Breaking the Stalemate

Yang Ling's words fell like a boulder into a calm lake, stirring up waves upon waves.

The miners watching the commotion instinctively edged closer. Nearby stewards who had been observing the scene also walked over, their expressions tinged with surprise and doubt.

Fang Qingyang forced a stiff smile onto his face. "Supervisor Yang must be joking. Do you mean to say you can dig ten catties of Red Gold ore in a single day?"

"More or less. Depends on luck. If I find a big enough chunk, even over ten catties is possible." Yang Ling gave a slight nod.

Fang Qingyang fell silent. The stewards nearby exchanged uneasy glances.

Over ten catties in a day—was that even possible? The Players sighed inwardly. Before, they might have doubted it too. But now that they'd seen Yang Ling mine without needing rest, they understood that ten catties a day was no challenge at all! If they didn't need rest, they could probably dig at least a catty or two themselves!

"Don't just stand there. Settle the accounts." Yang Ling reminded him.

"Oh, right!" Fang Qingyang: "One qian of Red Gold ore is twenty coppers. Twenty-two catties is... ten taels and ten." His expression grew even more peculiar.

Chen Xu and the others silently sucked in a sharp breath. Ten taels and ten... That was enough to buy their lives several times over!

Fang Qingyang forced a smile as he finished settling with Yang Ling, then began tallying the other Players' Red Gold ore. "Three qian, sixty coppers." "Five qian, one hundred coppers." "Two qian, forty coppers."

At first, it was normal. "One tael? Two hundred coppers." "Two taels? Four hundred coppers." "Three taels? Six hundred coppers." "What's your name?" "Li Tianye."

Sweat beaded on Fang Qingyang's forehead like peas. He forced himself to stay calm as he paid the miners. In the end, nearly thirty-six catties of Red Gold ore sat on his counter!

The stewards nearby watched, their expressions growing heavier than ever. The miners stared in stunned disbelief. "How can they dig so fast!?" "Their pickaxes are different—those look like Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes!" "Supervisor Yang must have given them to them, right? But even with different tools, they shouldn't be digging this much!" "That's how mining works. The ore in the shaft is actually in big chunks. If you find one, it might take days to dig it all out, saving time on searching." "Still, this is too much..."

They were secretly alarmed, unable to figure it out. "Alright, go rest. Gather at the mine shaft entrance at the agreed time." Yang Ling said.

"Supervisor Yang, we'll head back now." The Players naturally wouldn't call him anything else in front of the Natives. They bowed respectfully, then hurried toward the village with their coppers, their steps light with joy, their hearts pounding with excitement! They'd struck it rich! For the first time, they'd earned this many coppers in just one day!

From now on, they would never go hungry again!

They could eat whatever they wanted!

Fish, meat, eggs—they could buy anything they pleased!

"Supervisor Yang!"

Just as Yang Ling was about to leave, someone suddenly called out.

"Something?"

Yang Ling looked at the miner.

The miner steeled himself and asked cautiously:

"Supervisor Yang, could I also go down the mine with you?"

That's exactly what I was waiting for.

A faint smile crept onto Yang Ling's face:

"Why not? If you want to go down the mine with me, just follow along."

"Thank you, thank you!"

The miner bowed repeatedly.

He wanted to make big money too!

Once one spoke up, others followed.

After that miner spoke, many more miners gathered their courage to ask, and Yang Ling naturally agreed to each one.

After telling them the time to go down the mine, Yang Ling drifted away.

He knew the situation at the Red Gold Mine had turned in his favor.

This was a good start.

"All of you, disperse."

A Steward waved his hand, shooing away the miners who had gathered to watch.

Then he and the others walked up to Fang Qingyang, their expressions grave:

"This is big trouble."

"Why is Yang Ling mining so fast?"

"Quite a few miners are already tempted. If we don't stop this, more and more will follow him down the mine!"

"If that happens... we won't be able to answer to Senior Brother Yang. Steward Fang, think of something!"

"What if... it's fake?"

Fang Qingyang said thoughtfully.

"Fake?"

The stewards exchanged glances, their expressions shifting.

"You mean... those red gold ores were brought in by him beforehand?"

One steward whispered.

"Exactly!"

Fang Qingyang nodded slowly: "He's doing this to lure miners into going down with him and boost production."

"Then it's simple. Just tell the miners the truth."

The stewards felt a wave of relief.

Meanwhile, the miners were also discussing what had just happened.

Quite a few had already agreed to go down the mine with Yang Ling.

"Are you idiots? No one can dig ten-odd catties of red gold ore in a single day!"

"Supervisor Yang is probably bluffing. Who knows if those ores weren't brought in by him?"

"Exactly. If you get fooled and die in the mine shaft, what's the point?"

These remarks cooled many miners' enthusiasm.

But some miners frowned and said:

"The Copper Coins they exchanged for the red gold were real, though. Are you saying all this just to stop us from making money?"

"..."

"True or false, just go down the mine shaft with the Supervisor once and find out!"

"Right! Let's go down together and see for ourselves!"

The miners with ulterior motives exchanged glances, a hint of panic in their eyes.