding at a steady pace.

  Li Wenjun and Sun Jianing sat on the bus, the bus was open, the cold wind blew strongly, directly into their necks.

  Sun Jianing was frozen into a ball, Li Wenjun sat beside him, with his hands in his sleeves, he nudged Sun Jianing with his shoulder and asked: "Jianing, have you thought of how to make money yet?"

  Sun Jianing shook her head and said, "This time I participated in the trading conference, I realized how difficult it is to make money. In order to sell the herbs, my dad and I almost ran our legs off, asking grandfathers and grandmothers, and finally found a good buyer with great difficulty. Otherwise, maybe we would have ended up with all the herbs unsold in our hands."

  Sun Baicao, who was driving the horse cart, said: "Son, are you only now realizing how hard it is to make money? You don't think about it, I had to endure great hardships and take great risks to collect these herbs. Just like last time we went into the mountains, if Wen Jun hadn't been with us, your grandfather and I might have lost our lives in the mountains."

  Sun Jianing nodded and said, "In the past, I never thought about it carefully. Dad, in the past, my son was ignorant and always thought that making money was easy, sometimes he would be very willful, I apologize to you."

  Sun Baicao burst out laughing and said, "Son, the fact that you can think this way means you've grown up. Don't worry, your mother and I only have one child, which is you, so isn't the money we earn meant to be spent on you?"

  Looking at the scene of Sun's father and son being filial, Li Wenjun thought of his lost parents and brothers, and his expression was somewhat melancholy. However, in an instant, he suppressed his thoughts of his parents. He smiled and said: "Uncle Sun, I'd like to discuss something with you. Before the trade conference, Wenjun told me that he's looking for ways to make money. As it happens, I have an idea - why not open a pharmacy? Or buy a piece of land and plant medicinal herbs, which is also a good idea."

  Sun Baicao said: "Your idea is not bad, but it requires a lot of capital. You also understand our family's situation, we don't worry about food or clothing, but if we really want to take out a sum of money to open a pharmacy or become a medicinal farmer, it's still a big burden for us. Moreover, Wen Jun is also at the age of getting married, which is another large expense."

  Li Wenjun said: "Uncle Sun, I think so. We can partner up, I'll provide the money, you provide the labor, whether it's farming, opening a pharmacy or being an intermediary for medicinal herbs, I don't care."

  I have three requirements. Firstly, I only provide the funds, and you are fully responsible for business matters, I won't interfere. If there's nothing special, don't bother me either, I have my own things to do. Secondly, we split the profits equally. Thirdly, I also need to trouble you to collect some medicinal herbs during your business trips, and the cost of purchasing the herbs will be deducted from my share of the profits.

  "Oh, right! I've calculated it and I can take out 500 taels of silver. That should be enough for business use, shouldn't it?"

  Sun Jianing took a deep breath and hastily said: "Wen Jun, don't think Uncle is talking too much, how did you get 500 taels of silver? This is a large sum of money."

  Li Wenjun smiled and said, "Uncle Sun, the money is mine, I earned it myself. As for how I earned it, I'd rather not go into details. You don't have to worry, this money is clean, the authorities won't bother us."

  Li Wenjun had committed murder and arson several times, so speaking a couple of false words was nothing difficult for him. He killed man-eating robbers and took their loot, with a clear conscience and no burden on his mind, nor did he feel guilty.

  Sun Baicao saw that Li Wenjun was unwilling to talk about it in detail, so he didn't pursue the matter further, lest he offend Li Wenjun. He hesitated for a moment and said: "This is a big deal, I alone can't make a decision. After we get back, I'll discuss it with your aunt again. Once we've discussed it, I'll give you a definite answer."

  Li Wenjun smiled and said, "Uncle Sun, this business is definitely something I want to do. If you're not willing, I might have to choose to cooperate with others. However, I'd still like to work together with you guys, we're as close as family, all our own people, of course the benefits shouldn't flow into outsiders' fields."

  The whole way was uneventful, and more than half a day later, when the sky was about to turn yellow at dusk, the county town's gate appeared in sight. Just as the horse carriage arrived at the gate, an official emerged from the gate tunnel, holding a small wooden bucket with a paper tucked under his arm.

  The yamen runner walked to the city wall outside the city gate, took out a brush from a wooden bucket, dipped some paste from a bamboo tube, brushed it on the wall, and then posted the notice with the county magistrate's large seal.

  Sun Baicao stopped the horse cart, walked to the notice and looked up. A moment later, he returned to the cart with a gloomy face and muttered: "This damn county magistrate is thinking of ways to fleece us again."

  "Dad, what's wrong?" Sun Jianing asked.

  Sun Baicao hummed and said, "The county magistrate says that capturing Wang Yonggui is everyone's responsibility, so he has decided to impose a tax on catching thieves. The whole county, regardless of male or female, old or young, will be levied ten cents per person per month."

  Li Wenjun reacted the fastest, saying: "As far as I know, Dingkou in Sanshan County has more than 130,000. Doesn't this mean that every month, he can collect more than 1,000 taels of silver?"

  Sun Baicao nodded and cursed in a low voice: "This dog official, always changing his tricks to exploit us. When will the Emperor send an imperial envoy to arrest this dog official and behead him after autumn?"

  Li Wenjun smiled coldly, he had long since given up any hope for the government office. He comforted Sun Baicao: "Uncle Sun, don't be angry, ten cents per person per month is not a lot. If the county magistrate wants it, just give it to him. As long as he can really catch Wang Yonggui, that's better than anything."

  Sun Baicao thought for a moment, nodded his head. Wang Yonggui's existence was also a huge threat to him. He was a medicine collector and had to go into the mountains from time to time to collect medicine. Once he encountered Wang Yonggui, the consequences would be unthinkable. For their family of three, if they only paid thirty cents a month, it would still be worth it to let the government catch Wang Yonggui. The problem was that the government might just ask for money without doing anything.

  Sun Baicao drove the horse cart back home. He invited Li Wenjun to have dinner at his place, and during the meal, he brought up the proposal of going into business together in front of his wife. The three of them, including Sun Jianing, ate and discussed while eating, but even after finishing their meal, they still couldn't come to a decision.

  After dinner, Sun Jianing helped Li Wenjun move all the miscellaneous items he brought back from Fengshou Town to his home, and also led the big dog that was raised at the Sun's house over.

  After Sun Jianing left, Li Wenjun started a fire to decoct medicine and continued his cultivation. Cultivation was the most important thing, unless the sky fell and the earth cracked, he would not stop.

  After two days, the discussion in Sun's family finally came to a conclusion. Sun Baicao agreed to accept Li Wenjun's invitation and do business together. However, Sun Baicao proposed that the profit be split 50/50, as they were taking advantage of them. They would be satisfied with 30%. After some mutual persuasion, it was finally decided that the profit would be split 40/60, with Li Wenjun taking the larger share.

  Li Wenjun trusted Sun Bairen and his family, and didn't sign any contract with them. After making a verbal agreement, he took out 500 taels of silver and handed it over to them.

  Fifty taels of silver, ten in a row, dazzling the eyes. Sun Baicao and his family of three looked at these silvers, but they didn't know where Li Wenjun usually hid them.

  Sun Baicao carefully put away the silver and solemnly warned his wife and children that even if they were beaten to death, they could not reveal that Li Wenjun was the investor. Li Wenjun had unhesitatingly handed over such a large sum of money to them, trusting them and giving them a chance at wealth and prosperity. They must live up to this trust in their actions.

  He took out the silver and Li Wenjun didn't care about anything else, but instead gritted his teeth and focused on cultivating. The medicinal herbs he bought at Zhenpin Market in Fengshou Town were enough for him to configure dozens of bath potions, which he would use to impact the first layer of Qi Refining Stage.

  In the blink of an eye, a month's time had passed. Li Wenjun spent his days and nights brewing a medicinal decoction of Gathering Qi Powder, which he used for medicinal bathing and cultivation. A large amount of spiritual energy surged into his body, accumulating in his meridians and acupoints, preparing him to form the Heavenly Cycle.

  The hardships and sufferings he endured during this period are better left unsaid; Li Wenjun gritted his teeth and persevered through it.

  A month of cultivation, the effect is remarkable, the spiritual energy accumulated in his meridians, forming multiple channels, unfortunately these channels are isolated from each other and have not formed an effective circulation.

  For several days in a row, Li Wenjun found that although he absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy each time he cultivated, the channels were still the same, the blockages were still the same, and they stubbornly defended their own territories, refusing to merge together.

  Li Wenjun racked his brains, thinking of a way to solve this problem. One day, he had an epiphany: if one dose of medicinal broth was not enough to allow him to break through the barriers between the meridians, what about two doses? Or three?

  Thinking of this, Li Wenjun started to decoct the Qi-gathering powder medicinal soup. He prepared three doses of medicinal soup. When he finished preparing the bath solution, he took off his clothes and was about to jump into the bathtub when he hesitated.

  Just used a lamb for an experiment, the lamb is fine, but thinking about it with your brain, you know that nothing will be completely fine.

  The miscellaneous gas contained in a dose of Qi-gathering dispersing decoction can make him suffer unbearably. Three doses of the medicine together, the amount of miscellaneous gas released and its destructive power are unimaginable. He could barely withstand one dose, but with three doses, he had no bottom line at all. If he couldn't withstand it, the consequences would be unthinkable.