The brick factory began operations. After a few days, under Lu Qing’s guidance, green bricks were gradually fired one by one. As he looked at the bricks, a smile appeared on Lu Qing’s face. His first factory had officially started.
When he returned home—”Husband!”—Han Qiuniang suddenly came to him.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Qing could tell there was worry on her face.
“Husband, I’m not being petty, but everyone is eating more and more. I’m afraid the wild game you’re catching won’t be enough,” Han Qiuniang said anxiously. With forty people, just one meal consumed quite a lot, especially since everyone ate after working hard.
“It’s fine. I’ll find a way.” Han Qiuniang didn’t say it outright, but Lu Qing understood her concern.
“Alright!” Han Qiuniang nodded. Since Lu Qing said so, he must already have a plan.
“Wu Hai!”
“Brother Qing! Are we heading into the mountain?” Wu Hai approached. After following Lu Qing for so long, he had come to understand his habits.
“I feel like the wild rabbits and pheasants in the forest are getting scarce. In a few days, there might not be any left,” Wu Hai said with a bitter expression.
“Mm.” Lu Qing nodded. He had noticed it too.
For over ten days, he and Wu Hai had been setting traps continuously, catching plenty of game. The rabbits and pheasants, sensing the danger, had started retreating deeper into the forest. The outer areas were now nearly empty. If they wanted to catch more, they’d have to go into the dense woods—but that meant potential danger from large carnivores.
So entering the deep woods would require proper preparation. Now wasn’t the right time.
“What should we do then?” Wu Hai grew anxious.
“If we can’t catch them on land, can’t we just catch what swims in the water?” Lu Qing grinned.
“Fishing?” Wu Hai looked at him, unsure. With forty workers, how much fish could they even catch? A few wouldn’t even be enough to go around.
“Brother Qing, how much fish can we really catch?”
“Just come with me.”
Lu Qing clearly had a plan in mind. He told Wu Hai to bring the fishing net Han Qiuniang and the others had woven. Now was the perfect time for that net to shine.
“What’s this? Looks like a spider web.” Wu Hai examined the fishing net curiously.
“This is a fishing net, used to catch fish,” Lu Qing explained.
The two left Manglong Village. Ten li east of the village, there was a river called Liang River. Its upstream connected to Shanghe Village—home of Aunt Zhang and Zheng Yulan. The downstream flowed past Xiahe Village—where Han Qiuniang and Cheng Su’e’s families lived. Liang River originated from one of the tributaries of Luliang Mountain.
In Lu Qing’s original memory, this river had plenty of fish.
Lu Qing and Wu Hai arrived at a spot by the Liang River. Lu Qing carefully observed the water. Wu Hai stood quietly by his side, not disturbing him. Over the past few days, Wu Hai had discovered Lu Qing was incredibly capable—especially at hunting and setting traps, even better than his own father, Wu Facai.
“This is the spot!” Lu Qing smiled.
He asked Wu Hai to fetch water with a canteen, then began preparing bait.
Eggs.
Flour.
Chicken meat.
…
As Lu Qing prepared the bait, Wu Hai couldn’t help swallowing. It didn’t feel like bait—it looked good enough for people to eat. In fact, it was food even normal folks couldn’t afford.
Lu Qing scooped up a handful and licked it with his tongue. “Perfect!” he said with a grin.
“Here,” he handed the bait to Wu Hai. “Throw it into the pond in a moment.”
While Wu Hai did that, Lu Qing started untangling the net, preparing to cast it.
“Brother Qing, will this really work?” Wu Hai looked on in disbelief.
“It will.” Lu Qing nodded confidently.
As Wu Hai tossed the bait into the pond, the water was still at first. But moments later, ripples formed, and fish began appearing near the surface, frantically swarming for the bait. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of fish had gathered.
Lu Qing seized the opportunity and cast the net. As it hit the water, the fish scattered, but many still got caught.
Normally, casting the net like this wouldn’t be ideal—but Lu Qing didn’t care.
“Pull!” he shouted.
The two hauled up the net. Wu Hai was stunned to see dozens of large fish caught inside.
“It really worked!” Wu Hai was thrilled. He hadn’t expected they’d catch so many in one go. This was far better than using a fish spear.
Lu Qing strung the fish together, then reshaped the net into a bag, stuffed it with chicken meat and pig intestines, and tossed it into the current pool, leaving a rope tied to a stick on the shore.
“Let’s go!”
“Huh?” Wu Hai was stunned. Just leave it like that?
“Here?”
“Yep. Just leave it. We’ll come back in a couple of days,” Lu Qing said, completely unconcerned.
They returned to Manglong Village.
“Oh wow! So many fish!” Han Qiuniang and the others gasped when they saw the catch. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Dozens of large fish.
“You were gone for only half a day. How did you catch so many?” Aunt Zhang looked at Lu Qing and Wu Hai, completely stunned. So many fish in just a few hours? It was hard to believe.
“Lu Qing, you’re not just good at hunting, you’re amazing at fishing too. Your wives really married well! From now on, it’s going to be fish and meat every day!” someone joked.
Han Qiuniang and Zheng Yulan looked bashfully at Lu Qing. They were genuinely shocked. They had thought Lu Qing was just a scholar—but now? His abilities were beyond imagination.
“Aunt Zhang, clean all these fish. Starting today, we’re giving everyone fish soup and fish meat,” Lu Qing ordered.
“Alright!” Aunt Zhang agreed immediately.
After a day’s work, everyone came to Lu Qing’s house for dinner.
“Smells amazing! It’s fish soup!”
People couldn’t stop drooling at the delicious aroma.
“Working for Lu Qing is great. We not only earn money—we get to feast on fish and meat. I feel like I’m dreaming,” a villager said, full of excitement.
Ever since they started working for Lu Qing, their meals had drastically improved.
“Brother Qing, didn’t you say you were going to hire more people? Why haven’t we heard anything?” Zhao Tiezhu asked eagerly.
Eating fish and meat every day—it was simply too good. After eating at Lu Qing’s, the wild greens at home felt flavorless.
“I am hiring,” Lu Qing nodded. “I’m about to start building a house.”
The bricks had already been fired. The next step was construction.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll begin work on the house. I’ll use the thirty who built the brick factory,” Lu Qing said to Zhao Tiezhu.
“That’s great!” Zhao Tiezhu was overjoyed.
“Brother Qing is amazing!” Tian Erwang cheered.
The next day, Lu Qing’s construction crew began laying the foundation for the house.
Lu Qing handed over hunting and fishing duties to Wu Hai and had him recruit a few trustworthy people—each paid one copper coin a day with two meals.
Then Lu Qing brought out his house blueprint.
“Lu Qing, how big is this house you’re building?”