Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 16 Aunt
Before the sun had even set, Beijiwu had already ridden his horse for over 10,000 meters.

As soon as I arrived at the village entrance, I saw villagers working in the drying yard.

Kitada Village Chief Kitada Negi held a wooden fork and looked at Hokujō Takeru. When he saw that Hokujō Takeru was riding a horse and carrying a lot of things, he frowned.

"Arctic Warrior, where did you steal that horse?"

Beijiwu rode his exhausted horse slowly over, shouting, "Bullshit! This is all the money I earned through my own labor!"

Kitada, who is over fifty years old, hates Beijiwu the most. Beijiwu is the only scoundrel in the village who doesn't give this old man any face.

"Who are you trying to fool! What kind of work do you do to afford a horse? I think you've robbed someone!"

Beijiwu cursed, "I went to Hutou Town to harvest eight acres of wheat for someone, and they lent me a horse so I could go back to work tomorrow. Unlike you, you old codger, you get out of breath after doing just a little work. You old codger, can't you work anymore? Just stand here lazing around!"

Kitada was so angry he wanted to hit someone, but his three sons quickly approached and started cursing at him.

"How did you talk?"

"Arctic Warrior! You left the village without telling the village chief and went outside on your own!"

Arctic Martial retorted, "So what? Your father hasn't said a word, so who are you to talk nonsense to me? Let me tell you, I'm full today. Last time I beat up the four of you, but today I could take on all ten of you at once!"

Kitada quickly stopped his angry sons, "Go to work, don't talk to this bastard."

Beijiwu rode his horse into the village with his head held high, saying, "I can't be bothered with you guys."

After Beijiwu rode away, Kitada Torama cursed, "What a piece of trash! If it weren't for his brother's sake, I wouldn't have put up with him!"

In reality, he has absolutely no relation to Beijiwu's eldest brother; it's just that the three brothers were beaten to their knees and called him "Grandpa" last time.

Fortunately, his father didn't go at the time, otherwise he would have knelt down and called him grandfather.

Kitada comforted him, saying, "Don't mess with him. If our village and the neighboring village ever fight, we'll have to rely on him."

Kitada Biao asked, "We've had several couples married off in Beishan Village already, why are you fighting?"

Kitada Gen bent down and continued working, kicking up wheat, dust, and chaff. "No matter how far apart the two villages are, there are only so many fields that can be reclaimed at the foot of the mountain. If they all reclaim land by the water, they will fight sooner or later. You'll see."

The northern climate is arid and water is scarce, so digging canals to divert water is inevitable, and some people will inevitably die before the conflict ends.

The government and military settlements don't get involved in these kinds of things; whoever can fight can stand tall and be respected.

Powerful villages are more likely to attract women to marry into them, while poor, weak, and bullied villages will naturally disappear, such as some villages with only bachelors.

It could also be a case of fighting over water and destroying a village... People who grow up in chaotic times may seem cowardly and timid, but they can be extremely ruthless when it matters, and they have no moral constraints.

In an environment lacking much morality, people like Beijiwu aren't actually that bad; there's no tradition of respecting the elderly and caring for the young in this era.

If someone hits someone but doesn't kill them, they're already considered a good person.

Beijiwu rode home on horseback, returning under the awe-inspiring gazes of the villagers.

Li Hong and her four daughters were drying wheat straw outside when they saw Bei Jiwu riding a horse along the dirt road. They all stopped what they were doing and looked over.

"Brother!" Li Bing shouted happily.

Beijiwu slowly walked over, and Xiulan ran over and stood a few meters away watching Beijiwu on horseback.

"Brother! You're back early. Have you eaten yet?"

Beijiwu dismounted from his horse. "I haven't eaten. Hurry up and cook. This horse was lent to me by someone else. I need to ride it to work tomorrow. This is the salt, cloth rolls, and millet I earned today. It's enough to eat for four or five days."

With five mouths to feed, consuming 15 jin a day, 60 jin would only be enough to feed them for four or five days.

If there were two fewer mouths to feed, we could definitely eat for several more days.

The Zhang sisters happily accepted the heavy load of grain, and together they carried the sacks home.

Li Hong and Li Bing also came over to help, bringing cloth, sickles, whetstones, and salt.

Beijiwu led the horse to graze in the woods near the house. There were no wild beasts around, and the horse looked very tired.

"Let's cook."

Beijiwu gave an order, then went to fetch some water to feed the horses and gathered some grass for the night.

Wheat straw can be used to feed horses, but too much is not good. The local area is close to grasslands, and there is a small amount of natural pasture suitable for horses to eat.

Horses will naturally seek out the grass they like and that suits their diet. In the yard, four girls are all working.

The Li sisters were in charge of cooking and tending the fire, while the Zhang sisters were in charge of packing the wheat they had harvested that day into baskets.

Three pounds of cloth can be used to make clothes, and salt and grain can be eaten.

Sixty catties of grain is not much for a family of five, but it would be a lot if the family already had stored grain.

Xiulan carefully gathered all the fallen wheat grains on the ground and put them in a basket.

While the two were working, Aunt Zhang came over with her youngest son.

"Xiulan, is your brother Wu home?"

Hearing what Aunt Zhang said from afar, Beijiwu's face showed displeasure.

They must have come over for dinner again.

"We can't give those people a nice look, or they'll all come to my house for noodles!"

Arctic Martial Arts is determined to project a stronger and more imposing aura.

If a person is not ruthless, he cannot stand firm.

People won't stop bullying you just because you're easy to talk to; in this day and age, they prey on the weak.

Aunt Zhang brought her youngest son to find Beijiwu, and called out from more than ten meters away, "Xiaowu."

Beijiwu cursed, "Grandpa is no kid! Get lost, don't come begging for food here!"

Aunt Zhang was embarrassed for only a second. After all, she grew up in a chaotic world and had been wandering for so many years that she no longer cared about saving face.

"Master Wu," Aunt Zhang said with a smile, "I heard that you got a bolt of cloth. Neither of your two girls has ever made clothes with the new cloth. They only know how to sew and mend. I came to see if you need any help."

Aunt Zhang said humbly, "If you need help, I'll make a set of clothes for Master Wu. If not, I'll go back now."

Beijiwu thought for two seconds, then looked at Aunt Zhang and her six or seven-year-old son who was holding her hand.

"Li Hong, can you sew clothes?" Beijiwu shouted towards the courtyard wall.

A few seconds later, Li Hong shouted over the courtyard wall: "I didn't do that. They were all old clothes that I changed into and used for mending."

When people are constantly on the move, they naturally don't wear new clothes; they wear clothes taken from the dead or old clothes that they have acquired through trade.

New clothes for three years, old clothes for three years, patched and mended for another three years, and rarely are there any new clothes made.

It seems that the Zhang family had a period of peace, or perhaps this Aunt Zhang in front of us had a period of stable and comfortable life.

“Then you teach the four of them how to make clothes, and I’ll give you a peck of rice when you’re done, but I won’t provide meals.”

One dou of rice weighs 12 jin, which translates to more than 30 wen in wages, enough to feed her family of six for a day.

Old Zhang originally had a family of eight: himself, his wife, and their six children.

Now the two daughters have stopped eating, while the four sons are still hungry.

"Thank you, sir!" Aunt Zhang pulled her youngest son along, and the two of them knelt down before Beijiwu with practiced ease.

Most people in this village have gotten their living by begging, and even the children kowtow and beg for food with the adults. There is nothing shameful about it.

Being able to eat a few more bowls of rice is a bonus, even if it means being called "Grandpa" or kowtowed, or even being humiliated.

If kowtowing could get you food, how many people in the village could resist such a temptation?

Beijiwu realized he had been too kind-hearted and said coldly, "Don't bring your son here to beg for food. If you dare to steal my things, I'll settle accounts with your whole family!"

Grandma Zhang, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately said, "No! No! Grandpa, don't worry, we are all law-abiding citizens! We would rather starve than be thieves!"

Only idiots would believe that; Arctic Martial Arts doesn't.

"You all better behave yourselves. Last time someone was up to no good, and I caught them and cleaned them up. Your families aren't starving to death, are they? Don't make me angry, I'm here to rid the people of this scourge!"

Arctic Wu threatened the adults and children fiercely, causing the old lady and the child to kowtow and beg for mercy.

This scene put immense pressure on Aunt Li and Li Niu, who had come upon hearing the news, and they quickly fled, not daring to provoke this ruthless son-in-law.

(End of this chapter)