Reborn in the 80s, Get Rich by Eating Melons

Chapter 535: Chapter 535: Encounter Danger 6

At Niu Wa’s words, Mangzi and Erlvzi both turned their attention to Taige. Although neither of them said anything, it was clear they were also dissatisfied with Taige’s approach.

Taige had a wife at home and a woman in the mountains. The rest of them didn’t have wives, and only Mangzi had a woman in the mountains. And she was mute. Now, a beautiful woman had arrived and Taige wanted to monopolize her. It was too unfair. _{n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖}

Everyone was working equally; why should Taige get all the benefits?

Taige noticed their resentment and frowned, "What are you guys dwelling upon? Do you only have women on the brain?"

Niu Wa was already uncomfortable. On hearing Taige’s words, he grumbled back, "Taige, you’ve a woman here and there. You’re well-fed and don’t understand us, who are starving. Obviously, it’s easy for you to say."

Taige immediately turned stern, "Niu Wa, if you’ve a problem with me over a woman, say it directly. There’s no need to beat around the bush. We are brothers. When have I ever wronged you guys? Haven’t I always made the effort and taken the responsibility? Aren’t your good days now because of my help? Who among you hasn’t been obliged to me? Just for a woman, you’re showing your displeasure. It’s very disappointing. And for the record, I didn’t plan to monopolize Tong Yao. Even if I did, wouldn’t it be because I deserved it for contributing more?"

At Taige’s words, others immediately bowed their heads in shame.

It was indeed true that Taige had helped them a lot. Without him, who had the foresight to lease the two mountain forests back then, and leading them in making money, they wouldn’t have enough to eat now.

But haggling with Taige over a woman was perhaps misguided.

Niu Wa took the initiative to apologize: "Taige, I was wrong. You can handle Tong Yao’s matter as you see fit."

Both Mangzi and Erlvzi immediately followed suit.

Taige, hearing their words, looked a bit more pleased. He said, "We are brothers. I want to lead you all to make big money and achieve something great, not go weak at the knees over a pretty woman. Once we have money, can’t we find any kind of woman we want? We can openly choose the type we want."

Getting Taige’s drift, Erlvzi’s eyes lit up immediately, "Taige, do you perhaps have a plan in mind?"

Taige nodded, and his eyes brimming with cunning, "Did you hear what they were talking about on the road?"

Erlvzi thought for a bit and said, "They’re rich people who run factories with a few hundred employees."

Taige nodded and said, "Right, they’re rich city dwellers. It’s not practical for us to keep Tong Yao here. All three of them are wealthy in the city. As soon as their families realize they’re missing, there will be a large search party."

Niu Wa was startled, "So what should we do now, Taige? Should we send them back while we haven’t done anything yet?"

But Mangzi questioned, "Taige, are they bluffing?"

Taige squinted, "Have you forgotten the car they arrived in? Do you know how much it costs?"

Before any of them could respond, he added, "That small sedan is worth at least hundreds of thousands."

On hearing the car’s price, Niu Wa, Erlvzi, and Mangzi had a greedy gleam in their eyes. All three swallowed and looked visibly startled.

Niu Wa, in particular, thought city dwellers were foolish for driving such expensive things around. Who doesn’t hide their valuables for fear of theft?

He now wanted to rush down the mountain and hide that car.

With this car, wouldn’t they be rich?

Even if they looked after these mountains until their dying day, they would never be able to make as much money.

Seeing their awe-struck faces, Taige sneered, "Gobsmacked, aren’t you? You’ve never seen a big city, I can’t blame you for your narrow view."

Mangzi felt that Taige had a plan, his curiosity piqued, he urged, "Tell us what we’re going to do next, Taige! We’ll all follow your instruction."

Erlvzi and Niu Wa were also watching Taige intently.

Taige fell silent for a while, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "Frankly, I’m still pondering about how to handle this situation."

On hearing this, the other three tensed up a bit. They always followed Taige’s command and that’s why things had been fine so far and their lives were improving. Now without Taige’s guidance, they felt rudderless.

Just when they wanted to inquire further, Taige spoke: "We now have two choices. One option is to treat them well and wait for their families to come and reward us with some gratitude money. The other option is to hold onto them, get their families to give us a big sum of money, then we can leave this rotten hill and head into town to lead nice lives."

On hearing this, Niu Wa, Mangzi, and Erlvzi became a little excited. All of them preferred the second option. Seeing this, Taige stubbed out the cigarette with his shoe and said, "I know you all prefer the second sense, but it’s a bit risky. Their families will realize they’re missing today, and they’ll soon involve the police and find us here. In that case, we may end up with nothing at all."

Neither had expected the second option to be so complicated. Recalling Tong Yao’s pretty face, Niu Wa couldn’t help but suggest, "Taige, don’t we have a third option too? Like we said before, keep the woman and bury the men in the mountains as fertilizers. As long as we hide them well, nobody would ever know."

Taige lifted an eyelid and glanced at him, "Do you think their families, realising they can’t find them, would give up so easily? There are no villages nearby, and their car is still there. The police will find this place pretty quickly. They don’t have any money on them right now, so we wouldn’t gain anything from it. Why take such a foolhardy risk?"

Both Mangzi and Erlvzi felt Taige’s analysis made sense, but felt it was a bit of a regret to let these people go.

Mangzi said, "Taige, if we let them go, how much of gratitude money can we expect? I feel like it might be just enough to toss you out."

Erlvzi nodded, "I think so too."

Taige glanced over the three of them, "That’s precisely my point. We are brothers. Even though you guys address me as Taige, this matter is big. If we want to do it, we must do it big, and all four of us need to be united. Think about whether you want to do it or not. Once we take action, there’s no turning back. We might have to live in hiding with the money for a long time, perhaps a decade or even an entire lifetime of living under false identities. Of course, if we succeed, we’ll not have to worry about food and drink for the rest of our lives."

Niu Wa swallowed his saliva and didn’t dare to respond immediately.

Both Mangzi and Erlvzi remained silent, too. The room fell silent for a while. The four of them lit up cigarettes again, the room filling up with smoke until they were squinting their eyes.