Chapter 25 - 25 Chapter 22 Striking It Rich_1 (2/2)

The annual total income of a long-term worker in a landlord’s family is less than four taels, with the official wage being around three taels, plus various benefits adding up to six tenths of a tael. That makes the actual annual income three taels and six tenths of a tael.

Before the age of sixteen, workers are considered child labor, receiving only half the wage.

Some landlords even deliberately exploit workers; many people who are clearly over sixteen are still only paid the wage of child labor, using excuses such as their inadequate farming skills or small stature.

Many people have to wait until they are eighteen or nineteen before they can possibly earn an adult’s wage.

For ordinary people, living to sixty years old is considered a long life.

Take Qin Niu, for instance, who only had a lifespan of fifty-one years.

Considering this, an ordinary citizen would only be able to earn an adult’s wage for thirty-three years. In reality, after the age of forty-five, as physical strength declines and the likelihood of illness increases, the risk of being dismissed greatly rises.

Most people, in fact, can only work for around twenty-seven years in their lifetime.

At a rate of 3.6 taels per year, a lifetime’s total income would only amount to about 97.2 taels.

In this world, if one cannot practice cultivation to become stronger, without a particular skill, life is truly like that of a mayfly—ephemeral and meaningless.

It takes the lifetime income of almost ten ordinary citizens just to afford a single outfit for the Black Tiger Gang Leader.

This is the temptation for everyone to become a strong person.

As a strong person, not only can life expectancy greatly increase, but one can also have control over the life and death of others and possess the most elite resources.

For an ordinary person, marrying a slightly beautiful wife is a result that comes only if ancestors bless them.

The Black Tiger Gang Leader can switch out for ten beautiful eighteen-year-old girls in one night without any trouble.

An ordinary person can’t eat meat three times in a year, but the Black Tiger Gang Leader indulges in delicacies from the land and sea, including various spiritual medicines.

Qin Niu has no desire for lavish clothing or grand houses; in his heart, there are only three words: seeking immortality.

He believes that the longer one lives, the stronger one’s cultivation will surely become.

Eventually, that would naturally make one a top-level strong person.

If one’s lifespan comes to an end, no matter how glorious or powerful one is in the moment, in the end, they can only die and their path fades away.

After visiting three purchasing points to ask for prices, he had a good idea of their rates.

Comparing the goods at three stores was a technique he had cleverly employed to his advantage.

After asking at two more stores, he ultimately decided to sell the bear skin to the one that offered the highest price.

He had thought that he could at most sell it for ten taels of silver, but unexpectedly, he secured a high price of twenty-five taels.

The owner appraised it and confirmed that it was from a mature male bear that had lived for at least fifteen years.

Moreover, the owner informed Qin Niu that there was definitely at least one female bear nearby.

One couldn’t help but admire their professional expertise.

Each trade has its master, and that wasn’t just an empty saying.

To be able to determine the bear’s age and gender just from its hide is an impressive skill.

The owner also told him that if he hunted another Black Bear next time, he could bring the bear gallbladder to sell to him for five hundred coins.

Qin Niu had long heard that bear gallbladder was beneficial to the body, and he had swallowed it raw on the spot.

He didn’t feel any significant change in his body, though.

If he had known that bear gallbladder was so valuable, he should have kept it to sell.

Having earned twenty-five taels of silver, he was overjoyed, as this meant he had secured means for practicing cultivation techniques and could also afford to buy weapons.

He was considering buying two to three low-grade Contract Charms to carry with him, to be prepared to subdue any insects he took a liking to in the future.

Passing by an Armor Shop, he stopped at the door to take a look.

The shop assistant gave him a cursory glance and then went back to dusting the armor, paying him no heed.

Having dealt with various customers, the assistants knew which ones could afford their armors.

A country person wrapped in clothes patched all over, barely managing to get enough to eat—how could they afford expensive armor?

This time, the assistant really misjudged the situation.

Qin Niu, with twenty-five taels of silver on him, could easily afford a set of ordinary leather armor.

Qin Niu was indifferent to the shop assistant’s cold attitude.

He walked into the shop and fixed his gaze on a set of black armor.

From the look of it, it was nearly identical to the armor worn by the soldiers at the city gates.