It was rare to see Chen Ping so polite.
Chen Xiaobo quickly fetched a stool and invited him to sit down.
Zhao Hua also smiled and greeted him, "Captain, have you eaten? Sit down and have some with us."
Chen Ping waved his hand, "No, no, I've come to discuss something with Xiaobo."
Upon hearing that they were going to discuss matters, Zhao Hua and Old Man Zhao put down their bowls and stood up, walking out of the courtyard.
Chen Xiaobo looked at Chen Ping in surprise, "Brother, what is it that requires such secrecy?"
Chen Ping took out the ginseng and lingzhi from his embrace.
"Brother, what do you think this is?"
Chen Xiaobo was stunned after just one glance.
After all, he was a child who grew up at the foot of the mountain, so he recognized ginseng and lingzhi.
"Brother, where did you get this? Such a large size must be worth a lot of silver, right?"
Chen Ping chuckled, "Brother, this is a treasure from our Qingniu Mountain."
"Really?" Chen Xiaobo's face was full of envy, "You're rich now. This one ginseng is worth more than a year of my work, no, two years."
Chen Ping laughed heartily, "Brother Xiaobo, you're being too formal. If I get rich, would I forget you? Don't forget, we grew up together wearing nothing but diapers."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobo's eyes began to light up, "Really?"
Chen Ping nodded, "How could it be fake? I came for this very reason. I'm telling you, there's a lot of this on Qingniu Mountain. Tomorrow I'll take you up the mountain, and we'll go pick ginseng."
After speaking, he stood up, "I won't forget everyone if I get rich. I'll call all our brothers. You don't have any objections, right?"
Chen Xiaobo nodded repeatedly. What objections could he have? It wasn't his family's.
Chen Ping left Chen Xiaobo's house and went to Chen Dayong's home.
Although Chen Dayong was not a member of the village defense team, he had grown up with Chen Xiaobo and Chen Ping.
Seeing the ginseng and lingzhi Chen Ping brought out, Chen Dayong was naturally tempted.
He immediately stated that he would go up the mountain with Chen Ping the next day.
That night, Chen Ping met with five people in total.
Returning home, Chen Ping was smug.
As long as he brought people to the Hulu Valley area, dug up the ginseng and lingzhi, and sold them in the county town, he would have money. With money, he wouldn't worry about these people not obeying him?
The next morning, Chen Xiaobei hurried to the county town.
Two large water skins were hung on the donkey's back, containing four live fish, as well as lingzhi and ginseng.
Jia Wannian of Hua Haotang was overjoyed to see Chen Xiaobei bring ginseng and lingzhi again.
After inspecting their quality, he gave Chen Xiaobei two ingots of ten taels of silver.
"Brother Xiaobei, two ginsengs and two lingzhis, I'll give you twenty taels in total, how about it?"
Chen Xiaobei, however, waved his hand, "Shopkeeper Jia, I don't need the silver. Can you do me a favor?"
Jia Wannian was stunned at first, then he laughed, "Brother Xiaobei, just say it. I have some influence in this county town. What problem have you encountered?"
Hearing Jia Wannian's words, Chen Xiaobei wanted to laugh. When he gave wild chickens to Cao Yuanxiang before, Cao Yuanxiang's words were exactly the same, saying he had some influence in the county town.
He wondered if their so-called influence was self-perceived or actually useful.
"Shopkeeper Jia, I want to buy a few repeating crossbows. Where can I get them?"
Upon hearing this, the smile on Jia Wannian's face froze instantly.
He was taken aback for a long time before lowering his voice, "Brother, speak softly. This is military equipment. If an ordinary person possesses it and is discovered, they will go to jail."
Ah, so obtaining this was so serious? This was something Chen Xiaobei had not expected.
"No, I just want to get one for self-defense. It shouldn't be this serious, right?" he asked tentatively again.
Jia Wannian frowned and thought for a moment, then finally sighed slightly, "Alas, if you want to buy this, I am truly powerless. However, I can recommend someone to you."
"Oh, who in Qingniu Town is so resourceful?" Chen Xiaobei couldn't help but be curious.
Jia Wannian chuckled, "You know this person, it's Miss Liu Rumei of the Liu Mansion. Go find her, and she can definitely get it. Moreover, with the Liu family's status, even if you are investigated by the officials, if you mention the Liu family, they will protect you."
Good heavens, is Liu Rumei's influence that great?
If what Jia Wannian said was true, then what was he afraid of? He should get a few from the Liu family.
Thinking of this, he bid farewell to Jia Wannian and shamelessly went to find Liu Rumei.
Upon hearing that Chen Xiaobei had arrived, Liu Rumei was very polite and met him specially in the reception hall.
After being served tea, Liu Rumei smiled and said, "I don't know what brings Young Master Chen to visit so suddenly?"
Chen Xiaobei cupped his fists, "Miss Liu, let's not beat around the bush. I'll be direct. I've come to buy a few repeating crossbows from you."
What? Liu Rumei looked at Chen Xiaobei with surprise, as if she had misheard.
"You mean, you want repeating crossbows?"
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "We've formed a village defense team, but recently there have been people of unknown identity lurking around the village. The villagers don't have any handy weapons, so I had to come to you."
As he spoke, Chen Xiaobei took out the two silver ingots from his sleeve.
"Do you think this silver is enough?"
Liu Rumei looked at the silver ingots and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Young Master Chen, talking to me about silver, you are too formal. When you saved Brother Liu Tie, you didn't take a cent. Now, if I were to charge you for a few repeating crossbows, wouldn't that make me seem too stingy?"
After speaking, she said to the maidservant Xiao Qing, "Go prepare ten repeating crossbows, and two boxes of arrows. Give them all to Young Master Chen."
Xiao Qing couldn't help but gasp, "Miss, two boxes of arrows are two thousand arrows. Do they need so many?"
Not only Xiao Qing gasped, but Chen Xiaobei was also startled.
This Miss Liu Rumei was truly generous, ten crossbows and two thousand arrows.
In his previous life, this would be equivalent to ten machine guns and two thousand bullets. If this equipment were given to Li Yunlong, there would be no need for the Italian cannons.
Liu Rumei glared, "I said how many, so that's how many. Go and prepare them."
After Xiao Qing left, Liu Rumei changed the subject and asked.
"What is the situation on Qingniu Mountain now?"
"Oh, we have set up a checkpoint at the foot of the mountain. I also want to organize the team to patrol the mountain when we have time. If there is anything unusual, I will report it to you immediately." Whether it was true or not, he would say it first.
Liu Rumei nodded and took out a bank note from her sleeve, "This is one thousand taels of silver, consider it your wages for a year. You must keep an eye on Qingniu Mountain for me. You know, this is both my will and the Emperor's will. Do you understand?"