Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 294 - 293: The Test

Before Liu Bai could decide whether to look for wood first or to start the journey without delay, the drivers had already started arguing.

The two drivers who lost the wood were worried about being held accountable. They pulled Liu Fei and the other three drivers who were on duty last night, questioning them about their negligence while on guard. They insisted they must have fallen asleep, causing the loss of wood from their carts.

The drivers on duty certainly didn’t want to be suspected like that and retorted, saying that the two didn’t even care about their carts last night and were snoring loudly in their sleep.

As the vice captain, Liu Fei felt wronged by the insults but didn’t dare to say anything, so he could only try to mediate.

It was then that Liu Bai realized that the transport business was not as simple as he had imagined.

Taking a deep breath, he roared, "Everyone shut up! What’s all this noise, we’re all part of the same team, everyone is responsible if something goes wrong, including Liu Fei and me, none of us can escape blame!"

After all, he was the captain, and with Qin Yao present to oversee, the conflict was promptly halted and did not escalate further.

This shout actually calmed Liu Bai’s flustered mind. He called out the people on duty last night to ask if they noticed anything unusual in an effort to recover the lost wood as much as possible.

The wood was heavy; it was unlikely that one person could have done it alone, so it’s very likely the thieves were more than two people.

Moreover, given the weight and obvious target of the wood, there might still be a chance to catch up if they pursued now.

Liu Fei and another driver on duty during the first half of the night said they didn’t notice anything unusual.

However, the ones on duty in the second half of the night mentioned that almost dawn, they seemed to have heard movement from the station’s horses, but it quickly stopped. They thought it was someone from the station getting up to use the toilet, so they didn’t pay attention.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bai immediately instructed Liu Fei and the two drivers to check the stables, and indeed found a pile of flattened horse manure. Judging from the footprints, the direction was towards the Northwest.

"These must be the thieves’ footprints!" an experienced driver pointed confidently at the horse manure.

Since the manure was trampled so deeply, only someone carrying a heavy load could leave such deep footprints.

Without thinking, Liu Fei immediately called four or five drivers to pursue in the Northwest direction.

On their way, they found more and more traces.

But the sun was rising, and if they continued the chase, today’s journey would definitely be delayed.

The stationery factory urgently needed wood for production. Thinking of this, Liu Fei was extremely annoyed, blaming himself for not being cautious enough last night and allowing the thieves an opportunity.

Yet he still called back the drivers who wanted to continue pursuing, "Let’s return."

"Not going to look for the wood?" the drivers asked in confusion.

"No, there’s no time to find it now."

He recalled the third sister-in-law saying that matters had to be prioritized. Losing two logs of wood meant they could transport more next time.

If production at the factory was delayed due to their untimely raw material transport, it would definitely affect the delivery deadline!

Clearly, the latter was more important.

Leading the drivers, Liu Fei returned to the station gasping for breath and shook his head at Liu Bai, "Couldn’t find it, let’s set out first. Count the lost wood on me, deduct it from my wages."

"How can that be?" The other three drivers on duty quickly grabbed Liu Fei. Being much older, Liu Fei had to address them as uncles, and as elders, how could they let a younger person take responsibility?

If people found out, they would be scolded to death!

"Captain, just deduct it from our four wages." The other three drivers said unanimously.

Liu Bai snorted, looking at all the drivers, "We all have to deduct. As the captain, I’ll take the biggest hit along with these four, and the rest will be evenly shared among you!"

Some were dissatisfied, but before they could speak, Liu Bai said, "Did everyone memorize the ten rules during our training? What’s the last one?"

Liu Fei knew and eagerly raised his hand, answering, "Solidarity and mutual assistance, share responsibility, work together to face difficulties, and never be left alone!"

Immediately, no one said anything further.

Liu Bai nodded, "This is the first and last time such a thing has happened to our convoy, it must not happen again!"

There was another important announcement he needed to make, "Starting today, when switching shifts, the two groups of drivers on night duty must first inventory the cart numbers and wood quantities. Anyone who doesn’t watch over their cart properly will be held responsible!"

"Moreover, drivers who are not on duty must pay attention to their own carts, don’t think that you can sleep soundly by leaving it to others to watch. Understood?"

All the drivers nodded, already starting to ponder ways to prevent theft.

Passing through the town, some took the opportunity to buy a few bells during the lunch break, intending to hang them on the ropes binding the wood. This way, if a thief approached, any movement would cause the bells to ring, potentially scaring the thief away.

However, with the bells hanging on the cart, they jingled incessantly while on the move, making it quite bothersome for the ears.

Still, it was quite effective against thieves. On quiet nights, if the bells suddenly rang, all the drivers would wake up, and before they even had a chance to move, the thieves would have already fled.

Liu Fei felt there was a flaw with the bells. If the carts were scattered and the thieves used diversion tactics, it wasn’t impossible.

Therefore, he bought a large bundle of straw from the villagers in the fields and, while driving, braided a thick rope. At night, they parked the carts together, encircled them with the straw rope, and tied bells to the rope, with those on duty patrolling within the rope’s perimeter to focus their guard.

Liu Fei also had tested the rope’s height; it should be tied just at the vehicle’s waist so that the wood below cannot be pulled out by thieves, and any wood placed high would surely hit the bells if lifted out.

Qin Yao came over curiously to observe and sighed internally: This bell array would definitely give the thieves a headache.

After experiencing this incident, it was clear that the two brothers were capable of leading the convoy well.

Liu Bai was steady, had a broad perspective, and could take charge.

Liu Fei understood priorities, stopped losses in time, and was quick-thinking and loyal, able to blend well with the drivers.

With the two brothers in the convoy, major problems would not arise, and minor issues could be resolved independently. Qin Yao felt a sense of relief for them both.

As for the two lost logs, consider it tuition fees.

One day during their transportation, seeing Qin Yao carefree riding on horseback, Liu Bai and Liu Fei suddenly thought, with her skills, how could their convoys be raided by thieves?

Even if there were thieves, wouldn’t they have no chance to escape under her watch? How skilled would the thieves need to be then!

"Could it be third sister-in-law let the thieves go on purpose?" Liu Fei widened his eyes, incredulously looking at his elder brother.

With just a glance exchanged between the brothers, they became more convinced it was a test set by Qin Yao.

Even so, distributing a tael of silver still stung!

They clutched their chests, feeling the pain...

On the evening of the ninth day after leaving the village, the convoy, loaded with carts of wood, successfully returned to Liu Family Village.

Just that the road leading into the village from the official path had deep ravines created by heavy rains in recent days, causing the heavily loaded carts to almost overturn on the uneven surface.

After stabilizing all the cars with difficulty, Qin Yao firmly decided that the village road must be repaired this year!