Chapter 35: Xiao Xin's Secret

  The villagers heard the sound of horseshoes and rushed out. Someone shouted: "They are too deceitful, let's not go to work and see what they can do!"

  Liu Ziqiu let out a loud "Hey" and reined in his horse, shouting: "Fellow villagers, it's me!"

  Third Aunt has sharp eyes and recognized him early, saying repeatedly: "It's Big Cow, it's really Big Cow!"

  Liu Ziqiu dismounted and saw that the villagers all had angry faces, so he hastily asked: "Third Aunt, fellow villagers, what's going on?"

  It turned out that the old site of Changshan Village was indeed the best location for building a salt field.

  When Liu Ziqiu left Yanguan, the salt farm had already started producing salt. The produced edible salt was white and fine, with a great taste. In August, the production of Changshan Salt Farm exceeded that of the other three salt farms in Yanguan County, and in September it even reached the total of the other three salt farms, rivaling the prominent position of Huai Salt Farm in national edible salt production.

  The major shareholder of Changshan Saltworks is the invincible Yang family, and the quality of edible salt is also second to none, so it's not worried about sales. So far, the income from selling edible salt alone has exceeded 10,000 taels of silver for the Yang family.

  According to the contract, Changshan Village holds 35% of the shares in the salt field, but so far it has only received more than 1,000 taels of silver. The villagers of Changshan Village work in the salt field, but they do not participate in its management. They are quite satisfied with the income of 350 taels of silver per month. Therefore, for two months, everything has been peaceful and nothing has happened between them.

  The development of the salt farm today, in addition to the unique geographical location of Changshan Village, Li Guanshi is also indispensable. Li Guanshi's full name is Li Xian, who has been in the industry for over 20 years and is very familiar with the twists and turns of the salt farm. From design to production, he was in charge of everything at the Changshan Salt Farm.

  Li Xian had no other hobbies, but he liked to have a couple of small cups before going to bed. Er Shu Gong Xiao Xin was the leader of Changshan Village, and every time the salt field's dividend was taken back from Li Xian by him. Coming and going, Xiao Xin became familiar with Li Xian.

  Last month, Xiao Xin went to collect dividends again and invited Li Xian to have a small drink at the wine house. After three cups of light wine, Li Xian opened his mouth. Changshan Salt Field was his proud work in his life, and the topic quickly turned to this. Unintentionally, Li Xian talked about the operating conditions of the salt field.

  When he heard the news, Xiao Xin was shocked. But on the surface, he remained calm and continued to accompany Li Xian in drinking wine until it was finished, only then did he return to Changshan Village. After returning to the village, Xiao Xin carefully calculated that Changshan Village should receive at least two thousand taels of white silver per month.

  The gap was too big, and Xiao Xin went to the salt field to reason with Yang Heihu the next day. Coincidentally, Yang Jishan also came to inspect the salt field that day, and the two sides had a disagreement and started arguing. Yang Heihu severely injured Xiao Xin. Xiao Xin was highly respected in Changshan Village, and when he heard that he was injured, the villagers suddenly boiled over, and many stopped work.

  These days, the Yang family will send someone to Changshan Village to urge villagers to go to work. Hearing the sound of horseshoes, everyone thought it was someone from the salt field again, but unexpectedly it was "Big Cow".

  At first, the cavalry and thugs sent by the Yang family were all relying on Liu Ziqiu's power, and it was also Liu Ziqiu's idea to cooperate with the Yang family. At this critical moment, "Big Cow", who had been away from the village for more than two months, suddenly appeared, and Xiao Xin fell down again. The crowd naturally took him as a savior and said in unison: "Big Cow, you must lead us to seek justice!" "Big Cow, we can't let them off!"

  Suddenly, a frail girl squeezed out of the crowd and sobbed: "Big Brother Niu, is it really you who has come back? Where's my little... sister?"

  Liu Ziqiu smiled and said: "Xiang Cao, your sister is behind you, go take a look, she also brought gifts for you."

  Everyone looked towards the village entrance together, and saw that on the main road, three horses were surrounding a carriage which was slowly approaching. Behind it, there was also a row of large carts, fully loaded with something unknown. Actually, Liu Ziqiu originally came back with Gao Xiuer together. It's just that those four Kunlun slaves had just learned to ride horses and couldn't run fast, so they fell behind.

  The procession stopped at the village entrance, the curtain was lifted, and two Korean maids got out of the car first, then helped a beautiful young girl down from the carriage. Xiang Cao saw her, suddenly picked up her skirt, rushed over, and hugged the girl, sobbing silently.

  Everyone was shocked. Shuāngzi asked: "Dà Niú Gē, who is that person?"

  Liu Ziqiu gave him a loud slap on the head and said: "That's your sister-in-law, you don't even recognize her!"

  "Good heavens! Is that really Xiuer? She's become as lovely as a heavenly being!"

  Liu Ziqiu explained: "Xiuer originally had a boil on her face, and I've been taking her to see a divine doctor for treatment over the past two months."

  Another villager asked: "Big Cow, where did you make your fortune?"

  On the way back, Liu Ziqiu and Gao Xiuer had already thought of an excuse, smiling: "Actually, it's nothing. That divine doctor acknowledged Xiuer as his granddaughter, these things were all gifts from him."

  A burst of admiration erupted around them. At this moment, Gao Xiuer also pulled Xiang Cao to the front.

  "Zhuangzi, Dazhuang, you guys help move these things." Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "Xiuer, let's go see Second Uncle."

  ……

  Xiao Xin was seriously injured, having been hit by Yang Hei Hu's three punches in the chest. Struggling back to the village, he spat out over two liters of fresh blood and fainted several times. When Liu Zi Qiu came in, Xiao Xin had just woken up, his eyes shining as he struggled to sit up upon seeing Liu Zi Qiu.

  Liu Ziqiu hastily said: "Second Uncle, quickly lie down, quickly lie down."

  "Second Uncle..." Gao Xiuer saw Xiao Xin's appearance and couldn't help but shed tears. After Da Niang left, Xiao Xin took good care of Gao Xiuer and Xiang Cao.

  Xiao Xin couldn't recognize her and asked in surprise: "Miss is..."

  Liu Ziqiu had no choice but to explain again: "Second Uncle, she is Xiuer, the illness on her face has been cured."

  "That's good, that's good. Xiuer is a good girl and she should have a good reward." After finishing speaking, Xiao Xin suddenly waved his hand with difficulty and said, "All of you go out, I want to talk to Da Niu alone for a few words."

  A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy choked out: "Grandpa..."

  He is Xiao Dapeng, the only grandson of Xiao Xin. Xiao Xin's son died in a sea disaster several years ago, and his daughter-in-law was seriously injured in an attack by the Yang family and could not be cured. The two grandfathers relied on each other for survival. Now, seeing that Xiao Xin is also dying, it can be imagined how sad Xiao Dapeng is.

  Seeing her grandson unwilling to leave, Xiao Xian became angry: "Get out! Cough, cough......"

  San Aunt and others in the house hurriedly persuaded Xiao Dapeng to go out. Liu Ziqiu also gently patted Gao Xiuer's hand and said, "You also go outside first, I'll talk to Second Uncle for a while."

  Seeing that there were only two people left in the house, Xiao Xin took a deep breath and said: "Big Cow, help me up."

  Liu Ziqiu reached out to take Xiao Xin's pulse, which was faint and intermittent, like a thin thread. He hastily said, "Second Uncle, lie down, I can hear it."

  "No! Help me up!" Xiao Xin's tone was very firm, saying "I know that I don't have much time left, there are some things that must be made clear."

  Liu Ziqiu could only helplessly wait for Xiao Xin to sit up.

  Sat up straight, Xiao Xin's breathing became much smoother, took a deep breath and said: "You're not Da Niu. Da Niu is someone I've known since childhood, he..."

  "Second Uncle, don't say any more." Liu Ziqiu saw that he was physically weak and didn't dare let him speak much, so he hastily confessed, "I'm actually not a big shot, my name is Liu Ziqiu."

  Dà niú (Big Cow) used to be just an ordinary fisherman, but after being missing for half a year, he suddenly gained martial arts skills and became incredibly cunning, which made people suspicious, although no one dared to say it out loud.

  Xiao Xin said: "Actually, I am not an ordinary fisherman."

  "I know." Liu Ziqiu nodded. He had fought with Yang Heihu before and knew his strength. Xiao Xin was already an old man over sixty years old, but after being hit by three of Yang Heihu's punches, he could still hold on until now, which absolutely wouldn't be because Yang Heihu was lenient. Moreover, Xiao Xin not only recognized characters, but also knew how to write, and didn't seem like an ordinary fisherman at all.

  "Our Xiao family is a prominent family in Jiangnan." Since Liu Ziqiu already knew he wasn't an ordinary fisherman, Xiao Xin didn't need to explain much and directly said, "The villagers of Changshan Village were originally the slaves of the Xiao family... However, during the downfall of the previous dynasty, the Xiao family had already helped them remove their slave status... Everyone moved to the seaside to avoid disaster... There is one secret, I'll tell you now..."

  The aristocratic families in Jiangnan are equivalent to the noble families in the north, all belonging to the scholar-official class. The various civil and military officials of the imperial court were all held by their sons and younger brothers, controlling all aspects of the country. For these aristocratic families, as long as they could maintain their interests, it did not matter who became emperor. It was precisely because of the non-resistance policy of these aristocratic families that the Sui dynasty's war to destroy Chen was so smooth.

  However, after the war ended, Yang Jian did not satisfy the demands of these aristocratic families. The power of various states in Jiangnan was controlled by northerners. If they could not participate in court politics, the aristocracy would soon become commoners or even humble people. Dissatisfied with the aristocratic families in Jiangnan, they later launched several rebellions, all of which were ruthlessly suppressed. From then on, these aristocratic families in Jiangnan completely lost their right to speak in the imperial court.

  This year, Yang Guang suddenly announced the opening of the imperial examination, which gave the Jiangnan aristocratic families who valued literature and education a glimmer of hope. A few days ago, the Xie family from Miling, the leader of the Jiangnan aristocratic families, sent someone to find me here and talked about one of their plans, wanting to cultivate scholars and return to the political stage again.

  Xiao Xin was not willing to let the Xiao family decline, this was almost the last chance for the Xiao family to rise again, so he naturally agreed to join in. However, the Xiao family had already declined, with few people and increasing poverty. Raising children to study required strong financial support, Xiao Xin then thought of asking the Yang family for that share of dividends.

  After hearing Xiao's words intermittently, Liu Ziqiu frowned and asked: "Second Uncle, what do you need me to do?"

  "Changshan Village and Xiao's family are all yours now!" Seeing Liu Ziqiu wanting to say something, Xiao Xin struggled to raise his hand and said, "Bring them all in."

  Liu Ziqiu had no choice but to open the door.

  Xiao Xin pointed at Xiao Da Peng and said in a low voice: "You, kneel down!"

  Xiao Dapeng knelt down as he was told.

  Xiao Xin pointed at Liu Ziqiu and said, "Da Peng, from now on, Ziqiu is your elder brother. After I leave, you must listen to him and not disobey!"