First, the people living in this town and the surrounding villages really can't leave freely. This is very different from what's stated in the records—that they can't leave because their ancestral graves are here. In other words, those who refused to relocate lied to the GF-112 Project team. It's not that they don't want to move out, but that they simply can't.
Second, the Zhang Family is the ruler of this town, and their lineage has been passed down for countless generations. That means, from the very founding of the town, the Zhang Family has held power and control over everything. The so-called 'Divine Blessing' is probably just a cover. In other words, the Zhang Family has brainwashed the townspeople. Most likely, the Zhang Family controls a secret passage to the outside world, but they keep it strictly confidential and no one else knows about it.
Third, most products from the outside world are brought in by the Zhang Family. Because supplies are scarce, the market here is tight, and life lags behind the outside world by decades. It could also be that the Zhang Family can't afford to buy cars, or simply can't get them in. This suggests that the passage to the outside world is very narrow and hard to traverse.
Fourth, the people here actually yearn for the outside world. As long as you give them the perfect excuse and opportunity, they'd agree to move.
Cherry Miller watched as the third young master of the Zhang Family rode off on his bicycle, then turned to Yina Yin and Julian King and said, "Okay, let's split up the tasks. Julian, you go find out about the taboos here—like why people can't leave. Yina, you dig into what this 'Divine Blessing' is all about. Who performs the blessing? What's involved? I'll check out the local prices and try to estimate the Zhang Family's financial strength."
"Got it." Yina Yin and Julian King nodded immediately, and the three of them split up to take action.
Cherry Miller was glad she'd brought plenty of cash with her.
She'd thought that in modern society, with everyone used to electronic payments, she'd never need cash again.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be incredibly useful here.
Once again, she was grateful for her habit of stockpiling.
Judging by the prices, grain and vegetables here were extremely cheap.
Mi Xiaoying knew the prices outside—dried wheat was already up to two yuan per jin, and corn was three yuan per jin.
But here, wheat was fifty cents per jin, and corn was only thirty cents per jin.
If you could sell it outside, the profit would be huge!
She hadn’t counted the land here, but a town that could feed five thousand people, where people were poor but still looked healthy, must have plenty of farmland. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough food.
Iron goods here were expensive—not sold by weight, but by the piece.
A single hoe cost over a hundred yuan, while outside it was just a dozen or so.
Buying here and selling outside, or vice versa—it was all profit.
As a business boss, Mi Xiaoying instantly sensed the problem.
If her guess was right, the Zhang family was seriously impressive!
They must have saved up quite a fortune over all these years, right?
Just as she was thinking, Yina Yin and Jing Shaohuai returned.
"How did it go?" Mi Xiaoying asked.
"Good thing I went myself, otherwise we might not have found anything out," Jing Shaohuai reeked of alcohol, but his eyes were bright—clearly not drunk at all.
"I just found a local young guy who doesn’t work, bought him a bottle of Erguotou, and he spilled everything," Jing Shaohuai said proudly. "It all starts with Chongzhen. You remember what year the Qing army entered, right? Before they came, the country was already falling apart and people were suffering. This town is called Six Saints Town, and from the name you can tell it’s run by six big families. Back then, the Li, Zhang, Wang, Liu, Chen, and Zhao families escaped here to take refuge. They’d all been from one village, but after bandit trouble, only these six families survived."
"After they got here, there were no more bandits. Worried someone might dig up their past, they settled down temporarily. They accidentally discovered the soil was super fertile and crops grew well, so they decided to stay and build a village. After a hundred years, the village grew from a few dozen people to hundreds," Jing Shaohuai continued. "Then the families started fighting for land. Someone suggested splitting up and forming their own villages—like Li Family Village, Zhang Family Village, Liu Family Village. As the population grew, for convenience, they built a town in the center and called it Six Saints Town."
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Mi Xiaoying and Yina Yin both felt the name was just too much.
"You’re both making fun of the town’s name, aren’t you? Heh, I thought so too at first, but later I found out why," Jing Shaohuai said. "Three hundred years ago, someone got tired of living here and wanted to leave. Before they could get out, they died by the roadside—when people found them, all that was left were bones. Some didn’t believe it and tried leaving too, but whoever went, died. People thought they were cursed by the gods and would never leave, generation after generation. So they prayed to the gods of their family names to protect their descendants. Then, something strange happened. Someone from the Zhang family tried leaving, and they survived—they even came back alive! So everyone believed their family gods protected them. Since there were six family names, they named it Six Saints Town!"
Yina Yin frowned, "Sounds like a scam to me."
Mi Xiaoying nodded in agreement, "That trick really does sound man-made. But how did they make sure anyone who left died?"
Jing Shaohuai waved his hand, "That part doesn’t matter—the important thing is that the people here truly believe it! So, generation after generation, only those blessed by the gods dare leave."
"So how many people have been blessed so far?" Mi Xiaoying asked.
"Heh, Sister Xiaoying, you’re smart—you caught the key point right away," Jing Shaohuai said. "So far, fewer than ten people in the village have been blessed."
"Are all ten from the Zhang family?" Mi Xiaoying asked.
"Sister Xiaoying, you guessed it again!" Jing Shaohuai laughed. "Every generation, there’s always one Zhang family member who gets blessed and can freely come and go."
Yina Yin didn’t know what to say. "Isn’t this obviously a scam? The so-called blessing is just a trick to keep everyone else trapped here, like livestock."
"That’s my guess too," Jing Shaohuai said. "I wanted to check out their temple, but the guy wouldn’t let me. He said outsiders aren’t allowed."
Yina Yin said, "What I found matches Shaohuai’s info. Every twenty years, there’s a big ritual here, and part of it is receiving the blessing. Whoever gets chosen by the gods is sent to the temple. After that, they can freely come and go. But the details of the blessing are a secret, and only the previous blessed person performs the ritual for the new one—it’s passed down generation to generation."
Mi Xiaoying said, "So all these years, only Zhang family members have been blessed. Hasn’t anyone else suspected something fishy?"
"Who knows?" Yina Yin replied. "Nowadays, the Zhang family is the most powerful in Six Saints Town. The Zhang Family Village and the Zhangs in town aren’t really related anymore—they split off three hundred years ago. The Zhangs in town have five sons and two daughters. Of them, the third son can come and go freely. The others can’t."
Mi Xiaoying nodded, "I just checked the prices here and noticed something interesting. Locally produced goods are dirt cheap, but anything brought in from outside is sold for several times more. It’s clearly a buy-low, sell-high business model—collect crops here at low prices, sell them outside at a premium, then buy cheap goods from outside and sell them here for a huge markup. That’s probably why they use RMB here: a unified currency makes outside trade easier."
"So how many people have been blessed so far?" Mi Xiaoying asked.
"Heh, Sister Xiaoying, you’re smart—you caught the key point right away," Jing Shaohuai said. "So far, fewer than ten people in the village have been blessed."
"Are all ten from the Zhang family?" Mi Xiaoying asked.
"Sister Xiaoying, you guessed it again!" Jing Shaohuai laughed. "Every generation, there’s always one Zhang family member who gets blessed and can freely come and go."
Yina Yin didn’t know what to say. "Isn’t this obviously a scam? The so-called blessing is just a trick to keep everyone else trapped here, like livestock."
"That’s my guess too," Jing Shaohuai said. "I wanted to check out their temple, but the guy wouldn’t let me. He said outsiders aren’t allowed."
Yina Yin said, "What I found matches Shaohuai’s info. Every twenty years, there’s a big ritual here, and part of it is receiving the blessing. Whoever gets chosen by the gods is sent to the temple. After that, they can freely come and go. But the details of the blessing are a secret, and only the previous blessed person performs the ritual for the new one—it’s passed down generation to generation."
Mi Xiaoying said, "So all these years, only Zhang family members have been blessed. Hasn’t anyone else suspected something fishy?"
"Who knows?" Yina Yin replied. "Nowadays, the Zhang family is the most powerful in Six Saints Town. The Zhang Family Village and the Zhangs in town aren’t really related anymore—they split off three hundred years ago. The Zhangs in town have five sons and two daughters. Of them, the third son can come and go freely. The others can’t."
Mi Xiaoying nodded, "I just checked the prices here and noticed something interesting. Locally produced goods are dirt cheap, but anything brought in from outside is sold for several times more. It’s clearly a buy-low, sell-high business model—collect crops here at low prices, sell them outside at a premium, then buy cheap goods from outside and sell them here for a huge markup. That’s probably why they use RMB here: a unified currency makes outside trade easier."