Chapter 244: Giving Gold and Silver

The night was as dark as ink. At the edge of the marketplace in East Corner Village, villagers with greedy eyes stood in two long, orderly lines, anxiously waiting for the cart-pulling man at the front to distribute gold and silver treasures.

At the front of the line stood a mother and son. The woman looked to be around forty, while the child was a boy, seemingly in his early teens.

Perhaps due to his plump physique or simply because handing out “money and wealth” was too exhausting, the cart-pulling man was drenched in sweat.

He took the towel from his forehead, wrung it over the muddy ground beside him, and let the sweat drip down with a splat, splat, splat. “Damn, handing out money is really tough work. Hold on a moment while I wipe my sweat!”

Seeing this, the woman quickly smiled and responded, “No rush, no rush. Benefactor, take your time to rest before giving us our share… Just, if you could be generous, please pick out a bigger gold ingot for us!”

The cart-pulling man wiped his sweat while laughing, “Alright, don’t worry! I’ll make sure to grab a big one for you so you can strike it rich!”

Hearing his promise, the woman hastily pulled her child along, repeatedly expressing their gratitude. She even nudged her son to kowtow twice to the man.

Seeing their gratitude, the cart-pulling man didn’t waste any time. He hung the towel around his neck and immediately reached his hand into the hole in the tattered cloth covering the cart.

Beneath the cloth was a pile of gold, silver, and jewels. As he rummaged through them, the clinking of precious metals colliding filled the air, a sound that made one’s heart itch with excitement.

The woman nervously squeezed her son’s hand, silently praying that he would pick out a large piece of gold. If not gold, then at least a sizable silver ingot!

“For whom first?” the cart-pulling man asked with a grin, as if he had already grasped something in his hand.

The woman hesitated for a moment before pointing to her son. “For my child first.”

Whoosh!

The cart-pulling man swiftly withdrew his hand from the hole. All eyes turned toward him with curiosity.

In his palm lay a fist-sized gold ingot. Even under the dim moonlight, it gleamed brightly, dazzling to the eyes.

“Ah!”

The woman gasped, her eyes brimming with joy. She instinctively reached out but quickly retracted her hand. “Benefactor, your luck is amazing! Please, pick one for me as well!”

Whoosh!

This time, the cart-pulling man’s motion was even quicker. In just the blink of an eye, his hand was in and out of the cloth-covered cart.

The woman clearly saw a flash of golden light!

When he opened his hand, two gold ingots, identical in size to the first, lay in his palm.

“Ahhh~~!”

Even though she covered her mouth, the woman couldn’t suppress her excitement. Her exclamation was so loud that even those at the end of the line could hear it clearly.

Instantly, the previously quiet queue erupted into a commotion.

Originally, only those at the front could see what was being given out, while those in the back, unable to witness anything, remained indifferent.

But the woman’s repeated cries of joy sparked everyone’s curiosity. They began pushing forward, urging those ahead to find out what she had received.

Behind the woman stood a tall and burly middle-aged man known as “Old Heng.” He had a habit of throwing his weight around, using his strength to bully others, making him someone the villagers generally avoided.

Before anyone could ask him, he had already shouted in his gruff voice, “Wow! Le Mei, you and your son sure have some good luck!”

“You actually got two fist-sized gold ingots! At a glance, I’d say that’s worth at least a hundred taels!”

“Looks like you’re rich now, sister!”

As he spoke, Old Heng reached out his rough hand and rubbed it against the woman’s back.

Startled, the woman took a step forward and glared at him.

He simply grinned. “Hey, just rubbing some of your good luck onto myself! Maybe I can get a chunk of gold too!”

Unwilling to bicker with this scoundrel, the woman turned away and smiled at the cart-pulling man. “Great benefactor, about this gold…”

The cart-pulling man laughed, “Just follow the same rules as the others. Tell me the ritual after taking the gold.”

Hearing this, the woman quickly responded, “After taking the gold, once we’re home, we must wrap it in a lotus pouch and tie it with a thin string to hang above our door.”

“And tomorrow night, we can come back and ask you for another share of gold and silver, exactly the same as tonight’s!”

“Alright, as long as you remember!” The cart-puller handed over the two gold ingots and warned, “You must hang them at your house entrance. Otherwise, this unexpected fortune might bring disaster upon your family!”

“At best, you’ll suffer injuries; at worst, you could lose your life!”

“We’ll remember, we’ll remember!” The woman quickly responded while stuffing the two gold ingots into her clothes.

The cart-puller waved his hand. “Alright, off you go then.”

“Mm!” After securing the gold, the woman grabbed her son’s hand and hurried home.

As they walked, the villagers along the way all stared at them, making the woman feel uneasy. She quickened her pace.

“Ahem!” Old Heng cleared his throat, spat a mouthful of thick phlegm to the side, and rubbed his hands together. “Old brother, you’d better get me a big one, at least not worse than what that woman got earlier. Otherwise, I might not let you through my door.”

Hearing Old Heng’s thinly veiled threat, the cart-puller smiled and said, “Ah, I can’t guarantee that. It’s all about luck when reaching in—what you get depends on fate.”

“If your luck is good, you’ll naturally get something valuable. But if not… well, who knows.”

Saying this, the cart-puller glanced at the thin man standing next to Old Heng and asked with a grin, “So, what’s it going to be? Which of you wants to go first?”

Before the thin man could speak, Od Heng stepped forward half a step. “I’ll go first!”

“Alright!” The cart-puller reached into the hole in the tattered cloth, groping around while chuckling. “Oh, this one has patterns on it! Do you want it? Feels really smooth!”

Patterns?

Could it be some kind of jewelry?

After a moment of thought, Old Heng nodded. “I’ll take it! Bring it out!”

In the next second, the cart-puller withdrew his hand, keeping his fist tightly closed around the object.

Old Heng’s eyes widened, thinking that if it was patterned jewelry, even if it was small, it would still be more valuable than some of the smaller gold pieces.

“Open your hand! Hurry up!”

“Stop dawdling!”

Under Old Heng’s urging, the cart-puller slowly opened his palm… As soon as his hand was fully open, the anticipation on Old Heng’s face twisted into fury.

“You bastard, are you messing with me?!”

“You gave me a copper coin?!”

The cart-puller grinned. “Well, it does have patterns on it, and you did say you wanted it. I even bent the rules for you…”