Volume One, Chapter 11: Turning Crisis into Opportunity

“Let me see who dares to lay a hand on our little village chief—I’ll kill him today!”

The moment Lu Yongguo appeared, he widened his eyes and took the lead, looking ready to fight tooth and nail.

But the other side had more people, all fired up and fearless, growing even more agitated.

“Wait a moment!” Lu Yang stepped forward, his expression solemn, eyes sharp as he scanned everyone ready to rush forward.

Though he didn’t make a move, his years of commanding presence shone through, leaving several uncles on the other side stunned in place.

They could feel the calm authority that only a true leader possessed—something far beyond the desperate recklessness of Lu Yongchun.

Lu Yang turned to an elderly woman and took out a penny. “Ma’am, I’ll buy one of your eggs.”

This was the market price; the woman handed over an egg.

He then looked at Lu Yongguo. “Take off the silver ring on your hand.”

Lu Yongguo removed the ring and handed it over. Lu Yang took some straw and vigorously polished it until it gleamed like new.

“Everyone, watch closely. This ring is also silver-white.”

He cracked a small hole in the egg.

“Now, watch carefully!”

He dripped a bit of egg white onto the ring.

Everyone was drawn in by this series of actions, watching intently.

To their eyes, the silver ring actually darkened.

“Damn! This egg must be poisoned too!” someone shouted.

The elderly lady lost her temper immediately, cursing loudly.

“Bullshit! This egg was just laid by my hen—how could it be poisoned?”

“Then your hen must have eaten poison!”

“Poisoned hens can’t lay eggs—they’d be dead already,” a more knowledgeable man added.

“The shell is there too; no poison can get inside,” another argued.

“Besides, who’s bored enough to poison eggs?”

“But then why is the silver turning black?”

Everyone started thinking more rationally. The uncles who had wanted to rush forward now paused, pondering.

But with their limited knowledge, they couldn’t find an answer and all looked toward Lu Yang standing there.

Since he could pull off these feats, he must know the reason.

Lu Yang didn’t speak but glanced at Wang Youfu.

“Mr. Wang, shall we go to the police station and let the officers explain this matter?”

Wang Youfu never expected that a rustic village bumpkin would know such secrets.

Damn, do high school students even learn this nowadays?

He could only throw out a harsh warning: “Kid, just you wait. This isn’t over!”

Lu Yang smiled faintly. “I’m ready anytime.”

People of this era were no strangers to standing up for what’s right.

If Lu Yang exposed them, they’d surely get beaten.

“Let’s go!” Wang Youfu waved to his two henchmen and quickly vanished into the crowd.

If it were anyone else, Wang Youfu probably wouldn’t have been allowed to leave.

But Lu Yang and his group had come to do business, not to fight.

Lu Yang turned to the crowd. “Neighbors, it’s true that arsenic can discolor silver needles, but discoloration doesn’t necessarily mean arsenic.”

“The eggs we eat, the marinated meats, and even the realgar wine drunk during Dragon Boat Festival—all of these can turn silver needles black.”

“This Wang Youfu slandered us today simply because he used to buy wild game from our village.”

“Now that we’re forced to sell at the county market at half his price, he refuses to accept it.”

This matter could have been explained long ago, but Wang Youfu stirred up the crowd’s anger, which only backfired.

Seeing the effect, Lu Yang continued, “Neighbors, to be honest, we were working on these marinated meats since eight o’clock last night.”

“At one in the morning, the three of us traveled over thirty kilometers in the dark to get to the county. Would we really use poisoned wild game to harm everyone?”

People are only human. Seeing the dark circles under Lu Yang and his companions’ eyes, several women were moved.

“Other farmers already have it tough—this deceitful merchant Wang Youfu is just too evil!”

“Damn! That bastard’s lies almost made us wrongly accuse good people!”

“Brother, how much do you sell your marinated meat for? I’m hosting a banquet today—might buy more!”

Feigning emotion, Lu Yang said, “Brother, we’re just making a little honest money; no need to buy extra.”

“Marinated meat on the street sells for 2.2 yuan per jin; we sell at the same price. If you buy more than one jin, we’ll throw in two sparrows as a gift.”

Sparrows may be small, but they’re still meat.

The man chuckled. “Can I try one sparrow first?”

“Of course!”

Old Wu was an experienced cook, and with the village chief personally backing this, he pulled out all his best skills.

The man took a sparrow and devoured it bone and all.

“Mmm, delicious! Absolutely delicious! Give me two jin of sparrows and one jin of wild rabbit!”

Lu Yang quickly flattered him. “Brother, you have great taste. Sparrows are small and absorb flavors easily.”

The sparrows sold fast, so soon no gifts were needed.

“Brother, for the rabbits, we have plain marinated and pickled marinated. Which do you want?”

“I want the pickled one—full of flavor, tasty, and satisfying!”

The man grinned and handed over 6.6 yuan.

“Young man, I want two jin too. Can my son try one sparrow first?”

An uncle lifted his son onto his shoulders and smiled as he approached.

“Sure!”

Lu Yang handed a sparrow to the little boy.

The child was already drooling, took it eagerly, finished in a few bites, and then smeared grease all over his father’s face.

“Daddy, it’s so good! I want more! I want more!”

“All right, all right, buy, buy, buy! Young man, give me two jin of sparrows.”

Children don’t lie. Seeing this, the crowd surged forward.

“Young man, do you sell half a jin?”

“We raise them ourselves, not professional merchants! Of course, we sell!”

“Young man, give me half a rabbit!”

“Young man, give me a wild chicken!”

“…”

After Wang Youfu’s commotion, there were already many onlookers.

Now with Lu Yang’s move and the situation reversed, everyone’s desire to buy was instantly ignited.

The business unexpectedly boomed.

Not far away, Wang Youfu watched the lively scene, jealousy tightening his fists.

A young man beside him said, “Brother Wang, we buy marinated meat at 3 yuan per jin, but he sells at 2.2.”

“This kid sells so cheap, he’ll steal our business sooner or later. Let’s beat them up!”

Wang Youfu rubbed his big belly as if his brain were there too.

“Damn it, this pisses me off. But there are too many people here; if we start a fight, we’ll be the ones at a disadvantage!”

“Let’s wait for them on their way home and give that bastard a good lesson!”

…

“Little village chief, you’re amazing! 613! We actually sold 613 yuan worth!”

Lu Yang calmly counted the paper money and cigarette coupons in his hand. “We pulled nearly three hundred jin. At 2.2 yuan per jin, shouldn’t it be about this much?”

“Little village chief is absolutely right! Illiterate folks like us should be making this kind of money anyway!”

Lu Yongguo could do math but had never seen so much money before and was thrilled beyond words.

“Little village chief, you’re really incredible. With this, our three teams will soon reach the national average income level.”