The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 242 Escape

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"If..." Zheng Dongfang's expression turned serious, "If I really did something heinous, what would you do to me???"

"How is it???" Yang Ming raised his eyebrows, his eyelids lowered, "It's what it should be, it's what it should be..."

"You're really my buddy, can't you lie to me???" Zheng Dongfang was speechless, but his expression was quite excited.

"Hehe..." Yang Ming chuckled, shaking his head without saying a word.

"You're a true buddy..." Zheng Dongfang rolled his eyes at Yang Ming and sighed, "The reason you're explaining this to us so clearly is because you're afraid I'll make a mistake. Some mistakes you make all the time in your life, and if you make them, you can correct them and still be a good comrade. But some mistakes you can't make even once. If you make them, whether you can still be called a human being is another matter..."

"It's good that you understand this principle..." Yang Ming put down his teacup. "Gene repair drugs are a double-edged sword. While unlocking the human body's potential, they also open Pandora's box in people's hearts... Along with supernatural power comes the inner demons..."

"Don't give me that nonsense..." Zheng Dongfang rolled his eyes at Yang Ming, pursed his lips, "As if you're some kind of benevolent father right now..."

"Hehe..." Yang Ming laughed, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's talk about your plans. Are you really going to become an interstellar merchant???"

"Of course..." Zheng Dongfang nodded, his expression very serious.

"Alright..." Yang Ming nodded. "I don't have many requirements for interstellar merchants. Just remember the laws of the Interstellar Alliance: we are not allowed to interfere in the civilization process of lower civilizations. This is a bottom line that cannot be crossed..."

"Hmm??" Sensing Yang Ming's seriousness, Zheng Dongfang raised an eyebrow. "Explain yourself more clearly..."

"It's very simple..." Yang Ming's expression was unusually solemn. "Although our civilization on Earth is not a highly advanced civilization, it is still more advanced than those civilizations that use human and animal power as their means of production. Therefore, when dealing with civilizations that are less advanced than us, you should give them fish, not teach them how to fish... In other words, you can only give them finished products, not their technology..."

"You mean we can't give them the means of production, but we can give them the products we produce..." Zheng Dongfang said.

"That's right, that's exactly it..." Yang Ming nodded.

"What if it's one of those advanced civilizations..." Zheng Dongfang pondered for a while before asking.

"There are no restrictions. If you can find some high technology in those advanced civilizations, then bring it back to Earth and we can decipher it. Then it will belong to us..." Yang Ming said.

"You mean I can go to seek knowledge, but I can't preach... If I go to seek knowledge, it's like we're learning from various sources. If I go to preach, it's like interfering with other people's civilization process..." Zheng Dongfang said.

"That's right, learning should be active, not passive..." Yang Ming pondered, "Perhaps this is the fundamental reason for establishing this law?"

The progress of a civilization requires continuous learning. While expecting others to teach you may yield some results in the short term, it sets a bad precedent, making people feel that they can gain without effort, thus losing a positive and enterprising attitude.

"I think I understand..." Zheng Dongfang nodded. "I can use various methods to obtain science and technology from advanced civilizations. Once I obtain it, as long as I decipher it, the technology will be ours. However, we cannot pass on our technology to less advanced civilizations. This is the difference between being proactive and being passive..."

"That's exactly right..." Yang Ming nodded, then added, "It's not against the rules for us to ask lower civilizations for their technology..."

"Now that you mention it, I just remembered, what do you need their collection of books for?" Zheng Dongfang looked around suspiciously, then leaned close to Yang Ming's ear and whispered.

"Don't you think the civilization here is like ancient China?" Yang Ming said with a look of melancholy, his gaze sweeping over the decorations and furnishings in the guest room. "The people in this world wear Hanfu and speak Chinese. Even this holy envoy can speak Chinese..." As he spoke, he kicked the holy envoy's corpse.

"Hiss..." Zheng Dongfang gasped, "Now that you mention it, it's really true..."

"Yes, I want to use the civilization of this world as a fuse to reignite our Han civilization..." Yang Ming said.

"You mean..." Zheng Dongfang's eyes lit up.

"To give you an example, take this classical house. In our country, the craftsmanship for making this kind of classical house has basically been lost. However, we can bring the craftsmen here back to Earth, or record their craftsmanship skills, and then when making cyborgs, we can compress these skills into the genes of the cyborgs, and let them open technical schools in our country to teach these skills to our people..." Yang Ming said.

"..." Zheng Dongfang remained silent for a long time, then sighed dejectedly, "You're really on a higher level and have a broader perspective. Without realizing it, we've already fallen to different levels..."

"Hehe..." Yang Ming laughed, "Then you should hurry up and catch up. As long as you study hard, you'll definitely be able to catch up..."

"Uh..." Zheng Dongfang was speechless. "You're really getting cocky now that I'm saying you're fat. Your breathing sounds a bit like my elementary school teacher's!"

"Hahaha..." Yang Ming laughed.

"My two benefactors..." A whirlwind swept into the room, and when it subsided, they saw Old Master Fu Cangsheng, his face beaming, bowing and scraping. "This old man forgot to ask earlier, what price do you two benefactors intend to offer us for the grain?"

Fu Cangsheng's appearance startled the two of them. Yang Ming composed himself and said, "We still don't know the price of grain here..."

"Replying to my two benefactors..." the old man said with unusual respect, "Our main grain here is glutinous rice, and the lowest price is ten taels of silver per catty..."

In the Central Plains, disasters have plagued the land for years, and grain prices have long since skyrocketed...

"Old man, this is our first time doing business, so I'll give you a discount. How about this, one tael of silver..." Yang Ming said, raising one finger.

"One tael of silver per catty???" Fu Cangsheng's eyes lit up. "Good, good, good, you two benefactors are truly great philanthropists..." As he spoke, he bowed to the two men repeatedly, then transformed into a whirlwind and disappeared without a trace.

"Uh..." Yang Ming held up a finger, his eyes wide, "I think I meant to say one tael of silver per ton, right???"

"You didn't say..." Zheng Dongfang swallowed hard, "Now I finally know what a shrewd businessman is..."

"Um..." Yang Ming's face was extremely embarrassed, "It wasn't my intention. I meant to say one tael of silver per ton, but they insisted on one tael of silver per pound. It's really not my fault..."

"That's a two-thousand-fold price difference! We've made a fortune from this deal..." Zheng Dongfang said, feeling dizzy, as he grabbed a snack and started eating.

This promising start made Zheng Dongfang even more envious of interstellar trade. Who could imagine how rich the farmers would become if a pound of grain sold for an ounce of silver?

"It might be a small liang, and a jin might be sixteen liang..." Yang Ming said.

"That's a huge profit..." Zheng Dongfang chewed on a snack, his bright eyes wide open. "On Earth, if you can sell a pound of grain for a dollar, that's considered pretty good. I remember when I was little, my dad told me that a pound of corn on the cob couldn't even sell for fifty cents..."

"That's true..." Yang Ming thought back to his childhood. After the autumn harvest, the highest price those who came to the village to buy corn cobs was 47 or 48 cents. If someone offered 50 cents, the whole village would scramble to sell...

"My two benefactors..." In the blink of an eye, Old Master Fu Cangsheng returned. This time, he didn't create a whirlwind, but instead arrived with his sleeves fluttering, exuding an indescribable elegance and grace. He bowed and greeted them from afar.

"No need to be so polite, sir..." The two quickly stood up and returned the greeting with clasped hands.

"Gentlemen, the gold and silver are ready. We just need you to inspect them and complete this first transaction as soon as possible to save the people from suffering..." Fu Cangsheng said.

"Alright, alright, I'll go now..." Once the matter escalated to a matter of great importance, Yang Ming couldn't refuse. In fact, he hadn't intended to refuse anyway; saving lives was a matter of utmost urgency...

"My two benefactors, please..." Fu Cangsheng gestured for them to leave, then led them out of the guest hall and towards the garden. "I know you two benefactors will definitely want to return, so I placed the gold and silver under the sacred tree for your convenience..."

Fu Cangsheng led the way while turning back to explain.

"Hmm..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly, "The old man is indeed very thoughtful..."

Before long, the three arrived at the garden. Yang Ming and Zheng Dongfang were immediately stunned by what they saw, because the once elegant garden had now been transformed into a sea of ​​gold and silver. The gold was piled up like mountains, radiating a dazzling golden light under the sunlight. Within the golden light, there was also a hint of red halo. Clearly, all of this gold was pure red gold of extremely high purity.

The silver covered the ground like a sea of ​​clouds, radiating a dazzling light under the sun, like scattered pieces of glass, dazzling the eyes, and looking at it was like looking at a kaleidoscope.

"These gold and silver, totaling 300 million taels, please count them, my two benefactors..." Old Master Fu Cangsheng said, a hint of shame on his face, "These gold and silver items were originally stored in the treasury, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to count them..."

"It's alright..." Yang Ming quickly came to his senses, patted Zheng Dongfang on the shoulder, which startled Zheng Dongfang and brought his mind back to its normal state from the reverie of the gold and silver mountains.

Zheng Dongfang snapped out of his daze, his eyes immediately turning red. He suppressed the urge to throw himself into the sea of ​​gold and silver, gritting his teeth and remaining silent.

Yang Ming didn't need to count the gold and silver himself; he only needed Ya Ya to scan them to know the exact weight of the gold and silver.

After scanning, YaYa gave a standard weight of 18750009.3 jin, which is approximately 300,0149 liang.

"Not bad..." Yang Ming nodded. "The total weight is still 149 taels more..." As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the gold and silver mountains disappeared without a trace. In their place were piles of greenish rice. In an instant, the garden was filled with the aroma of rice.

"Hiss..." Fu Cangsheng gasped, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, but in the end he sighed, "My benefactor is truly all-powerful..."

"This is 301,490 catties of rice. Please have someone count it, old man..." Yang Ming said.

"Alright..." The old man nodded immediately, then clapped his hands. Instantly, a large group of servants in blue robes, carrying measuring instruments, surged into the garden and waited behind the old man.

"Weigh out all the rice..." said Grandpa Fu Cangsheng.

"Yes, sir..." The servants in blue immediately took the scales and began to fill the rice containers, then weigh and count them.

"My two benefactors..." Fu Cangsheng bowed deeply to the two men, "Please come inside and have a seat..."

"No need..." Yang Ming waved his hand in refusal. "I have urgent business to attend to. My companions can handle things here..."

"What are you going to do?" Zheng Dongfang asked.

He was completely stunned by the sight of the gold and silver mountains and the mountain of rice in front of him, and his mind was still a little dizzy.

"Have you forgotten why we're here???" Yang Ming glanced at Zheng Dongfang. "You stay here and handle the aftermath. I'll be back by tomorrow at the latest. If you want to go back, just put your hand on the tree trunk, think about Earth, and you can go back..."

"Alright, alright, you go ahead, I'll take care of things here..." Zheng Dongfang said hurriedly.

Yang Ming shook his head and walked towards the World Tree. Then a portal of light appeared, and Yang Ming stepped inside.

The moon on Weijia Star had risen high in the sky. Wei Qingqing and Aunt Liu sat nestled among the flowers and grass, with a soft animal skin beneath them.

"The night sky here is so beautiful..." Wei Qingqing said, gazing at the stars in the sky.

"What's so interesting???" Aunt Liu was a little confused. Although it was only about 10 a.m. according to Earth time, the dark environment made people doze off.

"You're just an ordinary person..." Wei Qingqing smiled and pinched Liu Sao's nose.

"You annoying thing..." Aunt Liu slapped Wei Qingqing's hand. "You think you're so special? What can you possibly see???"

"Uh..." Wei Qingqing paused. On Earth, she could actually recognize some constellations and even connect them to Chinese mythology, such as Altair and Vega on opposite sides of the Milky Way. But looking at the starry sky from Weijia Star, she had no idea what they were.

"You're not exactly a refined person either..." Seeing Wei Qingqing's discomfiture, Aunt Liu couldn't help but smile smugly, but she wrapped her arms around Wei Qingqing's arms and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Our posture is very easy for people to misunderstand..." Wei Qingqing felt her body stiffen.

"What misunderstanding is there???" Aunt Liu asked, confused.

"They misunderstood that we're lesbians..." Wei Qingqing pulled her arm away and put her arm around Liu Sao's shoulder. "Yang Ming has been worried that you'd run off with me..."

"Hiss..."

"Run! Run! There's a monster..." Zhang Yang's voice rang out in a panic.

"Run!" Yang Zhengfang's exasperated voice rang out, "A giant monster is chasing us..."

"Father-in-law, why don't we just throw it away? Stealing someone's child, it's no wonder they're chasing after us. There are women all ahead..." Wei Jianguo's voice was also anxious.

"Yeah, brother, just throw that egg away..." Old Huang's voice was unusually anxious. "Is the egg more important than your life???"

"What did you drop???" Yang Zhengfang was furious. "I didn't have anything in my hand at all, otherwise how could I have run so fast???"

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(End of this chapter)