When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds

"They’re with me," Tan You said, stepping forward from the back. "Clan Leader, you brought so many people with you?"

Chen Tianshui glanced at the grain Tan You had brought back. "I was worried you’d be exhausted from the road. Let’s get into the village quickly. Your Auntie Liu Ying has already prepared the houses; she’s just waiting for everyone to move in."

Tan You nodded slightly. "Alright. It’s very late, so everyone will just have to make do for tonight. Tomorrow, once everyone is rested, the clan will hold a formal meeting. Don’t worry, I will definitely deliver on everything I’ve promised you all."

A wave of relief washed over the crowd. In the months they had spent together, Tan You had never once broken her word. Now that a clan was willing to take them in, they would no longer have to wander. They couldn’t be happier.

Ultimately, the people of this era had very simple needs. As long as they had full bellies and warm clothes, they were content.

As the crowd helped push the flatbed carts, Chen Tianshui walked beside Tan You. "Where did you get so much grain? Must have cost a lot of silver, right?"

A large man next to Tan You spoke up. "It didn’t cost anything. When the Eldest Lady was leading us back, we passed several mountain strongholds along the way."

Chen Tianshui jolted. "You went after mountain bandits? That’s far too dangerous."

Tan You raised an eyebrow slightly. "It wasn’t really that dangerous. As long as the strategy is sound, we can achieve the greatest gains at the smallest cost."

"It’s true what they say: a horse doesn’t get fat without extra fodder, and a man doesn’t get rich without a windfall. Taking down a few bandit strongholds was indeed quite profitable."

Chen Tianshui knew he wouldn’t get anything out of Tan You, so he glanced at An Wen. ’Would An Wen tell the truth?’ he wondered. An Wen immediately turned his head to the old man beside him. "Master Yang, why don’t you live next door to me? It would make it easier for me to ask you for martial arts lessons in the future."

Chen Tianshui cursed with a laugh, "You little brat. Really not dangerous?"

Tan You chuckled. "It really wasn’t dangerous. Only two people got hurt."

The moment she mentioned injuries, a wave of laughter rippled through the group. Chen Tianshui was baffled, so Chen Xi explained, "Two of the uncles sprained their ankles coming down the mountain after the raid. It was too dark."

Chen Tianshui understood, but this only made him more curious. ’Bandits...’ he thought. ’How on earth did they manage it?’

Tan You had no intention of explaining it to Chen Tianshui. She just changed the subject. "I suggest we send the grain we brought back deep into the mountains. With this, everyone there will feel more secure."

Chen Tianshui nodded. "Alright. I’ll have people start sending it up the mountain tomorrow. But what about their rations...?"

Tan You was very serious. "We were only able to take down those strongholds because of them. Besides, with all the gold, silver, and treasure we got, we can’t possibly treat them poorly. Now that they’ve joined our clan, they’re family and should be treated as such."

Chen Tianshui said, "That’s not what I meant. My point is, if all the grain is sent up the mountain, what will they eat? The summer harvest is still a ways off."

Tan You made a swift decision. "Then we’ll keep one-third. The summer harvest is only a month away. For this month, let’s have everyone organize to clear new farmland. When the clan’s summer harvest comes in, we’ll distribute rations to everyone then."

Chen Tianshui didn’t argue further. "By the way, the bandits you raided... were they the same group that tried to murder...?"

Tan You answered dismissively, "I don’t know. They were bandits, so they must have plenty of blood on their hands. It doesn’t make much difference whether it was them or not. Either way, they deserved to die."

Chen Tianshui asked no more questions. Just then, Auntie Liu Ying stepped forward. "All the women, come with me. I’ll take you to wash up. We’ve already prepared hot water, towels, and clean clothes."

At her words, none of the newcomers moved. They just looked at Tan You. Tan You spoke softly, "Go on. After you’ve washed up, Auntie Liu Ying will arrange for you to rest. We’ll have our formal meeting tomorrow after you wake up."

Chen Tianshui cleared his throat. "The men can follow me. It doesn’t matter if you’re family or not, everyone will sleep separately tonight. After we assign houses tomorrow, you can all go to your respective homes."

Tan You glanced at the new houses that had appeared in the village. "Can we really accommodate this many people?"

Chen Tianshui said proudly, "Of course. After setting aside the silver needed for the workshop’s daily operations, the clan used almost all the rest to build houses. We could take in twice this many people and still have room."

Tan You waved her hand. "Let’s not be hasty. First, let’s get everyone settled in. We can think about taking in more people after they’ve fully integrated into the community."

Chen Tianshui agreed. "We’ll do as the Eldest Lady says. So, should we continue building more houses?"

Tan You pondered for a moment. "Let’s put a stop to house construction for now. There’s no point in building houses that no one will live in; it’s a waste. Next, I plan to build roads. The roads in the clan need a major overhaul."

’It’s time to bring out the cement,’ she thought. ’With cement, I can build roads, proper buildings... even a city wall.’

Chen Tianshui agreed with her idea. "Building roads is a great idea. It’ll make it more convenient for everyone to get around."

Tan You just smiled and said nothing. Her idea of building roads and Chen Tianshui’s were not quite the same thing.

Yue Shu and the others spent a night in the village. Although the Clan Leader and his people were very friendly, they couldn’t truly rest easy until the promised goods were in their hands. As a result, they barely slept a wink all night and were up at the crack of dawn.

Tan You saw this from her home and, after a moment’s thought, sent An Wen to inform Chen Tianshui and the several clan elders. ’Now that they’re on our own territory,’ she mused, ’it’s best to put their minds at ease as soon as possible.’

Thus, before six in the morning, the clan convened its second-ever general meeting. The first, of course, had been for the establishment of the soap workshop.

Chen Tianshui stood in the center of the crowd, with the clan elders seated behind him. Across from him stood Yue Shu and the other refugees who had returned with Tan You.

Ignoring the context and looking only at the scene, it almost looked like a confrontation between two opposing sides.

Tan You reminded Chen Tianshui, "Get to the point."

"Right, the point," Chen Tianshui said, quickly collecting himself. "On her recent trip, the Eldest Lady brought us two hundred new members. From this day forward, they are members of our Chen Clan and will enjoy the same status, treatment, and benefits as all other clan members."

"On their return journey, they successively attacked and conquered several mountain strongholds, including Tiger Village, Qinglong Village, and Black Wind Village, bringing a vast amount of grain, as well as gold, silver, and jewels to our clan!"

Seeing everyone stunned into silence, An Wen immediately began to clap loudly. "They did a great job! Everyone, applaud!"

With An Wen leading the way, the applause quickly grew louder. An Wen shot Tan You a proud grin, as if to say, ’I’m pretty good at hyping up a crowd, huh?’ Tan You raised an eyebrow slightly, giving him a look of approval.

Yue Shu and his people were still in a daze, apparently not expecting this kind of reception from the Chen Clan.

Chen Tianshui continued reading from the list of spoils: "Yue Shu and his group brought back a total of 100,000 jin of grain, 20,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver... as well as various jades, calligraphy, paintings, books, and so on..."

Hearing the amount of grain, everyone’s eyes went wide. And when they heard the figures for the gold and silver that followed, a single thought appeared in everyone’s mind: ’Just how much money is that?’