Chapter 434: Setting a Benchmark
Zhao Sheng sprang up abruptly, pointing skyward, “Look there, the Deity himself is roasting you now.”
The Old Doctor wore an awkward expression, “I beg your pardon, Deity. I’ll write more clearly next time.”
He swiftly scribbled two more characters, “Now, this should be legible, right?”
Li Daoxuan and Zhao Sheng both stared intently, utterly confused by the indecipherable scribbles.
The Old Doctor beamed proudly, “These are the characters for ‘Licorice Root.’ I wrote them perfectly straight.”
Zhao Sheng: (╯－＿－）╯╧╧ (flipping a table wildly)
Li Daoxuan: (╯－＿－）╯╧╧ (flipping a table wildly)
Rational discussion with this nonsensical Old Doctor was futile. Zhao Sheng, completely bewildered and holding the unintelligible prescription, received medicine from the young assistant. Packaged into an enormous bundle, he walked out of the clinic.
Li Daoxuan had merely been enjoying the spectacle, but seeing Zhao Sheng sparked an idea. To preside over matters at the ancient ferry dock in Shanxi, Zhao Sheng might just be the ideal candidate.
And they were downright timid!
Take Principal Wang at the school, for instance—his bravado was minimal. Operating within places like Gaojia Village or Chengcheng County, he managed some courage, knowing the Deity watched over him from above. Yet, should he venture into Shanxi territory, Principal Wang might cower daily, too fearful to even step outside.
Individuals like Thirty-Two and Tan Liwen weren’t much better; they all possessed timidity to varying degrees.
Zhao Sheng, however, was different!
He had rebelled once—driven to it, admittedly—but had commanded three thousand insurgent troops, marching from Qingjian County all the way to Gaojia Village. His journey was arduous, and he endured countless trials.
Though physically frail, his spirit was anything but weak.
Moreover, his character proved commendable enough. He was someone Li Daoxuan could trust beyond his immediate sightline to hand the responsibility for “the common people’s lives.”
“Fine, I’ll just pick him. Only… this asthma issue is bothersome… sigh, there’s no choice. He’ll have to tough it out through his illness.”
Li Daoxuan began searching for Gao Yiye, needing her to relay instructions.
However…
Searching for her proved fruitless once more!
Gaojia Village sprawled vast, teeming with small figures. Locating tiny Gao Yiye proved a monumental challenge. At this moment, Li Daoxuan suddenly grasped why religious figures wore such peculiar garb—the stranger their attire, the easier it was for deities to spot them from the heavens.
Take a cardinal in his bright red robes, tossed into a crowd: that striking red made him impossible to miss.
With his mind full of such odd musings, Li Daoxuan scoured the village meticulously. His gaze finally found Gao Yiye within the Gaojia Business Circle.
She was actually seated inside the bookstore… reading!
And it wasn’t her own illustrated book, “Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale,” she perused. Instead, she held a comic book titled “Breaking the Sky”—an unusual name. Li Daoxuan focused and recognized it as the “underdog story” Gao Sanwa had presented earlier. Apparently, it was now printed and circulating.
Gao Yiye seemed deeply engrossed. Her cute, delicate brows furrowed slightly as she plunged entirely into the story. Her expressions shifted from tension to intense satisfaction. When the plot reached its climax—where the disdained underdog finally triumphed, defeating all adversaries—Gao Yiye couldn’t contain herself. She burst into happy laughter.
Li Daoxuan shifted his “focus” nearby. He noticed many others within the bookstore reading the same book, all bearing expressions of deep concentration.
This wasn’t confined to the bookstore; readers absorbed the story throughout the Gaojia Business Circle.
Patrons in teahouses, taverns, Laba Rice Noodle stalls, Fresh Water Hele shops, braised duck vendors… all nibbled, sipped, and fervently discussed this comic book’s plotline.
One middle-aged man held his copy, turning to a nearby child, “Little brother, you’re from the school, right? You know how to read? Could you tell me what this sentence means? Oh, having words in this comic book—it’s not so friendly for an illiterate like me.”
The child looked carefully and said, “Times change; don’t look down on me. I will become powerful…”
“Wow!” the middle-aged man said, “So that’s what he meant. It sounded really satisfying.”
“It really proves that books need some words for the story to be more exciting.”
After scanning the street, Li Daoxuan was delighted: “It’s a hit! Gao Sanwa, kid, you’re a hit! This is bound to make a fortune.”
He still remembered that Thirty-Two and Gao Sanwa had agreed the money from this book would be split equally, with half going to the bookstore and the other half to Gao Sanwa.
Based on what he had just seen, the book had sold at least several thousand copies.
Even if Gao Sanwa got just ten coins per copy, he would still get tens of thousands of copper coins.
And it wasn’t over yet; the book could surely sell many more!
People from Chengcheng County and Heyang County would definitely buy it too.
Thinking this, that guy Gao Sanwa was probably going to make a huge windfall.
Li Daoxuan secretly laughed to himself: “Great! By setting up a benchmark of ‘an author earning big money,’ it would inspire more people. They’d learn from Gao Sanwa and dive into creation, so then literature, art, comics, and such fields could all blossom.”
He looked forward to that day coming soon.
Xing Honglang led a large group of salt craftsmen, dragging their tired bodies, heading towards the ancient ferry dock.
One salt craftsman was already tired and thirsty from walking. He wiped the sweat off his face, feeling a bit anxious. This woman surnamed Xing seemed open and generous, but her promises were too good to be true, so the salt craftsmen didn’t quite dare believe her.
Ah, when people are oppressed for too long, they become distrustful of good things.
After suffering under the authorities for so long, selling salt for only two coins per catty, they couldn’t believe anyone would pay ten coins to buy it.
This mindset was not strange at all!
One salt craftsman couldn’t help but ask, “Boss Xing, Boss Tie, we’ve walked over a hundred li already. How much longer till we arrive? Transporting this cargo so far, about the wages…”
Xing Honglang turned around and laughed, “Don’t worry about the wages; I’ll pay half a jin of flour per li traveled, how about that?”
That salt craftsman thought to himself, half a jin per li, for a hundred li that’s fifty jin—they’re giving me so much flour? That…was too amazing, but the more amazing it was, the less he dared believe it.
While they were feeling uneasy, Xing Honglang laughed and said, “We’re here!”
The salt craftsmen looked up and saw they were by the Yellow River. This place was familiar—the ancient ferry dock, where they’d helped salt smugglers transport salt before. But the ancient ferry dock had changed a lot now: a huge wooden fort had emerged by the river, with several watchtowers built inside.
The salt craftsmen’s first reaction was: “There are officials garrisoned here!”
Only where officials were stationed would they build a proper fort and make everything look so formal—rebel bandits and salt smugglers never did stuff like that.
This startled the salt craftsmen. Damn! If the officials caught them, they really couldn’t explain it well. After all, they couldn’t say the salt tax office official had released them.
The salt tax office official wouldn’t admit it anyway.