Chapter 1 An Exchange

After a conversation with this Brother Erguotou, Hu Ma gained a slightly deeper understanding of this world. He silently pondered these issues, but no matter what else, becoming a true night watchman was the most important thing.

Having received this Brother Erguotou's promise, he waited patiently.

But the village was gradually becoming busy. The manager from the Blood Food Gang's Red Lantern Society was coming to the lower village.

Baitaisui (worshipping the Taisui), to put it bluntly, was about cutting meat. It was a major event for the village and a major event for the Blood Food Gang.

Every year before the start of spring, they would send a manager down in advance to survey the meat mountain, estimate the amount, and then decide how many workers to recruit from where, where to set up camp, and determine the return route. They would repair roads where needed and mend bridges in advance.

This process was closely related to the surrounding villages. After all, although not everyone could cut meat, helping to transport goods, sell grain, and collect mountain herbs were all ways to earn money.

Therefore, every year when the Blood Food Gang's manager came down, the surrounding villages would compete to host him.

In recent years, the Blood Food Gang that had been harvesting the meat mountain around Danyang Village was called the Red Lantern Society. People in the village were used to the name and habitually referred to it as the Red Lantern Society.

The manager's arrival was scheduled. A few days earlier, the patriarch was busy urging people to tidy up empty houses, set up tents, and feed the sheep extra grass.

On the day the manager came to the village, all the prominent figures in the village waited early.

As dusk approached, the village lit torches, waiting for the manager and his two attendants to arrive. The old patriarch hurriedly led the prominent figures of the clan to greet them.

They arrived at the tent.

"Manager, please eat and drink well."

The old patriarch smiled, his face wrinkled like an orange, attending to him attentively. He also instructed, "Send for Widow Sun."

"Have her heat up a pot of hot water in the evening to wash the manager's feet."

"..."

"Don't..."

The manager smiled politely, "I've never liked this kind of thing. I was given this assignment to come to the village because the Society trusts me. I only want to complete this task well so I can go back and report. That will be enough for me."

"That's right, that's right."

The old patriarch smiled, "We know everything within ten miles. Just tell us what you need."

Seeing that the wine had gone around three times, he tentatively asked, "How many people are you planning to recruit this time?"

Everything else was secondary. The most important thing was how many young people in the village could be selected to cut meat after worshipping the Taisui.

In Danyang Village, more than a dozen or twenty people had learned this skill from Second Master, but the manager had the final say on how many of them would eventually go down into the mines.

Of course, the manager didn't dare to speak carelessly. Recruiting someone with a poor foundation would delay the harvest, which was a small matter. But if they were invaded by evil spirits and started causing trouble, it would affect the other people who were working, which would be a big problem.

"Alas, this year is a small year."

The manager sighed, "I estimate that we will only recruit about a hundred people, and then the Taisui will be worshipped."

The old patriarch's face fell when he heard this. "Ah?"

There were small years and large years for harvesting Taisui, because the growth and recovery cycles of Bai Taisui (White Taisui), Qing Taisui (Green Taisui), and Xue Taisui (Blood Taisui) were different. If the four types of Taisui—white, green, blood, and black—were all growing vigorously at the same time, then more would need to be harvested, and naturally more meat-cutting workers would be recruited.

If it was a small year, the scale would be small, and naturally fewer people would be needed.

The manager also said with a wry smile, "There's no way around it. The Qing Taisui was harvested just last year, so there's not much this year. The most annoying thing is the Xue Taisui. I've been wandering around for a few days and haven't seen any at all."

"I estimate that only the Bai Taisui is left, but we don't need to be so careful."

"..."

The old patriarch listened, feeling a little regretful, but there was nothing he could do.

If there were only a hundred people in total, and they were divided among the villages within ten miles, then the quota for each village would probably only be ten or eight. There were more than twenty people waiting in Danyang Village, wouldn't half of them be out of luck?

The old patriarch was already making calculations in his mind, planning to kill another sheep later and change the person bathing the manager to Li's wife tonight.

Could he get a few more slots in return?

As he was pondering, he suddenly heard the manager lower his voice and laugh, "Old brother, don't be in a hurry to think about recruiting. This year we're recruiting fewer miners, but there's something else."

"This year, our Red Lantern Society is preparing to open an altar."

"..."

"Ah..."

The old patriarch couldn't believe it at first when he heard this, but then he was overjoyed, and the hand holding the wine trembled.

The other people accompanying him were even more pleasantly surprised, their eyes shining brightly.

"Slaughter the sheep, slaughter the sheep, slaughter the old mountain sheep, and bring the ten-year-old sheep treasure to the manager..."

"Get the wine, get the wine, bring out the jar that was saved for Datong's wedding..."

"..."

"..."

The village was filled with gongs and drums, and it was extremely lively, but Hu Ma had already laid down on the bed, silently practicing his gongfu (internal energy cultivation), preparing to sleep.

The liveliness in the village had little to do with the Hu family.

His grandmother had passed away. To the people in this village, he was just a single sprout who was not related to the village in any way, a marginal person among marginal people, or perhaps...

...Even when his grandmother was alive, was the Hu family actually on the margins in this village?

He had always intended to leave, so he had never deliberately made friends with the people in the village, only doing his own thing.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Unexpectedly, just as he was drifting off to sleep, someone was banging on the small wooden door, making a deafening noise.

Hu Ma had no choice but to get up, put on his clothes, lightened the oil lamp by his bed a little, and came to the main room to open the door.

As soon as he opened it, he saw Zhou Datong standing anxiously and excitedly at the door, "What time is it? Why are you still sleeping?"

Hu Ma was surprised and stepped aside to let him in, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Datong excitedly wanted to enter the house, but stopped before taking a step, asking cautiously, "Your little ghost isn't home, is she?"

Hu Ma looked up at Xiao Hongtang, who was drowsily rubbing her eyes on the beam, and said, "No, she's here."

"That's good, that's good, let's talk inside."

Zhou Datong hurriedly entered the house, turned around and closed the door, and then excitedly said to Hu Ma, "Good news..."

"Brother Hu Ma, the manager of the Blood Food Gang is here and said that he wants to recruit workers in our village this year!"

"..."

Hu Ma was slightly stunned by these words, "Don't they recruit every year?"

"It's different."

Zhou Datong rubbed his hands and stomped his feet excitedly, "In previous years, they only recruited people to worship the Taisui, a short-term job of two or three months, but this year they are recruiting workers, officially joining the Society..."

"We've hit the jackpot, we have a chance to go to the city!"

"Second Master specifically asked me to run over and tell you. You must wait in the village early tomorrow."

"If you miss this opportunity, you may never have another chance in this lifetime!"

"..."

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma was slightly stunned when he heard this, vaguely understanding, "Is this the opportunity that Brother Erguotou was talking about?"

Okay...

Because transmigrators are more careful, and he was afraid of arousing suspicion through real-world contact, he didn't dare to come and help him for no reason, so he simply created this opportunity to directly recruit a large group of people of the same age from the village?

How should I say it...

...Good method, and it has a bit of willful energy!

After repeatedly assuring Zhou Datong that he would not be late and asking him to tell Second Master to rest assured, Zhou Datong carefully left a bowl of mutton trotters that he had hidden in his arms for Hu Ma, and then excitedly ran back to freeload.

Hu Ma looked at the bowl of meat, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. This little fatty was really righteous. He was the patriarch's grandson and could freeload on meat because he was hosting the manager.

And he even thought of himself.

He wasn't greedy. He gave the mutton trotters to Xiao Hongtang to chew on, and then closed the door and went back to sleep.

Unexpectedly, when he left the village, he found that the men and women in the village had all come, heading towards Second Master's village in groups of two or three, some carrying carrying poles, some carrying benches, looking as lively as if they were going to a temple fair.

"Brother Hu Ma, over here, come quickly!"

As soon as Hu Ma left the village, he saw Zhou Datong standing by the forest not far away, waving at him.

Hu Ma walked over and asked in surprise, "Why are there so many people?"

"They're here to watch the show..."

Zhou Datong said, "The Red Lantern Society is opening an altar, that's a big deal."

"How much money can we earn in our village by worshipping the Taisui with the Blood Food Gang? But this time, once you're picked by the manager and become a worker in the Red Lantern Society, you can get money every month, and you can learn skills, and you'll be supported by blood food."

"If you save for a few years, you can get a house in the city, marry a wife, and make a name for yourself."

"..."

"This Red Lantern Society..."

Hu Ma felt a little surprised, "Is it recognized by the government?"

He had already decided to join, but he was a little surprised that the people in the village were so excited.

He wondered if it was because of the influence of his previous life's memories, but he always felt that this Blood Food Gang, Red Lantern Society, and the like were more like illegal organizations, although this village was poor, but it shouldn't be so happy to have the opportunity to send their children into the mafia, right?

"What government recognition?"

Zhou Datong looked blank, praising the words he had heard last night, "They are just trying to make a living."

"Which worker from the big and small Blood Food Gangs in the city doesn't return to the village in glory?"

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma gradually understood the positioning of these Blood Food Gangs in this world and stopped talking.

So it was going to the city to work, not joining the mafia...

He took a deep breath and walked towards his hope as a night watchman with Zhou Datong.