Chapter Sixteen: Qin Zhen's Plan

“Not run? What else could we do but fight them?” Chen Shu laughed.

But when he saw the firmness in Qin Zhen’s eyes, his laughter faded.

“I’ve modified the spinning wheel I bought. Juan’er finds it easy to use and it produces quite a bit of cloth. I plan to gather some people to cut more trees and build more of them, so that the women in the village can all weave… Also, I’ve made an arrangement with Scar Brother. We’ll catch fish and he’ll handle the delivery; he can bring our cloth to the county for sale on his way…”

“Wait, wait a minute!”

Chen Shu was having trouble sorting out his thoughts.

“Don’t tell me so much. I’m not as clever as you think. Just tell me plainly what you want me to do!”

“The village will soon prosper, which means others will covet it. I need to make preparations,” Qin Zhen looked Chen Shu straight in the eye. “Surely, you’re not thinking of relying on those yamen constables in the county, are you?”

If Chen Shu couldn’t understand by now, his years as a scout would have been for nothing.

“You’ve got some foresight, kid,” Chen Shu clicked his tongue in amazement. “You haven’t even made any money yet and you’re already thinking about how to defend yourself. A real talent!”

He thought for a moment and then agreed cheerfully.

“But it won’t be easy to get the villagers to listen,” Chen Shu said meaningfully.

There were over three hundred people in the fishing village, half of them men, but only a handful were willing to follow Liu Quan out to sea, let alone brave the woods to hunt.

They’d rather eat wild roots than take risks; at the first sign of bandits, they’d scatter. Counting on them to defend the village was no easy task.

“Leave that to me,” Qin Zhen replied, full of confidence.

After persuading Chen Shu, Qin Zhen returned home.

“Zhen’er, I just finished making these clothes. Try them on!” Liu Juan greeted him with a white shirt in her hands.

Her work was meticulous. The shirt was clean and neat, and felt comfortable to wear.

“Juan’er, your craftsmanship is wonderful.”

Qin Zhen was already good-looking, and the new clothes made him look even more spirited.

“Our Zhen’er is one of the handsomest young men for miles around!” Liu Juan’s cheeks flushed and her eyes shone with warmth.

“This spinning machine is really something! Look at the quality of this cloth!” The village women looked on with envy. “This could be sold in the county town for money! How does Qin Zhen get such clever ideas? If only my family had a spinning wheel.”

“Don’t dream. That was made specially for Juan’er. Not just anyone can use it, right, Juan’er?”

The teasing of the older women made Liu Juan’s cheeks burn scarlet. She broke into a broad smile, her heart sweet as honey.

“Aunt Wang, do you think you could make one for us too?” Aunt Wang asked awkwardly.

Watching Liu Juan easily pedal the wheel and weave cloth every day, she couldn’t help but feel envious.

If only she had one at home, how wonderful would that be?

Liu Juan pleaded on their behalf, “Husband, why not make one for Aunt Wang too?”

She was kind-hearted, without a trace of guile. Hearing Aunt Wang’s request, she joined in the plea.

She had no idea how important a spinning wheel could be.

“But making these requires wood, and I don’t have that much on hand,” Qin Zhen feigned difficulty.

“That’s easy!” Aunt Wang thought nothing of it. “I’ll have Liu Quan take some men to cut trees! We may be poor here, but we have plenty of trees! Who’s worried about wood?”

The moment Aunt Wang hurried off to round up men for logging, the others grew restless.

One after another, they flooded forward, nearly wearing down the threshold of Qin Zhen’s house.

“Zhen’er, we’ll go cut wood too. Can you make us one as well?”

“No, no,” Qin Zhen shook his head. “You all know, the spinning wheel is a money-maker. I’m counting on selling Juan’er’s cloth in the county. If everyone has one, won’t the cloth lose its value?”

“Then why does Aunt Wang get one?” someone asked sourly.

“Aunt Wang is my aunt—how is that the same?” Qin Zhen’s answer was beyond reproach.

From childhood, the village chief’s family had indeed helped the Qin family greatly.

No one could fault Qin Zhen for making a spinning wheel for Aunt Wang.

But being neighbors, seeing others have what they didn’t would always sting.

At this moment Qin Zhen changed tack.

“But, with so few spinning wheels, we can’t make much cloth. If you’re willing to help gather wood, I’ll make a few more wheels and invite you to come weave. I’ll pay you for your labor—how about that?”

“No way! That’s just working for your family for free!” someone objected immediately, muttering that Qin Zhen was being sly.

To many, wasn’t a spinning wheel just a tool? The Qin family was well-off now; wasn’t it only right for them to help their neighbors?

Qin Zhen paid them no mind.

He wanted to build up the village, but he had no intention of supporting idlers.

Some of the more shrewd women agreed to his terms.

They went home to find their husbands and prepared to go logging.

When the others saw that no amount of pleading would sway Qin Zhen, they dispersed in disappointment.

With time on his hands, Qin Zhen turned his attention to making fishing nets.

For several days, he holed up at home, and the pile of wood in his yard grew taller and taller, eventually overflowing into the street, where it was stacked into walls.

True to his word, Qin Zhen built more than a dozen spinning wheels, setting them up in neat rows on a patch of open ground beside his yard. Except for the one he gave Aunt Wang, he anchored all the others securely in the earth.

On the day the work was done, the village women gathered again.

At their head was Honest Li’s mother, a straightforward, decent woman.

“Zhen’er, you said earlier that those who helped cut wood could come work here. Is that true?”

“Of course!” Qin Zhen replied cheerfully. “We’re all from the same village—I wouldn’t cheat you. Here’s how it works: one shift is four hours. For every shift, you get three coins and two meals, paid daily. How does that sound?”

Keep in mind, an average family earned only about a thousand coins a year—barely an ounce of silver. That’s less than three coins a day.

Here, one four-hour shift earned three coins—if they worked around the clock, that was nine coins a day! And two meals provided as well? Where else could they find such a good deal?

The villagers burst into excitement, all scrambling to crowd around Qin Zhen.

“Zhen’er, I used to carry you as a child. You can’t forget your auntie now!”

“Zhen’er, I helped cut wood for your family. Surely I’m included?”

There were more spinning wheels than people—if they didn’t hurry, they’d miss out!

At that moment, Honest Li elbowed his way through the throng and gripped Qin Zhen’s hand tightly. “Zhen’er, I’ve never asked you for anything, but this time you have to let me join! I... I’m quick at weaving cloth!”