Chapter 275: Climbing the Mountain

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Nowadays, the country and the black market are interdependent; what politics does not allow, the black market does.

The government needs to maintain order and does not allow monetary transactions. Now, there are many people with money but no grain tickets. Meanwhile, the black market even sells grain tickets, albeit at a much higher price than the market. However, the black market is not a charity and this price hike is understandable.

The continuous expansion of the black market is undoubtedly supported by government personnel. Otherwise, how could the black market always appear when needed, addressing the biggest issues for local residents?

Currently, it’s the black market, not the state, that can provide ample grain. The government has no choice but to tacitly allow the growth of the black market, leading to varied developments of the black market in different provinces.

In some provinces, black market organizers, driven by greed, disregard human life, selling counterfeit and expired goods. Since the black market is transient, deceived people have no recourse, fostering mixed feelings of love and resentment towards it.

Su Zhen is mature beyond his years and has an ambition to centralize and control the black markets across the country, imposing principles and constraints even while seeking profit.

He wants to streamline the order of the black market and believes he has the capability. However, he currently trusts too few people, making it hard to manage black markets in other provinces.

But Su Zhen, of course, would not naively share this with Jiang Chuan, whom he had only known for two days. He merely extended an olive branch, leaving the decision to join up to Jiang Chuan.

At this moment, no one realized that Su Zhen’s impulsive idea—inviting Jiang Chuan to join—would pave the way for a brighter future for him.

With Jiang Chuan’s support, his idea materialized, making him the most powerful underworld leader nationwide.

Later, as people’s lives improved, the state aimed to severely punish the black market. But considering Su Zhen had controlled the black market for years without committing serious offenses, the government only arrested some minor figures and left this black market mogul untouched.

Jiang Chuan’s contribution was significant, but that’s a story for another time.

They continued their journey to the foot of Grand Cloud Mountain, experiencing occasional rain showers. By noon, they reached the mountain. Not wanting to delay, Su Zhen parked the carriage at a friend’s house, and the group put on rubber shoes to start the climb.

The group progressed smoothly, and by noon they had arrived at Grand Cloud Mountain. In order to save time, Su Zhen parked the horse carriage at a friend’s house. The group then changed into their rubber shoes, which they had bought earlier, and began their ascent.

It must be said that the path on the mountain was genuinely hard to find. Even with the map provided by Chen Xing, without a local guide familiar with the terrain, Jiang Chuan estimated that they’d spend at least half a day just wandering aimlessly.

There weren’t many hunters living on the mountain. Their dwellings were scattered here and there. On their way up, they encountered two households. The Zhang family’s residence was situated at the highest point, and it was the most secluded.

As they climbed, Jiang Chuan voiced his concerns to Su Zhen, “Considering your understanding of the Zhang family, do you think they would be willing to come back with us to the village?”

Su Zhen paused to catch his breath and, after gauging the distance left to the summit, replied, “If it were before, I couldn’t say for sure. But now, they have no choice but to descend.”

Jiang Chuan was taken aback and promptly responded, “What do you mean? 1 don’t want to force them to return with their daughter to Pushan Village.”

Su Zhen, with a smile, clarified, “Big Brother Jiang, don’t get me wrong. The government recently enacted a policy that requires hunters living on the mountains to move down to the villages. Aunt Zhao has been living on this mountain for over a decade. If it weren’t for this government directive, she would undoubtedly refuse to leave a place she has called home for so long.”

Zhou Lan, out of concern, asked, “So, will these in-laws be particularly stubborn and difficult to communicate with?”

Women are often more perceptive, so Zhou Lan had even more worries than Jiang Chuan. Jiang Qing had been sensible when she left home and wouldn’t be as easy to deceive as Jiang Gu. What if she notices significant differences in her parents from before and becomes suspicious? If they also had to deal with stubborn in-laws, things could get tricky.

Su Zhen reassured them, “Not at all. You can rest assured, Aunt Zhao is the kindest person I’ve ever met!”

Hearing Su Zhen address Zhao Wan as Aunt Zhao, Jiang Chuan realized the nuances in the way they were addressing each other. He said, “I didn’t know your age before, but now that 1 do – you’re only 18, two years younger than our eldest daughter. It feels a bit odd for you to call me ‘big brother’. Plus, my two younger daughters might be unsure of how to address you. How about you just call me ‘uncle’ from now on?”

Su Zhen responded with a shy smile, “Alright, Uncle Jiang..”

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