Chapter 61: Returning Fully Loaded (Part 1)

In the evening, the home of the Director of Talim Village was absolutely “brilliant with lights,” “filled with lanterns,” and “bustling with excitement.” Not only did the Village Elders of the town come, but even the wives and children of the elders came as well. In total, more than twenty people gathered together. If Luo Yan had not specifically built the house a bit larger when he acquired the property, it really would not have been able to accommodate so many uninvited guests.

Fortunately, these people were quite considerate and did not come empty-handed. One family brought home-brewed fruit wine, and another brought a few ounces of cured meat. In a short time, they helped Sophie put together two large tables of food; otherwise, the Director’s wife would have been exhausted today.

The men sat at one table, and the women sat at another. Originally, Sophie wanted to keep Luo Yan with her, but Luo Yan considered himself a “small” man and insisted on squeezing in next to Luo Pei. The Director had always been unable to deal with his son, so he simply let it be.

What did a large group of men do when they gathered together? That went without saying. Before long, the tabletop was covered with empty wine bottles. These buddies all had slurred speech, but they still seemed to be conscious.

“Di… Director…” After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the expected feeling arrived. A Village Elder, who was also the village blacksmith named Mond, said excitedly with a flushed face, “…I heard from my boy that your harvest in the county city this time was amazing!” By the way, Mond was Snow’s father. Looking at his burly and heroic appearance, one could not help but feel that his son really did not look like him.

Hearing Mond’s question, the people around suddenly fell silent, and even the women’s side grew quiet. Everyone pricked up their ears to listen. Was this not the reason they specifically came here today?

Luo Pei’s face was also red at this time. Upon hearing this, he ignored whether Snow had leaked the secret and waved his hand, saying, “Hey! Your news is really fast… I originally planned to mention it at the Village Elders’ meeting tomorrow, but since you asked… do you know how much the furs I took this time sold for? I’ll tell you… two of them were judged as first-class, and each one was ten Gold Plangs!!”

What!! Ten Gold Plangs, so much?!!

A sound of gasping immediately echoed around. The people present looked at each other in disbelief for a long time. A piece of old fur could actually sell for ten Gold Plangs? Many people in the village could not earn this much money even after working hard for a whole year. If it were sold in the village, it would sell for ten Silver Krongs at most.

While everyone felt it was unbelievable, Luo Pei spoke again, swaying slightly: “Not… not much… this isn’t much. Another… another piece of fur was judged as special-grade. Do you know how much it sold for? I’ll tell you… it sold for… it sold for…” At the critical moment, he failed. After teasing them for so long, he simply did not say the price. The people around were anxious, wishing they could pour a cup of tea over his head.

Luo Pei “teased” them for a while longer until an old man sitting next to Mond finally could not bear it and shouted, “Director, how much did it sell for in the end!”

Everyone looked at him upon hearing this, because this old man was named Tazerikov. He had always looked upon Luo Pei with disdain and was the second-largest opposer after Belikov. It was already a very strange thing that he appeared here today, yet now he was acting so eagerly.

However, Tazerikov did not care about the strange looks of others. Seeing that Luo Pei seemed not to have snapped out of it, he immediately asked again with an excited face, “How much was it! Director, stop teasing us, alright?”

To be honest, this was not Luo Pei intentionally teasing them, nor was he truly out of it. He was just stunned by Tazerikov’s attitude and did not react for a moment. Now, hearing this follow-up question, he finally reacted and said almost subconsciously, “It sold for… oh~~ it sold for… it sold for twenty-one Gold Plangs.”

“What? Twenty-one Gold Plangs?!” This time, Tazerikov’s hand shook, and he knocked the wine glass by his hand directly onto the ground. The people around sat there as if they had become idiots. Twenty-one Gold Plangs?! This was simply a “huge sum” of money that they could not even imagine!

At this time, the three members of Luo Pei’s family acted the most naturally. Luo Pei was a Collateral Lineage Disciple of the Luo Family in Flax City, and Sophie had a similar background. They had seen such wealth before, so these ten-plus Gold Plangs did not move them. As for Luo Yan… did that even need an explanation?

At this moment, the family of three smiled calmly and behaved with ease. Among a group of people who were already stunned, they truly gave off a feeling of being superior…

Hmm~~ why did it feel a bit arrogant!

…

That day at the Lin Leather Shop, Luo Pei and the others had just signed the contract agreement when the arrogant Young Master Raffy from the Pia Chamber of Commerce came to visit. But to the surprise of Luo Pei and the others, Raffy did not come to cause trouble; instead, he came to seek forgiveness. Moreover, his posture was so humble that it was shocking, causing even Luo Pei to be stunned on the spot for a moment.

However, Luo Pei was ultimately from a great family. Although he was very surprised, he quickly made a decision. Thinking carefully, the two parties had only had a verbal dispute, and making connections with a large wholesaler like the Pia Chamber of Commerce would be very beneficial for Talim Village, which planned to make those furs a local specialty. Because of this thought, Luo Pei forgave Raffy’s previous rudeness and agreed in principle to let the Pia Chamber of Commerce join the trade, provided that Lin Lian of the Lin Leather Shop also agreed.

As a result, because Raffy expressed that he was willing to accept the same conditions as Lin Lian, and Lin Lian held the priority purchase right, Lin Lian did not raise any objections. The three parties successfully reached an agreement—in fact, Lin Lian was worried that her own strength was insufficient to handle all the goods from Talim Village. Now that the Pia Chamber of Commerce had joined, she no longer worried about breaking her promise. Luo Pei had actually seen through Lin Lian’s worry, which was why he sought this double insurance.

[As the first political achievement of his governance of Talim Village, he absolutely could not afford any mistakes…]

However, unlike Lin Lian, Raffy had no right and would absolutely not agree to Luo Yan’s suggestion of exchanging beast skins for shares. In the end, they reached a compromise. He agreed to another request of Luo Yan’s, and finally, everyone was happy, and the task was successfully completed.

—Regarding the successful completion of the task, Raffy was very satisfied, and Luo Yan was also very satisfied. In fact, compared to equity, Luo Yan felt that the condition Raffy agreed to was even better. At least at the current stage, it was more realistic…