Explaining the necessity of contracts to every villager was no simple task. Many villagers in Abe Village did not understand why Ye Tang insisted on writing such troublesome contracts—exchanges were just a matter of both parties willingly bringing their goods and swapping them, right? Why bother writing every single word down, specifying quantities, purposes, and all that?
If Ye Tang had not persistently explained the necessity of contracts to the villagers, carefully telling them exactly what was written on each one, and having them sign their names or press their handprints only after they agreed, probably no one would have been willing to go through the hassle of making duplicate contracts just for a pair of wooden shoes.
To write the contracts, Ye Tang used up all the cowhide and sheepskin paper in the original host’s home. That was no small expense.
But Ye Tang knew this expense was necessary.
Throughout history, in every place, there were always people who felt cheated whenever they saw others getting rich. To prevent those who traded meat or flour for wooden shoes from regretting it later, and to avoid those traders being bribed by Kevin or threatened by Ginny, then trying to unilaterally tear up their contracts with her, Ye Tang preferred to be more troublesome beforehand to ensure every contract in her hands was impeccable.
So after obtaining the villagers’ signatures and handprints, Ye Tang went to invite Old Village Head Morgan as a witness and had his seal stamped on the contracts.
By telling the villagers, “Mr. Otto’s wine cellar is very secure, a great place to store contracts. Moreover, entrusting the contracts to Mr. Otto for safekeeping means no one has to worry about me secretly tampering with them, right?” Ye Tang convinced the villagers to store all the contracts in Old Otto’s wine cellar.
Old Otto’s wine cellar was fireproof, moldproof, and dampproof. Even if someone wanted to burn them or soak them to ruin, it was impossible.
Moreover, once people tasted the benefits, they got hooked; once they formed the habit, they no longer found it troublesome.
The villagers who traded a piece of meat for a pair of wooden shoes from Ye Tang were overjoyed when they heard she was willing to continue buying ingredients with money. This time, no one complained about listening to the contract details, signing, or pressing fingerprints. Almost all the villagers scrambled to sign contracts with Ye Tang.
But Ye Tang did not buy ingredients from just anyone.
She refused watered meat, unfresh game, and smoked meat or jerky that was not properly cured. She shut the door on anyone trying to cheat. And those so greedy for money that they disregarded what their families ate or drank, bringing all their household ingredients to sell to her—Ye Tang refused to deal with them too.
“I never intended to monopolize the business at Lem Mine. I have no objection if anyone wants to go to Lem Mine and do business themselves.”
“But in fact, that deadly business is something only you, Mary, can keep up!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, interrupting Ye Tang. Then another villager added with a bitter smile, “From Abe Village to Lem Mine, you have to cross two hills each way—that’s four hills round trip. And you, Mary, go back and forth twice a day…”
Climbing eight hills a day, on top of long mountain paths—even a horse with horseshoes couldn’t stand it every day. Yet Ye Tang not only persisted but went out before dawn to forage for wild vegetables and stayed up late into the night preparing for the next day.
The earliest-rising elders in the village often greeted Ye Tang, fresh from foraging wild vegetables, while they brushed their teeth in the morning. The latest-sleeping drunks always saw the faint yellow light from the first floor of Ye Tang’s house.
Ye Tang had not hidden her money-making trips to Lem Mine from anyone. A few households, envious of her income, planned to imitate her and sell mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and other mountain goods at Lem Mine.
However, the stamina of ordinary men was far inferior to that of Lang and Xiu brothers. Just carrying a basket of mountain goods to Lem Mine took them several hours. By the time they arrived panting and wheezing, the miners who had eaten their fill at Ye Tang’s stall were about done with their lunch break.
It was not that no miners bought the villagers’ hard-carried mountain goods. After all, Ye Tang’s pushcart had limited space; she could not guarantee every miner got food at her stall.
Thus, after work in the evening, some miners still patronized the mountain goods stalls. But by the time the goods sold out, it was nightfall. Villagers had neither fangs nor claws; lingering in the mountain forests at night meant stumbling in the dark and getting scared half to death by the howling winds.
After selling mountain goods once or twice, those burly men never wanted to go to Lem Mine again.
They preferred farming, herding cattle, or setting simple traps in nearby forests to catch wild rabbits and pheasants, then selling the game and livestock to Ye Tang. That way, they earned more without the hardship.
“Besides… even if we had the stamina and perseverance, our stuff isn’t as tasty as Mary’s burgers and sandwiches.”
A young man swallowed hard as he spoke. “Mary, why not stop going to Lem Mine every day? Stay in the village and sell burgers and coffee—we’d all come buy!”
Before the young man finished, his mother smacked him on the head. “Go on, get lost! You good-for-nothings, how many pence could you pay Mary? Don’t block Mary’s road to riches! Mary, we still have some game at home—want to come take a look later?”
The young man grimaced from the blow, but he knew full well that only if Ye Tang kept doing business at Lem Mine could she continue buying their villagers’ ingredients at such good prices.
Still, his selfish cravings made it hard not to think of the aroma of the bread Ye Tang baked every morning—it had tormented him so much he considered becoming a miner at Lem Mine.
The tense atmosphere eased amid the surrounding villagers’ laughter. But Kevin pointed at Ye Tang’s nose and said, “Your business didn’t get my permission as village head! You haven’t paid a single pence in taxes to Abe Village!”
“I don’t think I need your permission.”
Ye Tang smiled good-naturedly.
“Doing business in a town requires permission from the mayor, city lord, or feudal lord, and paying taxes to the town because they guarantee the merchant’s safety in their territory and arbitrate when needed, ensuring smooth commerce.”
“As village head, wanting to tax me—what can you provide me in return, Kevin?”
Seeing Kevin’s face flush red with no answer, Ye Tang spread her hands. “I understand you’re jealous of my income and want to steal my business. But don’t you think using your village head title to pressure me is despicable? If you want my business, compete for it fairly.”
Kevin flew into a rage and snarled at Martina, “How much is Mary paying for your family’s wine!? I’ll pay double! Sell me all your wine!!”
After yelling at Martina, Kevin struck a speechmaking pose toward the other villagers of Abe Village. “You all sell everything you were going to sell to Mary—to me instead!! I absolutely won’t let you lose out!”
Ginny clenched her fists. Her lips pressed tight, she barely restrained the urge to shout in fury. She stepped forward two paces to stop Kevin, but he grew even more impassioned in his speech.
“From now on, as village head, I’ll manage and sell all of Abe Village’s goods uniformly! Trust me! As your village head, I’ll seek the greatest benefits for everyone!! Lead our Abe Village to prosperity and strength!!”
“Wow…”
Ye Tang let out a sigh of amazement, looking at Kevin like an idiot.
‘Does this man think he looks too smart, so he’s deliberately exposing how dim-witted he is?’
“Village head… no, Kevin. You don’t understand anything!”
Martina trembled with anger. She could hardly believe how shameless Kevin was.
As village head, Kevin claimed he wanted what was best for the village, but where in his words was any consideration for the villagers?
If Kevin truly considered the villagers even a little, he would know his words would let those loafers Mary had turned away raid their homes for anything edible to sell to him for money. And the villagers—wives, mothers, sisters, daughters—robbed of their last food by husbands, sons, brothers, fathers… how were they supposed to survive?
Fine, set that aside. Just consider what happened after Kevin got the ingredients and wine.
Would Kevin personally go do the trading like Mary? Obviously not. He would just use his village head privileges to make other villagers go to Lem Mine to sell food and drink for him.
What benefits did the villagers get selling ingredients to Kevin? Same goods, same toil, but instead of keeping all the profits from their own ingredients, they got meager, uncertain pence for working for him.
It was all earning money at Lem Mine, but Mary didn’t mind anyone taking a cut from her; Kevin wanted to skim off the top, tearing a layer of flesh from everyone who passed through him! He arrogantly planned to monopolize all profits and occupy the market Mary had opened.
Kevin had neither shame nor conscience!
“We have no wine to sell you! Not a bottle!… No, not even a cup!”
Martina roughly wiped the tears from her eyes, no longer afraid to offend Village Head Kevin.
“I used to hate my husband to death! Hate his career! Hate those uneatable wines piled in the cellar! I even thought our family would be ruined by that damned wine!”
“Only Mary made me properly cherish these wines, cherish my husband’s career, and respect his life… I thank Mary! She saved more than just our family’s livelihood—she saved my husband’s career and my life!”
Martina’s words brought deep guilt to Old Otto’s face.
After talking with Martina, he finally understood she was not being unreasonable. She worried that after she went blind, she could not support the family, so she wanted him to cut ties with the wine.
After all these years, it was the first time he heard Martina could not see at night. The first time he realized the seemingly indestructible, strong-willed, nagging Martina actually needed care and concern too.
“Yeah! Without Mary, no matter how much wine we brewed, we couldn’t exchange it for a single shilling! Even if Mary sold each cup of wine I supply her for two shillings instead of two pence, I’d still supply her with the finest wine at current prices for the rest of my life!”
Tears welled in Old Otto’s eyes.
It was Mary who told him and Martina that Martina’s night blindness was a treatable condition called “night blindness.”
Lately, as Mary kept selling the wine, their lives had improved. Martina planted carrot seeds Mary had someone buy, and after the carrots matured, she ate them with eggs every day as Mary instructed. Recently, Martina could really see a bit at night! Mary said as long as she persisted, her eyes would fully recover eventually!
To their family, Mary was more than a customer. She was God’s messenger, the angel who saved them, the saint who made them believe gods truly existed in the world.
No one could make them betray Mary. No one—
Repeatedly challenged, Kevin’s already half-shattered hypocrite mask finally fell off completely.
He glared with bloodshot eyes, looking down disdainfully on everyone from the same condescending angle as his uncle Tobias.
“You dare…! How dare you speak to me like this!! Do you know who I am?! I am the village chief of this village! The blood nephew of Tobias Gordonworth! A member of the great and glorious Gordonworth Family!!”
“The Gordonworth Family is a noble house with excellent traditions!! I am also a descendant of nobility! Offend nobility and you won’t get off easy!! A rundown village like yours can be burned to the ground anytime I wish!!”