"Grandpa Zhang, how do you plan to divide these 200 taels of silver?" Lu Qing asked.
"Of course, it will be divided equally—each household in the village will receive the same amount," Grandpa Zhang replied as if it were obvious.
Lu Qing nodded in agreement.
Fair division is crucial since the worst fear with money is favoring one over another; equality in division is the best approach.
"However, it's not easy to exchange these silver notes for silver," Grandpa Zhang admitted, seeming troubled.
Lu Qing thought for a moment and understood the old man's concern.
To convert silver notes into silver, one must go to a silver bank.
And silver banks were only in county seats.
Moreover, letting villagers take the silver notes to the city to exchange for silver was not only daunting for everyone, but even Lu Qing would not feel reassured.
With the county seat so far away and carrying such a large amount of silver, if someone with ill intentions were to target them, whether they could safely return was questionable.
"I was negligent, Grandpa Zhang. Hand me the silver notes," Lu Qing said, "I will go see Elder Ma tomorrow and exchange the silver notes for silver."
"That would be best," Grandpa Zhang replied immediately, handing over the two silver notes to Lu Qing.
"I'll bring the silver to you tomorrow."
After Grandpa Zhang left, Lu Qing returned to his room, opened a small chest, and inside, a dazzling silver glow shone—it was a chest full of silver.
This chest of silver was one of the gifts Ma Gu had brought recently.
Last night, Ma Gu and his men had scoured Happy Village.
It was unknown how long Happy Village had accumulated the money without sending it to headquarters, but Ma Gu and his men had reaped a rich harvest.
After counting, Ma Gu brought over the share he deemed belonged to Lu Qing.
Unable to refuse, Lu Qing accepted it.
Lu Qing began to take silver from the chest.
The silver Ma Gu had packed was meticulously arranged, mostly consisting of silver ingots.
Large ones of ten taels, and small ones of five taels.
Lu Qing directly took forty of the five-tael silver ingots, almost completely emptying the chest of small ingots.
Early the next morning, Lu Qing carried the silver to Grandpa Zhang's house.
"Grandpa Zhang!" Lu Qing called out, standing outside Zhang's house.
"Ah Qing, come in quickly!"
Grandpa Zhang had not slept well last night, and he stayed home all morning, not going anywhere, just in case Lu Qing came to find him while he was out.
It wasn't that he was greedy for the silver, but since the silver was meant for distribution to everyone in the village, it was a matter of great importance, and he did not dare be careless.
Lu Qing carried the silver and followed Grandpa Zhang into the house.
"Ah Qing, why have you come?"
Coincidentally, Grandpa Zhang's family, including his two sons and daughters-in-law, were all at home.
Seeing Lu Qing enter, everyone stood up, quite surprised.
Especially Grandpa Zhang's two sons, who looked at Lu Qing with a somewhat restrained expression.
Yesterday, when Han Wu and the others came, they were present and had personally witnessed how Lu Qing had killed those villains.
Thus, the two brothers felt an indescribable awe toward Lu Qing.
"I've come to deliver the silver," Lu Qing smiled.
"Deliver the silver?"
Grandpa Zhang's sons and daughters-in-law were puzzled.
Lu Qing emptied the bag of silver ingots onto the table, and the dazzling silver light immediately made everyone's eyes shine.
In the stunned gaze of Grandpa Zhang's son and daughter-in-law, Lu Qing said, "Grandpa Zhang, I have exchanged all the silver notes into silver, here are forty silver ingots, each weighing five taels. Please use them to distribute among everyone."
"Alright, alright, I will gather everyone together to distribute the silver right away."
Grandpa Zhang was also shocked by the pile of silver, but after all, he had lived for several decades and had more self-control than his son and daughter-in-law, and he quickly regained his composure.
"Dad, what do you mean by distributing silver?"
At that moment, Grandpa Zhang's eldest son finally reacted.
"Ah Qing said that he wanted to distribute the silver notes obtained from those criminals yesterday to everyone in the village. This silver is what he had exchanged at Master Ma's place at the fair," Grandpa Zhang explained.
"Are all these silver pieces to be distributed?"
Grandpa Zhang's son and daughter-in-law said in surprise.
"Don't talk nonsense, you two, go quickly and call everyone to the ancestral hall, do not mention distributing the silver, just say I have something important to discuss with everyone," Grandpa Zhang scolded sharply.
"Alright, I'll go now."
The two sons hurriedly ran out.
"Grandpa Zhang, I won't get involved in distributing the silver; you can oversee it."
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Lu Qing then stood up, preparing to leave.
"How can that be? The silver is yours; it wouldn't look right if you are not present," Grandpa Zhang said hastily.
"No worries, it's just a bit of silver. Don't be too nervous, Grandpa Zhang, just distribute it normally to everyone. I still have important matters to attend to at my master's place, so I'll not go over."
Lu Qing wanted to distribute the silver to make everyone happy, but if he appeared there, he would inevitably have to face a barrage of gratitude and pleasantries.
So, it was better not to appear.
Seeing Lu Qing insist, Grandpa Zhang could only respond, "Well, if there is an emergency at Old Doctor Chen's, then you go ahead."
Watching Lu Qing leave, Grandpa Zhang sighed.
He had guessed why Lu Qing didn't want to go to the ancestral hall; the boy was shy and too embarrassed to face the thanks from his uncles.
He didn't know how to counsel him on this matter and just let it be.
In the village, Grandpa Zhang still carried considerable authority.
When he announced he had an important matter to discuss, it didn't take long for the villagers to gradually gather at the ancestral hall, even those who were busy in the fields hurried back.
"Old Zhang, what's the rush that you are calling everyone over?"
Upon arriving at the ancestral hall, the villagers were surprised to see Grandpa Zhang had summoned all the household heads of the village and thought something major had happened again.
Some elders immediately called out.
Others started to stir upon hearing this.
After the events of yesterday, everyone was nervous, and they couldn't handle another scare.
"Don't be nervous, I've called you here because there is good news to announce."
Grandpa Zhang shouted, signaling everyone not to panic.
Behind him on a table, there was a cloth bag, bulging out, with no one knowing what was inside.
Next to it were a small scale and scissors, their purpose unknown.
Hearing it was good news, everyone finally relaxed and eagerly asked.
"Yesterday, Ah Qing obtained some silver notes from those criminals he killed, and he has decided to distribute most of them to everyone."
Grandpa Zhang carefully poured out the silver ingots from the bag behind him.
"Here, this is the silver Ah Qing exchanged back, totaling two hundred taels. In our village, excluding Ah Qing's house, there are thirty-seven households; when averaged out, each household will get about five taels and a bit of silver."
At the sight of the large pile of shiny silver ingots in the ancestral hall, everyone was initially stunned.
Upon hearing Grandpa Zhang's words, they couldn't help but burst into an uproar.
Not far away on the hillside, Lu Qing, who was en route to Half Mountain Small Courtyard, heard the commotion and smiled.