novelraw Chapter 65: Solution
Chapter 65: Solution
Li Wei hesitated upon hearing this. The previous information only stated that it couldn't be published in the main quest, but privately making items would have consequences at your own risk.
As he was thinking this, Fila suddenly walked out the door. Moments later, she returned from the warehouse with that deer hide. Li Wei thought she was going to take over this task, but who would have guessed Fila directly threw the deer hide to Leon, gave him a deep look, and then returned to her room to rest.
The next second, Leon seemed to receive some information, his expression instantly turning strange and unpleasant. Finally, he stammered and dropped the deer hide, then returned to his room looking deeply worried.
Things were indeed not that simple.
Li Wei was astonished. He stepped forward and picked up this deer hide that still emitted a peculiar odor but was overall quite soft and in good condition. But the next second, two pieces of information appeared before his eyes.
[This is important family property - a relatively complete deer hide. It has been carefully processed and tanned by a professional butcher, possessing certain value. Quality: One Star]
[Friendly reminder: Family property with quality of One Star or above requires professional tailoring for use. If forcibly used, it counts as damaging family property and will deduct ten Family Contribution points.]
—
Damn!
Li Wei was stunned. He had been too busy during this past period. Ever since hunting that deer, he hadn't even had the opportunity to inventory the supplies in the storage room.He did know that the deer hide had definitely been processed and tanned by Fila, but he truly hadn't expected there to be such restrictions.
Wait, never mind how this happened. This deal isn't cost-effective.
After Leon completes this month's main quest, he'll probably earn about five Family Contribution points. Fila is the same.
But the problem is, without a Tailor profession, consuming ten Family Contribution points to make two pairs of deer hide boots, just to complete a main quest worth five Family Contribution points?
Isn't this forcing people to give up?
At this moment, Li Wei frowned deeply.
He felt he had probably underestimated Margaret and Thomas, or perhaps just the former. This woman had seemed harmless this past month and hadn't shown particularly strong aggression.
Li Wei had almost been fooled by her.
Now he would bet that Margaret had definitely come into contact with this deer hide. She understood every detail and every resource of this family intimately.
So she could even foresee that this month, when winter arrived and heavy snow sealed the mountains, Fila and Leon would lack warm boots.
Actually, Penny was also lacking, but as a Craftsman with strong 'career ambition,' she absolutely wouldn't allow any accidents to interfere with her main quest. So Penny would rather be extorted by Li Wei's outrageous demands than buy away those leather boots.
But Fila and Leon didn't have that much initiative. Fila's work only required cooking, feeding the cattle, and at most clearing snow in the camp courtyard and cleaning the cattle pen.
Even straw sandals would still be tolerable.
As for Leon, once he determined his feet might get frostbitten, he would definitely give up, which would then affect the main quest, and even Li Wei's end-of-month evaluation.
What if Thomas and Margaret egged him on, intentionally going out to work barefoot to create an work injury, then promised him compensation afterward...
Damn!
When that happened, the one who would suffer would be Family Head Li Wei. He would then have a stain on his record and could be targeted for a Plot Kill.
Thinking of this, cold sweat nearly broke out on Li Wei's forehead.
Although most of this was his own speculation, this kind of situation definitely had significant feasibility.
If he could think of it, wouldn't Margaret and Thomas, as veteran completion players, also think of it?
They might even have corresponding detailed strategies and procedures.
For a moment, Li Wei felt overwhelmed.
For the first time in his life, he truly felt that if only Mixi hadn't died.
Ah! The pain of losing my beloved!
So what to do? This matter needed resolution. He couldn't passively wait to be impeached!
Li Wei's mind raced rapidly. At this point, he even felt that Fila might have foreseen this scenario in advance, waiting for him to make a mistake.
Speaking of which, Fila was really impressive. Previously, these rabbit skins and deer hide had been processed by Fila shortly after being skinned. Without professional tanning materials, she seemed to use methods like wood ash + brain tanning + smoking.
Overall, Fila's methods as a wilderness survival expert were truly endless. If she could even distill pine tar, wouldn't she be able to figure out how to make boots?
"Damn, hidden arrows are hard to defend against!"
After much deliberation, Li Wei finally made a decision. He called Fila and Leon out and, in front of both of them, drew that sharp steel dagger and made a small cut on the deer hide.
Just this one cut, and information instantly appeared.
[You damaged family property. Although you are the Family Head, this still caused a negative impact. You have been forcibly deducted 10 Family Contribution points.]
At this moment, Leon was completely dumbfounded, while Fila's gaze was meaningful. She had indeed been waiting for Li Wei to dig his own pit and jump in.
Then, Li Wei turned and returned to his room, retrieved his half-damaged leather armor and the sewing tools left behind by Mixi, threw them in front of Fila, and spoke directly.
"Mom, although Mixi is no longer here, her tools for sewing leather armor still remain. Can you help me use these materials to make two pairs of deer hide boots? The weather is so cold - one pair for you and one for Leon. I can't bear to watch you suffer from the cold!"
Pretty words were free to say, and this provided the plot logic anyway. He would bear the cost, but secretly Li Wei had already quickly sent out two trade requests.
He didn't ask for much - just 300 experience points per pair of deer hide boots, equivalent to a common worker's monthly experience income.
Take it or leave it - no bargaining accepted.
As for how Fila and Leon would divide them or make the boots, that was their own business. Seriously, with materials and tools available, even if the craftsmanship wasn't perfect, would this stump a wilderness survival expert?
Leon would at most need to pay a little extra to have Fila make them for him.
Besides, this wasn't really scamming them. His set of half-damaged leather armor still had large portions that were excellent quality. These plus a deer hide would leave plenty of leftover material after making two pairs of boots.
The remaining materials could definitely be pieced together in the future to make another piece of leather armor or something.
From this perspective, they were actually getting a good deal.
This could also be considered Li Wei's compensation to them. After all, no matter how you looked at it, last month Li Wei, as Family Head, failed to discover this hidden danger in advance, and even if he had discovered it, he couldn't have solved the problem. This was his mistake.
When you make a mistake, correct it. Stand straight and take your punishment.
No big deal. He could afford to lose 10 contribution points.
Just as Li Wei expected, Leon immediately traded over 300 Fishing Experience without another word.
He did nothing last month except focus entirely on fishing, so he had no shortage of Fishing Experience.
Fila obviously hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed to the trade because 300 experience points was really quite reasonable. What she gave was 300 Gathering Experience.
Thus the matter was perfectly resolved.
However, what surprised him was that Leon didn't need Fila to make them for him at all. He quickly dismantled that set of half-damaged leather armor, took half the deer hide, borrowed the sewing tools and steel dagger from Li Wei, and started making them himself.
He seemed quite confident about it.