Ch 6: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Old Man Liu was Hunter Liu’s father and father-in-law of his fulang, but he had passed away before Hunter Liu got married.

The Liu family had been the only hunters in Lantang Village. However, back then, Hunter Liu had still been young, and Old Man Liu didn’t always take him deep into the mountains. Instead, it was Shen Qing who, when he could no longer find anything edible near the village, secretly followed behind the old hunter into the forest.

Old Man Liu was highly skilled, especially in setting traps and snares. His expertise kept wild animals from disturbing Lantang Village too often. Every time he ventured into the mountains, he almost never returned empty-handed. But because he was after bigger game, he didn’t care much for small things like bird eggs—leaving plenty behind for Shen Qing to pick up and feast on.

Or perhaps, from the very start, Old Man Liu had noticed Shen Qing following him but had chosen to turn a blind eye out of pity for the little ger. After all, Old Man Liu had sharp eyes and ears—rabbits and pheasants hiding in thick underbrush had nowhere to escape when he was around. How could a large child trailing behind him go unnoticed? He must have known.

Occasionally, Old Man Liu even spoke to Shen Qing, teaching him how to set simple traps. Eventually, Shen Qing was able to catch his own wild chickens and rabbits, roasting them for food and sneaking some back home for Miao Shi.

Shen Qing had always believed that eating all those bird eggs and wild game was the reason he had grown so tall. It was because of his height, strength, and endurance that he had the confidence to become a woodcutter. A smaller ger wouldn’t even be able to carry half a load of firewood to town—a full bundle weighed 160 jin, and even half of that was still 80 jin.

“It was thanks to Old Man Liu that I learned my way around the mountains,” Shen Qing continued, glancing at Hunter Liu’s fulang. “I know where the wild animals roam, where it’s safe to go, and which paths are best to take. I’ve even carved out my own routes. I’m not bad at setting traps either—sometimes, I manage to catch rabbits or wild chickens. On good days, I’ve even snared a muntjac.”

He wasn’t planning to go too deep into the mountains either. As long as he stayed outside the village’s common lands, where the other villagers wouldn’t feel slighted, he would be fine.

The hunter’s fulang was surprised to hear about this connection between Shen Qing and their family. He chuckled, “My husband always said that someone besides him was setting traps in the mountains near the village. He even mentioned that whoever it was had decent skills—but he never knew who. So it was you all along.”

After marrying, Hunter Liu had moved to Xiahe Village, where he now hunted in the nearby mountains. Since that area had plenty of wild game, he and Shen Qing never crossed paths. Now, with Shen Qing renting their house, it seemed like an even greater stroke of fate.

He couldn’t help but admire Shen Qing.

His own husband was a hunter, strong and capable, yet he never dared to venture too deep into the mountains. But this Shen Qing—when he was just a little child—had followed Old Man Liu into the deep forest without hesitation. The boy had guts. No wonder he had the courage to take his mother and leave his family behind.

Nearby, Tongsheng Miao had been listening quietly. Now, he finally spoke up. “You have some nerve for a ger—daring to enter the mountains alone, selling firewood in town, and even convincing your mother to divorce. How did you come up with the idea to have her leave with you?”

The men from Shiqu Village hadn’t entered the house. Now that Miao Shi was a widow and Shen Qing was a ger of marrying age, going inside would have been inappropriate. After moving the belongings, they had wandered off to visit their relatives in Lantang Village. The two villages were close, and intermarriage was common—many had sisters, aunts, or cousins in Lantang Village, so they took the opportunity to pay a visit and have some tea.

Tongsheng Miao, however, hadn’t joined them.

Right now, the entire village was still caught up in the drama of the Shen family. If he went to visit someone’s home, he would undoubtedly be bombarded with questions. He didn’t enjoy such chatter, so he stayed behind, resting on the doorstep of the main hall.

Watching Shen Qing, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled. There had never been a case like this in the entire region. No ger or woman had ever left their husband and taken their child with them. Where had Shen Qing even gotten such an idea?

Shen Qing had indeed been inspired by something he had heard. Since Tongsheng Miao had asked directly, he didn’t hide it.

“In the spring, didn’t we get a new county magistrate?” he said.

The others looked at him, unsure what this had to do with anything.

A few days ago, Shen Qing had secretly taken a load of firewood to sell in town. By then, Shen Zhigao had been making a fuss about divorcing Miao Shi for quite some time. At first, Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen had opposed it—not because they particularly liked Miao Shi, but because they disliked Widow Li even more. Everyone in the village knew she was trouble.

Besides, divorce was rare in the village. Most people simply endured their marriages. If the Shen family insisted on breaking tradition, the whole village would gossip.

But when Widow Li announced that she was pregnant—insisting it was a son—Shen Zhigao’s repeated demands began to sway Old Lady Shen. She had always favored her eldest son.

Shen Qing had been terrified, feeling completely powerless.

What could he do?

What could he possibly do to stop it?

In the end, he thought of only one solution: make more money. People always said, “Money makes the world go round.” If he had money, maybe their lives would be easier. If his mother really got cast out, at least they wouldn’t starve.

Feeling dejected after selling his firewood, Shen Qing had been walking back toward the village when he saw a convoy of carts entering the city. There were more than a dozen large wagons, leaving deep tracks in the dirt road.

He overheard some scholars gossiping nearby.

They were saying that the county magistrate’s younger ger sibling had divorced his husband and taken his child with him. The carts were carrying the ger’s dowry back to his natal home. Apparently, the magistrate had even announced that he was going to find a new husband for his brother—and he was being extremely picky. Even a scholar had applied but was turned away.

One of the bystanders was shocked.

“Wait, he got divorced and took the child with him? But children always belong to the father’s family—how could he take a child, especially a son?”

The scholar speaking scoffed sourly, “That’s the magistrate’s own flesh and blood we’re talking about. What could the other side do? They’re just ordinary commoners—who dares to argue with an official?”

Shen Qing had stood there, stunned.

In that moment, he had a revelation: many of the so-called “unchangeable” traditions could, in fact, be broken—if one had the right power.

This world favored men, but a ger or woman’s family could wield influence too.

If someone like the county magistrate’s brother could take his child after a divorce, then why couldn’t his mother?

Shen Qing was no magistrate’s son. His uncles weren’t high-ranking officials.

But his father was just a commoner.

Lowering his gaze, Shen Qing said, “If the county magistrate’s brother could leave with his child, then why couldn’t my mother do the same? My uncles aren’t government officials, but my father is just a regular villager…”

He had no power of his own, but he could borrow the influence of his two uncles.

When it came down to it, if not for Miao Xing and Miao Wang stepping in forcefully, Shen Qing would never have been able to sever ties with the Shen family so easily—let alone walk away with so much grain and household items. It was entirely thanks to the sheer number of people from Shiqu Village who had come, along with the scholarly presence of Tongsheng Miao. If the Miao brothers had been truly angered, they would have gone straight to the county office to report Shen Zhigao for adultery. That was what had forced the Shen family to relent.

His uncles didn’t need to be as powerful as the county magistrate. They just had to have more influence than Shen Zhigao—even a little was enough to tip the scales in their favor.

That was why Shen Qing had endured everything in silence while Shen Zhigao ranted and raved for days. He had been waiting for his uncles to arrive, to confirm that they were genuinely willing to stand up for his mother. Only then had he dared to speak up.

Tongsheng Miao was momentarily stunned. After a pause, he finally said, “If you weren’t a ger, you’d definitely have a bright future ahead of you. You might even have the makings of a scholar.”

To overhear a casual street conversation, immediately grasp the deeper implications, and then apply it so effectively to his own situation—it was nothing short of brilliant.

Tongsheng Miao had meant his words as praise, but they made Shen Qing’s faintly smug expression disappear. His lips pressed into a thin line as he lowered his head.

“If I weren’t a ger,” he said quietly, “I wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.”

The courtyard fell silent.

It was common for rural families to value sons over daughters or gers. Many families kept trying for a son even after having several daughters or gers. But for someone like Shen Zhigao—who was obsessed to the point of madness—it was still rare.

After all, there were plenty of households in the village without sons. Gers naturally had weaker constitutions and weren’t as fertile, making it difficult for them to bear many children. Most would only have one child in their lifetime. If someone had two, that was already considered a lot.

That was exactly why Shen Zhiwei’s fulang, Zhao Shi, was so respected in the Shen family—because he had not only given birth to two children but had also produced Shen Zhuang, a son.

Just a moment ago, when Zhao Shi was arguing with Shen Zhiwei in the Shen courtyard, he had been boasting that without him, Shen Zhiwei would have been childless. He claimed that marrying him had been a great blessing for the Shen family, that he was their savior—especially Shen Zhigao’s.

And the moment he said that, Shen Zhiwei had fallen silent.

Many families in the village, especially those with less money, would marry their eldest sons to women and their younger sons to gers. Gers were more capable of working, and their dowries were cheaper. If the younger sons failed to produce a male heir, then the eldest son’s son would be responsible for performing the funeral rites for his childless uncle.

That was why so many people in the village disapproved of Shen Zhigao’s actions.

Everyone else could endure it—why couldn’t he?

The Shen family wasn’t even without a son—wasn’t Shen Zhuang right there?

There was already someone to carry on the family name and perform the funeral rites.

Lantang Village was relatively well-off. Regardless of whether they married women or gers, most men could afford to take a wife. It wasn’t like the poorer villages deeper in the mountains, where bachelors were everywhere, unable to find spouses at all.

Shen Qing looked like a young man, worked even harder than a young man—but in the end, he was still a ger.

When he was little, he had sometimes wondered—What if I were a son instead?

Would his father have stayed the same?

Would his mother have been treated better?

But now, Shen Qing hadn’t had those thoughts in a long time.

The way they treated him and his mother wasn’t because he was a ger. It was because they were terrible people.

So what if he was a ger? He could still support himself. He could still support his mother. He could work harder and earn more money than most of the men in the village.

If his father and his so-called family didn’t want him, then he didn’t want them either.

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