novelraw Chapter 396: The Alkali is Running Out
Chapter 396: The Alkali is Running Out
Ground Rabbit began to feel something was off: “Huh? That’s odd. Wasn’t he someone Mr. Bai recruited from Heyang County? Why would he be protecting your Zhengjia Village?”
Zheng Gouzi replied, “He’s from Wangjia Village.”
Sweat started trickling down Ground Rabbit’s face. “Wangjia Village? It couldn’t be that Wangjia Village, could it?”
Zheng Gouzi confirmed, “It is that Wangjia Village!”
Ground Rabbit pressed, “The big brother in your village also calls him big brother? You’re from Zhengjia Village, so your village’s big brother is Zheng Yanfu, right? He’s Zheng Yanfu’s big brother, and he’s from Wangjia Village… Ah ah ah ah ah! Could he be… Bai Shui Wang Er?”
Zheng Gouzi chuckled, “Hehe, Mr. Rabbit. You may be dense, but you’re not stupid.”
Ground Rabbit let out a yelp, suddenly turned, and charged toward Wang Er.
Originally, Ground Rabbit had beaten up an official, left his village, and adopted the alias “Ground Rabbit” to “act with righteousness” precisely to follow in Wang Er’s footsteps. (Friends who forget, please see Chapter 140)
He never expected to meet him here, in this way.
His face flush with embarrassment, Ground Rabbit raced to Wang Er and threw himself flat on the ground: “Brother Wang! Please forgive this fool who failed to recognize Mount Tai! I offended you just now! Please punish me severely!”Hearing this, Wang Er knew he had recognized his real identity. Smiling slightly, Wang Er shook his head and helped him up. “Stop that! I can’t have my identity spread everywhere. It would bring trouble to Gaojia Village.”
Ground Rabbit was startled. He quickly looked left and right, stood up straight, and dared not prostrate himself again. When he turned back to look at Wang Er, his face was filled with pure adoration. He desperately wanted to serve tea to Wang Er, but unfortunately, he had no tea or water right now. He couldn’t even offer a simple gesture of respect.
“I… I…” Ground Rabbit stammered, “I left the village precisely to follow you, Brother Wang, and conquer the world! Until now, that desire hasn’t changed.”
Wang Er shook his head, his tone desolate. “Conquer what? My whole idea of conquering the world… was completely wrong. Mr. Rabbit, cherish the here and now. Here, is the real kingdom under heaven.”
Here, is the real kingdom under heaven.
The words snapped Ground Rabbit awake.
That’s right! Although he hadn’t spent the last few years following his admired Brother Wang Er, following the Deity here was also excellent. Here, there were no bullying corrupt officials, no landlords oppressing good citizens, no murderous and ruthless villains…
Here, he had already done many deeds and realized his own crude sense of justice!
Wang Er gave his shoulder a heavy pat. “I truly wish I could be you.”
Having said that, he walked past Ground Rabbit and disappeared into the distance.
Ground Rabbit turned to look at Wang Er’s receding figure, unable to tear his gaze away for a long time.
Suddenly, White Cat walked up from behind and deliberately bumped into Ground Rabbit.
“Thump!”
Ground Rabbit landed squarely on his backside again.
White Cat let out a loud “Ha!” and followed after Wang Er.
Ground Rabbit sat on the ground for a long time. Suddenly, he grinned, relaxing at last. The regret he had held onto all these years, about not having followed Wang Er, vanished like smoke.
…
Ground Rabbit’s guess was correct!
After Yizhangqing returned to the jail, a large group of labor offenders immediately crowded around her: “Miss! After they took you away, did they torture you?”
“Did they bully you?”
Many of these labor offenders had young men from their families killed by the Gaojia Village Militia. Thus, they all secretly applauded what Yizhangqing had done. Seeing her arrested, they were genuinely worried about her safety.
She was a young woman, and when such women broke the law, they often suffered far worse fates than men.
Seeing their concerned gazes, Yizhangqing couldn’t help but sigh lightly: “Thank you all, I’m fine. Gaojia Village didn’t harm me. They just added ten years to my sentence.”
“Ah?”
Yizhangqing clasped her head in her hands: “I spoke with the Deity… His words seemed so wise. My mind is all jumbled now…”
The labor offenders exchanged bewildered glances before finally asking after several seconds: “Miss, why don’t you share what the Deity told us too?”
The seed Li Daoxuan had planted in the labor camp began to sprout quietly…
…
Early in the morning, Li Daoxuan was eating dragon wontons when he saw someone pounding desperately on Gaojia Fortress’s gate—a woman, Chunhong.
Chunhong was the first among the four female secretaries to be assigned external duties, managing Gaojia Village’s fabric shop—an industry entirely controlled by women.
Though just a small storefront within the Gaojia Business Circle, this shop tied together nearly all the women of Gaojia Village, and these women could influence the men in their households. Thus, the fabric shop’s strength ran deep.
Chunhong had transformed from a pitiful fallen girl into a powerful department head—her life turned completely upside down.
Now cleansed of her past, she no longer wore seductive clothes but simple cotton garments instead. Delicate yet composed, she carried an air of dignity.
Her new appearance naturally drew suitors, but knowing herself unworthy, she kept interactions minimal—living with low-key simplicity.
This led Li Daoxuan to neglect her for some time, so her urgent pounding on the fortress gate surprised him.
Sentinels on the fortress wall hastily opened the gate to let her in.
Chunhong sprinted straight into the conference hall.
There, Thirty-Two was holding a meeting with a group of secretaries. Once, he alone managed all Gaojia Village affairs. Later, as tasks multiplied, Tan Liwen joined him. Eventually, one Tan Liwen proved insufficient, so Tan Liwen recruited more secretaries.
The Gaojia Village administrative department had grown from one or two people to a whole team, each member overseeing specific domains—commerce, agriculture, road construction…
Nowadays, Thirty-Two was far busier than Liang Shixian.
While Liang Shixian governed the “traditional” Chengcheng County with little beyond agriculture to manage, Thirty-Two oversaw the “up-and-coming” Gaojia Village, juggling all sorts of strange novelties. The Deity frequently assigned him new tasks that left him bewildered for days.
And here came another!
Rushing up to Thirty-Two, Chunhong cried anxiously, “Administrator Thirty-Two! Something terrible happened!”
Thirty-Two asked, “What? Did ruffians cause trouble at your fabric shop?”
Chunhong: “Nothing so trivial!”
Thirty-Two: “What else could happen at a fabric shop?”
Chunhong: “We’ve run out of alkali!”
Thirty-Two’s head spun in confusion: “Alkali?”
Chunhong: “Yes, alkali!”
Thirty-Two, puzzled: “But yours is a fabric shop—why would you need alkali?”
Tan Liwen and the other secretaries echoed, “Indeed! What use is alkali to you?”
Chunhong gave a tearful laugh: “Not a wealthy lord among you understands weaving! We need lots of alkali during cloth production! Before, when everyone weaved cloth by hand, the slow pace used just enough alkali. But now, with those steam machines running—goodness gracious!—the weaving speed has become unreasonably fast. Our village’s entire alkali supply is completely exhausted!”