Ch 61: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Miao Shi waved her hands repeatedly. “No, no,” she said, glancing at Li Yanzi beside her. Sure enough, her sister-in-law’s face had already darkened like a piece of charcoal. Only when she saw Miao Shi refuse did her expression ease a little.

Well then, the rumor that Miao Wang and Li Yanzi had quarreled earlier must have been because of this!

Miao Wang winced in pain as Li Yanzi twisted his arm, his facial features contorting, yet he still forced himself to ask Miao Shi, “Why? You don’t approve of Xiao Yu?”

“What does approval have to do with it? They’re both family, I love them both dearly. But Qing Ge’er and Xiao Yu really aren’t a good match—their ages are too far apart,” Miao Shi hurriedly reassured Li Yanzi. “Xiao Yu is a good kid, and he and Qing Ge’er share a great brotherly bond. Even if they don’t marry, won’t they still support each other? But Qing Ge’er is indeed much older than Xiao Yu. Forcing them together would only make the child uncomfortable and hurt their relationship.”

“Besides, I’m not afraid of being laughed at—I have no say over Qing Ge’er. He’s the one making decisions in our family, not me. That boy has a mind of his own! Whatever kind of partner he wants, he can find for himself—I have no control over that. But from what I can see, he has no such feelings for Xiao Yu! I know you mean well, hoping I’ll move back home, but you can’t sacrifice the kids’ happiness just for my sake.”

Miao Wang snorted. “Since when does a mother not have the final say over her child?” In every other household, marriages were arranged by the parents. It was just that his sister was too soft-hearted.

Miao Shi cast him a glance. “If I really wanted to force my will on him, I could. Qing Ge’er is soft-hearted and filial—he would listen to me. But why should I? He’s more decisive than I am, smarter, and more capable. Why should I insist on having the final say? Just to show off my authority as his mother? I won’t live forever—he’s the one who has to live with the consequences. Should I make him unhappy just to prove I’m in charge?”

Miao Wang, a straightforward man, had never heard such reasoning before. He stood there, dumbfounded. Wasn’t it common sense that a father made the decisions and a son obeyed? Wasn’t that just how things worked?

Miao Shi glanced at Li Yanzi again, then turned to Miao Wang. “And you—let me tell you something as your sister. You only think about how nice it would be for me to move back, but have you considered whether Yanzi is willing? Xiao Yu isn’t just your child—how can you expect to make all the decisions by yourself?”

Miao Wang grew even more confused. He was the man of the house—wasn’t it his role to make the big decisions? Hadn’t it always been that way, with women handling the small matters and men deciding the important ones?

Beside him, Li Yanzi was on the verge of tears. She had been wary of Miao Shi for a long time, convinced that she and Miao Wang had plotted this together. But after all this discussion, it turned out that her husband was the only one pushing the idea, while Miao Shi, his elder sister, was the one who truly understood her feelings. “Sister, you’ve spoken straight to my heart!” she choked out.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing had no idea that while he was away, Miao Wang had tried to arrange a marriage for him—only to be swiftly rejected. Carrying a basket of sausages, he hadn’t walked far before he arrived at Tongsheng Miao’s house.

Tongsheng Miao’s home was just one household away from the Miao brothers’. As Shen Qing approached the entrance, a strong scent of medicinal herbs filled his nose, accompanied by the sound of a child crying. He stood at the doorway for a moment, about to knock, when Tongsheng Miao suddenly rushed out. Seeing Shen Qing at the door, he was briefly startled. “Shen Qing? What brings you here?”

Shen Qing quickly lifted the basket in his hands. “I wanted to thank you for standing up for my mother when you went to Lantang Village. We were so busy settling in after moving out that we didn’t have a chance to properly express our gratitude. Now that I have some free time, I wanted to bring you something as thanks. These are some sausages my mother made—I brought a few for you to try.”

A faint smile appeared on Tongsheng Miao’s lips. “You’ve certainly been busy. One moment I hear you hunted a wild boar, the next I hear you wiped out an entire herd of them—you really are something.” When they had last met, he already thought this boy was bold. Now, it seemed he wasn’t just bold—he was capable too. “Come in and sit for a bit?”

It was meant as a polite offer, but anyone could tell Tongsheng Miao had been about to head out. Besides, Shen Qing was an unmarried young ger, and though he was distantly related to Miao Tongsheng, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to be alone together in a room. However, Shen Qing thought of the gift in his hands and thickened his skin. “Alright, I’ll come in for a bit. It’s quite cold out here.”

Tongsheng Miao raised an eyebrow.

Instead of leading Shen Qing into the room he had just left, he took him into the main hall where his parents lived. “Father, Shen Qing from Miao Xing’s family is here. He brought some sausages.”

The house was spacious—Shiqu Village was already well-off, and Scholar Miao’s family was even wealthier. The house, built with blue bricks and tiles, was large and well-furnished, making Shen Qing a little envious.

Shen Qing wasn’t from Shiqu Village, so Scholar Miao stared at him blankly for a moment before recalling who he was. “Ah, you’re Chunlei’s son, aren’t you?”

“Exactly,” Shen Qing responded promptly. “Scholar Grandfather, how has your health been recently?”

Before he even entered the courtyard, he had already caught a strong scent of medicinal herbs. He initially assumed that Scholar Miao or his wife was unwell, but upon stepping inside the house, the scent was noticeably fainter.

“I’m managing. You child, you’ve just started to settle down, yet you’re already being so generous,” Scholar Miao remarked as he glanced at the basket of sausages, which contained seven or eight hefty links.

“It’s only right. If not for you asking Uncle Miao to accompany my uncle to help us, my mother and I wouldn’t have escaped so easily.” Shen Qing sat down and pulled out a sheet of oiled paper from his chest pocket. “Actually, there’s another reason I came today—I encountered a few words I don’t recognize. I wanted to ask if you and Uncle Miao could tell me how to read them.”

Tongsheng Miao was quite surprised. He had thought that Shen Qing, despite his thick skin, must have some serious matter to discuss, yet it turned out he had come just to ask about a few words?

Scholar Miao was also a bit taken aback but still took the oiled paper. The writing was scrawled in charcoal, the strokes uneven. The first three characters—”whitening” and “big”—were easy to recognize, but the last one had a simple structure: a “treasure” radical on top and a “jade” character below. Despite its simplicity, he had never seen this character before.

Scholar Miao furrowed his brows in thought for a moment, then told Shen Qing how to pronounce the first three characters. Shen Qing’s heart confirmed his suspicion—the writing in that world was the same as in this one. Then, he heard Scholar Miao say, “This last character, I don’t recognize it. Did you copy it wrong?”

He pondered for a moment. “Could it be that you added the ‘treasure’ radical to a jade character from somewhere else?”

Shen Qing was momentarily stunned. He was certain he hadn’t copied it wrong, but this wasn’t the time to argue, so he simply smiled and said, “Then I must have written it incorrectly.”

Scholar Miao stroked his beard and looked at Shen Qing kindly. “Are you thinking about learning to read?”

He wasn’t a particularly rigid man and didn’t see literacy as something exclusive to scholars, nor did he believe that common folk shouldn’t taint it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have encouraged the villagers to learn arithmetic and become shopkeepers or accountants in the county, nor would he have allowed women and young men to sit in on his lessons without driving them away.

He also knew about Shen Qing’s situation. Although he was a young ger, he was now the head of his household. Learning to read could only benefit him.

Shen Qing nodded eagerly. This was exactly what he had come for. “Scholar Grandfather, if I want to learn, what books should I buy?”

“For beginners, just getting the ‘Three,’ ‘Hundred,’ and ‘Thousand’ books will be enough.” Since Shen Qing was a young man and wouldn’t be taking the imperial examinations, he didn’t need to study the Eight-Legged Essays or the principles of governance. As long as he could fully recognize and understand the “Three Character Classic,” “Hundred Family Surnames,” and “Thousand Character Classic,” it would be enough for daily use. “If you’re serious about learning, you can come ask me whenever you don’t understand something.”

Shen Qing carefully noted it down. “Then I’ll go buy them at a bookstore the next time I go to town.”

“Why go to a bookstore?” Tongsheng Miao had originally planned to give the books to Shen Qing for free, but knowing his stubborn personality, he guessed that Shen Qing wouldn’t accept charity. “I have hand-copied versions at home. Just give me a little money for them.”

Seeing the hesitation on Shen Qing’s face, he added, “There’s a sick person at home right now, and we need money. If you buy my copies, just think of it as helping out my family.”

Since he put it that way, Shen Qing had no choice but to agree. He hadn’t brought much money with him today, only a few hundred copper coins. Tongsheng Miao accepted a token payment of a hundred coins and handed over the three books.

Shen Qing ran his fingers over the neatly written characters on the fine-quality paper and knew that a hundred coins wouldn’t even cover the cost of the materials. He deeply appreciated the gesture. He resolved to collect good-quality brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones the next time he ventured into that other world, so he could return the favor to Tongsheng Miao’s family.

Right then and there, Scholar Miao and Tongsheng Miao taught him a few characters. However, a bout of coughing from the other room reminded Tongsheng Miao of something, and he suddenly slapped his forehead. “Oh! I was supposed to go out and get medicine—I completely forgot!”

Shen Qing felt bad, realizing that he had delayed Tongsheng Miao’s errand. He quickly got up to take his leave. However, just as he was about to step out, a thought struck him.

“Scholar Grandfather, have you ever heard of the word ‘ancient times’? And what about ‘historical drama’? Do you know what these terms mean?”

“Ancient times?” Scholar Miao mused over the phrase. “Could it mean the previous dynasty or even earlier eras? The term does exist, but it’s not commonly used.” The word “ancient” was frequently used, often referring to things from long ago—like “Ancient Qin,” “Ancient Zhou,” “Ancient texts,” or “Ancient people.” These were common phrases, but the specific term “ancient times” was rarely used. “As for ‘historical drama,’ I’ve never heard of it. Does it refer to people dressing in ancient clothing and performing operatic plays? Where did you hear this term?”

Shen Qing’s mind raced. Everything that existed here also existed in that other world. Even if it didn’t exist yet, Song Kaiji and Tang Wenjie still knew of it and referred to it as “ancient.” He had always believed the two places were different worlds, but the term “ancient times” made him realize—what if the cave he traveled through wasn’t a passage between places, but between time itself?

What if he wasn’t from another world, but rather someone from Song Kaiji’s world, living many, many, many years in the past?

But that couldn’t be right. Song Kaiji’s world didn’t have gers like him, so why was that?

One mystery unraveled, only for countless new ones to arise. Shen Qing could only mentally note these questions for later and forced a smile. “I heard it from a storyteller in town. I didn’t understand it, so I thought I’d ask you.”

“I see,” Scholar Miao said, accepting the explanation. “Those storytellers may seem knowledgeable, but many of them are illiterate. They pass down their tales orally from master to apprentice, and mistakes or misremembered details are common. That term is likely just an error—no need to dwell on it.” He pointed at the books in Shen Qing’s hands and said earnestly, “Once you learn to read, you’ll understand even more than they do.”

Shen Qing lowered his gaze to the books in his hands and nodded. “I’ll make sure to study well.”

◦°˚(*❛‿❛)/˚°◦