From the moment Ye Tang decided to sell food and drinks to the miners at the Lem Mine, she knew that one day she would have to face a furious Kevin.
When she heard Martina’s words, she didn’t panic. Old Otto, seeing her like this, grew as anxious as ants on a hot griddle. “Mary, I think you should go to Lem Town to lie low for a bit! As for Kevin… we’ll go to Mr. Morgan and figure something out!”
Ye Tang shook her head.
“Martina, Mr. Otto, have you ever heard an Eastern proverb? ‘If it’s not meant to be a blessing, it won’t be; if it’s a disaster, you can’t dodge it.’ Running away is useless. So I won’t run.”
Martina grabbed Ye Tang’s hand, tears swirling in her eyes. “Mary, don’t be reckless! We don’t understand any Eastern proverbs! But one thing we do know: going head-to-head with the village head won’t do you any good!”
Ye Tang certainly understood that challenging a rock with an egg was pointless, but Kevin wasn’t flawless like a stone, and she wasn’t as fragile as an egg. Facing Kevin directly, she might even have a chance to win.
“Martina, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Mr. Otto, do you still remember how I had someone put some things in your wine cellar?”
Old Otto nodded upon hearing this. “Of course! But Mary, why bring that up now?”
Ye Tang’s eyes curved into a smile. “Simple. Those things can help me now.”
……
When Kevin heard that Ye Tang had returned to Abe Village, he charged toward the village gathering square with murderous intent.
On the small square, Ye Tang was chatting with a few familiar villagers. She patted the heads of several children, pulled out a few candies for them, and let out a soft laugh while talking with their parents.
This harmonious scene made Kevin’s eyes nearly pop out in rage. He hadn’t even reached Ye Tang when he abruptly stopped, pointed at her, and cursed, “Mary! You witch who consorts with werewolves! You shameless thing! How dare you show your face in the village so brazenly!?”
Ye Tang turned around calmly. Meeting Kevin’s gaze and facing the finger he pointed at her, she stood tall with her chest out and spine straight.
“That’s because I haven’t done anything shameful that I can’t face people with openly.”
“You…!”
Veins bulged at his temples, and Kevin, exploding with fury, looked as if his eyeballs would pop from their sockets.
A few days earlier, Kevin’s uncle, the Lem Town chief Tobias Gordonworth, had sent a message asking Kevin to come see him in Lem Town.
Kevin still held a grudge against his uncle for forbidding him from doing business as a miner in Lem Town, so he deliberately ignored the message. He wanted to give his uncle the cold shoulder, to make him understand that he wasn’t a dog to be summoned and dismissed at will.
But today, Tobias sent another letter. In it, he harshly berated Kevin and informed him that Ye Tang had teamed up with a werewolf to steal the food and drink business in Lem Town.
——More than three weeks ago, Tobias’s subordinates reported that the Lem Mine miners weren’t coming to Lem Town to eat much anymore. Tobias didn’t pay it much mind; it was within his expectations that the miners couldn’t accept Lem Town’s prices. He figured it was the poor wretches’ last act of resistance.
He called it “last” because man cannot live by bread alone—or rather, iron needs rice and steel. Tobias knew the miners would eventually bow to Lem Town’s prices to avoid starving, even if they had to go into debt.
Moreover, the Lem Mine had Francis and Francois, those two brothers who weren’t vampires but acted worse than ones, keeping watch. The miners would soon realize that barely not starving was pointless.
If they didn’t eat enough, they lacked the strength to dig enough coal. Without enough coal, their lives would be worse than death—at least the dead didn’t have to work until fainting only to be whipped awake by overseers.
Tobias patiently waited for the miners to abandon their last shred of pride to survive.
Three days, five days… soon a week passed. The food Tobias had ordered stockpiled began to mold, rot, and spoil.
Tobias refused to believe it. He rejected his steward’s suggestion to sell some at a low price. At the same time, he sent men to infiltrate the Lem Mine, posing as new miners to scout the situation.
Two days later, the scouts returned and told Tobias: the miners weren’t coming to Lem Town because people from Abe Village were selling food to them near the mine.
Upon hearing “Abe Village,” Tobias immediately thought of his nephew, who had left his house last time in a rage, too furious to maintain decorum.
Tobias had always looked down on his obedient nephew. He thought Kevin was too weak-willed, lacking initiative, not a proper Gordonworth Family member. But this time, his nephew impressed him.
He had banned his nephew from doing business in Lem Town, and the nephew had bypassed it by going straight to the Lem Mine. Though the cheap food and drinks his nephew sold turned Tobias’s high-priced stockpile into worthless garbage, the nephew hadn’t encroached on other businesses.
Clothing, shelter, transport—there were countless ways to squeeze money from miners. If he couldn’t profit from food and drink, he’d do it from clothes and tools. Letter paper and stamps for miners writing home could be marked up tenfold, scribes’ fees twentyfold, needles and thread for mending clothes and boots thirtyfold, fabrics, leather, and ready-made clothes fortyfold—
Tobias was pleased that his nephew hadn’t undermined him and had made money himself. He thought his nephew had finally grown up. So, he let the matter of Abe Village villagers selling food and drinks to miners slide.
Until a few days ago, when Francis and Francois came running excitedly to tell Tobias: the ones selling food and drinks at the Lem Mine were a werewolf and a witch clearly in cahoots with it.
Tobias had no interest in whether women with werewolves were witches. One thing was clear: his nephew wouldn’t collaborate with a werewolf. Even if the nephew finally mustered the guts to defy him, he wouldn’t dare team up with one.
Time returned to the present.
Old Otto truly despised how Kevin slandered Ye Tang with “adultery” without a shred of proof. His beard twitched with anger until he couldn’t hold back.
“Kevin, even as village head, you should know some words can be said and some can’t, right? Everyone knows Mary and Lang are good friends. Aren’t you just causing misunderstandings by slandering their relationship like this? Or do you have proof that Mary and Lang are… are…”
Too embarrassed to say “adulterous,” Old Otto’s face reddened as he mumbled, “…that kind of relationship?”
Of course Kevin had no evidence. If he did, he wouldn’t need to rant like this. He could just reveal it and let the other villagers handle the humiliation.
“Evidence? Who leaves evidence when committing adultery!”
Thinking of how Ye Tang had pocketed thousands, even tens of thousands of pence that should have been his, Kevin quibbled. He tried to insult her more, but then a woman nearby stepped forward.
“Kevin, you look just like a long-tongued gossip right now.”
Old Otto might fear Kevin, but Jasmine didn’t.
Truth be told, Jasmine had long despised Kevin’s hypocritical face. How did Kevin get his village head position? By riding Ginny’s coattails! Did he think the Abe Village villagers had holes for eyes? Who didn’t know about his “affairs” with Nora? …Except Ginny, who loved him, probably didn’t.
Jasmine admitted she and Ginny weren’t “forever best friends” by any stretch. But she truly looked down on Kevin for deceiving Ginny.
The reason she hadn’t told Ginny about Kevin’s infidelity with Nora—besides fearing Ginny’s hot temper and nasty disposition would blame her for exposing the truth and ruining her marriage—was mostly that she didn’t want to see the always proud Ginny bow her head and weep like any pitiful housewife.
“Don’t keep harping on ‘adultery’ and ‘adultery.’ Mary is a widow, and Lang isn’t married. So what if Mary and Lang are together? It’s mutual consent! Adultery is for bastards like you who have a wife and still fool around with other women!”
By sheer coincidence, just as Jasmine finished berating Kevin, Ginny entered his line of sight.
Like the other villagers, she had noticed the commotion at the small square and come to see what was happening.
“!”
Kevin startled, nearly choking on his own saliva. He wasn’t sure if Ginny had heard Jasmine’s words. But he knew lingering on “adultery” would only hurt him.
“F-Forgot that for now! Mary! You’ve deceived the villagers, haven’t you!?”
Surprised that her follower Jasmine had spoken up for her and even confronted Kevin head-on, Ye Tang remained unmoved by his accusation.
“I don’t know what you mean, Kevin.”
“Still playing dumb at this point!? My uncle has told me everything! He said you used my name to do business at the Lem Mine! And pocketed all the profits!”
With that, Kevin turned to the surrounding villagers. “Everyone, do you know!? Mary tricked you! She traded wooden shoes for your smoked meat! Game! Flour and wine! Then sold them at high prices to the Lem Mine miners!”
“Those miners get ten pounds of wages each week! And all that money went straight into Mary’s pocket! Ten pounds per person per week! All of it! Think about it, one ten pounds could buy you several cartloads of wooden shoes?!”
Eyes bloodshot, Kevin grabbed Old Otto. “Otto, did you know? Your wine fetches two pence a cup at the Lem Mine! How many cups from one bottle, you said? …Otto, I know you’re defending Mary out of kindness, but now that you know what she did to you—to your family—can you still defend her!?”
Silence fell around them; the previously noisy villagers all shut their mouths.
Thinking his words had worked, Kevin flashed a smug, victory-assured smile. “Villagers of Abe Village! Now you understand, right!? Rosemary Jennings is how evil a woman! She—”
“It’s not like that!”
Martina spoke up indignantly, and the villagers shot troubled glances at Ginny. Those looks seemed to say: please rein in this fool.
Jasmine rolled her eyes. She really hated to admit it, but the facts once again proved her wrong: Mary was right, always had been. Mary’s precautions were never overthinking; every step had purpose.
“Kevin, I think you’ve misunderstood.”
Ye Tang gestured invitingly to the villagers. They exchanged looks, not caring if offending Kevin would anger Ginny or Old Village Head Mr. Morgan, and pulled out various cowhide and sheepskin papers from their pockets.
Ye Tang herself untied the small pouch from her wrist and took out a long roll of cowhide paper.
“When I traded wooden shoes for dried meat and game, flour and wine from everyone, I already explained what I planned to do with them. And you all signed the contracts only after understanding.”
Dozens of contracts spread out before Kevin. At the bottom of each, besides Ye Tang’s signature, the villagers’ fingerprints, and Old Village Head Mr. Morgan’s wax seal.