Ch 43: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Upon arriving in the county, everyone accompanied Miao Shi to the grain store first.

A dou of fresh rice cost sixty wen, a dou of millet was forty wen, and a dou of soybeans was fifty wen… If it was last year’s old rice, the price could be two wen cheaper. But now, to Miao Shi, this didn’t seem expensive at all.

However, considering the many fellow villagers who had come along with her, it wouldn’t be wise to flaunt her wealth too openly. So, Miao Shi only bought two shi of old millet, two dou of fresh rice, and one shi of rice bran.

There’s an old saying: “Wild boars won’t eat fine bran.” That was certainly true. To wild boars, whether it was good grain or rice bran, the difference in attraction wasn’t significant—they weren’t picky! Mixing some old millet into that shi of rice bran would be enough to serve as bait. The rest was meant for Shen Qing to take to the apocalyptic world, while the two dou of fresh rice were reserved for their own household.

In truth, Miao Shi wanted to buy much more! Ever since she had eaten the bean buns at the village chief’s house, she had been wanting to buy some red beans and honey to make her own. Making bean buns required some glutinous rice flour to get the right sticky texture. Now that the weather was cold, she could make dumplings and leave them outside to freeze—whenever they wanted to eat them, they would be ready. Wouldn’t that mean she needed to buy more wheat flour too?

But with so many eyes watching her, how could she dare? Miao Shi sighed, reluctantly pulling her gaze away. She became even more certain—she had to establish herself as soon as possible, even if she had to force herself to do it.

Miao Shi had already noticed how much Shen Qing had changed since gaining access to that other world. He wasn’t just accumulating wealth; he was growing rapidly as a person. If she didn’t keep up, if she remained stuck in place, not only would she fail to support him, but she might even become a burden to him.

Shen Qing had been blessed by the heavens to gain this opportunity—how could she, as his mother, bear to drag him down?

If they had lived in the county, buying this much grain would have meant free delivery from the store. A shi was ten dou, roughly 150 pounds. Miao Shi had bought so much, spending over a guan of money, making it quite a large transaction. But since Lantang Village was outside the county, the distance was farther, and the roads were rough. In the end, Miao Shi had to pay an extra five wen to get the shop assistants to deliver the grain to the village.

Madam Guixiang immediately felt distressed. “Why should you have to pay extra for delivery? Why don’t we just load it onto my mule cart? On the way back, the mule can carry the grain while we walk. It’s not that far.”

“It’s fine.” Miao Shi waved her hand. “Since we’ve come all this way, doesn’t everyone want to buy some New Year’s goods? Are we supposed to carry all our things and walk? Just think of it as an advance payment on the wild boar meat.”

“Hah! You’ve already spent money on grain as an ‘advance payment’ for wild boar meat, now you’re covering delivery with it too. The boars haven’t even been caught yet, and you’ve already spent all the meat!” Second Aunt Lian joked. But it also showed that Miao Shi had absolute confidence in Shen Qing’s ability to bring down the wild boars.

The women laughed and chatted as they strolled through the county, taking the opportunity to shop around. Although there would be a large market near the village before the New Year, it still couldn’t compare to the selection in the county. Since they had come all this way, they naturally wanted to pick out the best things for themselves.

Miao Shi, however, didn’t buy anything else. Shen Qing might be slow to notice things when it came to men and women, but she was not. She had slowly realized something—Wu Guixiang kept making her youngest son follow her around, trying to gain favor!

Among everyone who came in the cart, weren’t they all either aunties or uncles? Yet every time she mentioned wanting to buy something, Wu Guixiang would immediately have her son offer to carry it for her. The way she treated Miao Shi was clearly different from how she treated the others. This made Miao Shi hesitate.

Before, back when she was still living with the old Shen family, if someone had come to propose marriage for Shen Qing—so long as it was a decent-looking, healthy man—she would have been moved to tears. Shen Qing was already nineteen, and her biggest worry every day was that he was getting older and still not married off.

Not to mention, Zhao Shuan was the village chief’s son!

And what kind of household was the village chief’s? The highest authority in the village! Meanwhile, what kind of life did she and Qing Ge’er have? Saying they had fallen into the mud and were soaked in hardship wouldn’t be an exaggeration! If Zhao Shuan was willing to marry Qing Ge’er, it would be like pulling him out of that bitter life—she’d be eager to kowtow in gratitude to the village chief’s ancestors! But now…

Miao Shi stole a glance at Wu Guixiang’s youngest son. It was strange—Qing Ge’er was already nineteen, a prime age that had been wasted, and the other was the village chief’s son. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t say Zhao Shuan wasn’t good enough. But deep down, she just didn’t want it!

After thinking it over, Miao Shi could only attribute it to the fact that Qing Ge’er’s secret was too great, making it inconvenient to discuss marriage at the moment. Besides, in this world, marriages were often about balance—one strong, one weak; one outgoing, one reserved; one firm, one yielding. The man had to be able to keep the household under control for the family to be stable and peaceful. And from what she knew, when Qing Ge’er was little, he had beaten Zhao Shuan up multiple times. Zhao Shuan couldn’t suppress Qing Ge’er at all—they just weren’t a good match!

Once she figured this out, Miao Shi naturally began to distance herself from Zhao Shuan. She and Wu Guixiang had only recently gotten closer, and she didn’t want to create awkwardness over this. Luckily, Zhao Shuan himself didn’t seem too keen either. Despite Madam Guixiang’s persistent nudging, he remained unenthusiastic.

“No need to carry my things, good boy, just keep an eye on the mule cart. Make sure no one steals our mule,” Miao Shi quickly put down the roll of blue wool fabric she had been touching and turned to Madam Guixiang. “I can’t afford such fine cloth. I was just looking and feeling it—enjoying the moment. When we have money, I’ll get a set made for Qing Ge’er.”

“That’s more like it. You can’t always be spending in advance on wild boar meat.” Second Aunt Lian laughed, picking out a piece of bright red cotton fabric. The dye in the county shops was just so vibrant! Her younger brother had recently had a son, and with the New Year approaching, this fabric would be perfect for making baby clothes or a swaddle—just right for a gift to her maiden family. Thinking about it, she added, “I wonder how many wild boars are actually on the mountain? If there are a lot, how much will they sell for? You’ll be able to buy that blue wool fabric in no time.”

Who could know? Even Shen Qing himself wasn’t sure. They all hoped there would be plenty of wild boars—but not too many. More boars meant more money when sold, and the guan of silver spent on grain wouldn’t be wasted. But if there were too many, they feared Shen Qing wouldn’t be able to handle them and might end up in danger.

After buying plenty of goods and chatting all the way back to the village, they arrived to a bit of a commotion. The villagers weren’t exactly causing an uproar, but they were treating it as something rare—because it was. It wasn’t that they had never seen a grain cart before, but they had only ever seen grain being taken out of the village, not brought in!

“A ger will always be a ger, always making a spectacle of himself.” A few men stood around whispering. The wild boars hadn’t even shown up yet, but here he was swearing oaths to the village chief, running to the county to buy grain, jumping around without any dignity. They didn’t believe for a second that Shen Qing could actually kill all those wild boars. In the end, this bran and old millet would probably be left for him to eat himself—let’s see how long he could last on that!

Shen Qing couldn’t care less what they thought. By tomorrow or the day after, their faces would be slapped so hard they wouldn’t know what hit them! A shi of bran mixed with a shi of old millet—Shen Qing made three trips carrying it up the mountain, evenly spreading it across the trap he had set up. Then, grabbing the rations and water skin Miao Shi had prepared for him, he instructed, “Mother, as soon as you hear gunfire from the mountain, wait an hour before sending people up to help. Either send word to Uncle’s house or ask the village chief or Second Aunt Lian’s family for help—whoever comes gets five pounds of meat.”

Miao Shi didn’t know what gunfire sounded like, and Shen Qing had never fired a shot in this world before. After thinking for a moment, he explained, “It sounds a bit like firecrackers, or maybe like thunder, but I put a silencer on it, so it’s a bit muffled. Just listen for a series of those sounds.”

Once the wild boars were trapped, he would need to eliminate them quickly.

Shooting them wouldn’t be a problem, but carrying them down the mountain one by one? That would be exhausting! A full-grown wild boar could weigh three to four hundred pounds—two strong men might not even be able to lift one.

Logically, this should be the village chief’s responsibility—wild boars were a major issue for the village, and his house was closest. But after Madam Guixiang’s behavior today, Miao Shi hesitated. She didn’t want to deal too closely with the village chief’s family for now. If they hadn’t explicitly talked about it, they could still pretend to be unaware. But if Wu Guixiang got too excited and brought it up, Miao Shi truly wouldn’t know how to refuse. Right now, the best solution was to avoid her.

After much thought, Miao Shi reluctantly said, “I’ll send word to your uncle instead. Let them bring your cousins along. That way, our own family gets the five pounds of meat—no outsiders taking advantage, and no one can complain.”

She paused, then hesitantly asked, “Your Aunt Guixiang had her boy drive us to the county today. That Zhao Shuan has grown up now… what do you think of him?”

“He’s a little better than before, I guess. Not as obnoxious. Still annoying to look at, but as long as he doesn’t provoke me, I won’t do anything to him—for Aunt Guixiang’s sake.” Shen Qing seriously considered it before adding, “If he had been this well-behaved when he was younger, I wouldn’t have had to beat him up so many times.” After all, he was the village chief’s son. Shen Qing usually didn’t beat dogs unless he considered their owner.

Miao Shi had already expected this answer. She knew Qing Ge’er would never have any thoughts about Zhao Shuan. She wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or disappointed. “Your Aunt Guixiang treats us well. You must promise me you won’t hit Zhao Shuan again.”

Shen Qing casually agreed before heading up the mountain with his supplies. Meanwhile, Miao Shi sat at home, thinking over their conversation. She couldn’t help but wonder—she had just rejected the idea of the village chief’s son, so what kind of husband would be able to handle Qing Ge’er in the future?

Her hand suddenly froze on her teacup—why did it have to be someone who could “handle” Qing Ge’er? Why did it have to be a man who could keep a ger in check?

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Up in the mountains, Shen Qing lay on a tree branch. The thick foliage concealed him perfectly.

He had been lying there for two hours already. Whenever he got hungry, he took a few bites of his rations. He tried not to drink too much water—only sipping a little when absolutely necessary—lest he need to relieve himself.

This tree stood along the wild boars’ usual path. Beneath him, the net had been carefully set, with a generous pile of old millet mixed with bran at the center. The only entrance had a mechanism set up, with a rope leading directly to Shen Qing’s hand.

Being a hunter required patience—this was something the old hunter had drilled into him. Even if he had to wait two more hours, he would endure it.

Fortunately, the boars didn’t make him wait that long. After half an hour, he heard a commotion—rustling footsteps. A herd of wild boars emerged from the dense forest, stopping beneath his tree.

The sudden sight of the circular net confused them. They didn’t rush forward as usual. The lead boar stepped closer, sniffing the air. Smelling the grain, it grunted a few times and stepped inside, happily feasting.

With their leader setting the example, the others followed.

One, two, three… thirteen, fourteen. Shen Qing silently counted. When the last boar stepped in, distracted by the delicious food, he quietly pulled the rope.

The entrance sealed shut behind them, unnoticed.

Now! Shen Qing raised his gun, aiming first at the lead boar.

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