Chapter 27: Creeping Progress (Part 2)
The shouting and cursing outside finally stopped. Huo Chong also stopped working, and a chisel that was still in good shape was taken out of the furnace. The chisel was completely covered with clay, with only the tip sticking out.
"Be careful, don't get burned." Huo Chong warned his fellow disciples.
Tie Niu was a little absent-minded. When other junior brothers and sisters came over to watch Huo Chong's struggle, Tie Niu only took a few glances and walked towards the gate. Not long after, Tie Niu walked back quickly and whispered to Huo Chong, "Big Brother, the people outside haven't left yet."
"Tie Niu, if they want to stay here, we can't do anything about it. It's not that we don't pay them, we just have a rule, and the rule is that we pay them at the end of the year."
Tie Niu frowned and thought about it, and finally whispered: "Big Brother, we don't have money."
Huo Chong comforted him, "What does it have to do with having no money now and having money at the end of the year?"
Tie Niu thought for a while, and suddenly he became ruthless and said with gritted teeth: "When we have money, we can give anyone's money, but not these goods!"
Huo Chong thought Tie Niu was so damn cute, but he didn't want to laugh for Tie Niu's sake. But the urge to laugh was so strong that he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Sure enough, Tie Niu felt that he was insulted, and his face showed confusion, grievance, and some anger.
Huo Chong saw that his fellow disciples didn't understand what he just said, so he could only use his traditional P2P skills to hold a meeting.
Huo Chong asked his fellow apprentices to learn how to cover the furnace with a roof and block the vents to slow down the burning of the coal. Only then did Huo Chong call his fellow apprentices back into the house.
"Which finger do you use to clean your ears?" Huo Chong asked.
Everyone didn't remember it for a moment, and stared at Huo Chong dumbly. Huo Chong smiled and said, "Won't we know if we compare them?"
Everyone then gestured, and everyone used their little finger.
Huo Chong asked again: "Which fingers do you use to scratch the itch?"
There is no need to remind you this time. If you compare yourself, you will find that the longest middle finger is the main force for tickling.
"Someone wants to return the money they earned from planting the seeds of good fortune, which is like an itch in the ears. We want to make money by brewing wine, which is like an itch in the body. Different itches require different fingers to scratch. This is how we deal with it."
The junior brothers obviously didn't understand what this metaphor meant. Huo Chong could only let them speak, and the junior brothers began to speak according to their own feelings. Soon they reached a consensus that everyone felt that it was uncomfortable to be forced to pay debts, and it was also uncomfortable to be tired from work. These were all uncomfortable.
Huo Chong never expected that his discussion with a group of country people would actually lead to the essential issues of world cognition.
Normal heartbeat, breathing and other activities do not require the brain at all, the body can handle them on its own. Competitive sports such as martial arts also form muscle memory through a lot of training. Only signals that the body cannot handle will be submitted to the brain for processing.
The brain is an organ that appeared very late in the long process of evolution. It has only a few so-called emotions and has not evolved to the point where it can analyze specific problems specifically.
The so-called pragmatic approach of analyzing specific issues in specific contexts is also a kind of "brain tissue memory" after training, which is not essentially different from muscle memory after extensive training.
The different kinds of discomfort that my junior brothers and sisters mentioned are all discomforts, and they are the truth.
Since everyone told the truth, Huo Chong felt that he couldn't just deal with it perfunctorily. After thinking for a while, he said, "Brother, we will feel uncomfortable when people ask for debts. We will feel uncomfortable when we are too tired from working. These are all true. As long as we work, we will feel tired, and when we are tired, we will feel uncomfortable. But if we don't work, what will we eat?"
The third disciple Tie Niu immediately replied: "Master relies on money, doesn't he?"
Huo Chong suddenly realized. Master Liu Shu didn't treat his disciples very well. The third, fourth, and sixth disciples didn't even have enough to eat when they followed Master Liu Shu. But the disciples still continued to follow Liu Shu.
Although they didn't have enough to eat, at least they didn't have to do so much heavy work. From the perspective of effort and benefit, the income ratio of the junior brothers was not bad, at least not worse than doing farm work.
After following Huo Chong, although he had enough to eat, he also had to do more work. There was a reason why the fellow apprentices compared being chased for debts with the hard work.
Just as I was thinking about whether there was a way to get my fellow apprentices out of this mindset, I heard Qian Qing whisper, "What's the connection between Master collecting money and doing work?"
Several fellow apprentices were stunned. They didn't expect that Junior Sister Qian Qing could actually say such words.
Qian Qing probably felt that what he said was inappropriate, so he quickly asked, "How did Master make money in the past?"
The third apprentice brother Tie Niu obviously looked down on women, and said angrily: "At that time, Master knew many people, and the eldest and second apprentice brothers were good at fighting. No one dared to bully us."
Qian Qing seemed dissatisfied with Tie Niu's arrogance. Although she spoke softly, "Big Brother is still here..."
Huo Chong quickly explained: "That was my former senior brother. I joined later than Tie Niu and the others. After my senior brother was beaten to death, I was promoted to senior brother by my master."
"Oh?" Qian Qing was stunned, obviously not expecting such a secret. But he didn't distract himself for long, Qian Qing continued to ask: "The former senior brother was beaten to death, where did the master and the second senior brother go?"
The fellow disciples' faces turned grim, and it was obvious that Qian Qing's words had struck something deep in their hearts.
Qian Qing waited for a while and continued, "We are all following the senior brother now. The senior brother is very good to us. Whatever he does, we learn from him and help him. Isn't that good?"
Huo Chong was even somewhat touched. Qian Qing's understanding was beyond his imagination. Indeed, Qian Qing had nowhere to go now and could only stay with Huo Chong temporarily. But what Qian Qing said was not flattery, but pointing out the harsh reality. If Huo Chong's fellow apprentices could not be of one mind with Huo Chong, they would not be able to survive.
The junior brothers remained silent. Qian Qing did not continue the topic. After a pause, Qian Qing broke the awkward silence, "Big Brother, how are you going to deal with those who come to your door?"
Huo Chong just took advantage of the situation and said, "We will definitely give those people their money. But it's not their turn to say anything, so we have to listen to them. We will still give them money at the end of the year."
"What if I don't give it to them?" Tie Niu answered angrily. But when he said this, he glared at Qian Qing, and it was unclear whether the anger was directed at the troublemaker or Qian Qing.
"Tie Niu, it's easier to settle things with them. We have too many things to do, and getting entangled with them will waste our time." Huo Chong explained.
"It's better to leave the money for ourselves than to give it to them!" Tie Niu muttered angrily.
Having said what he had said before, Huo Chong now began to consider the fact that his fellow apprentices wanted to have money to spend. Uncle Liu made money through religion and multiplied his money through some transactions. Although it was not clear what Uncle Liu had done before, it was obvious that Uncle Liu was not an "industrial operator" but someone who was engaged in finance.
In other words, these fellow apprentices also envied the success of their master, Uncle Liu. Rather than... Of course, Huo Chong has not yet proposed an obvious path to follow. They do not know the value of following Huo Chong.
Thinking of this, Huo Chong laughed: "Old Third is right. We won't give the money to those people outside now. We can keep this money for ourselves."
After saying that, he went back to his room and took out the money bag from the cash box. He returned to the hall and took out a hundred coins and placed them on the table. "Third brother, let's divide this hundred coins among our brothers first. You take the lead."
In just a moment, the third brother Tie Niu's mouth was grinning to the roots of his ears. He held the money tightly in his hand, and looked like he couldn't let it go.
"Divide it." Huo Chongming said.
After warming the money in his hands for a while, the third brother untied the hemp rope and distributed the money to everyone. The first copper coin was placed in front of Huo Chong, who waved his hand and said, "I won't share it this time. You share it with everyone."
"Oh." Li Tieniu responded, took the money back and put it in front of himself, then put a penny in front of the fourth brother, and then the sixth brother.
After looking at Qian Qing several times and then at the expressionless Huo Chong, Li Tieniu placed the fourth copper coin on top of the one in front of him.
Huo Chong slammed the table and asked, "Why isn't there any for Seventh Junior Sister?"
"She just arrived." Li Tieniu explained. After that, seeing Huo Chong's disapproving look, he muttered, "Big Brother, you didn't say that."
Huo Chong said coldly: "I just said that I will divide it among you. That means everyone should share it. Tie Niu, continue to divide it."
Reluctantly, he gave the fourth copper coin to Qian Qing, and Tie Niu continued to distribute money one copper coin to each person.
After distributing the money, the junior brothers were all very happy. Although Tie Niu looked a little disappointed, he still said to Huo Chong: "Big Brother, can I go home for a while?"
"Go." Huo Chong understood that Tie Niu was going to send the money home.
When the fourth and sixth junior brothers saw that Huo Chong had approved Li Tieniu's leave, they also came over to ask for leave. At this time, Tieniu went back to the house, and Huo Chong asked the sixth junior brother, "Sixth brother, did the master give money before?"
"Only during festivals."
"How long has it been since Master gave me money?"
"Hmm..." Sixth Junior Brother thought for a while, "More than half a year."
Huo Chong got the information and didn't ask any more questions. He said to his sixth junior brother gently , "Go back with the brothers and let them take you back. Don't drop the money on the way."
After instructing Tie Niu to send his fellow apprentices home first, he let them go out. When he came back after closing the door, Qian Qing was already waiting for Huo Chong with the money in his hand, "Big Brother, I can't take this money."
Huo Chong did not comment on such a considerate attitude, "Seventh Brother, you are going to be an accountant. There is nothing wrong with taking this now."
"Big Brother, do you really want me to be your accountant?" Qian Qing was still quite confused. "Aren't you afraid that the government will arrest you?"
"I've said it before, the government can't predict that you've come to my place. Even though you didn't tell me how you escaped, the government won't post notices all over Shandong just because of you, a little girl. They're not that capable. You'll be fine if you don't cause any trouble while you're here."
After hearing what Huo Chong said, Qian Qing frowned slightly, and then remained silent for a while before asking in a low voice: "Big Brother, do you really... just want me to be the accountant?"
Huo Chong certainly understood what was meant by this, and even felt a little contempt in his heart. This was underestimating Huo Chong too much.
So Huo Chong squatted down, looked Qian Qing in the eye, stared into her eyes and said, "You have studied and practiced martial arts. You are a man of both civil and military skills. My business will be very big in the future, and I want to train you to be a great man and use you as my right-hand man. I will deal with anyone who dares to bully you. When you are ready to get married, I will marry you off in a grand manner. Now, just follow me and work hard. You have met your brothers, and I also want to count on them, but I am afraid that I cannot count on them."
