Yang Ling's words were like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, stirring up wave after wave.
The miners who'd been watching crowded forward without thinking.
The managers nearby, who'd been keeping an eye on what was happening, also came over, their faces showing a hint of surprise.
Fang Qingyang forced a smile.
"Supervisor Yang, surely you're joking. You mean you can dig up ten catties of Red Gold Ore in a day?"
"More or less. It depends on luck. If I find a big enough vein of Red Gold Ore, I can dig up more than ten catties."
Yang Ling nodded slightly.
Fang Qingyang fell silent.
The nearby managers exchanged glances.
More than ten catties in a day? Was that even possible?
The Players were astonished. Before this, they wouldn't have believed it.
But when they saw that Yang Ling didn't need to rest while mining, they realized that ten catties a day was no trouble at all!
If they didn't need to rest, they could each mine at least one or two catties a day!
"Don't just stand there. Settle up."
Yang Ling reminded him.
"Oh, right!"
Fang Qingyang said, "One qian of Red Gold Ore is worth twenty copper coins. Twenty-two catties comes to... forty-four taels."
His expression grew even stranger.
Chen Xu and the others silently sucked in a breath.
Forty-four taels...
That was enough to buy their lives several times over!
With a forced smile, Fang Qingyang paid Yang Ling, then began weighing the other Players' Red Gold Ore.
"Three qian, sixty coins."
"Five qian, one hundred coins."
"Two qian, forty coins."
At first, the amounts seemed fairly normal.
"One liang? Two hundred coins."
"Two liang? Four hundred coins."
"Three liang? Six hundred coins."
"What's your name?"
"Li Tianye."
Cold sweat the size of beans appeared on Fang Qingyang's forehead.
He tried to remain calm as he paid the miners.
By the end, there were well over thirty catties of Red Gold Ore on his counter!
The nearby managers looked more grave than ever.
The miners were dumbstruck, too.
"How can they mine so fast!?"
"Their picks are different from ours. That looks like a Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoe!"
"Did Supervisor Yang give those to them? But even with different picks, they shouldn't be able to mine this much!"
"That's how mining goes. The Red Gold Ore in the shafts is often in big chunks. You can find one that takes days to dig out, which saves you time searching."
"Still, that can't explain all of it..."
They were secretly alarmed, unable to make sense of it.
"All right, go back and rest. When the agreed time comes, meet at the entrance to the Mine Shaft."
Yang Ling said.
"Supervisor Yang, we'll head back now."
In front of the locals, the Players naturally didn't call Yang Ling by any other name.
They bowed respectfully, then hurried toward the village with their Copper Coins.
Their steps were light, and they could hardly contain their excitement!
They were rich!
For the first time, they'd earned so many Copper Coins in just one day!
They wouldn't have to worry about going hungry anymore!
They could eat whatever they wanted!
Fish, meat, eggs—they could buy anything they liked!
"Supervisor Yang!"
Just as Yang Ling was about to leave, someone suddenly called out.
"What is it?"
Yang Ling looked toward the miner.
The miner gathered his courage and asked cautiously:
"Supervisor Yang, could I come down into the mine with you, too?"
I've been waiting for you to ask.
A faint smile appeared on Yang Ling's face.
"Why not? If you want to mine with me, just come along."
"Thank you, thank you!"
The miner bowed again and again.
He wanted to make big money, too!
Once one person asked, another followed.
After that miner spoke up, many others mustered the courage to ask. Yang Ling agreed to every one of them.
After telling them when to meet for the next mining trip, Yang Ling left with an easy stride.
He knew the Red Gold Mine had finally gained momentum.
It was a very good start.
"Everyone, move along."
One of the managers waved his hand, shooing away the miners who'd gathered to watch.
Then several of them walked over to Fang Qingyang, their expressions grave.
"This is bad."
"Why is Yang Ling mining so fast?"
"A lot of miners are already tempted. If we don't stop them, more and more will go down into the mine with him!"
"If that happens... we'll have a hard time explaining it to Senior Brother Yang. Manager Fang, think of something!"
"Could it... be fake?"
Fang Qingyang mused.
"Fake?"
The managers exchanged glances, their expressions shifting.
"You mean... he brought the Red Gold Ore in with him beforehand?"
One of the managers asked quietly.
"Exactly!"
Fang Qingyang nodded slowly. "He's doing this to lure miners into going down with him and increase output."
"Then it's easy. We just have to tell the miners the truth."
The managers breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the miners were discussing what had just happened.
Quite a few had already agreed to go down into the mine with Yang Ling.
"You fools! No one can mine more than ten catties of Red Gold Ore in a day!"
"Supervisor Yang is probably bluffing. Who knows if he brought that Red Gold Ore in with him?"
"Exactly. What if you really get fooled and die in the mine? Wouldn't that be a waste?"
Those remarks did make many miners hesitate.
But some frowned and said:
"The Copper Coins they got for the Red Gold Ore are real money. You're saying all this—aren't you just trying to stop us from earning?"
"..."
"Whether it's true or not, why not go down into the mine with the supervisor once and see for yourselves?"
"Right! Let's go down together and see what happens!"
The miners with ulterior motives exchanged glances, their faces flustered.
Before you continue