Ch 81: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, a group of officials in uniform bypassed Shiqu Village and headed straight for Lantang Village, giving the villagers quite a scare!

Right before the new year—what were they here for?

As soon as the news spread, Village Chief Zhao Youdang’s heart shot up into his throat! Yesterday, he had been bold in front of Xiaoji Village’s chief, talking about reporting to the authorities, but the reality was that unless they had no other choice, no villager wanted to get involved with the government. Officials and their men were like ghosts of the underworld, squeezing every bit out of people they encountered—anyone who entered their grasp would lose at least a layer of skin before they got out!

And now, they were arriving right before the new year. Worse still, these weren’t the usual officials he was familiar with, the ones he could at least try to build a relationship with. He had no way to gauge their intentions. His mind raced toward the worst possibilities—were they here to raise taxes? To recruit soldiers for war?

The villagers were just as terrified. They stood at a distance, whispering among themselves, trying to guess why the officials had come. The more they speculated, the more frightened they became. The officials hadn’t even spoken yet, and some people’s legs were already weak.

With no choice, Zhao Youdang braced himself and stepped forward. After all, he was the village chief—he enjoyed more status and privileges than others in daily life, so now, in times of crisis, he had to take responsibility.

“Are you the village chief of Lantang Village?”

Surprisingly, the person leading the group wasn’t an official but a middle-aged man in a long robe and a sheepskin jacket. He didn’t look like an official at all but rather like a wealthy merchant. His tone was polite, too.

Zhao Youdang quickly cupped his hands in greeting. “And you are…?”

Regardless of who this man was, the fact that he had officials with him meant Zhao Youdang couldn’t afford to be careless.

“I am the owner of Jinhu Brokerage in the southern part of Anping County,” the broker introduced himself with a smile. “I’ve come today on behalf of Registrar Liu and Scribe Yang from the county office to handle a matter in your village.”

Zhao Youdang’s heart skipped a beat. The county office?

The broker continued, “A certain esteemed person has purchased the mountain to the east of your village. We’re here today to survey the land and inform the village that from now on, East Mountain has an owner. Your villagers should refrain from going there to avoid displeasing the nobleman.”

As he spoke, he handed over an official document from the county office.

Though the mountain was near Lantang Village, the land technically belonged to Anping County. As long as someone purchased it through official channels, there was no need for the village’s consent.

Zhao Youdang had no choice but to accept the reality. What else could he say? The document bore the county office’s red seal—this was a done deal.

Still, he was puzzled. East Mountain was just an ordinary hill. It had little to offer, not much in the way of resources, and the scenery wasn’t anything special. Why would a nobleman buy it?

The broker chuckled. “The nobleman’s family intends to build an estate there for their ladies to visit and relax. They’ll also be constructing a direct road from the county to East Mountain for ease of travel. Right now, things are simple, but once the estate is built, your villagers must be extra careful. If anyone offends the noblewomen, they could be beaten to death without a place to plead their case.”

These words made Zhao Youdang even more anxious, though he knew they were true. A noble family naturally had power, wealth, and influence, and the reputation of their women was particularly delicate. He made up his mind to warn the villagers properly—there was no sense in being an egg that threw itself against a rock!

What he didn’t know, however, was that this very noblewoman was in his kitchen at that moment, frying eggplant fritters with his wife!

And who was this broker?

It was none other than the same Jinhu broker who had sold the mansion to Shen Qing!

And as it turned out, he really had managed to pull the right strings to help Shen Qing purchase East Mountain!

The reason he had brought the officials to the village on the eve of the new year was because of Shen Qing’s lack of understanding of official procedures.

That morning, Shen Qing had gone to town with a large sum of silver, eager to finalize the purchase. However, he hadn’t realized that the county office had already closed for the new year on the 23rd. Once sealed, they wouldn’t reopen until after the Lantern Festival.

Unless it was a matter of life and death, no official business would be processed during this period.

Shen Qing was just a village ger who had only recently gained some wealth—how could he have known about these bureaucratic schedules? So, he had missed his chance, and the purchase couldn’t be completed before the year’s end.

“But I’ve already spoken with Scribe Yang, and he agreed to sell you East Mountain,” the broker reassured him. Before this, he had been a little uneasy, afraid that after all his efforts, Shen Qing might no longer be interested. “However, the price may be a bit higher than expected.”

In truth, the land wasn’t worth much. If it had been good for farming, it would have been cultivated long ago. East Mountain was mostly covered in loose stones, with thin, poor-quality soil—trying to farm it would be more trouble than it was worth.

But as the saying goes, “A farmer lives by the mountain,” and not just in terms of farming. The trees on the mountain could be used for building houses, fallen branches made for excellent firewood, and the wild mushrooms and vegetables could serve as supplementary food sources. That’s why villages rarely sold off the mountains near them.

Of course, whether the land was sold or not ultimately depended on the officials.

The broker’s explanation to Shen Qing was a subtle hint—the right people had been paid off.

The land itself was only worth 300 to 400 taels of silver, but the bribes had cost another 100 to 200 taels.

Shen Qing hadn’t realized how many layers of complications were involved, but after hearing the broker’s explanation, he felt like he had learned something new. In fact, he was rather grateful.

To him, a few hundred taels of silver was nothing now. As long as he could secure East Mountain and protect the secret of the cave, money was the least of his concerns.

“In that case, I appreciate your help, Boss Jin,” Shen Qing said, cupping his hands in gratitude. Then, he figured he might as well make another request. “I also plan to build an estate on the mountain and construct a road leading directly from the estate to the county office. Do you happen to know anyone suitable for the job?”

Shen Qing planned to buy grain from the county and transport it to the post-apocalyptic world in the future. But carrying sacks of grain up the mountain by himself would be exhausting—why not build a proper road so that carts could transport everything directly?

He intended to construct his estate right in front of the cave, even incorporating it into the property, making the entire area his private land. This way, the cave would be hidden in plain sight, safe from prying eyes.

That was no small project—easily costing a thousand taels or more!

Boss Jin was so excited that his face turned red. “I have just the person! My wife’s younger brother is in the construction business. If you don’t mind, I’ll have him handle it. If anything isn’t to your satisfaction, just come to me!”

In truth, his brother-in-law was just a regular builder who had never worked on anything as grand as an estate, let alone a road. But he had to accept the job first—even if he had to hire others later, he couldn’t let such an enormous fortune slip away!

Both sides were pleased with the arrangement, though it was unfortunate that the government offices were sealed for the new year, meaning the process couldn’t be completed immediately.

However, Shen Qing suddenly changed his mind about how to express his gratitude. Originally, he had planned to tip Boss Jin with twenty taels of silver. But as his hand brushed over the agate pendant at his waist, he reconsidered.

He had a wealth of jewelry that he couldn’t liquidate due to a lack of proper channels. But Boss Jin, having spent years navigating the county’s business circles, surely had those connections. If Shen Qing needed to convert jewelry into cash, why not start by offering some to Boss Jin and the officials involved?

“I didn’t bring much silver with me today, so please take this pendant as a token of my appreciation, Boss Jin. And once the county office reopens after the Lantern Festival, I’ll prepare an equally generous gift for Scribe Yang,” Shen Qing said.

Boss Jin took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with greed. After a brief moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, “Please wait here—I’ll be right back!”

And that was how Shen Qing learned the true meaning of money makes the world go round.

Boss Jin had a keen eye—having spent so many years in the market, he could recognize the value of fine goods at a glance. The moment he saw that pendant hanging from Shen Qing’s waist, he knew it was high-quality agate. Pure in texture, vibrant in color—though it wasn’t much bigger than a pigeon’s egg, its worth was nearly equal to Shen Qing’s entire mansion!

He had expected a generous tip—maybe twenty or thirty taels, at most fifty. Even that would have been significant, considering that the county magistrate’s annual salary was only forty or fifty taels, and subordinates like registrars and scribes made even less. Of course, they had their own means of collecting unofficial tributes.

As for Boss Jin himself, operating a well-established brokerage in the county, he earned about one to two hundred taels a year—making him one of the higher earners in Anping County.

But he had never imagined that Shen Qing would be this generous!

This one reward was worth nearly a year’s income! And that was before counting the construction of the estate and road. At this point, if the contract wasn’t signed immediately, Boss Jin would be terrified of losing this golden opportunity!

Leaving his wife and children to entertain Shen Qing, he sprinted off to Scribe Yang’s house.

A substantial gift, combined with Boss Jin’s persuasive words, even managed to bring the registrar into the matter. Despite the county office being officially closed for the new year, they made an exception and processed the sale of East Mountain.

Not only that, but they even dispatched a team of clerks and constables to Lantang Village to conduct an official land survey.

Though these clerks grumbled about being forced to work right before the new year, none of them truly resented it—the tips they received for this trip were more than generous. Who wouldn’t want to be personally chosen by Scribe Yang for such an easy and lucrative task?

The clerks diligently measured the land, even going as far as to expand the recorded boundary slightly in Shen Qing’s favor. They then formally notified Zhao Youdang and documented everything accordingly.

Later, Zhao Youdang gathered the men of the village for a meeting to inform them of the sale.

The villagers were told that East Mountain had been purchased by a nobleman from the city and was now off-limits. Though many felt uneasy about it, no one dared to protest in front of the government clerks.

These were the same people who often grumbled about everything, who always had something to say whenever Zhao Youdang made a decision. But when faced with people from a higher social class, all they could do was swallow their dissatisfaction and accept their fate.

Of course, there were also those types of people—the ones who didn’t care if they suffered as long as everyone else suffered too.

“Well, we don’t really need to go up the mountain anyway. We get enough firewood from our fields, and if we need wild vegetables, we can just go to the southern hills instead. What’s a few extra steps?” someone said with a smirk, clearly enjoying others’ misfortune. “At least my family doesn’t rely on the mountain to survive. This is much worse for those who make a living selling firewood and hunting.”

Shen Qing wasn’t invited to the village meeting this time, but Madam Guixiang overheard the discussions and later recounted them to Miao Shi.

“I don’t understand these people,” she grumbled. “This situation affects the whole village, yet just because some people are worse off than others, they’re happy about it.”

She then turned to Shen Qing and added with concern, “Do you think your workshop plans will still work? If they do, at least you’ll have a stable position managing it, and you won’t have to chop firewood anymore.”

She then noticed Miao Shi’s face and asked in surprise, “What happened to you? Why are you so red? Did you get too close to the fire?”

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