Chapter 54: Distributing Supplies
After a night’s sleep, Chu Feng woke up.
As he stirred, he heard rustling sounds outside—someone had already arrived.
He rubbed his forehead, helpless. Lately, it’s always like this. Every time I’m here, someone shows up early waiting for me to get up. Makes it hard to sleep in…
“Boss Feng, you’re awake!” Hughes came in cheerfully.
Chu Feng glanced over at the dwarves in the room—and his heart skipped a beat.
Chu Feng had heard Illya mention before that the Dwarves were categorized by their blacksmithing skills into apprentices, craftsmen, and masters. It was very difficult to attain the master level. Once a dwarf reached that level, they could go to the Craftsmen’s Guild for evaluation and receive a blue badge. This badge was a symbol of status—having it made travel much easier, as master-level craftsmen were highly valued across all races.
All the dwarves in the room were wearing such badges. There were only three master-level dwarves in the nearby dwarven village, and it seemed all of them were now gathered here.
The dwarven leadership sent out the whole nest? Master craftsmen in a dwarven village were about as important as Qiu Luo the shaman was to Crescent Village. Having all these people waiting here for him made Chu Feng feel a bit embarrassed.
He took a deep breath and said to himself, “So Hughes came this early, huh?”
Hughes scratched his head. “I actually came last night, but since you didn’t show up, Gray kicked us all out.”
Chu Feng thought to himself: Good job, Gray! If not, I’d have had to deal with them in the middle of the night. When would I have gotten any sleep?
Hughes smiled ingratiatingly. “Boss Feng, that hydraulic forklift you mentioned? It’s already built.”
Chu Feng looked surprised. “That fast?”
Hughes looked smug. “Of course! It’s already in use.”
The hydraulic forklift was a dual-purpose vehicle, designed for high-lift loading and short-distance transport. It was particularly useful at auto-loading stations, warehouses, docks, train stations, and freight yards. It was known for its balanced lifting, flexible maneuvering, and easy operation. While the Highlanders were strong, relying purely on manpower for transport wasn’t very efficient.
Chu Feng had originally thought about bringing over a forklift, but since it was too bulky, he just brought the blueprints as a reference for Hughes.
Chu Feng looked toward Shi You, who stood stiffly nearby.
Shi You immediately nodded. “Yes, it works very well.”
Chu Feng thought to himself: These giant Highlanders guys look like gangsters, but their personalities are so timid, it’s such a waste of their size.
When Shi You noticed Chu Feng staring at him, he scratched his head awkwardly and became even more reserved.
The Highlanders had recently been helping Chu Feng with labor. Chu Feng, not being stingy, had given them plenty of food and salt—and even issued them work uniforms a few days ago.
Even if the Highlanders wasn’t the sharpest, they had come to realize Chu Feng’s value.
Chu Feng was brought by the Crescent Village people, and there was no way the Highlanders could cut ahead of them. But since the Dwarves only began cooperating with Chu Feng after the Highlanders did, the Highlanders was determined not to fall behind. Even if they did, they couldn’t afford to fall too far behind.
Chu Feng thought: The Dwarves truly live up to their reputation as master craftsmen. Even though I brought the blueprints, I hardly even understood what I was looking at.
“Boss Feng, about that liquor…” Hughes trailed off.
Chu Feng looked at him. “I didn’t bring much.”
Last time, he brought a whole case, which Hughes took entirely. The dwarves had rated his liquor highly—so much so that even the shaman seemed to be getting curious about it.
Hughes scratched his head, trying to please him. “Whatever you’ve got is fine!”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “You think you’re the only one who wants to drink?”
Hughes gave a sheepish smile. “Hey, as long as you give me liquor, I’ll do anything you ask.”
Chu Feng couldn’t help glancing at Illya. Didn’t he say Hughes was supposed to be really proud? What’s with this brown-nosing?
Illya puffed out his cheeks, his expression complicated as he looked at Hughes.
Hughes seemed to realize he was acting a bit undignified—but still didn’t change. “Just like last time, one case?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright.”
The dwarves next to Hughes immediately piped up, “Boss, what about us?”
Chu Feng thought to himself: Even these master craftsmen from the Dwarves are calling me Boss now? Looks like I’m kind of a big deal.
“Your shares are with Hughes,” Chu Feng said.
Hughes exclaimed, “Boss, that’s not fair! That was supposed to be my share!”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “Oh, give it a rest! Do you have any idea how expensive that liquor is? One bottle could buy dozens of bags of rice.”
He was just saying it casually, but the moment the words left his mouth, everyone’s expression changed.
Hughes suddenly felt countless sharp gazes stabbing into him.
“That liquor is really that expensive?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “It’s a bit pricey.” In truth, beer was cheap—but of course, he’d brought Mou Tai.
“Then maybe don’t bring it next time,” Illya suggested.
Shi You nodded. “Yeah! It’s too wasteful. Better to bring more rice.”
Hughes protested, “But you have to bring it! I won’t ask for much, okay?”
Shi You glared at him. “One bottle of liquor equals dozens of bags of rice. You still have the nerve to drink it?”
Hughes: “…”
Chu Feng waved his hand. “Alright, alright, stop arguing. We’ll talk about this later.”
Chu Feng began distributing the supplies on the spot.
For the Highlanders, he mainly provided rice, pickled vegetables, mustard greens, and some clothing. He had given them uniforms previously, but had miscounted, so he brought a few more this time as spares.
The Crescent Village batch was more varied: books, snacks, vegetable seeds, and more. The first batch of trial crops had yielded promising results, so Shaman Qiu Luo had asked him to bring over different seeds to experiment with.
After handing out everything, more than half of what Chu Feng brought over was gone.
Some people didn’t want to leave even after receiving their share—Gray had to kick them out again.
Chu Feng thought to himself: Sometimes this kid Gray is really useful—especially when it comes to chasing people off. Neither Illya nor I could bring ourselves to do it, but he has no problem stepping up.
“Finally got everyone out,” Chu Feng sighed in relief.
Being too popular isn’t necessarily a good thing—always surrounded by people, there’s no personal space left.
Illya looked at Chu Feng and said, “You’ve worked hard.”
Chu Feng glanced at Illya and said, “Didn’t you say the dwarves are very proud? Why do they seem so shameless?”
Illya shrugged. “I don’t know either.”
High-level dwarf craftsmen were known for their pride. It was already hard enough to invite a master to help under normal circumstances, but with Chu Feng, things were completely different. The dwarf masters were practically rushing to assist, afraid of being left behind.
“That liquor is really that expensive?” Illya asked with concern.
Chu Feng nodded. “It is pretty pricey.”
Illya frowned. “Then don’t buy it anymore.”
Chu Feng patted his chest and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got money.”
Illya looked at Chu Feng and said, “So you really are rich. Before, you were saying you were broke.”
Chu Feng: “…”
Well, he was broke before… He only recently got rich.
*
At the castle construction site
Several members of the Highlanders were busy working, while a few Highlanders women were cooking. Last time, Chu Feng had brought over more than a hundred lighters, and the Highlanders’s cooks each got one.
“Little brother, you’re back. How did it go?” Chui Shi clapped Shi You on the shoulder.
Shi You frowned. “I already had people carry back the rice.”
Chui Shi frowned. “I wasn’t asking about that.”
The Highlanders had been working for Chu Feng for a while now, and they trusted him—he was generous, always provided enough food and salt, and even prepared work uniforms for them. The uniforms had caused quite a stir in the tribe. Previously, some tribe members were unwilling to work on the castle, but when they realized that only those working on the construction got uniforms, they all rushed over to help. No one was even left to go hunting. The sudden increase in manpower meant there weren’t enough uniforms.
“Did you manage to talk to Chu Feng?” Chui Shi asked.
Shi You scratched his head. “I didn’t really say much.”
Chui Shi sighed. “Didn’t I tell you to build a good relationship with him?”
Shi You said a little dejectedly, “There were too many people around.”
Chu Feng had been surrounded by dwarves and kids from Crescent Village, and Shi You couldn’t get a word in. Besides, even when Chu Feng was alone, Shi You wouldn’t have known what to say.
Chui Shi sighed again. “Crowds or not, you’ve got to make a move. I think Chu Feng seems to have a pretty good opinion of you.”
Shi You shook his head. “Big brother, you must be mistaken. You should handle it next time.”
Chui Shi looked at Shi You helplessly. “Don’t underestimate yourself! You’re an ability user!”
“Yeah, but Illya and Hughes are much stronger than me…” Shi You looked at his hands, somewhat frustrated.
Chui Shi patted him on the shoulder. “You’re great, little brother. Your only problem is a lack of confidence.”
Shi You looked at the people moving stones nearby and said, “That forklift really is useful.”
With it, moving stones became much easier. One person using the forklift could do the work of three, and construction progress had sped up considerably.
“That master dwarf only managed to build the forklift because Chu Feng gave him the blueprints,” Chui Shi said.
Lately, a number of dwarves had been working at the construction site, and Chui Shi had overheard them talking.
Shi You shook his head. “But even if we had the blueprints, we wouldn’t be able to build the machine.”
Chui Shi glanced at Shi You and thought: This little brother of mine is way too honest. The dwarves are amazing, sure—but we Highlanders folks aren’t bad either! If nothing else, we’re way stronger than them!
