Li Daoxuan set a rattan chair in the corner of the fertilizer store and slowly reclined into it.
The moment his weight settled, the chair let out a protesting groan, the woven rattan creaking and whining as if it were being wronged. The sound grew sharper, more pitiful, as though the chair itself were voicing a silent accusation.
This was only natural.
Li Daoxuan's true weight was far beyond that of any ordinary human. To a piece of furniture made for mortal use, his body was nothing short of an unanticipated calamity.
The rattan chair shuddered beneath him, releasing a series of drawn-out squeaks, each one sounding more aggrieved than the last.
"Squeak… squeak…"
"Fertilizer for sale, come and buy your fertilizer!"
Wang Tang, acting as the temporary manager of the fertilizer store, stood at the entrance holding a tin megaphone and shouted toward the street until his voice echoed between the buildings.
"Use it properly and your harvest next year will double, guaranteed! Winter's almost over, spring is right around the corner. If you don't buy now, it'll be too late! Buy fertilizer today and receive a free gift! Every customer gets a gift!"
At the mention of a free gift, the villagers who had been lingering at a distance finally mustered a bit of courage. A few stepped closer, exchanging wary glances, and one of them called out hesitantly, "What kind of gift?"
Wang Tang answered without missing a beat, "An invoice."
The villagers froze, faces blank with confusion.
"What's an invoice supposed to be?" someone asked.
Wang Tang explained patiently, "It's a written document proving that you bought something. It records the price and details of the transaction. There are two copies. I keep one, and you take one home."
The crowd erupted at once.
"What use is that nonsense?"
"Who needs such a thing?"
"What are we supposed to do with a piece of paper?"
Wang Tang's expression turned solemn. "How can you say it's useless? This document proves your purchase. If there's a problem with the fertilizer, you can bring the invoice back to demand a refund or an exchange. More importantly, if everyone insists on getting invoices when they buy things, there will be proper records of how much merchants sell. That way, they can't underreport their earnings and cheat the imperial court."
The villagers muttered among themselves, unimpressed. "Still sounds useless."
Wang Tang opened his mouth, then closed it again, completely at a loss.
From the rattan chair in the corner, Li Daoxuan watched the scene unfold and could not help laughing out loud. "Hahaha. Wang Tang, you're a bit too early. Far too early. Don't rush things."
"Alright, alright." Wang Tang let out a long sigh and waved his hand in surrender. "No more of that. The free gift is flour. We'll give out flour."
The moment the word "flour" left his mouth, the villagers' eyes lit up as if someone had struck a spark in dry straw.
Yet even so, no one dared to step into the fertilizer store.
They still remembered the unresolved conflict between the Prince of Qin's household and this very shop. To walk inside now and buy fertilizer would be no different from openly slapping the Prince of Qin in the face.
And just as that thought settled in their minds, it became reality.
A junior steward from the Prince of Qin's household arrived, striding down the street with more than a dozen retainers behind him.
"Make way, make way! What are you all staring at?" the steward barked twice.
In an instant, the villagers scattered like startled birds, retreating far away. No one dared linger in front of the shop any longer. They hid behind walls, trees, and corners, peeking out cautiously.
The street in front of the fertilizer store emptied in the blink of an eye.
Li Daoxuan remained reclined in his chair, unmoving, as though nothing in the world concerned him. Wang Tang, on the other hand, took two steps forward and stopped at the entrance, his expression calm but his gaze sharp as he looked at the people approaching from the Prince of Qin's household.
The steward swaggered up arrogantly. "Looks like Shi Kefa knows what's good for him," he said with a sneer. "Sending more fertilizer over to our Prince of Qin's household, hm? You there. Go move it."
Wang Tang smiled faintly. "You're a steward from the Prince of Qin's household, right? You only brought ten men. That won't be enough. We've delivered dozens of cartloads this time. If you want to take it all, wouldn't it be better to bring more people?"
At first, the steward assumed Wang Tang was backing down.
Then he realized something was wrong.
This fellow was mocking him.
The steward's eyes narrowed as he stared at Wang Tang. "So you're the new manager?"
"Just arrived," Wang Tang replied with a polite smile. "I hope you'll show some leniency."
"Save the slick talk," the steward snapped. "Get out of my sight before you get hurt."
Wang Tang laughed softly. "Steward, you dare strike people here because you assume the Emperor won't punish the Prince of Qin over a small matter like this. But let me ask you something. If you were beaten here instead, do you think the Emperor would punish a civilian official for something so trivial?"
A flash of unease crossed the steward's heart.
This man…
He sized Wang Tang up again. Young, fair-skinned, with the look of a refined scholar. The sort who relied on words, not fists.
What am I afraid of?
Without warning, the steward lunged forward and threw a punch straight at Wang Tang's face.
But Wang Tang was no helpless scholar.
He was a logistics soldier from Gao Family Village. Any soldier, logistics or frontline alike, had undergone proper military training. That included grappling techniques, joint locks, and the introductory forms of Ghost God Fist.
To Wang Tang, the steward's punch looked painfully slow.
He reached out, seized the man's arm, twisted sharply, then turned his body and swung the steward around like a windmill before slamming him hard into the ground.
Thud.
The sound was heavy and dull. The steward felt as though every bone in his body had shattered. Pain flooded his senses, pinning him to the ground, unable to move even a finger.
The dozen or so retainers behind him exploded in fury.
"How dare you!"
"You struck someone from the Prince of Qin's household!"
"You're defying heaven itself!"
With a roar, they surged forward all at once.
They meant to overwhelm with numbers, but unfortunately for them, the fertilizer store was not empty.
Flat Rabbit, who had been waiting in the back room, was the first to charge out. His hand went straight for his sword, but Zheng Gouzi followed close behind and pressed down on his wrist.
"Wait," Zheng Gouzi said quickly. "Don't kill anyone yet. If we start with killing, we lose the moral high ground."
Flat Rabbit immediately understood. He released the sword hilt, clenched his fists, and rushed forward.
One of the retainers was swinging at Wang Tang's side when Flat Rabbit intercepted him. With a fierce shout, he kicked the man squarely, sending him flying backward.
"Even the Prince of Qin's household must follow reason!"
The fallen steward, writhing on the ground, roared back in rage, "When have we ever bothered with reason when dealing with people like you? Damn it, fight!"
With those words, the fertilizer store's side had firmly claimed "reason."
Anyone with eyes could tell which side the onlookers would support.
Now that reason was on their side, they could strike without restraint.
Zheng Gouzi rushed in, grabbed one retainer, and drove a punch deep into his stomach, folding him in half like a cooked shrimp. Then Zheng Gouzi lifted his knee and smashed it into the man's chin with a sickening thump.
The retainer's head snapped back violently, and he collapsed on the spot, completely unconscious.
At that moment, the dozen or so militia soldiers hiding in the back room all rushed out.
They deliberately matched their numbers, one militia soldier for each retainer from the Prince of Qin's household. But while the numbers were equal, their strength was not.
Fists and feet collided in rapid succession. Dull thuds echoed through the shop, mixed with cries of pain, furious shouts, and desperate curses.
One retainer took a heavy kick from Flat Rabbit and stumbled backward several steps before collapsing heavily beside Li Daoxuan's rattan chair.
He planted his hands on the ground, trying desperately to push himself up.
Li Daoxuan, still reclined, casually clenched his fist and tapped the man on the head.
Thwack.
Though Li Daoxuan's hand was covered by a thin layer of silicone, the steel skeleton beneath was unyielding. The blow sent a shock of agony straight through the retainer's skull.
The man let out a shrill scream, clutching his head with both hands, and collapsed back to the ground, utterly defeated.