Ch 27: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

“Qing Ge’er, what’s going on? How did you buy so many things?”

After finally sending off the curious villagers, Miao Shi anxiously tugged at Shen Qing’s sleeve. “I’ve been keeping all the money in the house. Where did you get the money?”

Seeing the brand-new iron pot, the sturdy water vat, and the big pickling jars, Miao Shi couldn’t deny that she liked them and was happy about their new household items. But at the same time, she felt incredibly uneasy.

Shen Qing shut the courtyard door and latched it before pulling Miao Shi into his room. “Mother, I have something important to tell you.”

Hearing this, Miao Shi became even more nervous.

Shen Qing had thought about it the entire way home and finally decided to be honest with Miao Shi—at least partially.

The mountain cave, the other world, Song Kaiji, the gold and silver jewelry—Shen Qing felt these were things he could tell Miao Shi. First, they were the closest people in the world to each other, relying on one another for survival. He had never had any secrets from Miao Shi. Second, he would need to travel frequently between worlds in the future, and there was no way to keep it hidden from her.

Just like today—he had bought so many things. Did he really think Miao Shi wouldn’t notice something was off? Instead of keeping it from her and making her overthink things, frightening herself with wild guesses, it was better to be honest and tell the truth.

However, there was one thing he didn’t plan on telling her—the existence of zombies in the other world. Even if they wouldn’t attack him, they were still terrifying creatures! Miao Shi already worried about him being a woodsman, cried when she heard about him encountering a wild boar—if she knew about the horrifying monsters in that world, she would never let him go back.

But how could Shen Qing possibly give up such a miraculous opportunity?

After thinking it over, he decided to only hide this one detail while being truthful about everything else: the oddly dressed people, the strange-sounding iron horses, the jewelry scattered on the ground with no one picking it up… As for why food was so valuable over there, Shen Qing thought for a moment and decided to say there was a famine in that world.

Shen Qing hadn’t even had the chance to practice the art of talking his way out of things with strangers, yet here he was, already using it on his own mother.

But no amount of words could be as convincing as seeing something with her own eyes—or the power of money.

Shen Qing pulled Miao Shi over to his bed, dragged out the small basket hidden underneath, and dumped all its contents in front of her.

Miao Shi: !!!

Gold gleaming brightly, silver shining brilliantly, jade bangles clinking together, colorful bracelets, and thick, smooth fabric—Miao Shi had never in her life seen so many valuable things all at once. The sight nearly blinded her.

Just as Shen Qing was about to take advantage of the moment to explain everything and propose his plan to continue traveling between worlds, he suddenly saw Miao Shi sway, grabbing onto his arm with trembling hands.

“Qing Ge’er, you…” Miao Shi’s lips quivered as she spoke, “Did you… rob someone on the road?”

Shen Qing: ?

Shen Qing was deeply offended. “Mother! How could you think that of me? Do I look like that kind of person?”

What a coincidence—he had just been suspected of theft at the pawnshop, and now his own mother thought he was a highway robber! Did he really seem like such a terrible person?

Miao Shi hesitated for a moment, opening her mouth but failing to say anything. If she was being honest… he did seem a little like it.

Not that she doubted his character, but Qing Ge’er’s reputation for toughness had already spread throughout the nearby villages. Among boys his age in the village, even two together wouldn’t be a match for him.

It wasn’t that she thought he would rob someone, but if Qing Ge’er did decide to rob someone, he’d definitely succeed…

Shen Qing was exasperated. “No! No! I just stumbled upon something incredible!”

He then told her everything—how he encountered the wild boar, how he hid in the mountain cave, how he discovered a new exit, and how he met Song Kaiji and exchanged goods with him. He left out only the part about encountering zombies.

“I’ve made a deal with him to trade more in the future. He seems like a decent person, very honest and fair in his dealings,” Shen Qing added. And he’s not bad-looking either.

Even though Shen Qing described the entire process as having nothing but benefits, painting the other world as a land filled with wealth and completely free of danger, Miao Shi still felt terrified, clutching her chest in shock. “How can you be so bold, child? A mysterious cave suddenly appeared, and you just walked right in without a second thought? You weren’t even the least bit afraid?”

Shen Qing had heard people say he was brave so many times that he was practically numb to it. But he never thought of it as a bad thing—on the contrary, he was a little proud, lifting his chin slightly. “What’s there to be scared of? They always say, ‘The bold get rich, the timid starve.’ If I hadn’t gone in, would I have all these treasures now? Besides, I was cornered by the wild boar and had no other way out. Luckily, I traded hawthorns and mushrooms on the other side for a crossbow, which I used to kill the boar. Otherwise, with just a hatchet, how could I have won against a wild boar? That crossbow was expensive, though. Otherwise, I could’ve traded those mushrooms and hawthorns for even more silver, maybe even gold!”

As he spoke, Shen Qing rummaged through the pile of jewelry and fished out two gold bangles that Song Kaiji had given him, handing them to Miao Shi.

Miao Shi’s heart was pounding with anxiety. As tempting as the wealth was, her concern for her child outweighed it. Besides, wasn’t this already more than enough? She hesitated, clearly unwilling to let Shen Qing take any more risks. “How about we just leave it at this? Don’t go back there anymore. And stop going into the mountains to chop wood—you might run into another wild boar. Just thinking about how you came down the mountain yesterday, covered in blood, dragging that wild boar behind you—my heart nearly leaped out of my throat! Before, we had no choice, no way to survive, but now we have this whole bundle of jewelry. Isn’t that enough to buy two acres of good farmland? Can’t we just live peacefully as farmers from now on?”

Shen Qing hadn’t expected that, even after he had explained how safe the other world was, Miao Shi would still be worried. But he wasn’t willing to settle for the life of a farmer. This bundle of treasures—setting aside the jade pieces he didn’t recognize—the gold and silver seemed like a lot now, but once converted into money, it was just a few dozen taels of silver. Buying land would use up nearly all of it.

“Mother, since the heavens have granted me this opportunity, wouldn’t it be a waste if I didn’t seize it? Besides, in this village, if someone breaks a bowl or their hen lays fewer eggs, half the village will know about it. If we suddenly have the money to buy land, what will the villagers think? I still need to go up the mountain and chop wood, just as usual.”

Seeing Miao Shi’s worried expression, Shen Qing reassured her, “Now that I have a crossbow, I’m even less afraid. Forget just one wild boar—if a whole herd comes at me, I can handle them too! You should’ve seen how powerful that crossbow is.”

Miao Shi quickly waved her hands, horrified. “Stop talking about wild boars! A whole herd? Do you want to scare me to death?” Then she sighed, “We used to be troubled because we had no money. Now we have money but can’t use it openly—that’s still troubling. What’s the point of having it at all?”

Shen Qing chuckled. “If we can’t buy land or build a house, at least we can eat well. Once the door is shut, who will know how we live? From now on, we’ll eat meat every day!”

He pulled out the secondhand clothes he had bought earlier and showed them to Miao Shi. “Look, I bought these today using the money I got from pawning a few silver accessories. That Song Kaiji doesn’t even treat these jewels as valuable. He kept complaining that I didn’t take enough and just grabbed handfuls of them to give me! Mother, you have no idea how strange the people over there are! The men all shave their heads down to here—” Shen Qing gestured with his hand, “—and the women, while some keep their hair long, don’t grow it out as long as we do. Their clothes are also weird. They don’t have front openings like ours. Instead, they stitch the fabric into a tube and put their heads through it… Ugh, I can’t even explain it properly! Next time, I’ll sneak a couple of outfits back to show you.”

Shen Qing truly believed this was a heaven-sent opportunity—both dangerous and rewarding—and it was granted only to him and his mother. Otherwise, why would the cave suddenly appear right after they left the Shen family? He had always gone into the mountains before, yet that cave had never been there until now!

Only a ger as brave, smart, and kind-hearted as himself could be blessed by the heavens like this! Shen Qing silently praised himself in his heart.

Miao Shi, helpless, tapped his forehead with her finger before reaching out to touch the jewelry on the bed. The initial fear gradually faded, replaced by belated joy—after all, what woman didn’t love jewelry?

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe the heavens really did take pity on us and showed us mercy!” She then confirmed with him again, “There really isn’t any danger over there? They’re going through a famine—there aren’t any riots, right?”

Shen Qing replied nonchalantly, “What danger could there be? Just a bunch of starving refugees. Even well-fed villagers here can’t beat me—what could a bunch of half-starved people do?”

Hearing this, Miao Shi felt somewhat reassured. She had full confidence in Shen Qing’s strength. “Still, you must be careful. Being bold is good, as you say, but you can’t be reckless.”

Shen Qing patted her hand comfortingly. “Don’t worry, Mother, I know what I’m doing.”

The mother and son then began discussing their future plans. Shen Qing suggested that they divide the work—Miao Shi would stay home to steam buns and make flatbreads, while Shen Qing would take them to the other world to exchange for gold and silver. Once they had enough, he would use a clipper and scale to cut up the jewelry and periodically exchange the fragments for silver ingots at the smelting shop.

He showed Miao Shi the indigo silk robe he had bought. “I’ll wear this when I go. I’ll even rub some dirt on my forehead—the pregnancy mark on my brow isn’t that noticeable anyway. Who would ever guess I’m a ger?”

At this moment, Miao Shi truly felt blessed—her son was incredibly clever! No one had taught him, yet he managed to figure all this out by himself. There wasn’t a single child in the village as sharp as her Qing Ge’er. Miao Shi sighed, “What a pity. If you had grown up in Shiqu Village, just imagine how much more accomplished you would be!”

Shen Qing laughed. “What, is the water and soil in Shiqu Village better than in Lantang Village? How would growing up there make me more accomplished?”

“It’s not about the land,” Miao Shi explained. “You know the school in Shiqu Village, right? It was founded by Scholar Miao, the father of Tongsheng Miao. He’s my uncle. Any boy in the village can study there for a year without paying—just offering a bit of grain as a token of gratitude.”

This school was quite large, and many children from surrounding villages attended. Even some from Lantang Village went, though they had to pay a fee.

“If my Qing Ge’er had been able to attend that school, who knows how successful he’d be by now?” Miao Shi said wistfully.

Back when they were still living with the Shen family, no matter how hard life was—being treated like a servant by the Shen household, or being beaten by Shen Zhigao when he got drunk—Miao Shi had always just accepted her fate, thinking she was simply unlucky.

But now, looking at her bright and clever ger, for the first time, Miao Shi felt a deep regret—what if she had never married into Lantang Village? How much better would life have been?

Marriage wasn’t just her second chance at life; it was also the starting point for her child’s entire future. At a glance, Lantang Village seemed only slightly worse off than Shiqu Village, but was it really just a small difference?

Miao Shi stared off into the distance, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Shen Qing rested his head on her knee and softly said, “It’s not too late. As long as I want to learn, it’s never too late. I will make something of myself—just wait and see.”

---

At the Shen family courtyard.

Old Lady Shen had been in a foul mood all day. Last night, she went to demand pork from Miao Shi and ended up making a complete fool of herself. Her son not only didn’t stand up for her but even blamed her when he got home.

“Mother, you’re old enough to know who in the village you can mess with and who you can’t! You want to curse at Miao Chunlei? Fine, that’s one thing. But Wu Guixiang? Do you think she’s easy to bully? The moment you insulted her, she egged the village chief on to punish me, even talking about giving me a beating! Thanks to you women stirring things up, all the childhood ties I had with the village chief are ruined!”

Old Lady Shen was fuming. “It’s all that wretched Wu Guixiang’s doing! She has no respect for her elders at all—no sense of propriety!”

Shen Zhigao shot her a sideways glance. He was sick of hearing this nonsense. She always talked about being an elder, about rules and customs, but what connection did they even have to the village chief’s family? How was she supposed to be an ‘elder’ to them? Just because she was old? People called her ‘Aunt’ out of courtesy, not obligation.

Did she really think the village ran by the rule of the oldest having the final say? Wu Guixiang was the village chief’s wife!

“Mother, enough already. And stop going after Miao Chunlei and Qing Ge’er. The separation happened—just think of them as dead. They don’t exist anymore. If you go stirring up trouble again and the village chief actually has me flogged, what am I supposed to do then?”

“He wouldn’t dare!” Old Lady Shen stiffened her neck, though her confidence wavered.

Just then, a few gossiping village women passed by her gate, deliberately raising their voices to discuss how Qing Ge’er had returned with a whole cartload of goods. The words pierced her heart like needles.

Shen Zhigao let out a laugh, almost amused. “And why wouldn’t he dare? If he really had me beaten, what could you do about it?”

Forty strokes of the rod weren’t a joke—if the beating was severe enough, a person might not even make it through alive. Shen Zhigao wasn’t about to gamble with the village chief’s mood.

“I—! I…” Old Lady Shen wanted to argue, but no words came to her.

Shen Zhigao waved a hand impatiently. “Enough talk, go make dinner. The food these past two days has been terrible—I can’t even taste anything! And don’t forget to cook two eggs for Jiaofeng. Don’t let my son go hungry.”

At the mention of Li Jiaofeng, Old Lady Shen’s anger flared again. That woman had been the one to push her into demanding meat from Miao Shi, and because of that, she got scolded by her husband and now despised by her son. Yet Li Jiaofeng got off without a scratch and still got to eat eggs!

“Eldest son, is that woman in your house made of gold? Do I have to serve her like some deity? She doesn’t lift a single finger around here, but she sure knows how to eat! If she hadn’t been whining about wanting pork yesterday—”

“Aiya, Mother, what are you even saying? Jiaofeng is pregnant, isn’t she? I’m not young anymore, and I finally have a son on the way. Of course, I have to pamper her a bit!” Shen Zhigao interrupted impatiently. “Now, hurry up and go make dinner.”

Old Lady Shen was stunned. The son she had doted on the most all these years—was this really the way he was talking to her?

“Marry a wife, forget your mother—” Old Lady Shen’s chest rose and fell violently with emotion. Ever since Qing Ge’er and Miao Shi left, this house had slowly changed, and she felt suffocated by it.

Compared to Li Jiaofeng, she even found herself missing Miao Shi.

Back when Miao Shi first married into the Shen family, Shen Zhigao also doted on her for a while, but she never put on airs. She never contradicted Old Lady Shen, always listened, always obeyed.

And now? Li Jiaofeng had turned her son against her. Who could she blame? Who could she complain to?

Old Lady Shen took two deep breaths, grabbed the slop bucket, and headed to the pigsty to feed the pigs. But as soon as she scooped out two ladles of slop, she spotted piles of pig dung in the corner.

She immediately threw down the wooden spoon and stormed over to the west wing, shouting under the window, “How long has it been since you cleaned the pigsty? Do you even have eyes?!”

A weak voice answered from inside, but Old Lady Shen wasn’t done. “And did you cut pig grass? You’re a grown girl now and still can’t do a thing! What, do you think you’re some noble lady? A house full of lazy good-for-nothings! Even the food tastes awful! Did your mother never teach you how to cook before you got married—”

Frustration always needed an outlet.

Outside the window, Old Lady Shen’s voice continued to pierce through the walls. Inside, Zhao Aiye sat in the west wing, clutching his daughter Shen Xiaojun tightly, not daring to make a sound. Tears welled up in his small eyes, hanging on the edge but not falling.

Maybe, in every household, someone had to play the role of Shen Qing or Miao Shi.

Zhao Aiye thought dazedly.

He had lived like that before—when he first married in, Miao Shi was still able to bear children, and Shen Zhang was still alive. But he himself was a ger who had trouble conceiving, and back then, Old Lady Shen treated him terribly.

Shen Xiaojun trembled in his arms. “Ama (ger mother), what’s wrong with Grandma?”

She had never been scolded like this before. Cleaning the pigsty, cutting pig grass—those tasks had always fallen to Shen Qing and Miao Shi. On good days, she would gather wild vegetables with her friends; on lazy days, she embroidered handkerchiefs. She had never once cut pig grass before, so why was Grandma suddenly so furious?

Zhao Aiye wiped away a tear. He had no answer for her. He could endure what Miao Shi had endured—he had no choice. But he would not let his well-raised daughter walk the same path.

---

Meanwhile, Shen Qing and Miao Shi packed up quickly, planning to take advantage of the borrowed cart from the village chief and visit their relatives in Shiqu Village.

“I only visited your grandmother once this year, on the second day of the new year,” Miao Shi said with a sigh.

Now, she picked out a tea-gold fabric with floral patterns from the materials Shen Qing brought back. “This one looks great! There’s even enough to make a padded jacket. The color suits your grandmother too. I haven’t been able to bring anything home for years—this time, thanks to my Qing Ge’er, I can finally show some filial piety.”

Life at the old Shen household had never been easy for Miao Shi. Forget about sending gifts to her maternal family—just making a trip back home and delaying her work at the Shen family would earn her a scolding from Old Lady Shen. On the other hand, it was always her two brothers who secretly sent her supplies.

Thinking of this, Miao Shi picked out a piece of light green diamond-patterned linen. Though not as high-quality as the tea-gold fabric, its bright color was woven with shimmering golden threads and intricate patterns. “Let’s divide this one between your two aunts. Whether they want to make a jacket for themselves or clothes for their children, they can decide.”

Shen Qing naturally had no objections. He never intended to use these fabrics for clothing himself; he had originally thought of making blankets or mattress covers. But if his mother preferred to use them for clothes or gifts, that was fine too. Next time, he would go further and see if there were any more curtains in other storefronts to take back… or perhaps Song Kaiji had fabric as well?

He hadn’t asked last time, too wary of drawing attention to himself by staring at unfamiliar things for too long. But the fabrics in that world were far finer than what was sold in the county. Shen Qing recalled the soft texture of the hoodie he had worn there—if Song Kaiji had fabric, he wouldn’t need to buy any from the county.

After securing the prepared pork leg onto the cart, he set aside four catties of slot cakes, wrapping them into two bundles of two catties each. After some thought, he said to Miao Shi, “Let’s bring some money too. Uncle’s radishes and cabbages should be harvested by now—we can load some onto the cart while we have it.”

He planned to pickle more sauerkraut and radishes to sell in the other world, which meant he would need a substantial amount. Their family didn’t own farmland, only a small vegetable patch, which wouldn’t produce nearly enough. He would have to buy from others.

And if they were going to pay for produce, they might as well buy it from their own family. They had money now and no longer needed his uncles to secretly help them. Paying fairly ensured his uncles wouldn’t be put in a difficult position with his aunts.

Miao Shi agreed, went inside to retrieve the money pouch, and tucked it into her clothing. Before leaving the village, they made a stop at the village chief’s home. Shen Qing knocked on the door with a bundle of slot cakes in hand. “Aunt Guixiang, I brought some slot cakes from the county—here’s a share for you to try!”

“Aiya, Qing Ge’er, why are you being so polite with me?” Wu Guixiang was in the courtyard picking vegetables, her hands still covered in dirt. She hurriedly wiped them on her apron. “You worked hard for this money, and you’re still thinking about bringing me gifts!”

“It’s only right,” Shen Qing said with a grin, handing her the package. “My mother and I are heading to Shiqu Village to visit my grandmother. We’ll be back before dark, and I’ll return the cart then.”

“Take your time—tomorrow is fine too!” Wu Guixiang readily agreed. “And it’s about time your mother got out of the house—she should visit her mother.”

After her divorce, Miao Shi had felt too ashamed to visit Shiqu Village, worried she would tarnish her maternal family’s reputation.

The three of them chatted cheerfully at the doorstep, the atmosphere warm and friendly. Meanwhile, behind the house, the village chief’s eldest son and his wife were repairing their vegetable cellar. The daughter-in-law, ears perked, had been eavesdropping for a while. She suddenly nudged her husband with an elbow.

“Husband, do you think Mother has her eyes on Qing Ge’er? She might be planning to match him with our youngest!”

Zhao Shi was in the middle of drinking water. Hearing this, he spat out a mouthful, coughing violently. “What?! What did you just say?!”

“Shhh, keep your voice down!” His wife hadn’t expected to be sprayed with water and smacked him angrily a few times. Zhao Shi, thinking she was just helping him recover from his cough, felt quite pleased—except the force was a bit too strong.

While wiping herself dry, his wife lowered her voice. “Haven’t you noticed how often Mom has been spending time with Qing Ge’er lately? And how close she’s suddenly gotten to Aunt Miao? You wouldn’t know, but she used to look down on Aunt Miao.”

Zhao Shi was puzzled. “I never noticed. How did you?”

“It’s obvious! Every time she ran into Aunt Miao, she’d purse her lips and roll her eyes—it was written all over her face. And now she’s suddenly acting all warm and friendly? If she wasn’t interested in Qing Ge’er, why would she change her attitude so fast? I even saw her give Qing Ge’er two bean buns this morning.” She held up two fingers for emphasis. “Two, mind you!”

Wu Guixiang might have seemed generous at the time, but in reality, bean buns were not something given away lightly in their household.

Ever since morning, she had been mulling over this possibility. Honestly, having Qing Ge’er as a sister-in-law wouldn’t be bad at all. He was known for being hardworking and had a straightforward personality—not the kind to be difficult. He could chop wood, hunt, and if he became family, wouldn’t that mean regular meat on the table?

As for his looks and build… well, that was her youngest brother’-in-laws concern, not hers.

Zhao Shi sat there dumbfounded. After a long pause, he scratched the back of his head. “If that’s true… well, our little brother’s life is about to get interesting…”

---

In the front yard, after Shen Qing and Miao Shi left, Wu Guixiang happily took the slot cakes inside.

Traditional slot cakes were essentially rustic sponge cakes—village folks didn’t care much for fancy pastries. Instead of buying delicate, colorful confections that would disappear in two bites, they preferred the solid weight of two catties of slot cake.

And was Zhao Shi’s wife completely off the mark? Not really!

Wu Guixiang had indeed considered the idea of matching Qing Ge’er with her youngest son.

The village chief and his wife had five children—three sons and two daughters. The eldest four were already married, leaving only the youngest son. Perhaps because he was the youngest, he had been spoiled and turned out rather lazy. Give him a task, and he would drag his feet like a stubborn donkey, constantly finding excuses to slack off.

The family was well-off enough that his laziness wasn’t a huge problem. Even with his faults, he wouldn’t have trouble finding a spouse. But Wu Guixiang had always wanted to find a partner who could whip her youngest into shape and keep him in line.

In the past, she had disapproved of Miao Shi, and even more so of the old Shen family, never once considering Shen Qing as a match.

But after spending time with Qing Ge’er these past few days, she found him to be an excellent choice.

The idea excited her—but then a memory surfaced in her mind.

She recalled when Qing Ge’er was younger, pinning her youngest son to the ground and pummeling him. One beating wasn’t enough—he had even pulled down his pants and thrown them up a tree.

Wu Guixiang fell silent.

As much as she wanted Qing Ge’er as a son-in-law, her youngest was still her own flesh and blood. No matter how hopeless, he was still her child.

Perhaps… she needed to reconsider.

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