Ch 138: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Anping County Government Office, Rear Hall

After finishing his official duties, Magistrate Lin turned toward the third hall and saw his nephew, Lin Zao, carrying a tray of untouched food as he stepped out of the west wing.

“Is Ning Ge’er still upset?” Magistrate Lin asked.

Magistrate Lin came from humble beginnings. He was the textbook example of a farmer-turned-scholar, rising from a rural peasant background to an official position through the imperial examination. It had only been four years since he passed the jinshi exam, and his family was still relatively poor. He couldn’t afford servants, nor was he used to having them. Instead, he brought two of his clan’s children to help out at home—saving the cost of buying servants while also supporting and lifting up his relatives. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and many families did the same.

The ones who had been harassed by the county constable’s youngest son last night were none other than Magistrate Lin’s only ger son, Lin Ning, and his nephew, Lin Zao.

Last night, the two gers had returned home in tears, lodging their complaints. In his anger, Magistrate Lin had immediately sent his officers to arrest the county constable’s son. But before the young man could be dragged to the yamen, County Constable Zhou had personally come to apologize. He bowed repeatedly, offered gifts, and even forced his son to kneel at Lin Ning’s door to beg for forgiveness. In front of Magistrate Lin, he had given his son a series of harsh slaps.

As a military man, his strikes were not light. The slaps were firm and left the boy’s face swollen like a pig’s head within the time it took to drink half a cup of tea—puffed up nearly two fingers thick.

But even so, Magistrate Lin knew this was merely a performance meant to appease him. Since they worked in the same yamen, crossing paths often, and since the constable’s rank wasn’t much lower than his own, it wasn’t wise to create unnecessary hostility—especially considering Magistrate Lin had only been in office for a year, unlike County Constable Captain Zhou, who had deep-rooted connections. Once he calmed down, he realized it was better not to escalate the matter, so he coldly let Captain Zhou take his son home.

Because of this, Lin Ning had thrown a small tantrum and refused to come out for lunch. Even the pastries brought to his room remained largely untouched.

But Lin Zao shook his head. Having grown up under Magistrate Lin’s watch, he had always been close to Lin Ning. Even though his uncle had become an official, Lin Zao still wasn’t afraid of him and treated him as family. After thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice and said, “I don’t think Ning Ge’er is angry. I think he has something else on his mind.”

“Oh?” Magistrate Lin furrowed his brows and looked toward the west wing for a while before sighing helplessly. If Lin Ning had something weighing on his heart, as his father, he could more or less guess what it was.

Lin Ning leaned against the window, staring outside in a daze.

Unlike other officials who, upon taking a new post, would either purchase a residence and later resell it or rent a courtyard for a few years, their family couldn’t afford such luxuries. They weren’t destitute, but buying a house outright was beyond their means.

The county yamen provided a residence for the magistrate, located behind the hall. While most officials only stayed there temporarily during busy periods, his family had moved in as their permanent home.

As a result, there wasn’t much of a view outside his window—just a narrow passage leading to an exit where a lone pomegranate tree stood. Now that early spring had arrived, fresh green buds sprouted from its branches, which had been bare all winter. Occasionally, a bird would perch on a branch, preening its feathers.

When Lin Ning was born, his father was still a struggling scholar who had repeatedly failed the imperial exams. In the village, he was somewhat respected, but with each successive failure, that respect waned. His most welcomed moments were during the New Year when people would bring red paper to their home, asking his father to write couplets for free. The more generous ones would stuff his pockets full of peanuts.

Back then, he was just an ordinary village ger, running wild with the local children, playing across the village and mountains without a care in the world. His parents adored him and never tried to restrain him.

Then, at the age of eight or nine, everything changed. His father suddenly seemed to have an epiphany—passing the tongsheng, xiucai, and juren exams in quick succession, ranking among the top each time.

By the time Lin Ning turned twelve, his father had passed the jinshi examination and become an official. The family left the small mountain village where they had been born and raised. His father first served as a magistrate in another county for three years before being transferred to Anping County.

Once someone became an official, no matter how poor they were, life was still far better than in the village. Ning Ge’er could now eat refined rice, wear silk, and live in a proper brick house. Though the magistrate’s residence at the county yamen might seem small and plain to other officials, to them, it was a sturdy, well-built home.

However, their happiness lasted only a couple of years before troubles arose.

And at first, those troubles were hidden behind sweet honey.

After his father became an official, many wealthy families sought to establish connections with them through marriage. One such family proposed a match to Lin County Magistrate’s younger brother—Lin Ning’s uncle.

Magistrate Lin had lost both parents and had only this one younger ger brother, who was at the prime age for marriage. The family in question was wealthy, and their young master was a strikingly handsome man. When Lin Ning’s uncle took a peek at him from behind a screen, he was immediately smitten, and the marriage was arranged.

Yet what was meant to be a joyous occasion became the beginning of his uncle’s tragic life.

Like Lin Ning, his uncle was a ger raised in a rural village. With their parents gone and a doting elder brother and sister-in-law, he had spent his childhood running wild, free from restrictions. But the wealthy merchant family that married him in had sought only his status as the magistrate’s brother, not him as a person. Even the husband he had admired turned out to dislike and resent him.

But wasn’t this just how marriages worked in these times? Especially among noble and powerful families—marriage was not about love. It was about uniting two surnames, strengthening ties between the Lin family and the merchant household. In fact, gers and women were often married off as tools, mere vessels to maintain family alliances.

Yet Lin Ning’s uncle could not accept this reality.

First, life in the village was different from that of the elite. In poor families, marriage was about survival and reproduction, not political alliances. Second, Lin County Magistrate and his fulang were childhood sweethearts who truly loved each other. Watching his older brother and brother-in-law’s affectionate daily life, Lin Ning’s uncle had expected the same from his own marriage.

But despite marrying the man he admired, his life turned into a nightmare.

Had it been any other family, they would have advised him to accept his fate, act with dignity, and uphold his role as the legal spouse. The merchant family still honored the Lin family, and in a world where officials and merchants colluded for mutual benefit, how could a dispute over an inner-court ger possibly break such ties?

But Magistrate Lin was fiercely protective of his younger brother.

He had chosen the wealthy merchant family not because he expected bribes, but because he wanted his brother to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

After enduring two painful years, the marriage ended in a he li (mutual separation). Lin Ning’s uncle returned home with his child and settled in the room next to Lin Ning’s.

Now, Lin Ning had reached the age of marriage and faced the same dilemma.

Many people sought to marry him, but few genuinely cared for him as a person. They looked down on his rustic ways, mocked his tanned skin and the country air that clung to him, yet at the same time, they feared and envied his father’s power, eager to become part of the Lin family for the prestige it would bring.

And the Zhou family, the county captain’s household, was the worst of them all.

Last night, when the Zhou family’s son cornered him in an alleyway, Shen Qing had been watching from the second floor, assuming it was just some playboy chasing after beauty. But only Lin Ning and Lin Zao knew the truth.

Zhou’s son had laughed as he approached, reaching to undo Lin Ning’s clothes. But what he said was—

“With that face, you’re not even as good-looking as my second-rank maid. If it weren’t for your father, do you think I’d be willing? You should be grateful—at least your father outranks mine. Since we work together, I won’t treat you too badly. Otherwise, if you were married off to another family, what difference would there be between you and your uncle?”

“A ger parading around town like this, where have you ever seen such a thing? What kind of proper young master behaves like that? I’m the one being wronged here! If my father weren’t forcing me to marry you… We both don’t want this, so after the wedding, we can just ignore each other. It’s just an alliance anyway…”

Lin Ning thought—perhaps the reason Zhou’s son got slapped in the face by his own father wasn’t just for show. Maybe the county captain had been genuinely furious after realizing his son had spoken the whole truth so bluntly.

But in a way, Zhou’s son wasn’t wrong. Lin Ning’s marriage prospects were in a precarious position—neither here nor there, seemingly fated to end in disappointment.

Then, he recalled the moment he felt most helpless—the moment when someone kicked Zhou’s son aside and pulled him out of that alley.

He had seen Shen Qing before. Not just once. So even though Shen Qing had wrapped himself up tightly, when the cloth covering part of his face slipped in the rush, Lin Ning had recognized him instantly.

Shen Qing was well-known in town. Not only did the shopkeepers remember him as a generous spender, but the young women and gers of the city would all steal extra glances whenever they saw him.

In the past, Lin Ning hadn’t understood his uncle—how he could fall for someone after just a glance through a screen, without even speaking a word to them.

But after secretly watching Shen Qing a few times, he began to understand.

Yet, because he often walked the streets himself, he also knew Shen Qing was very wealthy.

So… would Shen Qing also find them crude and unworthy? Would he disdain them as his uncle’s husband once had?

Two knocks sounded at the door. Lin Ning, still sulking, went to open it and saw his father, Magistrate Lin, standing there with a bowl of egg noodles.

A small half-bowl of thin noodles floated in a red broth, with two large poached eggs on top, garnished with fresh green scallions.

Magistrate Lin placed the bowl on the table. “Ning Ge’er, are you still upset? I personally cooked your favorite egg noodles and even added two eggs. Eat it while it’s hot—if it gets soggy, it won’t taste good. You can’t go without food. I heard a new snack shop opened in town, and everyone’s rushing to buy from it. I sent Zao Ge’er to get some for dinner. For now, eat this to hold you over.”

Lin Ning thought his father was sneaky!

A child raised in hardship, even after growing up in better conditions, still carried old habits. For Lin Ning, that habit was refusing to waste food. He could skip pastries and rice—after all, cooked rice could sit there, and in the cold weather, it wouldn’t spoil. He could reheat it in the evening.

But noodles were different. If left too long, they turned into a mushy mess!

Feeling helpless, Lin Ning took the bowl and, despite lacking an appetite, slowly ate it with a side of pickled vegetables. Only when he started eating did Magistrate Lin finally relax.

Softly, he said, “It’s my fault. I’ve let you suffer. But in officialdom, many things require patience. It’s not that I don’t want to stand up for you—I just have to be careful.”

Lin Ning was silent for a moment. He swallowed his mouthful of noodles before quietly saying, “I know it’s difficult for you. But that’s not why I’m upset.”

He wasn’t angry at Magistrate Lin. In truth, he had nowhere to direct his frustration. What unsettled him wasn’t a specific person, but his situation—his dilemma. No matter how much he fought back, there would always be people who both coveted and despised him at the same time.

Magistrate Lin fell silent as well.

After a long pause, he finally said, “Your mother and I have discussed it. If nothing else works, we can find a capable young man from our village and have him marry into our family. At least with a fellow villager, no one would look down on anyone. I can guide him—help him either study for the exams or start a business. With my support, life will still be better than what we had in the village.”

He glanced at Lin Ning, feeling a little awkward. “Do you already have someone in mind? If you do, I won’t have to pick.”

A single image flashed through Lin Ning’s mind—Shen Qing.

He clutched the hem of his sleeve, hesitating on whether to mention it.

Just then, Zao Ge’er’s excited voice rang out from outside. “Ning Ge’er! Ning ger! Great news! Really great news!”

He burst into the room but froze upon seeing Magistrate Lin inside. His beaming expression stiffened instantly.

Magistrate Lin raised an eyebrow. “What’s the good news? Did you buy the food?”

Zao Ge’er subtly hid his basket behind his back—it was empty. He had barely stepped out of the back door before rushing back, leaving no time to buy anything.

“Uh… nothing…”

Under Magistrate Lin’s intense death glare, Zao Ge’er’s psychological defenses finally crumbled.

“Wuwu, I’ll talk! I just stepped out the back door and saw the young master who saved us yesterday. It looks like he’s moving into the small two-entry courtyard right across from us…”

Magistrate Lin frowned. “And why is that considered good news?”

Lin Ning and Lin Zao both fell silent.

Magistrate Lin glanced at his nephew, then at his own son. Slowly, he stood up. “I’ll go out and take a look.”

—

The residence that Shen Qing hadn’t been able to inspect last night—today, he had returned with Gold-Tooth to see it.

In reality, as long as the place didn’t have any outrageous problems, Shen Qing was more or less set on buying it. First, he had accumulated too many goods from the wholesale markets and urgently needed storage space to free up room. Second, even before Jie Miyun had come to “serve” him, Shen Qing had already been considering relocating the Jie siblings.

The house in the northern part of the city was now mainly used for business, with Shopkeeper Xiao Miao and Tieshan occasionally staying there. With people constantly coming and going, it wasn’t very convenient. This residence, located near the rear gate of the yamen, was undoubtedly much safer than the one in the north.

Now, Shen Qing was even more determined to move Jie Miyun here!

This house was in a prime location in the county—completely incomparable to the suburban areas near the city gates. While calling it “worth its weight in gold” might be an exaggeration, it certainly leaned in that direction. The entire courtyard was “exquisite”—compact and small in both the house and garden.

Yet it was elegant, with every tree and blade of grass meticulously maintained. Unlike the northern city house, where after Mudan and the others had cleared out the withered plants, they had even planted vegetables in the yard.

Shen Qing walked around, finding the place quite satisfactory. He instructed Gold-Tooth to arrange a meeting with the owner for negotiations. He haggled just a little—not because he lacked the money, but because not bargaining at all would make him look like a fool, and he didn’t want to be taken advantage of in future dealings.

Fortunately, the landlord was easy to talk to. Selling a house in such a prime location meant there was likely some urgent need for money. The owner agreed to a slight discount, and Shen Qing didn’t push further. With the deal settled, they all walked outside together, heading straight to the yamen to finalize the contract.

The landlord, visibly pleased, beamed with joy. “That was quick and easy! I must treat Brother Jin and Young Master Shen to a drink later—don’t even think about refusing!”

Hearing about drinking, Shen Qing immediately recalled last night and waved his hand with a smile. “Eating is fine, but I’ll pass on the wine. I had too much last night—still don’t feel quite right.”

Gold-Tooth burst into laughter. “The way you were downing drinks last night, I thought you could handle anything!”

Shen Qing thought to himself—I can drink, sure, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened afterward!

Just as they were talking, Shen Qing caught something out of the corner of his eye.

A man standing by the street was watching them intently.

The man was dressed in ordinary, slightly worn household clothes. Strangely, he also wore an apron—was he a cook from somewhere?

Noticing that Shen Qing had spotted him, the man showed no embarrassment at being caught staring. He simply nodded at Shen Qing before turning and striding through the back entrance of the yamen.

Shen Qing: ?

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