This sentence was undoubtedly very shocking.
“Village Chief, is this true?”
“Of course, it’s true, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Whoever uses the resources must repay with the same amount of resources. This applies to those who have already become martial artists as well,” the Village Chief glanced at Li Yongfeng and the others before continuing, “Of course, this is after one has gained strength…”
The Village Chief said a lot, mainly about the martial artist training system in the village.
Although it was still somewhat rough around the edges, it had begun to take shape.
The gist was clear: the village would provide initial training resources, but once someone had used these resources to become a martial artist, they would need to repay the village with the same or even more resources.
In short, a healthy cycle needed to be formed.
Of course, there was currently no binding force for this cycle, it relied solely on conscientiousness.
However, it was commendable that the Village Chief had thought of this, especially considering it was his first experience with such matters.
“…”
Certainly, the model proposed by the Village Chief was based on kinship as well as mutual interests, which gave it much more stability than a system based solely on self-interest, and it was not unfeasible.
“Not only the children of the right age, but also those in the village under the age of 30 who wish to have the opportunity to become martial artists are included. They can have the opportunity, but just like what was mentioned earlier, they must repay with the same resources after becoming martial artists…”
The Village Chief elaborated quite a bit and essentially clarified the martial artist training matters.
The villagers understood, although there were many restrictions, these costs were trivial compared to the benefits of becoming a martial artist.
Receiving support from the village and then giving back was perfectly normal, wasn’t it?
This was the thought of many people.
It could only be said that the old Scholar was always a genius; his influence on the village simplified many things.
Even if some people had different opinions, in the grand scheme of things, those objections were trivial.
At that moment, the martial artists at one table were also discussing these matters.
“Yun Sheng, how come you seem not to be surprised at all?”
“Because I already knew.”
The resources currently in the village were all provided by him. How could he not be aware of the Village Chief’s decisions?
Several days ago, when the Village Chief had come to invite him to speak, he had been informed of this. If he had objected, the Village Chief would not have even brought it up, so of course, he was not surprised.
The other martial artists thought about it and suddenly realized something.
“Right, inside Qingshan Village, Yun Sheng is probably the first to know about any significant matters.”
It didn’t take long for the Village Chief to finish talking about the school.
“These rules will be posted later. If anyone has any objections, they can be raised for consideration and adjustments. Now, onto another matter—”
Saying this, the Village Chief sent a look toward someone.
Soon, two people carried up a box.
“This is something that the village has only recently created, and I believe everyone here will be familiar with it.”
As he spoke, the Village Chief took out a yellowish piece of paper from the box. It was somewhat coarse and didn’t seem to be of the best quality.
“This is the paper that the village has spent a long time producing. We have successfully mastered the technology of papermaking. Gradually, the quantity of paper will increase, and perhaps every household can use paper…”
Of course, it was not feasible to supply it on a large scale, but the population of the village was small, and even fewer people knew how to write, so there would be no problem depending solely on the village’s supply.
“So it’s already been made?”
Wang Sheng was also surprised. He had supplied the method for making paper and had not interfered after that. He didn’t expect that the village had already started production.
The Village Chief didn’t inform him, probably wanting to give him a surprise.
“The paper-making method was provided by Yun Sheng, so this first batch of paper will go directly to Yun Sheng…”
The village chief had someone carry the paper down, clearly intending to deliver it directly to his home later.
“It’s somewhat of a keepsake, I suppose!”
Wang Sheng, for his part, did not refuse.
He had accepted the ink from the previous time, and after the incident with the wild wolf, he was gifted with a few wolf brushes and an inkstone, and now paper had been delivered.
This meant that he now had a complete set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
The matter of the paper also took the villagers by surprise. Could it be that the village was now able to make paper?
The village was truly becoming stronger and better, and a sense of pride rose in many people’s hearts, bringing smiles to everyone’s faces.
After the matter of the paper was discussed, the next topic was the same as last year, concerning the arrangements for next year.
Such as continuing to strengthen the village’s defenses, expanding the land available for agricultural use, and so on.
This content was similar to last year’s, of course, but the village chief spoke with a different sentiment than the previous year, it was a completely different concept.
“That’s about all there is, those who want to continue eating may do so, and those who wish to leave may do so as well, tomorrow brings a new year, and I hope everyone has a good start…”
Having eaten their fill and discussed everything, everyone soon began to disperse, with nearly everyone stopping by Wang Sheng’s side to express their gratitude as they left.
This was not arranged by the village chief; it was a voluntary gesture, for they all understood well that the life they led in Qingshan Village was thanks to him.
Once the crowd had dispersed, the village chief sought him out.
The village chief brought out the wine he had cherished for a long time, wanting to share a drink with Wang Sheng.
Wang Sheng was not particularly fond of drinking, as it was the bane of health preservation in his previous life, but he would not explicitly refuse on certain occasions.
So, he sat down with the village chief to drink, and the other martial artists naturally joined in, as finding wine was not an easy feat these days.
But as martial artists, such amounts of alcohol could not make them drunk; however, the village chief’s tolerance was not very good, and he soon became red-faced, though he did not lose his wits with drink but rather started pouring out his troubles.
About issues like the education of Liu Jian’an or about his own faults.
But as they talked, the topic shifted.
“Yun Sheng, I actually feel a great deal of pressure. Everything in the village relies on you now, and with each use of some item, I feel I owe you more, but for the sake of the village’s strength, I don’t want to stop using them. Looking at the promises I made before to repay you, they seem like jokes now…”
Hearing the village chief’s words, the five martial artists in the village fell silent.
Initially, when they talked about repayment, who would have known that Wang Sheng would turn out to be a grandmaster level warrior, possessing strength they might never reach in their lifetimes.
Wang Sheng drank his wine without immediately responding.
He had felt before that the village chief had some troubles weighing on his heart, but he hadn’t expected it to be this thought.
“Village chief, do you really think I would care about those things?”
Be it wolf meat or the Evil Flood Dragon, the truth was he had kept the useful things for himself, and he did not care much for the rest.
“To speak frankly, it’s because I do not care that I would give them away; I keep the truly good things for myself. You might think they are important, but to me, they’re just that, nothing significant.”
“Even so, those things are extremely precious to us…” Li Yongfeng remarked.
“Then use these things to become stronger, and maybe you will catch up to me. You know, climbing levels of cultivation becomes increasingly difficult, but what if you do catch up?”
Of course, this was pure fantasy from Wang Sheng.
If they caught up to him even with his Golden Finger, there would be no point in his cultivation.
“And even if you don’t catch up, if you become stronger you’ll be able to repay me better, won’t you?”
…
Wang Sheng didn’t know if his words had an effect, but not long after he spoke, the atmosphere changed back to a lively one as the cups flowed freely.
Until the new year arrived…