Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 531

"What’s wrong?"

Sun Wukong had intended to take out the gold, but hearing Tian Peng’s refusal, he hesitated. "In the human world, gold is needed everywhere. How will you survive without it?"

"I have strength," Tian Peng patted his chest.

"Indeed, there are many places where gold and silver are required, but gold and silver can be obtained with just a bit of effort. I’ve decided to earn it myself."

"You and the Shopkeeper have already helped me so much, I cannot bother you with such matters any longer. It’s not conducive to my growth," Tian Peng said.

Hearing Tian Peng speak this way, Sun Wukong felt that his descent to the mortal realm was indeed not in vain. It was truly a fresh experience to hear Tian Peng speak like that.

Tian Peng had always been lazy and gluttonous, but now hearing him speak this way, Sun Wukong felt very comforted.

"I can see you’ve really changed."

"I’m human now, and humans must look forward," said Tian Peng.

"That’s good. Seeing how progressive you are, I expect I’ll be hearing news of your ascension before long," Sun Wukong smiled.

"I’m still far from that," Tian Peng modestly laughed.

"Then I’ll be going," said Sun Wukong, seeing there was nothing else to do, preparing to leave.

"Oh, right, Mr. Monkey," Tian Peng said, "I told the Shopkeeper that if I successfully ascend this time, he would take me as his pupil. Then, I’ll have to call you ’Senior Brother’!"

If this were in the past, Sun Wukong would surely have mocked him severely, but times have changed.

Now, hearing Tian Peng say this, Sun Wukong just nodded, "Then I’ll wait for the good news of you becoming my junior brother."

After Sun Wukong left, Tian Peng looked at the Silken Pouch in his hand. Although the pouch was weightless, he felt it was heavy.

He first watered the ground in his small courtyard with water he had stored in a jar.

The courtyard was not big, so there wasn’t much need for water when watering the plants.

Tian Peng’s heart was full, filled with desires and dreams.

When he was in the Heavenly Court, he never thought about so many things; every day was just eating and more eating. But now, it was different. He was starting anew, and everything was so charming.

The next morning, Tian Peng took his weapon and arrived early at yesterday’s spot, but after a long wait, only two or three strong men appeared.

Tian Peng was stunned, looking behind them, but saw nothing.

"Why are there only a few of you? Weren’t there several people yesterday?"

"Sorry, hero," the leading strong man hesitated.

Seeing their expressions, Tian Peng guessed what was happening, "It’s okay, you can say it. I actually have a pretty good temper; I won’t get angry over a small matter."

Hearing this, the strong man dared to continue, "Here’s the thing, hero. After we went back yesterday, those others didn’t say they wouldn’t come. It’s just that they don’t trust you because you don’t seem like a rich man. If you don’t pay with grain, nobody can do anything about it, so they went to do other jobs in town."

After speaking, the strong man looked at Tian Peng cautiously, afraid he would get angry.

This was actually within reason. Tian Peng looked at the men who had come, "Then why did you come? Aren’t you afraid I’ll delay your payment?"

"We... actually, we don’t really trust you either, but there’s no alternative, as there are no other jobs available. So we thought, just in case it’s true, with that hope in mind, we came," the burly man said, "Mr. Hero, what exactly do you plan to do?"

"Don’t call me Mr. Hero," Tian Peng replied, feeling that he was not yet worthy of such a reputation.

"Then what should we call you?" the man asked.

"Call me Tian..." Tian Peng began, then hesitated before correcting himself, "Call me Zhu Ganglie, ’Ganglie’ as in ’resolute’."

"Brother Zhu," the burly man said, "My name is Li Wu, and these fellows are all brothers from our town—Wang San, and Zhao Qian."

Tian Peng nodded in acknowledgment of their names, then said, "Rest assured, I’m a man of my word. I promised to provide you with food, and I will certainly do so. Moreover, to ease your minds, I will give each of you a day’s worth of rations every day, the same amount for everyone. This way, you’ll have a clear understanding and feel it’s fair."

This was the fairest solution Tian Peng could think of, but Li Wu didn’t seem very pleased.

"What’s the matter?" Tian Peng asked, puzzled. This was the fairest solution he could come up with, so why did these men look so unhappy?

"Actually, Brother Zhu, since you also spoke of fairness, how about we do it this way? Each of our homes has a different number of family members. Could we distribute the food according to the number of people?" Li Wu proposed.

"What do you mean?" Tian Peng inquired.

"It’s like this. My family is small, just me, my aging mother, and my younger sister. You could give us rations for the three of us. As for Zhao Qian and Wang San, they have more people in their households—one has five, the other has six. You could give them a bit more," Li Wu explained.

Tian Peng had assumed Li Wu was from the household with the most members, and that was why he had made such a suggestion.

Unexpectedly, his was the household with the fewest people, and yet he could still think of others. Tian Peng had not expected to find such selflessness among mortals.

If he had the slightest bit of selfishness, he would have kept silent.

After all, Tian Peng’s earlier proposal was also a form of fairness. Everyone who came to work for him was alone. As long as Li Wu said nothing, the other two would likely not say anything either.

Moved by Li Wu’s effort to secure a better deal for them, Wang San and Zhao Qian were deeply touched.

"Li Wu, it’s really okay. After all, we each came here alone. Even if we receive the same amount of food, that’s still fair," they said.

"But your families are all so large. If I didn’t speak up, you still wouldn’t have enough to eat," Li Wu responded.

"You’d be worried if they went hungry, and that worry would impact your performance on Brother Zhu’s work. Kind-hearted as he is, he’d understand that our anxieties could make us less effective in our tasks. It’s all interconnected," Li Wu added.

In reality, Tian Peng was younger than these men. Their calling him ’Brother Zhu’ was a form of respect.

Observing Li Wu, Tian Peng felt that he was a man of meticulous thoughts.

Being so considerate over such a small matter, he must be even more thorough in other matters. With Li Wu around, Tian Peng believed that Li Wu would think of things he himself might overlook. He silently made a mental note to keep Li Wu close; such a talented individual was worth retaining.

"Brother Zhu, what are the things you said the officials should do but aren’t doing?" Li Wu changed the subject.

"Well, I want to repair the canals," Tian Peng said.

"Repair the canals?" The three men looked puzzled. "How do you plan to fix them?"

"I’ve already figured out how to do it. First, we’ll dig a channel right here," Tian Peng pointed to a spot and continued, "After that’s done, we’ll dig from the front over there, all the way to the back, creating a simple watercourse that can lead directly to the farmlands. Later on, whether we use water wheels or carry water with buckets, it will be much more convenient."

"Is that really possible?" The men exchanged glances, having never heard of such a principle before.