Chapter 246: Different Thoughts
After speaking, Yu Luo turned to Zhang Hu.
“We need to head back first. Those ten thousand people need to be settled. You stay here and coordinate things. I’ll go back and arrange supplies and contact my uncles.”
“Understood. Miss, take care. I’ll handle everything here.”
Yu Luo had the fool carry her father and the Exotic Armor Beast with light-footwork, while she took Ye Jiamei and Yu Xiangxiang and headed toward the estate.
Watching the three figures disappear, the expressions on several families’ faces grew even more troubled.
“What exactly is Xiao Luo hiding? What does she mean by a city? Isn’t Feng City the only city in the wasteland? What’s she talking about?”
Zhao Qiuyue murmured in confusion. Seeing how she had just impulsively spoken out earlier, Liu Mingxia was annoyed and pulled her toward their cave.
The Liu family hurried to follow, all wearing faces full of worry.
The Bai family also returned to their cave with Bai You, and soon, only the Yu family’s second and third branches remained outside Stone Mountain.
“Father, I’ve decided to become a long-term worker. Xiao Luo’s family doesn’t owe us anything. She was right—clearing land would eventually come to an end. Only managing crops is a long-term job that needs to be done year after year.
Besides, we don’t know when or if we’ll ever leave this wasteland. We need to prepare for the long haul. And honestly, even if it’s just for helping watch over Xiao Luo’s fields, she would trust us more than those former miners.”
Once the others had left, Yu Yongjun spoke openly to Yu Qiang about his decision.
Yu Qiang nodded.
“That’s true. Xiao Luo is actually helping everyone. She’s already been more than fair, but some people just refuse to see that.”
“Sigh, maybe they just haven’t figured it out yet. At least no one made a big scene, or else it really would have hurt Xiao Luo and Second Brother’s feelings.”
Yu Yongcai sighed, recalling the tense moment earlier.
“If that’s the case, then Father and Mother should stay in the cave and take care of the children. The two of us brothers, along with our wives and Qiao’er, will go work. That way, our family will have five people working, earning ten taels per month. In a year, that’s one hundred twenty taels—an amount we couldn’t even dream of back home.”
Hearing his eldest daughter-in-law Wang Ying’s suggestion, the family all agreed. But Yu Qiang shook his head.
“I’m old, yes, but I still worked back home. I’ll work too. That way, we can earn twenty extra taels a year.
That money will cover household necessities, and the rest of you can save everything you earn.
It doesn’t matter if we eventually go back home or not—saving money always gives us more options.”
“Forget it, Father. You’re already over fifty. Besides, Mother will be home alone, and we’ll worry about her.
Besides, Xiao Luo doesn’t lack workers. Did you see that massive crowd? Even she won’t be able to use them all.”
While the third branch had made their decision, the second branch was filled with resentment—especially Liu Lan, who had been beaten by Yu Luo’s men. She was furious.
“Yu Luo’s family is too heartless! They set all the rules! They take us when they need us, but when they want to exploit us, they just do it without shame! Are you all idiots?! Just standing there saying nothing while they took everything from us?! I saw it with my own eyes! Only Zhao Qiuyue and a few other women spoke up! And you men? What a useless bunch!”
“Mother, please stop talking. You’re still bleeding! You lost two teeth—we can’t even understand what you’re saying anymore!”
Yu Chunmu was already in a terrible mood.
His own mother had sold his sister off just like that.
He was still angry about it, and now she was starting another scene.
Annoyed beyond patience, he snapped at her.
“You ungrateful brat! Is this how you speak to your mother?! I raised you, and now you’re just a spineless coward! You stood there watching me get beaten, and you did nothing! You’re a disgrace! If we were back in the village, you’d never be able to show your face again!”
Liu Lan was furious with her son.
While she was being beaten, she had never felt more regret—if she had known he would be so useless, she would have never given birth to him!
Yu Shanhai, who had been sitting silently on a stone, furrowed his brows in deep worry. He had no interest in stopping their argument.
Huang Xiaoju silently thought to herself:
“Yu Luo’s family has been more than fair—how is this ‘exploitation’?”
“The wages she’s offering are far more than what we’d earn back home. And yet, my mother-in-law still dares to complain.”
But given her position, she didn’t dare to speak up, choosing instead to remain invisible.
Yu Shanhe, on the other hand, had already made up his mind about separating from the family.
The moment Yu Luo announced her decision, he took his wife and children to gather stones. He didn’t even return to the cave.
He wanted to build a stone house as quickly as possible, so they could move out and live on their own.
He had no intention of staying in that household any longer than necessary.
“We should’ve asked Xiao Luo to have her Exotic Armor Beast dig us a cave. Even if it was just a small one for our family, it would be enough.”
Zhang Fen, while picking up suitable stones for construction, casually mentioned it to her husband.
Yu Shanhe, on the other hand, was full of energy, tirelessly using his hoe to dig out embedded stones from the soil.
“Xiao Luo was too busy today. We’ll ask her later. But for now, let’s focus on building the stone house. It’s not winter, so it won’t be too cold inside. Once Xiao Luo finishes dealing with everything, we can ask her about the cave then. Did you see how many people she has to settle? She’s going to be busy for a while.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you. But if we become long-term workers, only the two of us can go, so we’ll only be earning four taels a month. Will that really be enough to survive?”
“Don’t worry. After work, we can clear some land to farm for ourselves. That way, we won’t have to buy grain. And I can hunt on the side, so we’ll always have meat. If we manage our expenses well, we might even save all our wages.
If, a few years from now, we get the chance to go back home, we’ll have enough silver to marry off our son and prepare a dowry for our daughter. That’s far better than staying in the village, working for the family for free, and never saving a single tael.”
