Famed Far and Wide, the Boss's Seat

At those words, the noisy hall fell silent.

The Carriage Drivers waiting in line stretched their necks, every eye turning toward him.

These days, the name "Qin Geng" was a gold-lettered signboard among the Carriage Drivers.

He was the man who had dared to go head-to-head with Chen Sanpi, shattering an iron ball with one punch and killing him.

Qin Geng's expression did not change. He gave a slight nod. "I am."

"Good."

Abacus Song's face filled with a smile that never reached his eyes, sharp with a merchant's calculation. "I've long heard of you. Even Master Qi knows the name Fifth Brother Qin."

He rose, walked around the table, and looked Qin Geng up and down.

"Fifth Brother Qin, our Hongsheng Cart Company has only just been established. We need capable men."

Abacus Song tapped a finger against the tabletop, making a steady knocking sound. "The former Boss Lin didn't know his place. He displeased Master Qi, so we sent him to feed the fish at the River Bottom. But South City still needs someone to lead it. You're skilled and respected. Interested in taking the boss's seat?"

Boom!

An uproar swept through the Carriage Drivers. Countless envious, jealous looks pricked Qin Geng like needles.

A boss!

That was one step straight to the heavens!

A boss no longer had to pull a cart through wind and blazing sun. He could sit in a teahouse, drink tea, and wait for the Carriage Drivers under him to pay their dues.

He could also turn a profit through the company, taking a cut from cart rentals and sales.

That was a true "man above men."

Xu Chun and Jin He froze too. Then delight flashed in their eyes, and they were about to speak.

But Qin Geng remained calm. He did not even blink.

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Master Song."

Qin Geng cupped his hands. "But I'm young, barely more than a boy, and I lack seniority. I'm afraid the others wouldn't accept me. That boss's seat is too hot for me to sit in. I'll pass."

He had refused?

Abacus Song raised an eyebrow, surprise flashing through his eyes.

He had offered many men favors before. Some would sell their own fathers or stab their brothers twice for a boss's seat.

Yet this boy had brushed it aside?

"Oh?"

The smile in Abacus Song's eyes faded. "Fifth Brother Qin, this is wealth and status other men would beg for. If you're worried someone won't accept you, the brothers of the Dragon King Society will settle it. You truly don't want it?"

"I truly don't."

Qin Geng's answer was firm. "I just want to pull my cart in peace and earn enough to eat. A boss's burden is too heavy. My shoulders are too narrow to carry it."

Abacus Song studied Qin Geng for a long while. Seeing the clear resolve in his eyes, he knew this was no retreat meant to secure a better offer. Only then did he laugh.

"Fine! Every man has his own ambitions. I won't force you."

Abacus Song sat back down and picked up his pair of walnuts, rolling them in his hand. "If Fifth Brother Qin wants to live free and easy, I won't stand in his way."

He turned to the bookkeeper. "Give Fifth Brother Qin the South 02 cart tag. And make a note: the brothers from Xu Jin's Shanty and Ma Village Shack keep their territory around Xun River Wharf. From now on, their dues are twenty percent."

"Twenty percent?!"

The Carriage Drivers around them sucked in sharp breaths, their eyes red with envy.

The old Ping'an Cart Company had taken fifty percent, squeezing men to death.

Now Hongsheng Cart Company claimed it would take only thirty percent, though that would likely rise to forty later.

But from the two shacks with Qin Geng, it would take only twenty!

"Thank you, Master Song."

Qin Geng cupped his hands again and accepted the red-lacquered South 02 wooden tag, still neither servile nor arrogant.

With Qin Geng's name leading the way like a gold-lettered signboard, registration for Xu Jin's Shanty and Ma Village Shack went smoothly.

The bookkeeper did not dare make trouble. He issued each man a tag.

Xu Chun and the others held their new tags, grinning from ear to ear.

They had changed bosses without losing their territory and would pay less besides. It was a meat pie falling straight from the sky.

Once registration was done, Qin Geng did not linger in the hall. He led the dozen-odd brothers from the two shacks out of Hongsheng Cart Company in a noisy rush.

By the time they returned to Xu Jin's Shanty, dusk was near.

The cold wind howled, but warmth filled the men's hearts.

They sat in a circle on the open ground before the shack. In the middle stood a square wooden table, a temporary replacement for the bluestone tabletop Qin Geng had shattered with one slap.

Qin Geng sat in the place of honor, with Xu Chun, Jin He, Ma Laifu, Li Gou, and the others around him.

"Fifth Brother, what were you thinking back there?"

Li Gou had held it in the whole way. Now he could not bear it any longer. He dropped onto a bench and asked, his face flushed with agitation, "That was a boss's seat! Why'd you turn it down? If you became boss, wouldn't we brothers be able to swagger all over South City?"

Qin Geng lifted the large bowl before him, took a drink to wet his throat, then looked at Li Gou.

"You think being a boss is easy?"

Qin Geng set down the bowl. His voice was quiet.

"What kind of man is Qi Hongsheng? He's ruthless enough to hold a spirit tablet, bow in marriage to a dead person, and marry into the Dragon King Society for wealth and glory. His heart is blacker than coal, and his hands are sharper than knives."

Qin Geng looked around at them and spoke slowly. "He's only just gained a foothold. He needs to establish his authority and win people over. Offering me the boss's seat isn't a sign he values me. He wants to use me as his weapon."

"Use you as a weapon?"

Li Gou stared.

"Ping'an Cart Company may have fallen, but Guan Ershun spent years digging his roots into Ping'an County Town. You think he has no die-hard loyalists left? No family or friends?"

Qin Geng gave a short laugh. "If I took that seat, all the grudges and schemes hidden in the shadows would come after me. He wants me to bite people for him."

Xu Jin nodded again and again, puffing on his pipe. "Xiao Wu sees it clearly. That boss's seat is a fire pit. We're best off as we are: territory in hand, lower dues to pay. What reaches our bellies is what counts."

"Besides."

Qin Geng tapped the tabletop lightly. "The iron has to be strong before you forge it. The boss's seat comes from the owner. If he can give it to you, he can take it away whenever he likes. Only our skills are ours. If our fists are hard enough and we stand together, no one in South City will dare bully us, whether I'm boss or not."

There was one more thing Qin Geng did not say.

Once he broke through to Bright Force, he could take that boss's seat whenever he pleased.

Right now, he was in the teeth of the storm and not strong enough yet. There was no need to stick his neck out for the few scraps of silver the position offered.

"Xiao Wu sees right through it!"

Ma Laifu gave him a thumbs-up.

Li Gou fell into thought.

At first, Hongsheng Cart Company's redistribution of territory looked like a massive reshuffle that set the whole town buzzing. But once the dust settled, everyone realized it had been thunder without much rain.

Most Carriage Drivers had argued red-faced over the few lucrative intersections. Some had even come to blows.

Yet after all that fighting, less than half a day later, it was as though an invisible hand had nudged the territory back into its old arrangement.

It made sense. Carriage Driver was a trade built on knowing people and familiar faces.

If you were used to working the east side, you knew every bump in each alley and exactly when the families in the big houses went out on business.

Force you over to the west side, and you would be blind. You would not even know the roads, let alone how to find a fare.

So after a brief spell of chaos, the east-side drivers returned east, and the north-side drivers returned north.

Hongsheng Cart Company did not force the issue. If anything, it was pleased. What it wanted was dues and obedience in name. As long as the money came in, it did not care where anyone worked.

The grand re-registration and supposed "redistribution of territory" looked more like a ceremony to establish the authority of the newly ascendant Ghost-Marriage Son-in-Law and proclaim his claim.