108. Andre's Scroll

The bees flew out in swarms, circled their hive, and then returned, restoring the area to calm. The transition of the swarm from agitation to docility was quite evident. Combined with the clear look of relief on Wu Qingchen's face, the cowherd assistants and serfs present immediately understood that the operation to relocate the wild beehives at night had been a success.

Young Andrei, the most excited of the group, hurried to Wu Qingchen's side. "Los, this is good enough, right? The bees will be able to collect nectar from the allotment tomorrow, won't they?"

"Yes, that should be the case," Wu Qingchen replied with certainty. "By autumn, there will be plenty of honey inside."

However, by that time, you might not have the chance to taste it. Looking at Andrei’s radiant face, Wu Qingchen silently offered a moment of apology in his heart. Observing the darkening sky, he signaled for the group to stop their excited chatter. "Alright, it’s getting late. Pack up quickly and let's head back."

There was nothing left to clean up around the hive's current location in the allotment. The real cleanup was needed at the site where Wu Qingchen had led the assistants in practice. Returning to the edge of the forest, the cowherd assistants and serfs gathered vines to bundle the branches they had chopped during their practice. Each person shouldered a bundle, and they followed Wu Qingchen and Andrei toward the church.

These branches were also the property of the lord and the church. In fact, all trees, fruits, branches, and leaves in the forest—whether growing on trees or fallen on the ground—belonged to the master. Ordinarily, villagers were only allowed to enter the forest to collect naturally fallen deadwood for daily fuel after paying a small tribute. The reason they were only permitted to pick up fallen branches was that, under the system of absolute ownership by the master, fresh branches growing on trees represented wealth that increased automatically every day without any additional investment. Because of this, cutting branches without authorization in Eakley Village and other villages under the jurisdiction of Baron Ackford was considered an economic crime in violation of the law.

Wu Qingchen’s act of relocating the hive was, of course, an exception; it was a semi-official operation. The cutting of the branch containing the hive, as well as the other branches damaged during practice, had been specially permitted by Master Playa.

After the authorization period ended, although the priest might not care for these branches, Wu Qingchen intended to lead his helpers in taking the debris back to the church and delivering it to the woodshed to show respect for the law. The practice had lasted two hours, and the volume and weight of the branches were substantial, making the return trip to the church two or three times longer than the journey out.

The woodshed was a small, detached wooden shack tucked away behind the church. Upon arriving, Andrei directed the panting serfs to use brush hooks to strip the fine twigs and leaves from the branches, then use axes to chop them into firewood the length of an arm. They stacked these against the wall of the shed, waiting for nature to evaporate the moisture within.

With four serfs working together, the branches were quickly converted into potential firewood. Andrei looked at the stack, which had grown two layers higher, with satisfaction, then frowned at the mess of twigs and leaves on the ground. These were the fuel he disliked most; they required a lot of space to dry and produced thick smoke when burned directly.

These annoying things...

Suddenly, the image of Wu Qingchen giving out beans that evening, followed by the serfs' diligent performance, flashed through young Andrei’s mind.

That's it!

Thinking of the other hives that needed to be moved over the next two or three days, Andrei pointed his chin at the pile of discarded fuel and addressed the four serfs: "You’ve put in some effort tonight. So... each of you take a share of this firewood home."

"Thank you, Master!" "The master is merciful!" "Thank you so much!"

The serfs' gratitude was sincere. Unlike freeholders who possessed some property, serfs had neither the qualification nor the capital to pay the firewood tax, making the acquisition of fuel a difficult and troublesome task. To young Andrei, the twigs and leaves were a nuisance, but to the serfs, they were a valuable windfall, and their utility extended beyond just firewood.

Just as it was for York: the winter before last, when the steward had mercifully bestowed branches and thatch for building a shed, he had either been in a bad mood or perhaps too good a mood, but the amount given to Tamara and York was slightly less than what was truly needed. As a result, for the next year and a half, Tamara and York had exhausted themselves saving fuel and searching for twigs to patch the structure, barely keeping their shed from collapsing. Now, receiving a share of these materials, York could already see his precarious hut gaining sturdy supports, no longer fearing the assault of wind and rain.

The serfs, while showering the master with gratitude, quickly cleaned up the ground and tied up four bundles of the low-quality fuel. Perhaps knowing that the master's favor was hard to come by, although each serf wanted more, none dared to argue or scramble, and the final division was remarkably even.

"Hmm..."

Watching the serfs finish, young Andrei mimicked his teacher’s manner and gestured toward the path leading away from the church. "Alright, get going now. Tomorrow night, early..."

"Wait a moment... Andrei, should we lend them a few axes or sickles to use?" It was a suggestion from Wu Qingchen.

"How can that be..." Hearing this, young Andrei was stunned, and immediately thought of various farm tools that might be "accidentally broken" or "mysteriously lost," and instinctively began to object.

However, in the next instant, Andrei understood Wu Qingchen's intent. With his knowledge of the serfs, if they had this firewood but no tools and no guarantee of property rights, they would surely spend the entire night processing it, putting it to various uses. The consequence would be that they would have no energy for the entire day tomorrow, let alone continue the hive relocation the following night.

How could that be allowed?

To lend or not to lend? The deliberation took Andrei only a few seconds. Thinking of the smooth progress Wu Qingchen had made in directing the serfs, and then of the sweet taste of honey, young Andrei waved his hand grandly: "Fine, each of you take a sickle! Remember, don't stay up too late tonight! We have to continue moving the hives tomorrow night..."

Having said this, and recalling the superb techniques Wu Qingchen used to command the serfs, Andrei added: "...It must not be too late! If you finish moving them tomorrow night, there will be more firewood! And you can borrow the sickles again!"

"Ah!" "Master..."