I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

As he spoke, the second master gestured for a rabbit pelt and a fox pelt to be taken out of the chest and placed on the table. He continued, "Shopkeeper, take a look at these pelts and see if they are to your liking?"

"Huh?...What's going on here...?" The shopkeeper was puzzled. Weren't you supposed to be ordering leather jackets? Why are you bringing leather along?

"Haha, to be honest, we are hunters from Xiahou Town. These pelts are all hunted and tanned by ourselves. If you like them, shopkeeper, we can supply you on a long-term basis. What do you think?" Second Master then revealed his purpose, but did not mention that he was introduced by Master Zhang.

"Huh?..." The old shopkeeper was momentarily confused, reaching out to touch the two leather goods on the table, unsure of what to say.

Second Master and Manxiang weren't in a hurry; they just waited quietly at the table.

The old shopkeeper was only stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening, and his enthusiasm waned somewhat. He picked up two pieces of leather from the table and examined them closely. The leather was soft, and the fur was glossy; they were clearly top-quality leather goods.

"The hides are all good quality, finely tanned and very soft. But as you know, these kinds of goods are plentiful in the countryside. The Japanese have set up checkpoints everywhere, so even good stuff can't be smuggled out. You can't solve the problem by bringing just one or two hides. My little shop needs quite a few hides. Do you have a way to transport them in large quantities?" The old shopkeeper asked in one breath, addressing his biggest concern. People in the mountains go hunting to improve their meals, so they naturally have plenty of hides. The difficulty now is transportation; having good hides but not being able to get them out won't solve the problem at all.

"Yes, that is indeed a problem. But if we have to deliver to your door, the price..." This is precisely Second Master's goal. Everyone is risking their lives to deliver the goods; it would be a huge loss if the price remained the same!

"Twice! I'll buy it back at twice the original price!" The old shopkeeper's eyes lit up. If the transportation problem could really be solved, twice the price wouldn't be too high.

"Hmm?..." Second Master felt much more at ease. With double the price as a guarantee, their efforts wouldn't be in vain. However, his expression remained unchanged as he continued...

"Double the price isn't high, but we're looking for long-term business, so we won't haggle over every little bit. The shopkeeper wants to settle in silver dollars; we don't want legal tender, which is useless in the countryside." This was something Mancang specifically instructed, as legal tender was becoming increasingly worthless, and real gold and silver were the only hard currency.

"Silver dollars? Alright, silver dollars it is. When can you start supplying goods?" the shopkeeper asked. He was naturally aware of the devaluation of silver dollars, but he had always accepted silver dollars and rarely accepted legal tender, so he didn't care about that.

"We can do it now! We brought two large cartloads of goods with us when we came to the city. They're at Master Zhang Youcai's house. I'll have someone go back and bring them over right away." Only then did the Second Master bring out Master Zhang.

"Oh? You know Master Zhang?... Why didn't you say so sooner! Master Zhang used to take good care of my family when he was in the cloth business! Good, good! Now we're on the same side, and we can trust each other when it comes to business!" The old shopkeeper was immediately delighted and looked at the old man with new respect.

"That's great! I used to travel all over the country with Master Zhang, and I always remember how good my old boss was to me. Now that my old boss is no longer in business, we'll just rely on the mountains and get some furs and mountain products to make a living. We feel at ease with our own people taking care of us!" The second master, who had sent a full box to pick up the goods, chatted with the shopkeeper. With Master Zhang acting as a go-between, the two quickly became acquainted.

The money and goods were quickly settled, and both parties were very satisfied. The shopkeeper specially invited the two to have lunch together before letting them leave.

"Second Master, why did you only mention Master Zhang at the very end? Wouldn't it have been easier to say it as soon as you went in?" Manxiang asked on the way back, voicing his doubts.

"Haha, doing business is about making it beneficial for both parties. If we bring up Mr. Zhang at the beginning, he will naturally be more enthusiastic and may even offer a higher price. But this is hard to sustain! Favors will eventually run out. Once a replacement is found, he will find an excuse to kick us aside."

"On the contrary, if we negotiate the price and then mention Mr. Zhang, it will be like adding fuel to the fire, making him consider us first even if there are competitors. There are many tricks to this, think about it carefully!" Second Master analyzed carefully.

"Huh?...There are so many things to consider?" Manxiang was also overwhelmed. Doing business is really more mentally taxing than fighting a war!

"Haha, study hard! This is a long-term endeavor; it's a different story if it's just a one-off deal!"

……

The group stayed in the county town for three days, selling all three cartloads of goods and purchasing some cloth, salt, and other necessities before heading home. Using the Wang family's caravan as a front, they passed through the checkpoints smoothly. They even specially picked out a green hat in the warm winter to give to the Japanese officer guarding the checkpoint, who wore it with a gleeful grin and swaggered around, his posture utterly disgusting!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the caravan returned to the village. The villagers had been worried for the past few days, and they were all overjoyed to see that all of them had returned safely and brought back so many good things.

After a lively discussion, Manxiang pulled Mancang aside and started talking about Mafang Village.

"Huh?...When did this happen?" Man Cang was furious when he learned that the Japanese had massacred Mafang Village in revenge after the pillbox was blown up, and even occupied the village to rebuild their stronghold! In that case, weren't the villagers of Mafang Village indirectly killed by them? What's the point of fighting the Japanese then?

“I heard from nearby villagers that Mafang Village suffered a disaster that day. Now the Japanese are checking even more strictly, and villagers are not even allowed to bring sickles to cut grass…” Manxiang said solemnly.

"..." Mancang fell into deep thought. They fought the Japanese to protect their fellow villagers from persecution, but now so many people in Mafang Village had lost their lives because of it! How could he be at ease?

The old man was right. Killing a few Japanese soldiers after they occupied this place wouldn't make much difference. But the Mo Dao Regiment's strength is insufficient to openly confront the Japanese, let alone drive them out. What to do next? Just stop fighting the Japanese like this?

Of course not!

What kind of layout did the Japanese have there? They blew up the pillbox and then occupied the village to redeploy their defenses. What were they guarding against?

"Don't tell Hu Zi about this yet, I'm afraid he can't handle it! Let me think of another way. The villagers of Mafang Village can't just die like this without knowing why!" Man Cang had made up his mind and knew he had to go to town!

"Alright! I'll tell the brothers right away." Manxiang knew Huzi's temper; he would definitely not be able to stand it if he found out that the village had been massacred by the Japanese after just avenging his wife!

Everyone worked hard all afternoon, buying enough for their own use and taking the rest to sell at two markets. To their surprise, as soon as the goods were delivered and the prices were agreed upon with the shopkeepers, they were all snapped up on the spot! They even told the shopkeepers to let them know if they needed anything in the future!