Chapter 32: Applying Pressure

“……”

Widow Wang’s expression changed instantly.

There was a mix of hostility and panic in her eyes as she stared intensely at Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan gave a light chuckle.
“Looks like I was right.”

“What do you want?”
Widow Wang’s voice grew deeper, more guarded.

“Nothing much. Just… there are some things I can’t let go of until I figure them out,” Lu Chuan said, glancing toward the doorway. Then he deliberately changed the subject, “Does she know?”

“She knows nothing,”
Widow Wang said warily.

Lu Chuan smiled faintly, but said nothing more.

At that moment, Widow Wang let out a deep breath.
“Brother Lu, I apologize. We didn’t mean to hide anything. But if life hadn’t become unbearable, who would choose to abandon their home and live like this?”

“We’re all just trying to survive.”

“Please… show us a little mercy.”

Widow Wang had become unusually sincere.

He understood clearly—he was powerless to stop Lu Chuan. If Lu Chuan really wanted to report them to the authorities, they wouldn’t have enough time to escape. And even if they did run, where would they go?

More importantly, Lu Chuan hadn’t reported them right away.
Instead, he came to speak with them directly.

That must mean he had other motives.

With that realization, Widow Wang began to calm down. A flicker of thought flashed in his eyes, as if he were carefully considering something.

“Relax. I’m not interested in your secrets,”
Lu Chuan said plainly.
“I don’t intend to pry.”

“But a couple days ago, when I went into town, I bought a maid.”

“She was registered as a lowborn servant.”

“She looks quite a bit like Chen Qingqing.”

Lu Chuan smiled.
“She cost me a full ten taels of silver.”

“Impossible.”
Widow Wang shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I may be sick, but I’m not stupid. No woman, no matter how beautiful, would cost ten taels if she’s a registered servant.”

“You’re just saying that to squeeze something out of me.”

“But look at me—I’m already like this. What could I possibly have that you’d want?”

He sighed helplessly.

Lu Chuan only smiled again but said nothing.
He simply stared at Widow Wang in silence.

“There really is nothing!”
Widow Wang grew increasingly uneasy under Lu Chuan’s gaze and finally gave up, waving a hand.
“Whatever you see in this house that’s worth taking, go ahead and take it.”

Lu Chuan glanced around the room.

He shook his head in disappointment.

“…You’re interested in Qingqing, aren’t you?”
Widow Wang asked again.

Lu Chuan didn’t know how to respond.

To be honest, he was considering taking Chen Qingqing in. But under the current circumstances, that clearly wasn’t realistic.

“Just survive. There’s no need to seek death,”
he said simply.

Widow Wang froze.
“Y-You… how did you know?”

“It’s not hard,” Lu Chuan replied.
“When I saw you last time, you were weak, but it looked like a typical cold. After a few days, even if you didn’t get better, your condition shouldn’t have worsened like this.”

“And your symptoms don’t match any normal illness.”

“You look more like someone who’s been poisoned.”

He said it bluntly.

“You figured that out?”

“Zhou Zheng’s arrival made you feel threatened, didn’t it? And then, yesterday, people from the county office showed up too…”

Lu Chuan was thinking aloud now.

“But this isn’t the time to make any drastic moves,” he continued.
“You’re still relatively safe.”

“Just stay put—and live.”

“If something really goes wrong, there’ll still be time to make a decision then.”

After saying that, Lu Chuan turned and left.

As he stepped into the courtyard, he ran into Chen Qingqing.

“I left in a hurry today—I have something to handle at the village chief’s place. When you have time, come by the house and take some spare ribs back.”

“Thank you so much, Brother Lu!”
Chen Qingqing said gratefully.

Lu Chuan didn’t respond.

He was headed to Sun Zhi’s home today to discuss the matter of organizing the hunting team.

After returning yesterday, Sun Zhi had gone around the village to notify each household.

Today, they needed to come up with a proper plan.

It was a rather troublesome affair.

Lu Chuan had even heard that because only one person per household could join the hunting team, some families had started arguing about splitting up.
After all, one more person hunting meant more guaranteed meat.

He soon arrived at Sun Zhi’s house.

There were already many villagers gathered in the courtyard, and as soon as they saw Lu Chuan, they began to greet him warmly.

“Ah, Chuan’s here…”

“I’ve said it before—this boy’s going to make something of himself!”

“To think he learned how to hunt so quietly…”

…

Lu Chuan returned each greeting with a polite nod.

At that moment, Sun Zhi came out to welcome him.

Grabbing Lu Chuan’s hand, he said, “Thank the heavens you’re finally here. The young wives and older girls have already fought in my courtyard!”

“I really couldn’t handle it anymore,” he added with a wry smile. “So I told them—each household can leave just one person who can make decisions, and the rest should go home.”

Lu Chuan gave a helpless smile. “That was the right call, Village Chief.”

“All right, everyone—no need to crowd the courtyard. Come in and sit down so we can talk properly!”

Because Sun Zhi had been educated, his home was a bit larger than others in the village.

He had the only two-section compound with a proper hall for meetings.

Everyone entered and sat down in order.

“You all know the situation already,” Sun Zhi began. “The village is forming a hunting team, led by Lu Chuan. Each month, they’ll enter the mountains to hunt for five days.”

“The meat caught will be divided: sixty percent goes to Lu Chuan, and the remaining forty percent is shared equally among the families participating in the hunt.”

He cleared his throat. “Any objections?”

At that moment, a woman stood up.

She gave Lu Chuan an apologetic look before speaking:
“Da Chuanzi, don’t take this the wrong way—Fourth Aunt tends to speak bluntly.”

“We’ll all be following you into the mountains and working hard, but you’re taking the largest share of the meat. What’s left for the rest of us is just too little!”

“How about this—you take forty percent, and we split the remaining sixty percent among us?”

The speaker was the wife of Wu Laokuan from the east side of the village. Because her husband, Old Kuan, was the fourth child in his family, the younger generation all called his wife Fourth Aunt.

As soon as she finished speaking, the room broke out into noise.

“She’s right, Chuanzi—it’s not easy for any of us!”

“You can’t eat all that meat by yourself anyway. Why not share a bit more with everyone?”

“…”

Lu Chuan, meanwhile, sat there calmly, smiling at Sun Zhi.

Sun Zhi awkwardly lowered his head and said nothing.

Now Lu Chuan understood clearly—Sun Zhi had agreed so readily yesterday because this was the plan all along.

He didn’t want to pressure Lu Chuan himself.

So he let the villagers do it for him.