Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector
Chapter 17 - 15: In Troubled Times, Grain is Gold

Chapter 17: Chapter 15: In Troubled Times, Grain is Gold

Even though it was late at night, the Fuman Cang grain store, opened by the Lin Family in South City, was still brightly lit.

In these chaotic times, what business was the most profitable?

Not silk, not gold or silver, but grain.

Sometimes, a single bowl of rice could save a life.

At that moment, in the warehouse in the grain store’s back courtyard, a portly man in a silk shirt sat at a small table, leisurely drinking wine and eating a dish of salted vegetables and piping hot tofu.

He was the head Shopkeeper of Fuman Cang, Wang Shun.

"Old Li, make sure you calculate carefully!" Wang Shun picked up a piece of tofu, blew on it to cool it down, and mumbled to the accountant beside him, who was focused on his abacus.

"In a few days, this ledger needs to be sent to the estate for the masters to inspect. It can’t be off by a single coin, or neither of us will see a good end."

The accountant didn’t even raise his head. His withered fingers flew across the abacus, making a rapid CLATTERING sound, as fast as if he were playing a pipa.

"Don’t you worry, Shopkeeper," he replied with a smile. "These hands of mine have been working an abacus for thirty years. I could do it with my eyes closed and never miscalculate a single entry."

"Better safe than sorry," Wang Shun snorted. He took another gulp of wine and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

Outside, cries of misery filled the air, but in here, he wanted for neither food nor wine. It was truly a life fit for an Immortal.

And so, this year of great disaster had, for him, ironically become the best of years.

As the Shopkeeper of a grain store, he didn’t dare to steal rice outright. After all, the Lin Family were not to be trifled with. If he were found out, it would be a dead end for him.

However, mixing some old rice into the polished rice, or adding sand and pebbles to the plump grains—that was something he did with practiced ease.

By mixing a handful of sand into every measure of rice, the amount he "saved" in a single day was enough to let his whole family feast until their mouths dripped with grease.

As for whether the common folk who bought the rice would chip their teeth on the sand, or whether they might starve to death in some corner because they couldn’t get enough to eat, he couldn’t care less.

In his eyes, the lives of those worthless peasants were cheaper than paper. If they died, they died. What mattered most was that he himself could live comfortably in these chaotic times.

As he dwelled on these thoughts, Wang Shun’s mood grew even more cheerful, and he even began to hum a little out-of-tune melody.

But just then, his humming came to an abrupt halt.

He had noticed something was wrong.

Outside... it was too quiet.

To prevent Refugees from storming the grain store, he had specifically arranged for his men to patrol the courtyard in two shifts, day and night.

The thugs he had personally hired were all crude men. Their patrolling footsteps were usually heavy and chaotic, often accompanied by a few profane shouts.

But now, all those sounds had vanished.

The drunkenness on Wang Shun’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by a beast-like alertness.

To have climbed from a street punk to his current position, he relied not only on ruthlessness, but also on a vigilance that far surpassed that of an ordinary person.

He immediately realized something had happened!

SWISH!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Shun yanked a Hand Crossbow out from under the table.

This Hand Crossbow had been a gift from the Lin Family’s head steward. Its body was made of ironwood, and once cocked, it could pierce cowhide from over twenty paces away.

As such, this weapon had become his last-resort tool for survival.

"Old Li, go out and see why it’s so quiet," Wang Shun said in a hushed voice, aiming the Hand Crossbow at the warehouse door.

The accountant was startled by his sudden action. He stopped moving his abacus, and his whole body began to tremble like a leaf.

"Sh... Shopkeeper, I..."

"Cut the damned nonsense! Just go when I tell you to go!" Wang Shun snarled, a vicious glint in his eyes.

The accountant shuddered in fear. He knew that if he refused, the Shopkeeper would absolutely dare to put a Crossbow Arrow in him. With a miserable look on his face, he tremblingly stood up, shuffled to the door, and unlatched the bolt with shaking hands.

The door opened with a CREAK, just a crack.

The accountant poked his head out for a look. The courtyard was empty, with only the Moonlight spilling onto the ground, casting a cold, desolate scene.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to turn back and say everything was fine, the corner of his eye caught sight of several figures lying scattered in the shadows at the base of the wall.

It was his men, the ones who were always swaggering around!

They lay motionless on the ground, and it was unclear if they were alive or dead.

"Ah..." The accountant was scared out of his wits. A strangled cry escaped his throat, and he turned to shrink back into the warehouse.

"Damn it, get out there and see what the hell is going on!" Wang Shun kicked him out from behind, the Hand Crossbow in his grip aimed steadily at the center of the man’s back. "If you dare run, I’ll send you on your way first!"

Left with no other choice, the accountant’s legs turned to jelly, and he practically crawled out of the warehouse.

He didn’t dare look at the men on the ground, only inching forward while praying nonstop in his heart.

But just then, a short, bloodcurdling sound came from behind him.

It didn’t sound like a human scream, but more like the final, desperate death rattle of a wild beast as its throat was slit.

The accountant’s entire body stiffened, and he turned his head mechanically.

And then, he saw a sight he would never forget for as long as he lived.

The Shopkeeper, Wang Shun, who had just been so fierce and menacing, was now standing rooted to the spot, a dazed look on his face.

His Hand Crossbow had fallen to the ground. His eyes were wide and round, filled with utter terror and disbelief.

And on his neck, a thin line of blood had appeared from out of nowhere.

The bloodline was fine at first, but then it suddenly split open, and scalding blood gushed out like a fountain!

Wang Shun opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a gurgling "Hgh... hgh..." sound came out. Then, his body fell backward, stiff as a board, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"A ghost... A ghost!"

At that moment, the accountant’s sanity completely shattered. He let out a heart-rending scream and began to scramble away, trying to escape.

But he had just turned around when he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. His vision went black, and he slumped limply to the ground, unconscious.

Immediately after, a masked man walked out from the shadows.

It was Chen Ye.

He first glanced down at Wang Shun, who was still twitching on the ground, not yet completely dead.

Wang Shun stared fixedly at him, his bulging eyes filled with fury and indignation.

Chen Ye could even read the question in his eyes: ’Who are you? Why?’

But Chen Ye couldn’t be bothered with him. He turned, walked into the warehouse, casually picked up the ledger from the table, flipped through it, and then tossed it aside.

’This thing might be important to the Lin Family, but to me, it’s just waste paper.’ His attention was on the warehouse full of grain.

He walked over to the mountain of rice sacks and casually slit one open with his Small Knife.

With a RUSH, sparkling white grains of rice poured out onto the floor.

Seeing this, Chen Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly. He then went outside, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and poured it over the unconscious accountant on the ground.