"This is the payment for six days. Five copper coins a day makes thirty copper coins. Have a look and see if it's correct."
In another room, the student of Master was entirely devoid of his usual upright demeanor, hunching over with a rather flattering smile.
After counting the copper coins and confirming that everything was in order, the student of Master bid his farewell and left.
"Scholars are all well and good, but you have to actually make something of yourself. A fellow like this is no better than a tavern errand boy!"
Liang Hu watched the retreating figure and muttered to himself.
He patted the coins in his pocket, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face.
"I can finally get through a wealthy winter!"
He pushed the door open and was about to leave when he suddenly saw someone walking out of the neighboring room.
"Son of a bitch!" he cursed inwardly, turning as if to head back inside.
This matter could not be exposed, which meant he still couldn't afford to show too many flaws in front of these children.
"I'll just have to wait until the middle of the night to leave!"
With that thought, he suddenly noticed that person walking straight toward him, uttering words that nearly made him lose control and kill him on the spot.
"Lord Liang Hu, you shouldn't have anything to do with the Master, right?"
Night had fallen, and the distant lights spoke of the city's prosperity. Unfortunately for Lu Changsheng, it was something to be admired from afar, not to be toyed with!
"I really have to take some risks after all!"
By the moonlight, he caught sight of Liang Hu's fierce and menacing gaze, feeling a helpless knot in his chest.
Acting this way didn't suit his usual temperament, but sometimes there was simply no other choice.
The weather was turning cold, shifting from extreme heat to bitter cold so abruptly that the two extremes seemed bound to clash. If he couldn't find a place to settle down within the next few days, he would most likely fail to survive the winter.
"I'm not the only one who knows about this. Even if you kill me, others will find out! You can't possibly kill all dozens of the children here!"
"Even if you had the stomach for it, you'd hardly be able to stay in this prefecture city any longer! The Heishan Army patrols every three days; they might turn a blind eye to one or two lives, but if this many people die, I'm afraid the lords inside the prefecture city won't be able to sleep easy!"
"And when the lords can't sleep easy, the consequences—"
Lu Changsheng did not put on any mysterious airs; he blurted out the words he had prepared all at once.
Over the past few days, he had observed that while Liang Hu had a calculating streak, he still retained a somewhat reckless, outlaws' temperament. If he were driven to panic and killed him first without thinking, he probably wouldn't be able to forgive himself even in the netherworld.
"You little brat—" Liang Hu's eyes were filled with murderous rage. Had Lu Changsheng hesitated even for a split second, he truly would have struck. Yet upon hearing those words, he calmed down somewhat.
"What are you trying to do? Let me tell you, the Heishan Army of today is not what it used to be. Dead people mean nothing to them; at most, cleaning up the loose ends will just be a bit troublesome!" Liang Hu said in a deep voice, the unfolding situation giving him a sense of complete loss of control.
Then why didn't you make a move?
Lu Changsheng knew in his heart that Liang Hu was just trying to save face, so he chose not to expose him.
For someone scraping by in the marketplace, that tiny shred of pride was all they had left. In front of someone stronger than him, his bottom line might stretch infinitely low, but right now, Lu Changsheng was not that kind of strongman.
"I want to forge a future under Lord Liang Hu!" Lu Changsheng stepped forward and handed over a handful of copper coins.
Liang Hu snatched the coins and sneered, "You're a sharp one, kid. But this future you're talking about is far too big—I can't take that on! At most, I can help you find some odd jobs. Heh, well, it helps that you can read; otherwise, finding any work at all would be impossible!"
Lu Changsheng sighed inwardly, realizing he had overestimated the man. He said nothing more and simply nodded in agreement.
Having a place to land could still be considered quite decent, after all.
It was just that his expectations were now far lower than when he first came here.
"Every man has his own path, and even mice have their holes. With Liang Hu's help, I can get ahead sooner right here in Heishan Prefecture!"
Lu Changsheng thought to himself.
Regrettably, helping him scout out a job seemed to be the man's absolute limit. Push any further, and he'd likely wash his hands of the whole thing and walk away!
A short while later, Lu Changsheng returned to the room and immediately spotted a few people gathered around Wang Heihou and his two companions.
"Heihou, won't you reconsider? You know how unfamiliar we all are with this place. If we don't stick together like a tightly twisted rope, it's bound to be hard to get by!" urged a young man.
Lu Changsheng recognized these people; they were all from the Zhao family.
Noticing someone enter, the group turned back to look.
"Changsheng!" Wang Heihou and the other two walked over excitedly.
"What you said makes sense, but the four of us must go together!"
Wang Heihou seemed to have made up his mind as he spoke to the young men of the Zhao family.
"That's impossible! At most, we can take Niu Dazhuang as well," the youth replied.
"Then I'm not going!" Wang Heihou declared.
The youth grew angry and snapped, "If you don't go, it's your own loss! You won't even have a place to sleep—let's see how you survive the winter then!"
With that, he stormed off in a fury.
"Go if they want, see if I care! Who do they think they are, shouting at us like that?" Wang Heihou complained, thoroughly displeased with the youths' attitude.
"Still... what they said does make some sense," Li Nangua said softly.
Lu Changsheng knew she wasn't expressing a desire to cling to that group, but rather reminding everyone of the reality.
"We should have a place to stay sorted out," Lu Changsheng said, pulling the others into an empty corner to explain what happened to the thirty copper coins.
He had taken those coins from everyone's hands. Although no one had raised an issue, Lu Changsheng still wanted to make everything clear so there would be no lingering discomfort between them later.
Naturally, he left out the specific details of his encounter, fearing it would backfire and achieve the opposite effect.
Upon learning that Lu Changsheng had actually secured a living space with just thirty copper coins, the three of them let out a series of gasps in amazement.
"Changsheng, I knew you could pull it off! Those guys are just too stingy. Refusing to let you join them is their loss!" Wang Heihou said triumphantly.
After asking around, Lu Changsheng finally learned what those people were planning.
They were all leaving tomorrow to seek their own paths, but most of the boys and girls had no idea what to do. Zhao Liang had seized the moment to rally a group of Zhao family members to stick together—on the condition that everyone hand over all their copper coins for their leaders to manage and distribute, helping them scrape through the bitter winter.
He had to admit, it was a practical strategy. If he didn't have other plans in mind, he would genuinely have had to figure out a way to band together with them.
As for why they were only willing to accept Wang Heihou and Niu Dazhuang, it was most likely because the two of them carried more coins than the others.
That night.
A group of boys and girls, mostly eleven or twelve years old, stood at a crucial crossroads of their lives.
No one could truly advise another.
Lu Changsheng sat on his straw mat. A few people occasionally came over, hoping to follow Zhao Liang's example and form a collective, but all of them were turned away by the group.
"A stunt like this is the ultimate test of human nature. It's fine as long as you don't run into hardship, but the moment real trouble strikes, the person holding the money will just wash their hands of everyone, leaving the rest stranded with nothing to do but stare in despair!"
Lu Changsheng thought to himself. He felt a brief impulse to warn them, but after a second thought, he let it drop.