The village head, nominally the most respected person in a village.
Although he does not have a proper government position, he can communicate on behalf of the people with the government, and even write letters of recommendation to help villagers obtain travel permits.
Erhe Village's village head, Old Gaotou, looks fifty or sixty, his hair half white, a face full of amiableness.
However, Lou Yi knows that appearances can be deceiving, this person is a typical fence-sitter.
When Scholar Lou was alive, he came to visit every few days, buying food for himself.
After Scholar Lou died, he never stepped into Lou Yi's home again, and barely acknowledged him on the road.
Today he came, clearly intending to be a mediator, trying to please the currently most prominent family.
"How much to make me move?" Lou Yi did not immediately refuse.
Both sides tacitly didn't mention who wanted Lou Yi to move.
This matter had long been an open secret in the village.
Old Gaotou, the village head, spread out his right hand, the whole palm facing Lou Yi.
"Fifty taels?"
"Cough cough cough... cough cough cough!" Old Gaotou directly choked, coughing uncontrollably.
"Five taels." After a long time, he stopped coughing and gave such a number.
"Five taels?" Lou Yi shook his head, "It's hard even to lay the foundation, you better head back."
Building a house in the countryside is a big thing, often consuming a generation or two of savings.
Not to mention the stone-brick house left by Scholar Lou, although it might look shabby, it is far sturdier than the average earthen house.
It doesn't leak wind or rain, likely to last for three generations without a problem.
How could mere five taels settle it?
"Five taels is not few. Just think, you toil for ten coins a day, in a year without spending you could only earn three taels."
Seeing that Lou Yi was unmoved, Old Gaotou changed to a facade of consideration: "Ah Yi, their family is powerful now, how long can your father's legacy hold? As they say, a wise man does not suffer immediate losses.
You move first, I'll put aside my dignity to find you a place to live. Young ones can fight hard, how can they fear not accumulating enough for a house in the future?"
"Old Gao, slow walk, not sending you." Lou Yi couldn't be bothered to continue the charade with this hypocritical old man.
Act as if I'm a three-year-old, full of nonsense.
"You!" Old Gaotou was so angry his face turned red.
As the village head, others have always been polite to him, it had been a long time since he had encountered someone like Lou Yi.
"Look after yourself! Don't come to me when trouble arises later!" Leaving such words behind, Old Gaotou left puffing with anger.
"Old scoundrel." Lou Yi watched his back, eyes cold.
Offending the village head, he didn't worry a bit.
Anyway, he didn't intend to stay in Erhe Village for life.
'The Qi Family is starting to make moves.' Lou Yi was well aware that as Qi Silang grew older, the Qi Family would become more eager to make him move.
Currently, they were only concerned with the law, as Dawei's national power is stable, far from the point of legal collapse, and his father Scholar Lou still had some residual influence in the surrounding villages.
But as long as he didn't move, sooner or later they would resort to hard measures.
'Then bring it on, let's see who laughs last!'
Lou Yi fumed inwardly, grabbed a shovel, took the small path, heading towards the graveyard.
Today he's lucky, there is a new tomb, the dew on the fruits laid beside hadn't dried yet.
Lou Yi picked up an apple and stuffed it into his mouth, and started digging the grave.
Uh, wait!
A casual lift of his head, he noticed several pairs of glowing green eyes appearing swiftly from the bushes upfront.
When they came out.
Under the dim moonlight, it was clear, three wild wolves.
With a body length of two meters, standing one meter tall, covered in reddish-brown fur, sturdy limbs, bared sharp teeth, coldly staring at Lou Yi.
Wolves like carrion, their appearance in a graveyard is not surprising.
'Swoosh swoosh swoosh!'
The wolves seemed quite intelligent, knowing how to form a triangle around Lou Yi to prevent his escape.
Lou Yi was first startled, but a rush of fierceness surged through him.
Dammit, everyone wants to trouble me?
He took out the axe from his chest, lifted it in front of his body, spread his feet, poised for a fight.
Just three huskies anyway!
Surprisingly, the wild wolves didn't expect Lou Yi to not fear them, and momentarily dared not to charge, just circling Lou Yi constantly.
Knowing that the opponents were experienced hunters, who knows when they would exploit a flaw.
Lou Yi decided to actively charge, raised the axe, and rushed towards the largest wolf upfront.
The wolf quickly dodged to the side, while the two behind simultaneously lunged ferociously.
However, Lou Yi had been watching all this from the corner of his eyes.
His left foot slightly bent, fiercely pushed against the ground for momentum, twisted forcefully at the waist, and the axe in his hand turned deftly in mid-air, chopping violently behind!
'Whoosh!'
Cutting wolves felt no different than chopping trees.
"Aw!"
A wolf was chopped at the waist, then smashed onto its companion with unabated momentum.
Both wolves simultaneously crashed onto the ground with a 'bang'!
One slit open in the belly, organs and blood spilling everywhere. The other also howled incessantly, unable to stand for a while.
As for the remaining wolf, seeing the situation bleak, it whimpered and fled with its tail between its legs.
Lou Yi walked over and neatly ended the howling wolf with one axe stroke.
Two dead wolves became the spoils, no worry about lacking meat for the next few weeks.
'Too bad there's no energy.' Lou Yi thought somewhat greedily.
...
The next day, early in the morning, Lou Yi carried the two dead wolves with a shoulder pole out the door, intending to go to the vegetable market.
After careful thought, he felt that selling the wolves would maximize his profits.
"Oh my gosh, what are you carrying, Lou Yi?"
Gao's shriek instantly echoed throughout Erhe Village.
The village was small, every household's early risers gathered to watch, clicking their tongues in wonder.
"Is this a wild dog?"
"Are you blind, clearly it's a wolf. Look at its teeth, does the dog in your home have teeth this sharp? Look at that reddish-brown fur, how beautiful."
"These two wolves, together must weigh a hundred pounds or so, look at Ah Yi carrying it with ease."
"Ah Yi, Ah Yi, did you kill these wolves? Tell the truth to Auntie."
Lou Yi didn't expect that his simple act of carrying wolves to sell would cause such a sensation in the village.
Normally, those villagers who didn't bother with him were now enthusiastically gathering around.
On one hand, wild wolves were rare, more importantly, it was likely Lou Yi killed them.
Is it easy to kill a wolf? Seems difficult, but it's really not simple at all.
Lou Yi originally wanted to deny, act low-key.
But then realized, in these times, if you don't want to be bullied, you must act high-profile!
"Just luck, just luck." He feigned modesty, explaining.
"Is this for sale? I'll offer two hundred coins, oh no, three hundred coins!" Carpenter Xu eyed the wolf that wasn't slit open with intact fur and immediately offered.
He stroked his chin, eyes gleaming with shrewdness.
As a carpenter "family" that passed down three generations, Carpenter Xu's wealth probably only lesser than the Qi Family.
But someone quickly mocked: "Three hundred coins hoping to buy it? Xu the carpenter, are you mistaken for Zhou Erfan?"
The scene burst into laughter.
Carpenter Xu snorted once, turned and left.
Lou Yi finally escaped the throngs of villagers, carried the two wolves heading to the vegetable market, immediately causing another stir.
...