Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 18 Eating Noodles
At noon
Wen the rich man walked over and shouted loudly, "Hey, it's time to eat, stop now."

A hundred acres of fertile land is already quite large; you have to shout to even speak to it.

Beiji Wu carried Mai Shan over and wiped the sweat from his face.

The wealthy man said gently, "The meal is all prepared at home. Let's go inside and have a couple of drinks so we won't miss our work this afternoon."

Beijiwu walked straight towards his house, too lazy to say anything.

Wen Caizhu glanced at Beiji Wu, who was carrying a sharp weapon on his shoulder, and followed him with a smile.

The harvested wheat is being bundled by several hired women. The harvest has been going on for several days now, and some people who sold their land last year due to a complete crop failure have already finished the wheat harvest ahead of schedule this year.

This group usually consists of families with fewer men.

Women, regardless of age, need to find something to do in order to have more food to eat.

Wen, the wealthy man, not only supervised the Arctic soldiers' work, but also the women.

After the wealthy man, Wen, left, his son came over to watch the people work.

Landowners will not trust their peasant subordinates to be good people.

Beiji Wu was considered a troublemaker; he went straight to the well in the courtyard, sat down, and waited for his meal.

The wealthy man, Wen, took the initiative to persuade them: "Let's go inside for a meal. I've prepared some yellow wine."

"Leave me alone!" Beijiwu was particularly annoyed by this kind of person. Right now, he just wanted to wash his face, wipe his sweat, eat, and drink water in peace.

Wen, the wealthy man, quickly reassured him, "Alright, alright, let's eat outside. It's cooler outside."

Madam Wen and her daughter-in-law brought out noodles and placed them one after another on the long table by the well, along with a bowl of wine.

Mrs. Wen said softly, "I made two pots of noodles, about six or seven bowls. If you're not full, just let me know and I'll get you more."

Beijiwu was washing his neck and arms with cold water. "You guys eat your food, don't worry about me. Take the wine away, I'm not drinking."

"Okay, take your time eating." Madam Wen led her daughter to the main room, while her daughter-in-law Qiuyue went to the kitchen to wait.

Wen Zhaohu also went inside to eat, not wanting to get scolded by Beijiwu.

Beijiwu really likes to eat alone. After feeling much cooler, he sat down to eat and ate his mutton noodles with gusto.

He was full after eating four bowls of noodles as usual. Beijiwu went to lie down under the corridor of the wealthy man's house, preparing to take a nap.

Not long after, Gao Qiuyue came out of the kitchen, glanced at the sleeping young man Beijiwu, and quietly walked to the table to take a look.

All four bowls were emptied, not a drop of soup was left; they ate everything clean.

Gao Qiuyue had a good impression of Beijiwu. This young man, who was four or five years younger than her, was good-looking and also reliable and capable.

Although he has a bad temper, he never curses or provokes anyone unless you talk to him.

"Are you full? There's still more than a bowl left on the pot inside. Shall I get you another bowl?"

"Get lost! Don't bother me while I'm trying to sleep!"

Arctic Wu lay down and slept with his face covered by a straw hat. These people are just so annoying, always looking for trouble.

Gao Qiuyue wasn't angry after being scolded. She sullenly stacked the four large bowls together and took them back to the kitchen.

The kitchen was rather stuffy, so Gao Qiuyue sat in the courtyard passageway to cool off, lost in thought.

I didn't think about anything. These past few years have passed by without me even realizing it. Life has been peaceful and stable.

She has food to eat and a place to sleep. At night, she lies with her husband. During the day, she does some chores with her mother-in-law and other women in the family. She basically doesn't go out.

She always goes out with her husband and mother-in-law; she never goes out alone and has no opportunity to meet other men.

Life is just like that. Last year, I gave birth to a son who died before he was 100 days old. My parents-in-law and husband thought it was normal. As long as I can have children, that's fine. I can have them slowly. There will always be one that I can raise.

Wen Zhaohu and his wife had only had one son in their more than twenty years of marriage. They were very accepting of the loss of their child and would not blame anyone for such a thing.

More than half an hour later, Arctic Wu woke up and stood up.

Gao Qiuyue also stood up and said softly to Bei Jiwu, "Rest a little longer. The sun is still shining, so there's no need to work so hard."

"I'm going to the outhouse." Beijiwu had just woken up and was still a bit groggy, so he went straight to the outhouse.

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiuyue said, "I'll go get you some bamboo strips."

"No need, I'm just running some water." Beijiwu gradually regained his senses, and his attitude turned sour. "Don't keep staring at me like that, are you looking for trouble?"

Beijiwu glared at Gao Qiuyue, clearly displeased with the woman who was monitoring him.

Gao Qiuyue, feeling threatened by his aggressive gaze, quickly looked away and lowered her head, weakly saying, "No."

Beijiwu ignored her and went to the toilet to relieve himself.

When Bei Jiwu returned, he found the woman still standing in the courtyard, and the men and women of the Wen family were also as if they were dead, not coming out. Bei Jiwu frowned as he looked at Gao Qiuyue, who was squatting by the well washing dishes.

Is this family trying to use their daughter-in-law to conceive a child?
Arctic Martial cautiously approached Mai Shan, sat down on the steps, and began sharpening his knife with a whetstone.

The practice of artificial insemination is quite normal in the Northern Plains region, and it is also quite normal in other border regions.

Tall and strong men, like pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, and horses, are likely to give birth to healthy and strong offspring.

This was especially true for nomadic peoples, who would regularly use captured female slaves, wives, and daughters to breed offspring, who would then produce high-quality sons to work for them.

Some poor people would rent out their wives to have children, and the children born would belong to other families.

"Borrowing sperm" means the child belongs to your own family; it's just that your wife sleeps with someone else.

Such things are rare in peacetime; everyone wants their own offspring.

In chaotic times, things are different. Some people's sons don't survive, or they can't have a child even after trying with more than a dozen women. They either borrow sperm, adopt a child, or have a godchild. In short, they absolutely cannot be without a son.

Nomadic peoples and grassland tribes, foreign tribes, and sparsely populated frontier areas are very common.

They usually marry merchants or military households who can travel all over the country without getting sick, or they find strong and healthy young men from the local area...

As Beijiwu sharpened his knife, he glanced at the young mistress nearby who was washing dishes in front of the man.

Yesterday, it took me home to fetch the horse, and today it's been staying alone in the yard with me, refusing to leave.

[That old geezer invited me in for a drink; was he planning to get me drunk?]

Arctic Wu sharpened his knife vigorously, and stood up when he was almost done.

"I'm going out to work! I'll have your man prepare the money for me in two hours; the stuff is too heavy to carry."

Beijiwu refused to be fooled and did not want his son to take someone else's surname and become someone else's slave.

A son conceived through artificial insemination will never be treated as a biological son!
The woman in front of me isn't incapable of having children. If she were to have a child with the Wen family's bloodline, the son conceived through artificial insemination would be destined to work for a lifetime, serving as a beast of burden for generations.

Gao Qiuyue lowered her head and said softly, "Okay."

Beijiwu carried the heavy load out to work, ignoring the shrewd and calculating family.

Not long after Beijiwu left, Wen Caizhu came out with his wife and son.

Looking at Gao Qiuyue in the courtyard, her clothes and hair were all neatly arranged.

"This man is a true gentleman."

Wen Zhaohu gave his daughter-in-law face, as it was his request and Madam Wen had agreed.

Wen Jinglun was somewhat unhappy, but he acquiesced, after all, his mother had slept with others many times in order to provide food for the whole family.

Mrs. Wen said, "He said he has four women in his family and is too busy with his own fields to have any time to help others."

Wen Zhaohu said with a serious expression, "He supports a family of four, and he will definitely need to clear land and cultivate more crops this year. We can't give him hoes and iron tools to clear land. He should just say that we don't have enough and that we can just give him money."

Madam Wen looked at Wen Zhaohu and said, "If he has money, he can buy it, right?"

Wen Zhaohu said with a smile, "The village uses paper money, silver is not so useful. Even if he cultivates one or two acres of land, it's still not enough to feed him. He will still have to work for our family tomorrow."

Borrowing sperm is a long-term matter, and Wen Zhaohu is more concerned about how to get Beijiwu to come and work as a slave next year.

Starting a business is all about these next few years, and Wen Zhaohu isn't afraid to spend money; he wants to spend his money now.

Poverty rarely lasts more than three generations. A century of chaos has eliminated too many poor people, leaving behind many who would stop at nothing to survive.

Those who have no bottom line have more opportunities to survive.

Those who were willing to eat others survived, while those who refused starved to death; for most of the time, there was simply no food to buy.

"I'll go check on the fields. You all come inside and rest. Lun'er and I will go to the fields."

Wen Zhaohu's words frightened Wen Jinglun. Looking at the sun outside, Wen Jinglun said, "Father, he can do the work by himself. I still need to stay home and study."

Wen Zhaohu cursed, "If you don't want to work, then hurry up and have a son to do the work!"

Wen Jinglun argued, "It's too late to be born now."

Wen Zhaohu patiently reminded those who didn't want to work: "Although the harvest was not good last year and this year, those who worked hard all survived early. Those who starved to death were lazy and poor people, orphans and widows. These kinds of people can't amount to anything, and they can't even rebel."

“This year is a peaceful year. Next year everyone will know that they have to work hard to survive, and there will be even less people to help our family with chores. You can study, and studying is a way out. Go back and study hard. I will think of another way.”

Wen Jinglun breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, Father."

Wen Zhaohu shook his head helplessly and went out to supervise the work.

Madam Wen led her daughter-in-law back into the house to talk. The family was short of labor, and it was impossible to let Wen Zhaohu do all the work. If the others didn't want to do the work, they had to find a substitute.

(End of this chapter)