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Chapter 36 — The 50 Silver Decision
The Weight of Wealth
Night had fallen over the Long household.
The sounds of swords cutting the air had finally stopped. Little San was asleep on the rug, exhausted from his "genius training," clutching his wooden stick like a treasure.
Long Tan sat at the wooden table. Su Lan sat opposite him.
Between them lay a heavy leather pouch.
Long Tan loosened the drawstring and upended it.
Clatter. Clink. Thud.
A pile of silver ingots spilled out, gleaming in the firelight.
To a normal villager, this was a fortune. A family could live for ten years on 10 silver.
Here, on this scarred wooden table, lay 55 Silver.
50 from Yan Bo's payment and the soap bonus.
5 from selling the excess Spirit Rice and hides.
Long Tan stared at the metal.
"We are rich," he whispered. "A month ago, I was begging for copper coins to buy medicine. Now, we have enough to buy a small house in the city."
He picked up an ingot. It felt heavy. It felt like power.
"We should save it," Long Tan said, thinking like a poor man. "We should deposit it in the Merchant Bank in Meng City. If anything happens to me, you and San will have money to live."
The Bank Trap
Su Lan shook her head slowly. Her face was serious.
"We cannot use the bank, Tan."
Long Tan frowned. "Why?"
"Who owns the banks in Meng City?" Su Lan asked. "The Zhou Family owns the 'Golden Carp Exchange'. The City Lord owns the rest. If a poor hunter suddenly deposits 50 Silver, the clerks will report it immediately."
She pointed at the door.
"The Zhou Family is already suspicious. If they know we have liquid cash, they won't just send guards. They will use the law. They will freeze the account, claim the money was stolen, and arrest you."
Long Tan's face darkened.
He realized she was right. Money in the bank was a paper trail.
"So we hide it under the floorboards?"
"No," Su Lan said firmly. "Thieves can steal it. Fire can melt it. And silver sitting in a hole does nothing to stop a blade."
The Matriarch's Wisdom
Su Lan reached out and touched the pile of silver. Her hands, rough from sword training, were steady.
"Tan, we don't need luxury. We don't need silk clothes or better furniture."
She looked him in the eye.
"We are weak. You are strong, yes, but we are just three people in a wooden shack. If the Zhou Family sends archers and burns the house from a distance, your 1,000 Jin strength cannot save us."
She pushed the silver toward him.
"Spend it all."
Long Tan was surprised. "All of it? On what?"
"Defense," Su Lan said, her voice cold and pragmatic. "A rich corpse is still a corpse. I would rather be penniless in a stone fortress than rich in a wooden coffin."
Long Tan looked at his wife.
He saw the change in her. The hunger, the fear, and the training had forged her into something new. She was thinking like the Matriarch of a Clan.
"You are right," Long Tan grinned. "We don't save. We build."
The Blueprint of Survival
Long Tan swept the silver aside. He grabbed a piece of charcoal and a sheet of coarse paper.
"If we are going to stay here and protect the Vital Soil, we need walls."
He began to draw. The charcoal scratched loudly against the paper.
"The current fence is rotting wood," Long Tan analyzed. "A Second Grade warrior can kick it down. A fire arrow can burn it."
He drew a thick line around the perimeter of their property.
"Stone Walls. We need River Granite. It's cheap, but hard to break. We build it one meter thick and three meters high."
Su Lan leaned over, adding her own ideas. "The gate is the weak point. Wood is too soft."
"Iron," Long Tan nodded. "We hire a blacksmith in the next village—not Meng City, so the Zhou Family doesn't know—to cast iron plates. We reinforce the gate."
The Hidden Path
Long Tan hesitated, then drew a dotted line leading from the cellar under the kitchen to the forest outside.
"A tunnel," he murmured.
Su Lan looked at the dotted line. "An escape route?"
"No," Long Tan's eyes glinted. "A flank. If they siege the front gate, I can use the tunnel to come out behind them in the forest. I can hunt them while they try to break in."
He continued to sketch.
Watchtower: A small platform on the roof for archery.
Spiked Pit: A hidden trap in front of the gate, covered with snow.
The Inner Sanctum: Reinforcing the backyard garden walls to hide the Spirit Plants from prying eyes.
The Cost of War
Long Tan did the mental math.
Stone and mortar: 15 Silver.
Labor (hiring workers from distant villages): 10 Silver.
Iron reinforcements: 15 Silver.
Traps and weapons: 10 Silver.
"It will cost almost everything," Long Tan said, looking at the budget. "50 Silver. Gone in a week."
He looked at the money pile. It represented safety, food, and comfort.
He looked at the blueprint. It represented survival and war.
He didn't hesitate.
He scooped the silver back into the pouch and tied it tight.
"Tomorrow, I go to the Stone Quarry in the North Valley. I will tell them I am just repairing the winter damage."
Su Lan stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the dark forest where enemies lurked.
"Make it strong, Tan," she whispered. "Make it so that even a ghost cannot enter without our permission."
Long Tan stood beside her, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"I will build a castle," he vowed. "And the Zhou Family will break their teeth on our walls."
The decision was made.
The Long Family was poor again in money, but they were about to become invincible in defense.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
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