Yu Jiang was one of the few wise people in the Desolate River Star Region. The reason was simple. Yu Jiang's father, who was Old Yu's distant cousin, died early. So, when Yu Jiang was just over ten, Old Yu took him to the Shadow Mountain Sentry.
Yu Jiang was twenty-seven years old this year. Most of his life had been spent outside of the Barren River Star Field. Although he still had the fierceness unique to the people of the Barren River Star Field, he had also developed some observation and thinking skills because he had been exposed to the outside world.
With such ability, Yu Jiang stood out among Old Yu's nephews. He was Old Yu's favorite nephew and was highly regarded.
"Actually, Uncle wants to go to the Star Region mainly because he has a lot of daughters but no sons." That night, when Xia Fan called Yu Jiang to his room for a chat, Yu Jiang told the truth. "Without a son, there is no one to inherit the family business. If Uncle had a son, he would not go to the Star Region."
Xia Fan was curious. "Why? The Star Region is more developed and safer. Why does he not want to go there after having a son? Isn't it better for his son to be educated in the Star Region? "
Yu Jiang shook his head with a bitter smile. "Sir, you are wrong. In the Star Region, only the people at the bottom live like dogs. A rich man like Uncle is living a good life."
"Uncle has twelve wives, and this does not include the women he keeps outside. Can he do the same in the Star Region?"
"Almost no one dares to bully Uncle in the Star Region. He is the only one who bullies others. But in the Star Region, he is a country bumpkin, a despised native. He has to live with his tail between his legs. How can he be arrogant here?"
Xia Fan nodded. He felt that Yu Jiang's words made sense. The Star Region was chaotic, but this was also a paradise for the rich. There were as many women as they wanted. As long as they had money, they could raise an army and become the local tyrant.
In the Star Region, where the law was strict, Old Yu was not allowed to be arrogant. The rich in the Star Region were just ordinary people in the Star Region. They had no special privileges and their quality of life was greatly reduced.
"What about you? What do you think?" Xia Fan smiled.
Yu Jiang's expression slowly darkened. He clenched his fists and said, "I will seize this opportunity. To my uncle, he was forced to leave because he didn't have a son. But I want to go to the inner region. This is from the bottom of my heart. Only by going to the inner region can I change my fate."
"Actually, the most painful thing about living in the Outer-Realm isn't starvation, but despair."
"Our family is considered to be one of the better off in the village. We have a rich uncle who subsidizes our household expenses every few days, but the others are not as lucky. One year, there was a sandstorm, and the crops in the fields were destroyed overnight, so the whole village began to starve."
"The Desolate River Star Region is not like other places. There are no forests, no seas, no rivers. It is just an endless desert. Only a few drought-resistant crops can survive there."
"In the Desolate River Star Region, the water is salty water from deep wells. It is very precious. Usually, we can't bear to drink water, and we haven't even taken a bath since we were young. Even though our bodies are crawling with little sluts that are unique to the desert and are bitten all over, we are covered in blisters. These bugs are poisonous, and the blisters will soon fester. It is very painful. Even so, we don't have water to bathe. Children gather together and help each other catch the sluts, but how can we catch all of them?"
"That is how we save water to irrigate the few fields. In the end, there was a sandstorm and the crops were all gone."
"I watched my friends who grew up starve to death one by one. When they died, all that was left was skin and bones …"
At this point, Yu Jiang's body suddenly convulsed violently. He ran to the toilet and vomited for a long time before he came out again. When he came out, his face was pale and his eyes were dim. It was as if he was recalling the painful days of the past.
He forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I really can't go on. It's too miserable. It's all a nightmare."
"Anyway, in the end, I was the only one in the entire village who survived. As for how I survived, you two should be able to guess it."
"It's not just me. Almost all of us had the same experience."
"So please don't worry. Now that there is a chance for us to live in the region, we will risk our lives for it."
"No matter how old or young we are, none of us got married or had children because we didn't want our children to be born in a place like this."
"Do you really think that uncle took me in because of my bloodline?"
"No." Yu Jiang shook his head. Yu Jiang shook his head. "It's because he sees that I have value in me, and I'm very happy to be used by my uncle, because only then can I survive."
"I don't hate uncle for using me, but I don't owe him anything."
Looking at the snowstorm outside the window, Yu Jiang lowered his head and avoided Xia Fan and Fu You's eyes. "I'm sorry, I accidentally said too much. It's getting late, you two should rest early."
"Please don't worry. When you rest, we will guard outside. This is what we discussed before you came."
After that, Yu Jiang respectfully left the room.
Sigh …
After Yu Jiang left, Fu You shook his head. "He was the only one in the entire village who survived. I'm afraid Yu Jiang has eaten people before."
Xia Fan smiled bitterly and looked out the window. "This is the outside world."
.....
That night, Xia Fan and Fu You did not sleep. Yu Jiang's heartfelt words made it difficult for them to fall asleep.
The next morning, when they opened the door, they saw two of Yu Jiang's nephews standing outside. They had been guarding outside for the whole night. To them, Fu You and Xia Fan's lives were far more precious than their own. They would rather die than let Xia Fan and Fu You lose a single hair.
However, these nephews' expressions were stiff, and they were not as eloquent as Yu Jiang. They stood outside the door like two stone blocks, staring at everyone with their bull-like eyes. Xia Fan knew the reason, and he did not blame them.
Breakfast was not sumptuous. Only Old Yu and Xia Fan were sitting at the table. Fu You and his nephews were eating breakfast in the kitchen, while his wife and children were locked in the room. They would only come out after Xia Fan left.
In the outside world, women and children had a low status because they had no productivity and needed to eat. They were seen as a burden by many families.
"This is the uniform. My nephews wear this to work, so I'll have to trouble you two now." Old Yu asked someone to bring two sets of cheap fabric gowns and put them on the table. The clothes were brand new, but they felt rough to the touch. Obviously, they were not worth much. There was a big "Yu" embroidered on the back of the clothes, which meant that the person wearing the clothes worked for Yu's Trading Company.
Xia Fan took the uniform, but Fu You looked unhappy. Little Master had a bad temper, and after hearing how Old Yu treated his nephews, he looked down on him. It was Xia Fan who persuaded Fu You to use Old Yu for the time being. Only then did he suppress the thought of killing Old Yu.
Walking out of Old Yu's house, Xia Fan and Fu You followed Old Yu and mingled with the Eight King Kongs.
The Eight King Kongs were led by Yu Jiang, and they were Old Yu's eight most trusted nephews.
Passersby looked sideways and avoided them. Some brave ones stood by the roadside and bowed to Old Yu, calling him Boss Yu. Old Yu pretended not to see these people.
The trading company was right in front of Old Yu's house. It was only a turn away, so there was no need to take a car. The road was covered with snow, making it difficult to walk. Old Yu's nephews supported him on both sides, while Old Yu cursed the damned weather.
The trading company was already open.
Old Yu's business was agricultural products, from all kinds of fine grains, to potatoes and sweet potatoes to fill the stomachs of the poor, to dried fish, shrimps, dried meat, cooking oil, and so on.
Yu's trading company was very imposing. The front was four stories high, and the warehouse at the back was huge. Even if all the people in the city came to buy food at the same time, the warehouse would be enough to supply them. In the Shadow Mountain Outpost, Old Yu's grain trading company could be ranked among the top three in the industry.
However, in the eyes of Xia Fan and Fu You, Yu's trading company was inevitably a little rustic. The golden decorations were painted, and the wind and sun soon mottled it. The decoration was not simple and elegant at all. It was completely the appreciation of the nouveau riche, and it was as eye-catching as possible.
Old Yu's nephews stood solemnly at the door. Xia Fan counted with his eyes. There were more than two hundred people waiting outside, and there were even more people inside the trading company, other branches, and warehouses.
The people in the Shadow Mountain Outpost said that Old Yu had three thousand nephews, and it was true.
Old Yu wanted to invite Xia Fan and Fo You to his office, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was inappropriate. After all, Xia Fan and Fo You were his nephews who came from the Desolate River Star Field to seek shelter. So, he apologized to Xia Fan and Fo You with his eyes and went upstairs, surrounded by his people.
Yu Jiang asked someone to bring a few chairs. Four of the Eight Guardian Deities sat beside Old Yu, and the rest sat in the middle of the shop, directing the others.
Xia Fan and Fu You also sat down. This action caused Old Yu's nephews to raise their eyebrows, but no one dared to say anything. After all, in this trading company, Old Yu was the god, and the Eight Guardian Deities were the heavens.
The first floor of the trading company was for retail, and the second floor was for large transactions. Therefore, most of the people who came to the first floor to buy things were local commoners.
There were not many people who were dressed neatly, and most of them were wearing rags. The food they bought was only enough for one or two days, and they mainly bought cheap sweet potatoes. They cooked the potatoes, cut them into pieces, and dipped them in salt or sauce to fill the stomachs of the whole family.
The variety of food refreshed Fu You's worldview. He thought that the red jerky in the sack was beef, but after asking, he found out that it was vole meat.
Even if it was vole meat, very few poor people would buy it. Their purchasing power was far from enough to eat meat for every meal.
In general, Old Yu's nephews had two attitudes towards customers. The customers who were dressed neatly were treated more politely, while the poor would be looked down upon by their nephews. If they did not buy after asking the price, they would be kicked out of the trading company. Even if they were beaten to the ground in the snow, these people did not dare to resist. They hurriedly got up and bowed to the people who hit them.
Xia Fan saw numbness in these poor people's eyes. There were beggars frozen to death by the roadside. Their bodies were stiff in the snow, and no one cared about them. Perhaps they were already used to it. If they did not work hard, they might be the next one to freeze to death.
Every time they came to the outskirts, Xia Fan and Fu You's worldview would be challenged. However, there was nothing they could do. They could only pretend that they did not care and drink tea with Yu Jiang.
Xia Fan now hoped that the three major alliances could rule the entire Cangyue. At least with their ability, they could feed the people in the outskirts, instead of the current situation where people were living worse than animals.
It was ten o 'clock in the morning. As the number of customers gradually increased, a nephew of Old Yu suddenly barged in. He looked around the hall in panic and went straight to Yu Jiang's side.
"Brother Jiang, something happened," the man said in a low voice.
"Is it from Young Miss's place?" Yu Jiang frowned.
"Yes, Young Miss is fighting with someone."
"Again? Didn't she just get a few stupid people yesterday? "
"Young Miss has a bad temper. What can we do?"
"Whose house is it this time?"
"I don't know. It's a group of customers in Old Zhu's teahouse. There are seven or eight people in that group. Young Miss only has the two of us and a few of her friends. They are arguing now. I'm afraid that Young Miss will be at a disadvantage, so I came to the business to tell you."
"Alright, I got it." Yu Jiang waved his hand impatiently and stood up.
Young Miss should be Old Yu's eldest daughter. It seemed that things were going to be troublesome. Xia Fan saw Yu Jiang stand up, so he stood up as well.
Unexpectedly, Yu Jiang smiled and said, "Brother, you don't have to go. Young Miss is only fifteen years old this year. Her matters are just trivial troubles between children. It's really not something to be proud of. Old Zhu's teahouse is not far away. I'll bring a few people there."
Since that was the case, Xia Fan and Fu You nodded and stayed in the business, continuing to observe the eyes and movements of Old Yu's nephews.
Although they all had a stern look on their faces, as if they disliked everyone and made people feel cold, Yu Jiang once said that as soon as Fu You and Xia Fan opened their mouths, people would immediately find out that they were not from the Barren Creek Star Area.
They had to learn the accent when they spoke, the way they treated people, and the way they looked at others.
Before they came, Yu Jiang had told Xia Fan and Fu You to observe more and try not to open their mouths.
Yu Jiang coughed softly. Then, a few of his nephews stepped forward and followed him to the street. They turned left and went to Old Zhu's teahouse.
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