The first thing Leo did after becoming Uncle Luoke's second-in-command was to gather everyone to raise funds.
"Our fleet consists of small boats, lacking ocean-going capabilities, and can only fish in coastal waters, resulting in a limited catch. In Falling Sunset Village, 70% of the labor comes from fishing at sea, with the remaining 30% from other work. We must improve our fishing efficiency to increase our income," Leo said.
"What should we do then?"
The villagers stared blankly at Leo, who was speaking eloquently. This was how they had always lived, and no one had ever mentioned improving efficiency.
"Buy a big boat, a boat that's as big as all our current small boats. With just one, we can go to farther places and catch twice as many fish."
"Furthermore, I've also checked the waterways. We can use large boats to transport fish to town, eliminating the need to salt them for sale, which would increase our profits by more than three times."
"This will make our income up to six times higher than before."
Leo's voice was like a devil manipulating people's hearts; the mere mention of "six times" sent the villagers into a frenzy of excitement. They had never seen such exorbitant profits before.
"Another point is that the large ship only needs half the manpower we have now. The other half can come with me to hunt in the back mountains. I can teach you how to set traps, and the game can be transported to the town via the large ship. The profits will be considerable."
What do you all think?
How else could you look at them? They were all red-faced and panting heavily, eager to buy a big ship and set sail to start a business.
"Done!"
"Done."
In the end, everyone in Falling Sunset Village agreed to Leo's proposal. Faced with the prospect of huge profits, even the oldest and most frail men in Falling Sunset Village wanted to work with Leo.
Terrified, Leo immediately sought help from Uncle Luoke, as only he could resolve the situation.
"You're really wicked. You couldn't even save up enough money to buy a big ship yourself, so you incited the whole village to buy one with you. Aren't you afraid of losing money and making the whole village foot the bill? This big ship has emptied the coffers of Falling Sunset Village."
Under the bright candlelight, the two enjoyed a cozy dinner. After learning about what had happened during the day, Alice exposed Leo's ulterior motives.
Leo, whose face was already tanned from the sun, showed no embarrassment at being exposed; on the contrary, he was quite pleased with himself.
"I'm leading the community to prosperity. With me around, they won't lose money. When they can all live in nice houses and eat better food in the future, who knows how they'll thank me."
"As for fulfilling my long-held wish, it was merely a matter of doing it as a side effect."
Leo dragged the whole village to the gambling table without any remorse, because he was sure he wouldn't lose. At worst, he would just cheat. He couldn't ruin his perfect image in their eyes.
If he wanted, he could easily establish himself as a god in the hearts of these people, an embodiment of miracles.
He had far too many ways to deal with these ordinary people.
Leo simply didn't want to make it that big!
Because they were going to buy a large boat, every family was calculating how much money they could afford. Although they traded salted fish in town for various daily necessities, each family actually had a considerable amount of savings.
These savings weren't accumulated in one generation; they were accumulated over multiple generations, and some were even over a hundred years old.
Once all the villagers had gathered their money, half of them went to town. The large boat they wanted to buy wasn't available in town, so they had to go to a larger city through the town's channels to purchase it.
It was ten days later when the large ship was finally purchased.
This time, Leo and Luoke did not return by land, but by sea in a large ship.
The villagers had never seen such a large ship in their entire lives; it could easily fit their entire village inside.
"Once we recoup our investment, we can take everyone's wives and children on a big boat to town for a stroll. What do you say?"
"Good!"
Leo kept making all sorts of tangible promises to the villagers. By the time the ship returned, Leo's authority had surpassed Uncle Luoke's. Although he was nominally the second-in-command, he was in fact the number one.
Because he accomplished something that no one in Falling Sunset Village had been able to do for hundreds of years!
Every word he uttered carried an innate authority, inspiring unconscious conviction in others!
Alice stared blankly at Leo, who was issuing orders, even though Leo was only commanding some ordinary people, numbering less than two hundred.
But from Leo's expression, she seemed to see a Advanced Wizard commanding countless armies on expeditions to other worlds.
"What, haven't you ever seen such a handsome man before?"
Leo jumped in front of Alice. He hadn't seen her for ten days and had missed Alice constantly. If it weren't inconvenient, he would have liked to take Alice with him so they could see the scenery along the way and have a romantic trip.
"Yes, I've never seen such a handsome and capable man."
Alice no longer hides her love for Leo. In public, she hugs Leo's arm, her petite and affectionate manner melting Leo's heart.
"It seems our little village chief has reached the age to have children,"
"The village chief's wife must work hard!"
The villagers of Falling Sunset Village, who were already familiar with each other, all knew about the relationship between Leo and Alice. They were the envy of all the couples in the village. The only drawback was that they had been married for many years but still had no children.
"Go, go, go quickly and get familiar with the big ship. We're going out to sea to fish tomorrow."
Leo kicked each villager who made fun of him in the butt, then took Alice's hand and walked towards home.
"Our cow is pregnant with the calf of that big bull. She can't do any heavy work this year, and she can't pull the cart to town either."
Back home, Alice pointed to a cow grazing in the distance and said to Leo.
"It's alright, bulls can still pull carts. If you prefer cows, I'll go and catch a few."
Leo grinned at the big bull, knowing that this little guy was capable, actually adding another person to the family to keep them going.
"What do you think about us setting up a cattle farm?" Leo looked at the three cows grazing leisurely, and he was starting to miss the taste of beef stew with potatoes.
"Now you're leading the whole village out to sea to fish and hunt. If you also set up a cattle farm, can you manage it all?"
"Aren't there so many elderly people and children in the village? We can leave the cattle farm to them. Look how obedient our cattle are; even a bedridden person could manage them."
It seemed as if the three cows had heard Leo's words; their ears twitched. Would they dare disobey?
Animals have far more acute intuition than humans; they knew just how terrifying this couple was.
"Then let me take over the cattle farm. The villagers said there's another village a little further away by the sea. When we run out of manpower, we can merge that village with us," Alice suggested.
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you."
With just a few words, the two men changed the fate of many people, and those people were unaware of it at that moment.
Life seemed to have accelerated; with a large ship, we could go further and catch more fish at sea.
Leo's statement that fishing with a large boat is six times more profitable than before is inaccurate, because the final calculated profit was more than ten times higher.
It only took six months to earn back the cost of the boat; the rest was profit.
Because only half the manpower could be used on the large ship, the rest of the manpower went hunting in the back mountain with Leo.
After Leo taught them how to use bows and arrows and how to use traps, the number of prey in the back mountain dropped sharply.
"Village chief, we're only hunting half as much game as we did six months ago. What are we going to do?" a villager asked worriedly.
The prey in the back mountains is becoming increasingly scarce, which will reduce their income. They also cannot venture too far, as there are ferocious beasts there that they cannot defeat.
"Don't worry, the village's cattle farm has been built. We won't need to go hunting anymore, and we'll have enough beef to eat," Leo said.
"It's really amazing, all those cows, I don't know where they came from, but they just stayed in our village and won't leave," a villager exclaimed in amazement.
Leo pretended to be just as curious and puzzled as the others, but in reality, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. He knew better than anyone else where those uninvited cows came from.
Because those cows were all Alice's doing.