"Brother Shitou? He’s only been back once since he went to the county seat. Who knows if he even remembers this family anymore!"

The moment Xie Yuan asked about Wang Lei, Li Lan started to grumble.

When they were home, they were criticized for not earning enough. When they were away, they were criticized for not taking care of the family. Such was the lot of men in the Great Li dynasty.

Xie Yuan found it a little funny and spoke up for Wang Lei.

"Doesn’t he send money back every ten days? Yunzhao County is pretty far, after all."

Little Stone Village was dozens of miles from Yunzhao County. On foot, the journey took from sunrise to sunset. For the villagers, it was a truly long trip.

"That pittance he sends? He’d be better off staying home. At least he wouldn’t have to work so hard, slaving away at that restaurant every day."

Li Lan was clearly unsatisfied.

Wang Lei had gotten a job doing odd jobs at a restaurant in Yunzhao County through a recommendation from a fellow villager.

Xie Yuan chuckled.

"Sister Orchid, you’re just worried about Brother Shitou."

"Pah! Who’s worried about that blockhead? It’s just that little Huwa’er hasn’t seen him in ages and keeps asking where his daddy went."

Li Lan scoffed.

"Alright, alright. So Huwa’er misses Brother Shitou, but you don’t."

Xie Yuan knew that Li Lan and Wang Lei’s relationship was actually quite harmonious.

The women in the village would never say "I miss you." That was too sentimental. Complaining was their way of showing they cared.

Li Lan shot him a look and huffed softly.

"Your Brother Shitou is a tough man; he doesn’t need anyone’s pity. He swallows his grievances and keeps them to himself. How much can he earn doing odd jobs? He sends it all home, not keeping any for himself. I’m afraid he’s not eating enough."

"They’ll feed him his fill at the restaurant. That saves a good amount of money right there," Xie Yuan said comfortingly.

Li Lan nodded.

"That’s true."

Xie Yuan paused for a moment before saying:

"Sister Orchid, next time you send a message, ask Brother Shitou to come back for a visit. I’ve thought of a job, and if it’s viable, I’d like him to help out. He’d earn more and wouldn’t have to be away from home."

"What kind of job? Is there really such a good thing as a well-paying job close to home?"

Li Lan’s ears perked up.

"Cutting down trees. But the idea isn’t fully formed yet. We’ll need to discuss it when he gets back."

"Cutting trees? Hmm... Alright. He hasn’t been back in a long time anyway. I’ll have him ask his boss for some time off to come back for a visit."

Xie Yuan chatted with Li Lan for a few more moments, then headed into the village, arriving at Zhu Dongming’s house.

Zhu Dongming was home, but the other hunters weren’t around today.

As soon as he saw Xie Yuan, he warmly invited him inside to sit down.

"Yuanzi, come in and sit. The bear pelt has been skinned and is almost ready. I’ll find a buyer in the next couple of days. I guarantee I’ll get you a high price."

Xie Yuan entered the house, sat down in front of the stove, and rubbed his hands together, warming them by the fire.

"Brother Zhu, you’re an old hand at this. I trust you to handle it. I didn’t come to ask about that."

Zhu Dongming was taken aback and asked instinctively:

"Then you’re here to...?"

"Are the other brothers not here today?"

Zhu Dongming grew even more confused.

"You’re looking for Chen Yun and the others? Alright... I’ll go get them now."

"Fourth Brother Wu is still recovering, so no need to call him."

In the dead of winter, all of nature lay dormant, and most of the villagers stayed at home.

A short while later, Chen Yun and Zhou Feng arrived with Zhu Dongming.

"Brother Yuan! What did you need us for? Another bear to carry?"

The moment Zhou Feng saw Xie Yuan, he called out with a mix of familiarity and admiration. Chen Yun also nodded to him politely.

’This is a beast of a man who can hunt a bear alone. We can’t look at him the same way we used to.’

Seeing the three of them looking at him with curiosity, Xie Yuan got straight to the point.

"There aren’t that many bears to be carried, haha. The reason I called you all here... well, first, let me ask, has the hunting been any good lately?"

"Good? What’s good about it? The traps I set haven’t caught so much as a chicken in a month. I can’t even be bothered to go out anymore," Zhou Feng complained.

Zhu Dongming nodded.

"Yuanzi, you know how it is. In winter, we basically live off what we’ve stored up."

Xie Yuan nodded slightly.

"Yes, I figured everyone was idle. Times are tough, so I happen to have a job I’d like to invite you all in on."

Zhou Feng’s eyes lit up as he asked:

"What is it?"

"Cutting down trees."

"Cutting down trees?"

The three of them froze for a moment, looking at each other.

Chen Yun cleared his throat.

"Xie Yuan, about cutting trees... ’Scabby’ trees don’t earn you much, and as for Iron Poplars, they’re too hard on the axes. You chop two trees and you have to sharpen your axe. It’s not worth the effort. I used to cut trees, but I eventually decided hunting was better."

The livelihoods of mountain folk often overlapped: hunting, gathering herbs, and chopping wood. Chopping wood was the easiest, and correspondingly, paid the least. Those who could gather herbs or hunt generally didn’t bother with it.

Herb gathering required an experienced ginseng collector to lead the way. Little Stone Village was too small, too remote, and too poor. The mountains here weren’t particularly bountiful, so anyone with real skills had already left. There were no herb gatherers, only woodcutters and a few hunters.

An old hunter like Chen Yun had naturally worked as a woodcutter before and would still chop wood for his fire. But ever since he learned to hunt, he no longer considered it a primary means of making a living.

How much could a woodcutter earn? Their status was far below that of a hunter. They would rather rest than go back to chopping ’Scabby’ trees for a few copper plates.

Zhou Feng and Zhu Dongming didn’t say anything, but they were thinking the same thing.

Xie Yuan shook his head and said:

"I’m not interested in ’Scabby’ trees or Iron Poplars. If we’re going to cut, we’ll cut camphor and nanmu."

"Camphor and nanmu? Aren’t those hard to find? We’d probably have to go deep into the mountains, and all the trees look alike. They’re hard to identify," Zhu Dongming asked.

"I can identify them, and I’ve already found a place. There are plenty of them near where the tiger was hunted and the bear was killed. It’s not too far, which is why I need your help."

"I see... But hauling logs that far is exhausting. Even at Iron Poplar prices, it doesn’t seem that profitable," Zhou Feng added.

"I recently hauled out a nanmu tree and sold it for this much."

Xie Yuan crossed the index fingers of both hands.

"Ten silver."

"Ten silver?!"

The three hunters’ eyes went wide as they cried out in disbelief.

Xie Yuan sighed.

"I didn’t expect it either at first, but the rich masters in the city are crazy about this wood. Ten silver is nothing to them. Even a whole camphor tree can sell for four."

The hunters took a moment to digest this news. Information was scarce in the mountain village. Even Zhu Dongming, who had traveled a bit, had no idea the prices were this high.

Their enthusiasm surged, and they were about to agree on the spot, but the more experienced Chen Yun asked:

"I’ve heard this good wood isn’t as hard as Iron Poplar, but felling it requires technique. If you break the grain and ruin the look, the price drops significantly."

"I know how to do all that; I can teach you. As for the axes, Zhou Feng, have your father forge a few Fine Iron Axes. I’ll pay for them upfront.

"Once you’ve felled the trees and brought out the raw logs, I’ll process them and sell them in town. I have a connection. We’ll split the Silver Coins based on the work everyone puts in. How does that sound?"

Seeing that Xie Yuan had a clear plan with everything basically arranged, the three men looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

’Damn, who knew you could make so much silver cutting trees? Why bother hunting at all!’

They instantly cast aside their disdain for woodcutters, wishing they could go start chopping trees right now. Zhou Feng even felt like hounding his father to work overtime and finish the axes immediately!

’But all these things he’s talking about, the tricks of the trade... only a veteran woodcutter would know them. There’s no one like that in Little Stone Village, so how does Xie Yuan understand all this?’

’And he has connections in town, too. The way he organized everything was so practiced, not at all like a young man who’d only just recently managed to get enough to eat.’

’The little brat who used to trail after Xie Lun is this capable now?’

Xie Yuan was pleased that they had agreed.

With helpers, he would save a great deal of time. Not only could he focus his energy on martial arts training, but his efficiency at saving silver would also be much higher. ’At that rate, my cultivation progress will skyrocket.’

’Once this logging team is established, I’ll have Brother Shitou join too. They can earn silver, and it’ll be a win-win.’

The next few days were a preparation phase. Xie Yuan first took them to familiarize themselves with the area, marked the trees, and gave them a general explanation. All that was left was to wait for the axes.

In his spare time, Xie Yuan trained diligently.

He then discovered that his current self was completely different.

His body had fully recovered, and his Body-Nourishing Art was still at the 2nd Layer. When Xie Yuan cultivated his Iron Cloth Shirt, saying his progress was a thousand miles in a day would be an exaggeration, but a hundred miles was more than apt.

[Iron Cloth Shirt - 2nd Layer: (658/800)]

In just three days, his progress had increased by over a hundred points!

Previously, this much progress would have taken at least ten to fifteen days!

The change was immense.

His normal training speed now was more than double what it had been even when he was drinking medicinal soups!

Given a few more days, Xie Yuan could break through to the "Tough Hide" level.

With such clear feedback, his motivation to train naturally surged.

One day, while Xie Yuan was practicing his stances, Li Lan suddenly came running over in a panic.

Her face was deathly pale, and her voice trembled with urgency.

"Yuan... Yuanzi, your Brother Shitou... he’s been detained in the county seat!"