The heavy wooden chest sat on the scarred surface of the dinner table, looking like an intruder in the humble, mud-brick house.
Forty taels of silver.
In the flickering light of the oil lamp, the ingots didn't gleam with the magical radiance of legends; they looked gray, heavy, and cold. The Chen family sat around the table in silence. No one reached out to touch them.
It was Liu Shi who broke the silence.
"So much silver," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I have never seen this much money in my life. Not even when Old Master was alive."
Chen Dazhong sat rigidly, his pipe unlit in his hand. He stared at the chest as if it were a poisonous snake. "San Lang... are you sure this is safe? The Steward... he didn't ask for a receipt? He didn't ask where the soil came from?"
"He didn't care, Father," Chen Yuan said, his voice steady though he was exhausted. "To the City Lord, this is just dirt for his wife's roses. To us, it is capital."
He reached into the chest and pulled out five ingots, placing them in front of his father.
"This is for the family fund. It covers the harvest tax for three years, Little Ming's schooling, and repairs for the house. Hide it. Don't tell anyone—not even Uncle—about the full amount."
Chen Dazhong looked at the silver, then slowly nodded. He wrapped the ingots in a piece of oilcloth and tucked them into his waist. The weight seemed to settle his nerves. "I will bury this under the kang tonight."
"And this," Chen Yuan pushed two ingots towards Wang Shi.
Her eyes widened. "For... for me?"
"For the household expenses," Chen Yuan said. "Buy good grain. Buy meat. The workers have been working hard; buy them pork for dinner tomorrow. And buy fabric for Mother and the sisters. They haven't had new clothes in two years."
Wang Shi's hand hovered over the silver, greed warring with fear. "San Lang, this is... too much. If people see us eating meat..."
"Let them see," Chen Yuan said firmly. "We are not beggars anymore. But do not flaunt the silver. Spend it on food and goods, not jewelry."
"I... I understand!" Wang Shi grabbed the silver, her face flushing with excitement. She turned to Liu Shi. "Mother! Tomorrow I will go to the market! I'll buy the good cotton!"
The room's atmosphere thawed. The sisters, Chen Mei and Chen Lan, looked at their brother with shining eyes.
"Third Brother," Chen Lan asked. "Does this mean I can have a hair ribbon? A red one?"
"You can have two," Chen Yuan smiled.
But Chen Hu, sitting in the corner, looked at the remaining silver in the chest, then at Chen Yuan. "San Lang... what about the rest? You spent nine taels on the horse. There is still over twenty taels left."
"That is for the ranch," Chen Yuan said. "It is not profit. It is seeds."
He looked around the room. "This money will disappear quickly. We need to build a proper barn before winter. We need to buy hay. And we need to buy... a bull."
"Bull?" Chen Shan asked. "We have the cow. Hope. Why a bull?"
"Hope is special," Chen Yuan said carefully. "She has changed. You saw her. She is bigger, stronger. To keep her strong, and to breed calves like her, we need a quality bull. Not a plow ox. A breeding bull. And they are expensive."
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "This money is a tool. If we spend it on luxuries, we will be poor again next year. We must invest it."
* * *
The next morning, the reality of "wealth" brought its own set of problems.
The transformation of the cow, Hope, had not gone unnoticed.
While the Chen family was counting silver, the neighbors were talking.
"I saw it!" Old Man Zhang declared at the village well, waving his arms. "It grew! Overnight! It has a hump like a camel and skin like a rhinoceros! It's a demon beast!"
"Nonsense," another villager scoffed. "It's probably just swellings from the sickness. That boy Chen Yuan is lucky it didn't die."
"Mark my words, that animal is cursed!"
By noon, a group of brave (or nosy) villagers had gathered at the foot of the East Hill, trying to peek through the fence.
Chen Yuan was in the pasture, inspecting Hope.
*System Analysis.*
**[Subject: Hope (Brahman Variant).]**
**[Status: Stable. Metabolism high.]**
**[Dietary Requirement: 30% higher than local cattle.]**
**[Warning: Current pasture grass is insufficient for long-term maintenance. Requires protein supplement (Bean cakes/Cottonseed).]**
Chen Yuan frowned. He threw a handful of the Ryegrass to her. She ate it, but she didn't seem satisfied. She was a high-performance engine now; regular fuel wasn't enough.
He looked at the gate. The villagers were staring.
"Boss," Little Stone whispered, looking nervous. "They are saying she is a monster. They want the Village Chief to come and burn her."
Chen Yuan's eyes hardened. Superstition was a dangerous enemy.
"Go get the Village Chief," Chen Yuan ordered. "And bring my father."
* * *
An hour later, Chief Wu Shan stood by the fence, looking at Hope.
The cow was undeniably impressive. In the daylight, the gray hide looked sleek, not diseased. The hump was muscular. She stood calmly, swishing her tail to ward off flies—a motion far more effective than the local cows' constant twitching.
"She's... big," Chief Wu said, scratching his head. "San Lang, the villagers are scared. They say she looks unnatural."
"She is not unnatural, Chief," Chen Yuan said, stepping forward. He spoke loudly, projecting his voice to the eavesdropping neighbors. "She is a 'Long Horn' breed. A rare variety from the far West. I bought her cheap because she was sick and stunted. The medicine I gave her worked. This is her true form."
He patted Hope's neck. "She is stronger than a plow ox. She eats more, but she works harder. And she resists heat and insects."
He looked at the Chief. "Uncle Wu, if the village burns her, you lose a future asset. I plan to breed her. The calves will inherit her strength. I can sell them to the village. Imagine oxen that don't faint in the summer heat."
The Chief's eyes narrowed. He was a pragmatic man. "Calves? From this beast?"
"Yes. But I need a bull. That is why I am not spending my money on feasting. I am buying a bull."
The crowd murmured. *A bull?* That meant investment. That meant business.
"And," Chen Yuan added, "I need to hire men. I need to build a proper barn. I will pay wages. Does the village want to burn a cow that brings work and money?"
The whispers changed. "He hires men?" "He pays wages?" "Maybe the cow isn't cursed..."
Chief Wu spat on the ground. "Alright! Enough gawking! The cow belongs to the Chen family. It's an asset. Anyone who touches it pays for it! Go back to your fields!"
The crowd dispersed, disappointed there was no witch burning.
Chief Wu turned to Chen Yuan, lowering his voice. "San Lang. You walk a thin line. The cow is strange. Keep her fenced in. Don't let her scare the children."
"I will, Chief. Thank you."
* * *
That afternoon, Chen Yuan faced a more immediate problem: The horse.
He stood in the clearing, holding the rope halter of the chestnut mare. He had named her "Red Cloud."
"Okay, girl," he muttered. "Let's try this again."
He tried to swing his leg over her back. His thighs, bruised and chafed from the ride home, screamed in protest. He groaned as he settled into the saddle.
He nudged her with his heels.
Red Cloud walked forward.
Xu Tie stood by the fence, eating a pear. "Your posture is terrible. You look like a sack of grain sliding off a roof."
"I'm learning," Chen Yuan gritted out. He tried to guide her left, but she wandered right.
"She's lazy," Xu Tie critiqued. "You are too soft. If she doesn't listen, correct her. Tap her flank. Don't kick her like a dying fish."
Chen Yuan took a deep breath. He tapped her flank sharply with the crop he had bought.
Red Cloud snorted and picked up the pace into a trot.
The bouncing began.
*Thump. Thump. Thump.*
Chen Yuan felt his teeth rattling. He couldn't find the rhythm. He was bouncing wildly, gripping the saddle horn for dear life.
"Sit deep!" Xu Tie shouted. "Absorb the shock with your knees! Don't be a stone!"
After ten minutes of bone-jarring trotting, Chen Yuan signaled her to stop. He slid off the horse, his legs trembling so badly he nearly collapsed.
"How do people do this all day?" he gasped, rubbing his rear.
"Practice," Xu Tie said, tossing him the pear core. "It takes months to build the calluses inside your thighs. Months. You bought the horse, now you pay the price."
Chen Yuan looked at the horse. The mare looked back at him, chewing grass innocently.
"It's fine," Chen Yuan said, panting. "I have time."
* * *
Later that evening, Chen Yuan sat in his room, calculating.
He had roughly 25 taels of silver left.
Expenses needed:
1. **Winter Hay:** Essential. Hope and the sheep needed to eat. He needed to buy hay from the lowland farmers now, while it was cheap, before winter prices spiked. Cost: 5 taels.
2. **Barn Expansion:** The current shed was too small for a bull and a growing herd. He needed wood, tiles, and labor. Cost: 8 taels.
3. **Protein Supplement:** Bean cakes for Hope. Cost: 2 taels.
4. **The Bull:** This was the biggest unknown. A good breeding bull... 10 taels minimum.
*5 + 8 + 2 + 10 = 25.*
He was tapped out. Again.
He let out a wry laugh. *Forty taels sounded like a mountain. It melted like snow.*
He looked at the system interface.
**[Ranch Funds: Low.]**
**[Urgent Task: Breeding.]**
**[Recommendation: Purchase Local Yellow Cattle Bull with dominant traits. System can guide selection.]**
He needed to find a bull that was genetically compatible with Hope to produce the first generation of Brahman crosses. But he also needed to find a way to generate income *between* the monthly soil deliveries.
The sheep.
He looked out the window at the wool sacks. The sisters had spun some of the wool into yarn. It was rough, but strong.
He picked up a hank of the gray yarn. It was coarse.
"We need to dye this," he muttered. "And knit it into something."
But who would buy yarn in summer?
*Winter is coming,* he thought. *The soldiers at the border. The guards at the city wall.*
They needed socks. Warm, durable socks.
"Little Ming!" he called.
His brother ran in. "Yes, Third Brother?"
"Tomorrow, when you go to school, ask Teacher Zhao... ask him if he knows how to contact the supply officer for the village militia or the local garrison. Tell him... I have a durable wool fabric suitable for military use."
"Military use?" Little Ming blinked.
"Just ask. Discreetly."
Chen Yuan looked back at his ledger. The numbers were tight. The road was steep.
But he had a horse in the stable (who hated him), a mutant cow in the pasture (who loved him), and a chest that was now empty.
It was a start.