#106 - Article 106

For Cheng Feng, the Hongmen was just a tool for making money and a nascent form of military power for the future.

Recently, Cheng Feng noticed streams of sallow-faced refugees entering and leaving the city gates.

Cheng Feng continued to act discreetly. Without Wang Tieshan from the martial arts school giving any instructions, he leisurely went about his own business. Anyway, he couldn't interfere in anything, and his martial prowess wasn't the strongest, so he'd let others handle things.

If they really needed his help, they only had to ask.

His family lacked nothing in terms of food, clothing, and daily necessities. The tavern was running smoothly, and the Hongmen was also getting on track.

Ten jin of refined salt cost two hundred taels of silver.

It was extracted from twenty jin of crude salt, which cost twenty taels.

The profit was tenfold.

After his initial shock, Cheng Feng calmed down, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

This was a tenfold profit!

Tenfold!

Back then, a six-jin fish only cost one copper coin.

Now, the refined salt industry was simply brutal.

No wonder there was a saying in his previous life that the most violent industries are written in the criminal law.

Cheng Feng also chose this line of work because he saw the decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty and urgently needed a way out.

Choice is greater than effort; it's absolutely true.

A small blueprint had already formed in Cheng Feng's mind.

Living in a large mansion, served by many people, commanding a large number of subordinates, and surrounded by beautiful women who meticulously cared for him.

This was Cheng Feng's ideal dreamland.

Cheng Feng had strived for this in his previous life, but the environment of material desires made it impossible for him to choose.

In this life, he still couldn't escape these basic material desires.

The only difference was that the little knowledge he had learned from short videos in his previous life actually had such great power.

Cheng Feng was happy but also more cautious.

The situation of the Great Zhou was beyond Cheng Feng's control, but the fact that the women in his household were about to give birth was something he had to pay attention to.

At the Cheng residence, all the women had stopped their work and were waiting anxiously outside the delivery room.

Cai'er, holding little Cheng Ping in Chunyu's arms, comforted the somewhat anxious Cheng Feng.

Xia He stood behind Cai'er, while Zheng Ya was inside the delivery room, attending to Cui'er, who was in labor. Little Hua was beside Xiao Fang, Chen Min was beside Mao Mao, and Lian Niang was beside Xiao Ling.

The only little girl, Chen Zhu, was naturally by Chen Min's side but often came to see Cheng Ping, teasing her little brother.

As time passed, Cui'er's voice gradually weakened, and suddenly, a loud infant cry echoed throughout the room.

The women outside the door and Cheng Feng were relieved.

Many women in the Great Zhou died during childbirth due to difficult labor, which Cheng Feng attributed to the lack of medical and sanitary advancements.

Later, he realized that the people around him were mostly women who married at a young age, leading to this unfortunate outcome.

Fortunately, Cheng Feng's preferences were different.

He didn't like them too young.

He couldn't appreciate the pale, thin, and delicate aesthetic at all.

So, this tragedy wouldn't happen in the Cheng family.

Feeling that the fortune points had increased a bit again,

Cheng Feng smiled happily.

How could he not be happy when his child was born?

The midwife held the baby for Cheng Feng to see and congratulated him: "Congratulations, Master! Congratulations, Madam! The Madam has given birth to a little young master."

Hearing that it was another son, Cheng Feng was overjoyed. He waved his hand and laughed, "Good, good, good! Reward!"

Xia He, standing next to him, took out the prepared celebratory money and handed it to the midwife.

Not much, one tael of silver. This was actually discussed with Cai'er. Cai'er followed the custom of the Great Zhou, where there were more sons than daughters, and thought of preparing two red envelopes. One tael for a boy and half a tael, five copper coins, for a girl.

Cheng Feng naturally disagreed.

Cheng Feng wasn't a feudal person; he simply expressed that all lives were equal.

Then, he handed the fifty taels he had earned to Cai'er.

Cai'er naturally followed his lead and secretly noted this down. In the future, regardless of gender, the celebratory money at birth must be equal.

Cai'er knew that Cheng Feng was different from other men, whether it was his attitude towards women or his views and actions regarding family construction.

He was different from other men in the Great Zhou.

In the Great Zhou, where productivity was underdeveloped, most people liked to have boys because boys could do more when they grew up, such as farming, handling affairs, and fighting.

Girls would eventually marry out, and if they married well, they could leave a bride price for the family.

If they didn't marry well, then there was nothing they could do.

Cheng Feng treated these women he had bought with respect and courtesy, at most being a little lewd, but he never beat or scolded them.

He hadn't said a few harsh words, which made the women more accepting of Cheng Feng.

Cai'er would never have imagined that

women could not cook, wash clothes, or do housework,

while men would take care of the housework and women would go out to earn money.

Cheng Feng looked at the women around him, gentle in temperament, soft in voice, and efficient in doing things.

They never needed Cheng Feng to handle household chores.

Sometimes, when Cheng Feng was unhappy, the women would think they had done something wrong, constantly reflecting on themselves, fearing that Cheng Feng would blame them.

With their lovely appearances, Cheng Feng was speechless.

He could only work hard to practice martial arts and strive in his career.

To protect his women well.

Cai'er and the others had already done everything that women should do.

Cheng Feng naturally wouldn't be crazy enough to look for trouble.

Practicing martial arts, selling wine and salt,

and bringing money home was the most important thing to do.

Taking the child, Cheng Feng didn't care about Cai'er's complicated thoughts or the pressure on the pregnant women around him.

After looking at his son's wrinkled little face, Cheng Feng went straight into the room to Cui'er's side, holding Cui'er's hand and saying, "You've worked hard. The child is very good. You should rest well."

Cui'er's smiling face, fresh from childbirth, was pale, looking at the crying child: "Master, please give the child a name!"

Cheng Feng said the name he had already prepared: "Let's call him Cheng An, styled Ziyu. I hope he will grow up safely and peacefully."

Cheng Feng was terrible at naming, but as a father, his greatest wish for his children, besides hoping they would become dragons, was to hope they would grow up safe and sound.

Comforting Cui'er to rest well, Zheng Ya, who was beside her, held the child, and communicated with the midwife, asking about how to take care of the child.

Watching the charming Zheng Ya clumsily taking care of the child,

Cheng Feng found it strange no matter how he looked at it. Zheng Ya, such a charming woman, should be serving men well, being a soul-stirring enchantress.

But now, she was learning how to serve a little one.

The scene was quite incongruous.

But Cheng Feng had already taken the biggest step.

Next, he only needed to wait patiently to let his parents, elder brother, sister-in-law, and his entire family live together.

This would not waste Cheng Feng's efforts.

For more than two months, Cheng Feng had been receiving fortune point income twice a day.

Cheng Feng invested all the fortune points into the Basic Saber Technique.

Although his realm had stopped improving, his saber technique had not been without gains.

Basic Saber Technique (Proficient 199/200)

Cheng Feng had also tried buying some good medicinal herbs and decocting them into medicinal soups to practice, but the result was naturally without any effect.

The Thunderous Bloodburst Art in the Blood Refinement Realm could no longer be improved by ordinary medicinal soups.

Cheng Feng could only take the path of adding points to upgrade, which was slow but steady.

Cheng Feng had once asked Wang Tieshan if there was anything that could change one's aptitude.

Wang Tieshan smiled and said that there were records in ancient books, but they were not of verifiable value now.

Five-hundred-year Vermilion Fruit, six-hundred-year Elite Seed, seven-hundred-year White Peony Liquid, eight-hundred-year Earth Tunnel Vine, nine-hundred-year Hua Ying Gall, thousand-year Ginseng King,

who has ever seen these?

These things are only written in books,

how to verify them?

Impossible to verify.

The cruelty of martial arts is fully reflected here.

Every door is a lock,

every path is a hurdle.

It depends on those who come later.

The advanced may not necessarily win.