Chapter 40 Land (V)
On the third day after the tax collectors left, Xu Youlin came back. Seeing this former enemy and collaborator, Huo Chong stepped forward and saluted Xu Youlin, "Brother Xu, I am really grateful that you rushed to help me."
Xu Youlin pulled Huo Chong and said with a smile: "Brother Huo, I didn't know you guys would collect money early. I just caught up."
After a few more words, the two sat down. Lao Liu brought over a tray, on which were placed twenty pairs of lenses that Huo Chong had hurriedly made. Xu Youlin carefully placed them in front of him and examined them one by one. After he finished examining them, Huo Chong motioned Lao Liu to bring over the others.
After seeing it, Xu Youlin was a little surprised, "Brother Huo, is this yellow color inherent in the lenses?"
"Yes, I really want to burn out colorless lenses, but my paint is too damp to do it."
Xu Youlin said happily: "No, no, no, this yellow one is great! I feel very comfortable."
Huo Chong heaved a sigh of relief. The mainstream sunglasses in the 21st century are black and brown. Xu Youlin's words proved that these two colors meet the needs of normal people. Huo Chong pointed to the forty pairs of lenses on the two trays and said, "If Brother Xu thinks it's good, I can make you another 100 pairs of lenses next month."
"I've taken them all." Xu Youlin said with a smile, "But what I want most is the ignition material made by Brother Huo. Brother Huo, I really need it urgently."
"In one and a half months at most, I can give you several dozen kilograms," Huo Chong advised.
Xu Youlin shook his head. "Brother Huo, I won't hide it from you. My family wants to give someone a gift of ice and charcoal. This thing is very rare. My family believes in Buddhism. When they saw your thing, they thought it was the Glazed Pure Fire. This thing can be sold in the capital."
Huo Chong didn't expect Xu Youlin to be so ambitious, and couldn't help but tease, "My other things are not worthy of the attention of the people in Beijing."
"Haha. Brother Huo, if I say that the glass bowls you made are beautiful, would you believe it?" Xu Youlin joked cheerfully.
Huo Chong was self-aware, and he laughed after hearing what Xu Youlin said. After laughing, Huo Chong said, "This thing requires a lot of things. I can only make another one or two kilograms, and I really can't make more."
Xu Youlin said seriously, "At least two kilograms. The more the better."
Since Xu Youlin had said it so clearly, Huo Chong immediately took action and asked Zhu Erniu to go find someone who made vinegar. Unexpectedly, he was lucky enough to meet someone who made bad vinegar. He stretched out his finger and ran it across the surface of the vinegar jar that gave off a strong sour smell, and then licked it to taste it. The sourness made Huo Chong feel numb.
The man who made the bad vinegar now saw that his vinegar might be sold, so he immediately boasted that his vinegar was different from others. Zhu Erniu, an expert in vinegar, immediately mocked him. The words of his colleague were like knives, making him so embarrassed that he dared not say a word.
The two bought thirty kilograms of vinegar first, and set up a distillation vessel in the field outside the village to start distilling acetic acid. Seeing that the connection was made of glass instead of copper, Zhu Erniu was puzzled, "Brother Huo, why do you use such an expensive thing?"
"What will happen if you soak copper in vinegar?" Huo Chong asked as he worked.
Zhu Erniu understood very well, "You can't even use iron as a spoon to stir vinegar. If you use copper, it will definitely be ruined."
"I know this too. Of course, copper pipes cannot be used."
"This thing looks so brittle." Zhu Erniu's question proved that he didn't know how corrosion-resistant the glass tube was.
Huo Chong did not explain and hurried to work. The distilled acetic acid was poured into the glass container with limestone particles, and soon tiny bubbles appeared. Naturally, more limestone was added, and the liquid stopped reacting. The small pieces were filtered out, and the rest of the glass container was calcium acetate.
Huo Chong poured the alcohol that had been dehydrated by adding quicklime into calcium acetate and stirred it slowly, eventually making a paste-like solid alcohol. If you want to make modern solid alcohol, you must add nitrocellulose and fatty acids. This vinegar is too astringent and it is really impossible to drink. The amount of acetic acid is not low, the key is that it is cheap.
Four days later, Xu Youlin came again. Seeing Huo Chong actually ordered people to carry out a large box, he sighed and said, "Brother Huo, why do you need such a large box for just a little bit of agar?"
When they opened it, they saw several layers of glass vessels that could barely be considered rectangular. Each one was filled with... There was no way to blame them at this time. Huo Chong and Zhu Erniu slept in the wild for one night, and went back the next day to sell the large jar of several hundred kilograms of bad vinegar. It took two days to bring dozens of kilograms of solid alcohol back to Liujia Village.
Xu Youlin was already getting impatient. When he saw Huo Chong actually took out a large box, he opened it with an unhappy look on his face. Inside was a wooden frame, with a glass box inside, and a wooden lid on top. It was full of solid alcohol. The translucent solid alcohol was placed in a rather transparent glass box. Just by looking at it, he felt that this thing was not ordinary.
After picking one up and looking at it for a while, Xu Youlin asked with some disappointment: "This...did it break during transportation?"
"If the box breaks, the things inside won't go bad. They can still be burned. I just think it looks better to have such a box than to use a clay pot. If Brother Xu thinks the box is easy to break, I won't ask you for the box this time."
When Xu Youlin left, he bought 200 kilograms according to the previous agreement of 1 liang and 5 kilograms. He also bought 100 pairs of lenses. After seeing Xu Youlin off, Huo Chong immediately went back to look through the few IOUs. The land redemption was equivalent to paying back the second sum of money borrowed by Uncle Liu. At least the IOU Huo Chong got had the remaining money to be paid before the end of the year.
If the money is repaid now, Huo Chong can save a few taels of interest. A few taels of interest means two years of tax silver for Huo Chong. Huo Chong really doesn't want those who have made things difficult for him to get this interest.
The first target was Lijia Village. Huo Chong first went to see Li Tongshan, who asked, "I heard that Brother Huo has paid off the money from the land sale?"
"It's not selling land. It's borrowing money by mortgaging the land." Huo Chong replied unhappily.
Li Tongshan chuckled, "Then why are you here today?"
"I want to ask the people in Lijia Village if we should settle the older debts now. If we settle the debts in advance, the interest won't be paid for one year."
Li Tongshan looked at Huo Chong again for a moment before asking, "Do you want me to take you to meet those people?"
"I came here to pay back the money, but Brother Li mentioned last time that I owed money. I think if Brother Li personally took me to pay back the money, Brother Li would see that I am not the kind of person who doesn't pay back the money. It would also be easier for us to cook together in the future."
Hearing what Huo Chong said, Li Tongshan frowned and looked at Huo Chong for a moment, and suddenly couldn't help laughing. Huo Chong let Li Tongshan laugh, and seeing that Li Tongshan couldn't stop laughing, he simply pulled a stool and sat down.
Li Tongshan laughed for a long time, and finally stopped with difficulty. He wiped his tears and said with a gasp: "Huo...Brother Huo. I was just talking casually, did you take it seriously?"
"I want to make something with Brother Li. I don't want Brother Li to think I'm unreliable."
"Haha!" Li Tongshan laughed again.
Huo Chong was a little worried about whether Li Tongshan had any mental problems. What was so funny about this matter? Why was he laughing like this?
When he couldn't laugh anymore, Li Tongshan also pulled a stool and sat on it softly. "Brother Huo, your master ran away from his debts. When he left you behind, did he know that you could help him pay it back?"
Huo Chong was a little surprised. He didn't answer the question directly, but asked, "Who said this?"
"Ha! Someone in my family lent money to your master. After your master passed away, everyone felt something was wrong. People from my village and Zhujia Village came to me several times to discuss how to collect the debt."
Looking at Li Tongshan who was talking about the past as if nothing had happened, Huo Chong frowned, "Brother Li, are you still willing to burn something for me?"
"Your compass is so weird that I'm afraid of it. Besides, dozens of people from the Cao Gang came to your door and you beat them. I saw the leader of the Cao Gang followed you. If it were you , wouldn't you just deal with it quickly?"
Huo Chong recalled his interactions with Li Tongshan during this period, and finally understood why Li Tongshan had been somewhat indifferent. He understood that he was a liar in Li Tongshan's mind, and Li Tongshan's reaction was not rejection, but rather he was extremely polite.
If the villagers have been extremely polite..., doesn't that mean Huo Chong is the bad guy!
Huo Chong couldn't quite accept this self- perception, and asked quickly: "Brother Li, according to what you said, everyone thinks I'm a bad person?"
Li Tongshan did not answer directly, but just sighed and changed the subject, "Since Brother Huo really wants to pay back the money, I will help you. Otherwise, my relatives will see that I care about you and come to me all day to ask questions. It's so annoying!"
After saying that, he stood up and took Huo Chong with him. With the locals leading the way, Huo Chong's repayment process was unusually smooth. During the process, when some people heard that Huo Chong had come to repay the money, they probably rushed out with their pants up. The mixed expressions of surprise and joy on their faces confirmed Huo Chong's image among the villagers.
This image is completely opposite to Huo Chong's self-perceived image of being a great, glorious and correct person who turned the tide. Normal people would only burst into such intense joy when they learned that a debt that was unlikely to be recovered could be fully repaid.
Huo Chong was even more certain that Uncle Liu was right to run away in a hurry. If he didn't run away, he would have to face these debt collectors. He owed nearly a hundred taels of silver, which was equivalent to taking all the money that the three villages could afford. In this respect, Uncle Liu was really capable. But when he couldn't pay back the money, the people in the three villages would probably eat Uncle Liu alive.
According to the loan agreement, the money from Lijia Village had been repaid. No one suddenly appeared and claimed to have lent money to Uncle Liu. As soon as Huo Chong and Li Tongshan returned to Li Tongshan's house, they saw that many ordinary villagers had gathered in front of Li Tongshan's house.
When they saw Huo Chong coming back, they immediately surrounded , and the leader shouted, "Huo Chong, give us back the money we earned from planting the seeds!"
Huo Chong was unhappy to begin with, and his face darkened. "Everything should be done according to the rules. I will give you the money for planting blessings at the end of the year!"
After hearing what Huo Chong said, the leader rushed over and tried to grab Huo Chong's clothes. Huo Chong pushed him away and shouted, "What do you want to do?"
The guy who was pushed away actually kept shouting "Give me back my money" and rushed over again. Huo Chong used a small grab to control the guy and pushed him into the crowd again. Someone in the crowd immediately reached out to support the guy.
This man didn't dare to confront Huo Chong again, but shouted at the top of his lungs: "Let's go to the village to call for help! We can't let Huo Chong run away." The others took action immediately and ran towards the family to whom Huo Chong had just returned the money.
Those people were all wealthy people in the village. After a while, only two of them showed up. Probably because they had just settled accounts with Huo Chong, the two of them looked unhappy and were forced to come.
The poor man in the lead saw that a rich man had finally arrived, and he yelled, "Second Master, Huo Chong owes you money, and we have stopped him. Just tell us, and we will help you get it back!"
Huo Chong was a little surprised. What on earth did this guy mean by acting like this? Want to stand up for the rich? The poor stand up for the rich, this is something I have never seen before.
The man called Second Master said in a pretentious tone, "What money did Huo Chong owe you?"
"We need to sow the seeds of good fortune! Huo Chongfei said that we can only pay it back at the end of the year!"
After hearing this, Uncle Li Er looked at Huo Chong. Huo Chong also looked back at this guy, wanting to see what he could come up with. Uncle Li Er suddenly softened his voice, "Huo Chong, what if you just return the money they paid for planting blessings?"
"Rules are rules!" Huo Chong felt that he could not give in.
After hearing what Huo Chong said, Uncle Li Er turned and left. His family caught up with him and escorted him home.
Seeing that one of the only two wealthy families had left, everyone immediately surrounded the remaining one. The rough man shouted, "Third Uncle, last time you asked us if we wanted to beat up Huo Chong and help you get your money back. Just give us a word this time and we'll help you right away!"
Uncle Li shouted quickly, "I never said that! I never said that!"
After hearing Uncle Li's answer, the guys who looked quite irritable also got angry. "Uncle, why are you talking nonsense? You don't want your money anymore! If you don't want it, we won't help you anymore!"
Seeing these guys looking for excuses, Huo Chong was sure that they wanted to find someone to take the blame, not to stand up for the rich.
Viewed from this perspective, although it is still a drama of "good guys" and "bad guys", at least these guys are not the kind of lawless people who would take action when they are angry.
Just when Huo Chong was finding this farce interesting, his uncle also became anxious and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Huo Chong has already returned all the money to me. If you want to rob him, do it yourself. I won't carry it for you!"
After saying that, Uncle Li pushed everyone away and walked away without looking back. He left a group of stunned people there. A moment later, someone came forward and pulled Uncle Li, asking if this was true. Uncle Li was so angry that he didn't want to answer at all. Finally, he was stopped by several people and asked. He turned around and shouted: "Huo Chong came to the village today to pay us back. I asked, and he paid back all the money in the village. You can find whoever you want, don't come to me again!"
Looking at Uncle Li's angry back, the group of people stayed where they were. It seemed that they didn't want to believe Uncle Li's words, but they also understood that unless they personally clashed with Huo Chong, they couldn't rely on the rich man.
Huo Chong saw that the leaders looked unhappy and felt that they had to fight today. Then he heard Li Tongshan beside him sigh: "I can't help you. You can do it yourself."
After saying that, Li Tongshan also slipped away.
Huo Chong touched the short stick at his waist, wondering if he would accidentally kill someone if fighting with so many people.
Just when the atmosphere was about to explode, a middle-aged man came over, stood three meters away from Huo Chong, and said loudly: "Brother Huo, the government forced us to pay the money. If we don't pay, we will be arrested by the government. Now the only thing we can think of is to make money. I beg you, give me back the money!"
