Chapter 94: Rushing to Register
“Gray, why does Boss Feng want to keep these records?” Hughes asked.
Gray tilted his head. “For future labor assignments and supply distribution, I think.”
“But can Boss Chu Feng understand all this data?” Hughes asked hesitantly.
Gray gave him a look. “What do you mean?”
Hughes scratched his head. “Nothing. It’s just… Boss Chu is amazing, but he’s not perfect. He can barely speak our language.”
Gray sighed. Chu Feng’s made great progress. When he first arrived, he couldn’t say anything at all.
“Even if Chu Feng can’t read it, my brother can,” he added—at least, I hope so…
Hughes nodded. “If your brother can understand, it’s as good as Boss Chu understanding.”
While they chatted, Hawk and August were busy recording data, and Manning distributed the beer.
August stopped one dwarf. “Weren’t you already here earlier? You only need to register once.”
Dwarves often looked similar, but August had a sharp eye. This guy seemed identical to someone who had already registered.
“That was my twin brother,” the dwarf said confidently.
August frowned—he had his doubts.
Manning tapped him and whispered, “He’s lying.” His ability told him this dwarf had no twin.
“You sure that was your brother?” August asked, raising a brow.
“Of course!”
Gray noticed the exchange and walked over. “What’s going on?”
“He claims he’s a twin of someone who already registered,” August said.
Gray turned to Hughes. “Does this guy have a brother?”
Hughes scowled. “Nails, what twin? You have one baby brother, and he’s still nursing! Get out of here! Trying to scam beer from the boss—are you done working or what?”
The dwarf laughed awkwardly and slinked away, as did several others with the same idea.
August sighed inwardly. So many people trying to sneak extra beer. I’ll need to verify all this with the dwarves’ leaders.
To his surprise, the task went smoothly. Within a few hours, the registrations were done.
August set down his pen, impressed. He’d always used feather quills—this ballpoint pen was far more convenient. At first, he wasn’t used to it, but now he appreciated its advantages.
After handing out the beer, 15 bottles remained.
Hughes grinned at Gray. “Since you already brought the beer, might as well leave it here.”
Gray asked, “But don’t you prefer Mao Tai?”
Hughes puffed his cheeks. “Mao Tai tastes better, but there’s never enough!”
When there’s no Mao Tai, beer is the next best thing.
“Fine. It’s yours,” Gray said.
Hughes beamed. “Excellent!”
With the job done, the group headed home.
Back at the castle, Chu Feng asked Gray with concern, “Everything go smoothly with the dwarves today?”
Gray replied proudly, “I brought a few crates of beer, handed out a bottle each, and everyone registered happily. Too bad about the beer, though…”
Chu Feng looked at him and said, “You’re a real talent.”
Gray scratched his head, a little embarrassed. “Really?”
Chu Feng nodded and said, “Of course.”
Beer was very cheap—just a few crates cost no more than a thousand yuan, a real bargain.
Gray muttered, “The population census is easiest with the dwarves. The Highlanders are pretty straightforward too. It’s just the Crescent Village that’s tricky.”
Chu Feng gave Gray a glance and thought to himself, Even Gray, a Crescent Villager himself, finds Crescent people troublesome? Looks like that place really is complicated.
Crossing his arms, Chu Feng said, “Let’s take care of the Highlanders first. They’re simple—just give them each a cream bun, and they’ll happily come to register.”
This census was only meant to provide a general understanding of the villages. If some people refused to participate, it wasn’t a big deal.
Gray nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
As expected, the Highlander census went very smoothly. Once they heard that reporting their name, age, and skills would get them a bun, the Highlanders were delighted.
August had been anxious at first, but after completing two-thirds of the work successfully, he began to relax.
*
Inside the hut of Shaman Qiu Luo:
“Shaman, when will the census for Crescent Village start?” Tilly asked.
Lanville chimed in, “Yeah! shaman, when’s it starting?”
“I heard the dwarves and Highlanders have already finished. How did they get ahead of us?”
“Shaman! I heard the dwarves got beer and the Highlanders got buns. What will we get if they come to do a census here?”
“I want cake!”
“I hope it’s chips.”
“Me too—chips!”
Shaman Qiu Luo was being pestered endlessly. Annoyed, he looked up and snapped, “Enough! You’re half-elves! Aren’t you afraid of exposing your identity and being captured?”
“But it’s Chu Feng doing the census, right? He’s super rich—I don’t think he’d be interested in trafficking elves.”
“Yeah! Gray said he’s more into selling rocks, not elves.”
“Even though Chu Feng’s a human, he doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“Right! He probably doesn’t need the money anyway…”
Shaman Qiu Luo closed his eyes, speechless.
When Chu Feng first arrived, the half-elves were wary and wanted him gone. Lately, though, they had begun trusting him more.
To be fair, since Chu Feng came, the village’s environment had improved a lot, and everyone was starting to think about how to live better lives.
“Shaman, has Chu Feng moved out? Is he going to stay in the palace district from now on and never come back?”
Qiu Luo frowned. When Chu Feng first came, many villagers wanted him to leave. Now that he actually had, people were reluctant to see him go.
“Most likely. Once the palace is finished, it’ll be much grander and more comfortable than our bamboo huts.”
“What a pity.”
Back when Chu Feng had just arrived, the village children often surrounded him, and he’d hand out small gifts. Now that he’d moved out, those benefits were gone.
Shaman Qiu Luo took a deep breath. The dwarves were forging weapons for Chu Feng, the Highlanders were building houses, and even some Crescent villagers were working for him. But many others hadn’t found any direction at all.
Now that Chu Feng had moved away, if this continued, things could get problematic.
*
In the room:
Illya looked at Chu Feng and said, “The shaman summoned me.”
Chu Feng gave her a puzzled look. “The shaman? Why?”
“He asked whether we’re going to conduct a census in Crescent Village.”
Chu Feng smiled awkwardly. “Crescent Village is… tricky. Does the shaman support it?”
Elves were valuable—unlike the big, clumsy Highlanders, who were hard to transport, or dwarves, whose master craftsmen were closely united and rarely sold. If you offended one, you offended all.
But the moment word got out that elves were involved, people would swarm in. Elves never easily revealed their locations—let alone their personal information.
Bringing five humans into the village this time had already pushed the limits.
Illya looked at Chu Feng and said, “If it’s you doing the census, the tribe will probably agree.”
Chu Feng blinked. “Really? I’m that trusted?”
Illya nodded. “Many people in the village are actually looking forward to it. The dwarves got beer, the Highlanders got buns, and now everyone’s wondering what we’ll get.”
Chu Feng rubbed his forehead. “What do you think would work as a gift for Crescent Village?”
Illya thought for a moment. “Potato chips.”
Chu Feng nodded. “One can of chips per person isn’t too much… but do people here really like chips?”
Illya nodded. “Most of the half-elves I know love chips. Personally, I prefer cake.”
Chu Feng: …Wait, elves like chips this much? I thought Duvean was an exception—turns out he’s not? Why do these beautiful people all like chips? Aren’t they worried about breakouts?
“We’ll split the census into two parts,” Chu Feng said. “For the elves, have Shaman Qiu Luo handle the registration—don’t let the human staff get involved.”
Illya nodded. “Alright. That’ll help ease the shaman’s worries.”
She hesitated, then added, “A lot of people in the village want jobs.”
Chu Feng smiled bitterly. “I know.”
But jobs weren’t so easy to come by.
He shook his head. In his opinion, the elves of Crescent Village were best suited to be celebrities, shoot photo sets, or do livestreams.
Unfortunately… none of them were cut out for that.
