Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 45 Coping
Public land?

Centimeters?

The group of people couldn't understand what Master Wu was saying.

Arctic military experts are certain they don't understand.

“With work points, I can get food and money. I can exchange work points for things I bring back from outside.”

"Collect 100 work points, and you can exchange them for good stuff!"

“You get work points for doing this work. Working for me is working for you. Working for me is working for the clan. I don’t know if you have a clan or which chieftain tribe you came from.”

Beijiwu watched the bewildered expressions of a group of low-IQ old women and idiots.

"You've all done military service, paid taxes, and worked, right? Nothing's changed!"

"Now I am the Khan of the tribe, the chief of our village, and the patriarch of everyone."

"For example, if you help me build a house, you'll get work points if you listen to me. You get one point for each day you work. We'll definitely find you to work when you're not busy with the crops. Ten points equals one dou of rice, and one hundred points equals one shi of grain!"

"Grandpa, I'm just trying to be kind!" Beijiwu said loudly, "I definitely won't let your children starve to death. Even if there's no land, as long as you're willing to work, you can support the elderly and children!"

"From now on, if we buy clothes or alcohol from outside the village, we'll deduct it from our work points first! Men, women, the elderly, and children all get work points for their work."

"For example, today, each person gets one point. I'll put up a sign at the village entrance to clearly record who worked and who didn't!"

Having eaten and drunk their fill, the Arctic warriors began to establish rules.

Beijiwu knew perfectly well how much land each family owned and how many people lived in their households.

The group of mountain folk still didn't understand what Master Wu was up to, but as long as he didn't ask them for money, that was fine.

Mu Chuanliang's mother asked, "Master Wu, where are we going to work?"

Beijiwu said, "I'll work in the village. This year's plan is to build a house for my family. After my house is finished, I'll build a school. Then we'll dig ditches to bring water after it rains, so it will be easier to irrigate the crops next year."

"I'll go to the city to buy some more farm tools after the autumn harvest; I can use my own money for that."

As Beijiwu was talking, he suddenly realized that with only a little over a hundred people, they could easily get together for a meal.

Bei Gong Dingbian shouted, "Clan chief, what's the point of building a school? There's no teacher here."

"Damn it! I am the master! Your grandpa is both a scholar and a warrior!" Beijiwu cursed as his thoughts were interrupted.

The people of Kitada Village were used to the old man's scolding, and now they all looked at Beijiwu with suspicion.

Those who couldn't defeat Arctic Martial had long since experienced his power, but this was the first time they had ever heard that Arctic Martial could read.

Beijiwu said loudly, "In short, once the school is built, everyone will know some characters, and at the very least, they will be able to do arithmetic and know how many kilograms are in a peck of rice!"

“Build a school at the west end of the village, about 100 meters from my house. Then build a canteen next to the granary. I will buy four pots to cook, and each household will select ten people to cook in the canteen in order.”

"For the first time, arrange them according to the number of people in the family, one person per family is enough, and one person works for seven days and then the other person is replaced."

"The canteen provides three meals a day, one point per person! The canteen won't be finished for a while, so we'll work to earn work points until it's finished!"

Arctic Wu said a lot, but he felt it was all a jumbled mess and he didn't keep a record of it.

"You won't understand if I say too much now. Go back and eat. Tomorrow morning, each family should send one man or two women and children to gather at my door. Let's finish building my house first, then we'll talk about other things!"

"get out!"

After saying this, Beijiwu led his men away in a swagger.

After Bei Jiwu left, Bei Gongbiao asked Bei Gongdingbian, "Did you understand?"

Bei Gong Dingbian shook his head.

Kitada Gen and Ma Lao Er also couldn't understand, and the whole group couldn't figure out what Beijiwu was up to.

"Screw it! Go home and eat!" Old Ma cursed and walked away, muttering insults.

The rest of the people had worked all day and were tired. After closing the granary gate, they all went home.

To hell with it, we'll talk about it tomorrow.

Everyone is just taking it one day at a time.

Arctic Wu can do whatever he wants.

Overall, things are still within everyone's tolerance range.

It doesn't seem like something urgent, so there's no need to rush to figure out why.

Except during the busy farming season, life in the mountains is mostly slow-paced.

Beijiwu also lives a slow-paced life, and when he returns home, he looks at his dinner consisting of steamed buns, wild vegetables, porridge, and fruit.

"Didn't I tell you to cook noodles? Why is it still this junk?"

Arctic Martial was very dissatisfied with today's dinner. He had tolerated it at noon, but it was still the same in the evening.

Li Hong carefully explained, "We didn't have time to make the dough; there's no stone mill in the village."

Upon hearing this, Beijiwu showed a thoughtful expression.

“There is no stone mill in our village, but there is a stone mill in a nearby abandoned village. That village has been dilapidated for decades, and the houses have all collapsed, but the stone mill is still there.”

"I'll just make do for tonight, and I'll bring the millstone back tomorrow."

Li Hong breathed a sigh of relief and offered, "I'll go with you, sir, and lend a hand."

"No need, I'll have someone go over tomorrow."

Arctic Martial planned to go to the abandoned village next door to get more things; he remembered there were quite a few usable items there.

This area once had more than a dozen villages, and over the past century, people of various ethnicities have settled here. However, after repeated washouts, no one remains.

It's true that it's easy to defend but difficult to attack, but it also changes hands frequently and is constantly attacked.

Military fortresses may not necessarily fall, but the villages and people outside the fortresses are constantly plundered by both sides.

Everyone in this region was forcibly relocated; there was no loyalty to speak of, only resentment.

Beijiwu picked up the steamed bun and took a bite, feeling that the food was getting worse and worse.

It lacks the flavor of meat!
Missing seasoning!

The menu is too limited!

The cooking methods are still mainly steaming and boiling; even with an iron pot, there's no stir-frying.

Arctic Martial discovered that there were too many areas for improvement. First, they needed to solve the flour problem. Making some vegetable dumpling soup would be better than drinking millet porridge all day.

After Beijiwu finished eating, the others began to eat.

Li Hong and the others each received three steamed buns, drank some still-warm corn porridge, and ate a bite of pickled vegetables that Beijiwu refused to eat anymore.

Whether it was the twenty-something-year-old ginger and scallion lotus or the young ginger grass, they ate it all cleanly, leaving not a single grain of rice behind.

A meal consisting of three steamed buns and three bowls of porridge is only about 70% filling for a growing little girl.

However, this is much better than before. In the past, I might only eat this one meal a day, and I would often feel hungry and need to drink water to feel less hungry.

Beijiwu didn't eat well, so he wasn't in the mood for anything else. He called the children to bed and taught them addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and arithmetic rules.

All 29 households in the village need to receive a wooden board so that they can prepare their own boards to write tally marks, which will help calculate work points later.

(End of this chapter)