"In Lingxi Village, who isn’t related by blood or marriage?"

Chen Li sneered, his sharp gaze sweeping over the crowd. "If you really want grain, there are other ways. Trade your land for it. One acre of land for fifteen stone of grain."

"What? Fifteen stone per acre?"

Chen Xingzhou shot to his feet like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his eyes wide with fury. His finger, pointing at Chen Li, trembled. "Chen Li! Are you trying to take advantage of our misfortune and swallow up our land too?"

"Uncle Zhou." Chen Li leaned back slightly, his tone calm. "You’re the ones who came to me for help. It wasn’t I, Chen Li, who forced you to sell your land. Besides, why don’t you go ask around in the county town? What’s the price of grain these days?

One stone of grain is going for nearly two taels of silver on the market. Fifteen stone of grain is thirty taels of silver. Based on the price of land in previous peaceful years, thirty taels is more than enough to buy an acre of the best paddy fields. I, Chen Li, am not taking the slightest advantage of any of you."

Chen Xingzhou was choked speechless for a moment. The anger on his face faltered, but he remained unwilling to yield. "We... If we wanted to sell our land, why would we come to you? We could have just sold it to Chen Yongquan to settle our debts."

Chen Li picked up his teacup and took a sip, speaking lightly, "I’m afraid you’ve forgotten, old sir. What was the price when my father sold those two hundred acres of prime paddy fields to Chen Yongquan back then? Twenty taels of silver per acre. Now, Chen Yongquan holds your loan agreements. When he calculates the value of your land, he’ll offer ten stone of grain per acre at most. If he can offer higher, then by all means, sell to him. I’m not forcing you. Besides..."

He put down his teacup, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "When the old harvest is gone and the new one isn’t ready, who can say how high the price of grain will soar?"

"But... but..."

Chen Xingzhou opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found that Chen Li’s every sentence was logical, and every word cut to the heart.

He dropped his head, dejected. His hands clutched the corners of his ragged clothes so tightly that his knuckles turned white, the veins on the back of his withered hands bulging.

A dead silence fell over the main hall.

Chen Li sighed. "Uncle Zhou, I know you can’t bear to part with the land passed down from your ancestors. But with things as they are, if there were any other way, you wouldn’t have been forced into this corner. At least I can offer fifteen stone per acre. The extra grain from that deal, if you’re frugal, will be enough for your whole family to survive until next year’s autumn harvest."

After a long while, Chen Xingzhou abruptly raised his head. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Chen Li as he haggled in a hoarse voice, "Chen Li! Fifteen stone... is too little! Nineteen stone! Nineteen stone per acre, how about it?"

Chen Li slowly shook his head, his gaze firm. "Seventeen stone per acre. That’s my bottom line."

He looked around at the people in the hall, their expressions varied. "The price will not go any higher. You can all go home and think it over. Whether you sell or not is entirely up to you."

Over the next month, sixteen of those twenty-three families came to find Chen Li, one after another.

They had no other choice.

Among the Lingxi Chen Family, the only ones who could produce a large amount of grain were Chen Yongquan and Chen Li.

By comparison, the terms Chen Li offered were already very generous.

What surprised Chen Li even more was that after the news spread, another fourteen families, who were not among the original twenty-three, also came to him, proactively offering to sell their land for grain.

Most of them had barely scraped by last year and were now completely destitute after this year’s drought.

Chen Li kept his promise. At the price of seventeen stone of grain per acre as he had stated, he acquired one hundred and twenty acres of good farmland in one go.

Any more, and he wouldn’t have had enough aged grain to spare.

As for the new grain stored from last year, he wouldn’t touch it.

Natural disasters are unpredictable. No one could guarantee that next year would bring favorable weather.

With grain in hand, the heart is at ease.

...

「In the eleventh month, a harsh winter arrived early.」

In the mornings and evenings in Lingxi Village, a thin layer of white frost covered the ground.

After a frantic harvest, this year’s late rice was finally brought in.

But it had been planted too late. Due to the low temperatures and lack of sunlight, many of the rice ears failed to ripen. The yield was disastrous, less than fifty percent of a normal year.

Even the rice seeds Chen Li had carefully cultivated only yielded about three stone per acre, a sharp decrease of more than half compared to previous years.

The only good news was that the Court had issued a decree exempting the Seven Prefectures of Jiangzhou from half of this year’s Land Tax.

But the aftereffects of the drought continued to wreak havoc. The price of grain in Jiangzhou remained high and showed signs of continuing to rise.

For most families, the real test would come next year, during the lean season before the harvest.

...

「In the twelfth month, the end of the year was approaching.」

Chen Li drove an ox-cart to the county town to pick up his eldest son, Chen Shouheng, who was training at the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall, and bring him home for the New Year.

He hadn’t seen the boy in half a year, and he had shot up in height. Though he had just turned thirteen, he was already nearly as tall as Chen Li.

His once slightly thin frame had filled out considerably, and his features had taken on the sharp, capable air of a martial artist.

Just as the father and son were returning to the entrance of Lingxi Village in their ox-cart, they were interrupted by an unusual clamor.

Gongs and drums were being beaten in the village. A crowd had gathered, their faces revealing a suppressed panic.

Chen Li asked someone what was happening, and his heart sank.

Last night, the family of Wang Shizhang, a wealthy household in the village, had been exterminated!

All thirteen members of the family, from the sixty-year-old elders down to the infant in swaddling clothes, were slaughtered. Not a single one was spared.

Their home had been ransacked of all gold, silver, and valuables. Only the grain and livestock, which couldn’t be carried away, remained in the compound.

Chen Li didn’t have much interaction with the Wang Shizhang family.

He had attended banquets there some years ago for his son’s wedding and his grandson’s first-month celebration.

The Wang Family owned over three hundred acres of good land. Their residence was a compound with high, sturdy walls. The green brick courtyard walls were a full three meters high. It would be impossible for ordinary bandits to slip in undetected, let alone massacre the entire household.

’This band of thieves... is no ordinary group.’

Chen Li was instantly on high alert.

After all, these Roving Bandits would never bother visiting the homes of the poor.

How much profit could be squeezed from a bunch of paupers?

They were definitely targeting the wealthy landowners.

The Wang Family Patriarch had already sent someone to report to the authorities with the utmost urgency.

But it wasn’t until dusk that Chief Zheng from the County Magistrate’s Office arrived at the scene, ambling along with five government constables.

After a cursory investigation, Chief Zheng announced, "The killing method is vicious, the blade work cunning... It’s extremely similar to the Unpredictable Three Fierce, who committed that massacre at the Luoyan Collection half a year ago."

After enjoying a banquet and resting for the night, Chief Zheng and his men prepared to leave.

The Wang Family Patriarch and the other clan members, their faces pale with fright, hastily tried to persuade them to stay and investigate the case.

Seeing their state of panic, Chief Zheng looked impatient. "What’s all the fuss about! They’re just a band of wandering desperados with limited skill. They know the Government Office is after them. They’re cunning; they’ll never strike twice in the same place. Just enjoy your New Year in peace."

The implication was that the Wang Shizhang family had already taken the fall for everyone else.

With that, he ignored the pleas of the Wang Family and swaggered off with his subordinates.

"The Unpredictable Three Fierce?"

Hearing this name, Chen Li’s brow furrowed tightly.

He called his eldest son over to ask, "Shouheng, at the martial arts hall, have you ever heard of these Unpredictable Three Fierce?"

Chen Shouheng shook his head, looking blank. "Never heard of them. Master and my senior brothers have never mentioned them."

...