A Little Review

Shen Jingchuan appears decisive and ruthless, acting without hesitation. In a real battle, he can shoot someone or smash their head without batting an eye.

He had practiced it little by little after he transmigrated, but in his heart, it had never changed.

In the past, whenever he saw stray cats or dogs on the street, he would make a special trip to the convenience store to buy two sausages, squat down and feed them before leaving, because he couldn't bear to see those poor little creatures suffer.

Now that I've transmigrated to this chaotic world, I've seen countless dead people, and I've killed quite a few myself. I've become increasingly ruthless, but I haven't lost my soft heart at all.

He knew there were too many refugees to manage, but he just couldn't bring himself to turn away and watch hundreds of people starve and hang on the brink of death.

To put it bluntly, he's ruthless when it's time to kill, and he's also quick to help when he can. I don't know if he'll change in the future, but right now he's a contradiction.

In fact, Shen Jingchuan was not short of money at all. Let alone these few hundred people, even if there were ten times more, he could easily feed them comfortably for three to five years.

But he knew in his heart that this wasn't the way to save people.

There's an old saying that goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," and there's also the saying, "A small favor is appreciated, but a large favor breeds resentment." He'd heard these sayings since he was a child.

The food and money given away for free will eventually run out, and when that happens, these people will have no way to survive and will have to go back to their old ways of robbing.

If you help people for too long, they'll get used to it and take it for granted. If you stop helping them one day, they might even resent you.

So he didn't intend to just throw some money and food at them and be done with it; he wanted to find them a way to make a living in the long run.

Investing some capital upfront is nothing; once the business is up and running, let them support themselves through their own efforts—that's true, helping them to the very end.

Hu Tieniu was still standing there, stunned.

When he heard Shen Jingchuan say that he would provide the capital, he was momentarily stunned and stood there blankly for a long time.

Before he could reply, Shen Jingchuan had already taken out a stack of silver notes, quickly glanced at them, and handed them over. They amounted to about seven or eight hundred taels.

"Take this money. First, set up the teahouse and tavern. Also, find someone to repair and tidy up the Wild Goose Tomb and the stone tablet. If any of you in this group are good at accounting and know how to manage things, let them take charge. If you really can't find anyone, go into town and hire a knowledgeable manager. Just follow the steps I just described, and it won't be bad."

He paused, then added:

"Use the remaining money to buy a batch of grain so that everyone in the mountains, young and old, can have a good meal and survive until the business breaks even. If you run out of money in the meantime, come to the city to find me."

But there's one condition—you absolutely cannot rob anyone again. If I catch you doing it again, I won't hold back."

Hu Tieniu clutched the thick stack of silver notes, his hands trembling. He instinctively wanted to refuse, but the image of hundreds of emaciated old and young people on the mountain flashed through his mind, and he swallowed the words back.

He knew that if he rejected the money, countless people would starve to death.

His lips trembled twice, and with a "thud," he knelt down and kowtowed heavily, unable to utter a coherent sentence for a long time.

The group of refugees behind him understood what was going on, and they all knelt down in unison, their eyes red and shouting at the top of their lungs, "Young Master Shen is benevolent and righteous!" The muffled sounds of their kowtowing filled the air.

Looking at the large group of people kneeling on the ground before him, Shen Jingchuan knew exactly what was going on. This group consisted of all sorts of people, and now they were all so grateful, but who knew what they would become in the future?

He sighed softly to himself, not dwelling on it too much. He'd just take it one step at a time, like casually feeding stray cats and dogs he'd stumbled upon on the street—just to put his mind at ease.

The group entered Yuxi Prefecture before the city gates closed. Once inside the city, they split up; Lin Shan, Lin Yue, and Lin Qingyao led the escort team back to Zhenyuan Escort Agency.

After saying goodbye to the three, Shen Jingchuan led Bai Ruoli, Qinghe, and Xiaoyue back to his house. By the time they reached the front gate, it was already completely dark.

The housekeeper, Liu Zhong, opened the door and, upon seeing that it was Shen Jingchuan returning, hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. He then turned and shouted at the backyard, telling his wife, Madam Liu, and daughter Xiaocui, to quickly start a fire and cook a few more dishes.

Hearing the commotion in the front yard, Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua, who were in the backyard, quickly came out to greet them.

Seeing that Shen Jingchuan had returned with an incredibly beautiful woman, followed by a maid, the two young girls quickly stepped forward to greet Shen Jingchuan.

Shen Jingchuan stepped aside to introduce them, telling the Su Household sisters about Bai Ruoli and Qinghe's identities, and then introducing them to his two younger sisters Qingshu Bai Ruoli Qinghua.

The two girls greeted Bai Ruoli and the others politely, then turned and went to the kitchen in the front yard to help Madam Liu and the others pick vegetables and start the fire.

After working for almost half an hour, the food was finally served one after another.

Everyone sat down around the table. Xiaoyue grabbed Qinghe's wrist and pulled her to the stool next to her, laughing as she said:

"What are you standing for? Sit down and eat with us. Our young master has always treated us like his own sisters, without any distinction between master and servant. We've always eaten at the same table. From now on, you'll be the same; treat him as his sister. No one will dare say anything against you."

After saying that, she deliberately turned her head and winked at Shen Jingchuan, then called out in a crisp voice:

"Brother, am I right?"

Shen Jingchuan reached out and ruffled her hair, laughing and scolding:

"You talk too much." He then looked at Qinghe, who was still somewhat reserved, and nodded.

"Xiaoyue is right. Sit down. From now on, you'll be my little sister too. You don't need to follow those fancy rules."

Qinghe was sold to a brothel when she was young and became Bai Ruoli's maid. Even though Bai Ruoli treated her like a sister and returned her indenture, she never dared to put herself on an equal footing with her master.

Hearing Shen Jingchuan say this now, she felt a warmth in her heart and quickly whispered, mimicking Xiao Yue'er:

"Thank you, brother." He then carefully sat down and picked up his chopsticks.

After dinner, Qinghe brought warm water to help the two of them wash up. Then, carrying a change of clothes, she quietly slipped out and returned to the side room that had been prepared for her in advance.

Only Shen Jingchuan and Bai Ruoli remained in the room. After several days of travel, with many people around and making things inconvenient, Shen Jingchuan hadn't had a chance to be intimate with her since that drunken night. Now that they were back in their own bedroom, with the door closed and no longer any reservations, he couldn't hold back any longer and reached out to pull her towards the bed.

Bai Ruoli's cheeks flushed, and she whispered angrily, "What's the rush?" but her hand obediently rested on his shoulder, without any intention of pushing him away.

Shen Jingchuan lay on his side on the bed, his arm around her soft waist, pulling her closer to him, and whispered with a chuckle in her ear:

I drank too much that night and don't remember anything. I need to study hard today.