Chapter Seven: Bearing

To make authentic five-spice river snails, the essential ingredients must not be omitted. Scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers are easy enough to come by; his own household has plenty. Now, Lu Kun was out gathering basil leaves.

Not many basil leaves were needed—Lu Kun estimated that around fifty would suffice. Basil wasn’t hard to find; before long, he stumbled upon a large patch.

“Kun boy, what are you up to?” someone called.

Lu Kun turned to see that it was Liang Jinbao, a village official.

“Heh, uncle, just collecting some basil leaves to fry river snails for the kids, let them have a treat.” Lu Kun replied casually, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

Liang Jinbao was a local tiger, having served as a village official for five or six years. In Lu Kun’s memory, the man would stay in office until 2018, an unshakeable fixture in the village committee.

“Hmm… Kun boy, this doesn’t quite look right. You’re picking so many leaves—do you have that many snails?” Liang Jinbao smacked his lips, feigning nonchalance.

Lu Kun raised an eyebrow, cursing inwardly: “Damn you, you old turtle, acting all high and mighty. Such a minor official strutting around with more airs than a provincial minister.”

In his past life, Lu Kun had known prosperity—riding the explosive wave of the real estate boom, he’d climbed into the ranks of the Hurun Rich List through clever maneuvering and connections. Without some means and pride, how could a farmer’s son like him have achieved such wealth?

“Not many, just enough to amuse the kids. There aren’t many snails, so a bit more basil will fill out the dish,” he replied.

The more Liang Jinbao listened, the more something felt off. “What’s with this Kun boy? Has he swallowed gunpowder today? Why is he speaking so prickly?” he wondered.

He hadn’t offended Lu Kun recently. He’d only meant to drop a hint: if Lu Kun cooked up the snails, he could bring a plate over as a token of respect.

“Is that so wrong?” he mused.

Fortunately, Lu Kun wasn’t a mind reader and didn’t know what Liang Jinbao was thinking. Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared to give him the satisfaction. As long as his plan succeeded, once he left this village, a mere village official like Liang Jinbao would have no sway over him.

“Heh… yes, children do love these things,” Liang Jinbao replied, his face twitching, wrinkles bunching on his forehead as he forced a smile.

Lu Kun knew exactly what this scoundrel wanted: he hoped Lu Kun would use the excuse of treating the children to send a plate of snails to his house. Lu Kun simply chose to ignore it.

“Heh,” Lu Kun laughed.

Liang Jinbao: …

There’s a curse on the tip of my tongue and I’m not sure if I should say it!

Liang Jinbao was about to explode. That single “heh” was dripping with endless sarcasm. Though he fumed inside, he kept smiling. As an official, he had to maintain his composure—whatever grievances there were, it wouldn’t do to make a scene. Better to stab someone in the back than cause a public stir.

“Haha, Kun boy, you do have a way with words,” Liang Jinbao said, searching for a way to exit the conversation. Inside, he raged: “Damn you, you’d better not fall into my hands, or I’ll make you pay!”

“I’m not joking. You can tell by my expression!” said Lu Kun, eyes wide.

Liang Jinbao felt as though his heart condition might flare up on the spot. This brat hadn’t just swallowed gunpowder—he’d swallowed an atomic bomb! How had he never noticed before how infuriating Lu Kun’s words could be?

Saying nothing more, Liang Jinbao clutched his chest and walked away. Meanwhile, a string of malicious schemes flashed through his mind.

Finally, that shameless scoundrel had been driven off. Lu Kun felt a great sense of satisfaction.

Damn it, he’s only five or six years older than me, and yet he calls me “Kun boy” as if I’m a generation below! Back in primary school, we used to play “drop the handkerchief” together!

Liang Jinbao appeared gentle and amiable, a model good-natured man, but in truth he was rotten to the core. This fellow dared to stick his hand in anything, no matter how dirty.

Secretly, he’d changed guardianship of his five grandchildren, declaring them orphans and defrauding the state of over four hundred thousand yuan across more than twenty years. He casually flipped collective land, siphoned off a fortune from village assets, and under his watch, a country road was reported for construction three times, pocketing public funds each time.

When he finally faced justice, the entire county was stunned!

The villagers all knew the committee was full of local bullies, sucking the marrow from the people, but they’d never imagined things were so vile.

At first, Lu Kun hadn’t believed it when he heard the news in his previous life, but in time it was all confirmed. The committee was rotten to the core—every one of them a parasite, none of them clean.

The doors were always closed: they came and went as they pleased, opening the office only when the mood struck. If they were in a bad mood, the doors stayed shut.

Their faces were always sour: forget about asking for help—“I’ll deal with it when I have time. Don’t want to wait? Then leave!”

Nothing ever got done: if you weren’t close to them, nothing would be handled; if you didn’t pay a bribe, nothing would be handled; if you weren’t deferential enough, nothing would be handled.

In this new life, Lu Kun had no intention of indulging them. So what if he offended them? At worst, they’d backstab him—so be it!

In this era, if you wanted to strike out on your own, you needed to be tough to keep the vultures at bay. Without a crew to back you up, you couldn’t hold your ground.

Back when he first went out to work, he’d encountered a crooked boss who tried to cheat him of his wages. But in the end, it was the boss who landed in jail, forced into hard labor, and Lu Kun inherited his hardware factory worth hundreds of thousands—the first step on his climb to the top.

A gentleman walks with his chest bared; a scoundrel with his head down.

Lu Kun didn’t dwell on his spat with Liang Jinbao, focusing instead on mapping out his future.

After seizing the hardware factory from his crooked boss in his past life, Lu Kun had become cocky, acting like he was king of the world. He never anticipated the hardware business would collapse in a few years, profits plummeting.

That had given Lu Kun quite a scare. In those days, there were plenty of stories: a millionaire today, bankrupt tomorrow.

By chance, he heard that memory chip prices were plummeting. He spent half a year investigating and concluded that a big player was manipulating the market. Without much hesitation, he mortgaged the factory to the bank, borrowed a large sum from friends, and hoarded memory chips.

Those were harrowing days—he even dreamed of creditors chasing him with knives. Lu Kun was nearly driven mad, always ready to bolt.

Fortunately, soon after he bought in, memory prices skyrocketed. Only then did the weight lift from his heart.

There were still years to go before the next surge in memory prices, and even to take a share of that windfall would require a hefty sum. With too little capital, he’d get nowhere.

“The most important thing now is to accumulate capital,” Lu Kun resolved, his determination firm.

Selling five-spice river snails was the business that required the least start-up capital—almost none.

Name: Lu Kun

Capital: None

Trait: Relentless fighter