The more silver they saved, the more goods they could take in.
And the longer they operated, the more regular customers they gained.
Li Feng asked him, “Do you remember last time, when I kept the rare medicinal herbs only for our VIP clients? Honey is limited—we don’t need to rush to sell it off. Just like those rare herbs, we’ll sell it only to valued customers. Anyone who wants to purchase honey in bulk must have already spent at least a hundred taels at our trading guild.
“There are honey workshops in the prefectural city—I’ve looked into it. None of them have as many hives as you. They can only supply the city itself. But there are plenty of traveling merchants at the docks, and Lu Yang has also connected with the Hong family. At the end of the year, there’ll be a major market fair. If you’re willing to put in the work, refine the honey as soon as possible. Besides honey, there’s also beeswax. Two hundred taels won’t be a problem.”
Daqiang had seen the liveliness of the market fair before. Even without attending, the trading guild had still benefited and earned a great deal of money. If they could actually take part…
He immediately grew anxious. “Hey! When are we starting to refine the honey? Has that Sun Fulang rested enough yet? Get him out here to tell us how it’s done!”
Li Feng waved his hand. “Call over a group of clever, sensible young people from your family. Let them take turns attending to Sun Fulang. Some can help watch the children, some can cook and do laundry, some can take care of their daily needs. If he’s got nothing else to do, he’ll end up refining honey.”
Without another word, Daqiang ran off at once.
That day, Li Feng stayed busy at the drying yard, introducing everyone to Sun Fulang. In the evening, they all had dinner together.
There were many dogs in the stronghold, and many small children as well. Daqiang even brought over some gentle dogs and well-behaved kids to play, setting up a separate table for the children. They ate while feeding the dogs; after finishing, they chased the dogs around, their laughter carrying far, audible both inside and outside the house.
Sun Fulang could clearly feel the importance and kindness the people of Li Village showed toward him and his children. During the meal, he said that honey refining could begin even before the workshop was built. He listed some necessary items for Yao Fulang to prepare, and added that since refining would be done at home, it would be better to move to the house at the foot of the mountain sooner for convenience.
While the new village was lively, Wang Dongmei often lingered outside the drying yard, peeking in.
That day, after the meal ended, Li Feng stepped out and saw her again. He walked over and asked, “How has Ertian been lately?”
Wang Dongmei seemed even more afraid of Li Feng now. When she spoke, her eyes avoided his, and her voice was very soft.
She said, “It’s the slack farming season. A while ago, he still went out to wander and bask in the sun, but these past few days, since you came back, he hasn’t gone out. He’s been staying at home.”
At the mention of “wandering and basking in the sun,” Li Feng frowned. During the slack season, couldn’t he do at least some work?
He no longer expected Ertian to earn money, so he asked, “Have you prepared enough firewood for the winter?”
Wang Dongmei quickly glanced at him before lowering her head again. “It should be enough.”
Li Feng pressed, “What do you mean ‘should be’?”
She explained, “When there’s no firewood at home, he goes out to gather some—just enough to burn.”
Li Feng: “…”
At least he knew when he was cold. Not bad.
When asked about the child, Wang Dongmei hesitated. Then she asked, “Big Brother… are you going to give the child away?”
She had heard rumors that Li Feng had left food at another household—enough to raise a child.
Li Feng didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “Do you want to keep living with Ertian? With the child—can you manage to raise them?”
Wang Dongmei said yes to both. She had already lost her family support and her reputation. In the past, no matter how ruined she seemed, she would still have no trouble remarrying—there were always men who needed a wife.
But now that life in the stronghold had improved, widows from other villages were marrying in. Everyone knew how Ertian had lost his good life, and they all said she was a troublemaker. Anyone who married her clearly didn’t want a good life.
She had no choice. She couldn’t farm much land alone, and with a child to care for, gathering mushrooms wouldn’t earn enough to support a household.
Staying with Ertian at least meant she could have something to eat.
She couldn’t bear to part with the child—this was her life.
It was hard, but she wasn’t yet at the point of being unable to raise the child. She wanted to keep the child by her side.
Wiping her tears, she forced a smile at Li Feng. “Big Brother, life is hard for us, but we’re not starving. As long as I have a bite to eat, the child won’t go hungry. Please don’t give him away—I can raise him.”
Previously, Li Feng had planned to separate Ertian out, following his mother’s advice to leave the child with Wang Dongmei. A child so young couldn’t be separated from its mother. Wang Dongmei had nothing left—taking the child from her would be like taking her life.
He gave his word: he would not give the child away.
Wang Dongmei repeatedly expressed her gratitude. It was her own child, yet she still had to thank someone for not taking him away. Li Feng fell silent.
In just over two years, her change had been so great.
There were many people and things Li Feng disliked—he was the kind of person with clear likes and dislikes. But it was difficult for him to truly hate someone from the bottom of his heart.
Like Wang Dongmei—he could easily say he disliked her, found her annoying, even detested her, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate her.
At home, she had obeyed her father; after marriage, she obeyed her husband. The things she did and said were not purely for herself. She was, in many ways, a pitiful person.
At the beginning of a marriage, there was always a struggle—who would run the household, who would control the money, whether one could keep some private savings. These were all things to test and fight for.
Wang Dongmei had followed her father’s advice, and Ertian had chosen to indulge her.
With two men backing her and telling her she was right, she grew arrogant—and paid the price for it.
Li Feng decided to take Ertian up the mountain. After confirming that Ertian had been hiding at home recently, he went to fetch him the next day.
Using the excuse of retrieving something, he brought Ertian to the house at the foot of the mountain. Then he knocked him unconscious, carried him up the mountain, and placed him in a certain safe hut.
He did not stay inside to guard him. Instead, he crouched nearby with Erhuang, observing from a distance.
Unfamiliar with the place, when Ertian woke up, he thought he was in a livestock shed.
Rubbing his neck and rolling his shoulders, the lingering pain from being struck still there, he cursed a few times in his heart, though he didn’t dare say anything out loud—afraid Li Feng might hear.
Following a sliver of light through the crack of the door, he went over and opened it. The dense forest before him, along with the thick undergrowth even in early winter, made him freeze on the spot. Without hesitation, he shut the door.
After a while, he opened it again just a crack and called out “Big Brother” a few times, his voice growing louder each time. There was no response.
His legs went weak. He stammered out apologies and admissions of fault, but still there was no reply.
Retreating, he hid back inside the hut.
He thought: no matter how ruthless his elder brother was, he wouldn’t go so far as to let him die on the mountain.
But from day until night, the outside remained silent, like an untouched wilderness.
Why wasn’t there even a single person gathering mushrooms or herbs? Fear crept into him.
That night, pressed against the door, he called out anxiously and helplessly—“Big Brother,” “Anyone there?” “Help”—over and over.
Then he remembered that making too much noise in the forest could attract predators. He didn’t dare make another sound.
It was obvious—his brother had put him here.
If he intended for him to live, he would come back. If not, no amount of shouting would matter.
On the first day, after shouting and imagining all kinds of ways to beg forgiveness—and all kinds of ways to die miserably—resentment filled his heart. He didn’t sleep at all.
The next morning, he was thirsty and hungry. Feeling around the hut, he found nothing.
Left with no choice, he cautiously opened the door again and called out “Big Brother.”
His voice was hoarse. No one answered.
Still afraid, he peeked outside. All the survival tricks he had ever heard about flooded his mind. He kept looking out nervously, darting back inside after each glance. Finally, he steeled himself and went out to look for food. If he kept hesitating like this, he would exhaust himself and lose even the chance of being rescued.
He didn’t dare go far, only digging up grass roots nearby to eat.
On the third day, he heard faint human voices.
At last, villagers had come up the mountain. He shouted loudly for help and got a response—but soon after, the voices faded, until they disappeared entirely.
Ertian listened for a long time. He stepped outside the hut, called out repeatedly, but no one answered. The voices and responses he had just heard felt like an illusion.
Yet he was certain it wasn’t.
Facing the empty forest, he cursed, “Li Feng! Is it you? Are you here? You want me dead? I won’t die! Once I get down the mountain, I’ll report you to the authorities!”
