Farming Life Starting in Africa

After Rosen and Ma Xiao finished chatting, Pan Wenjia stood up from her chair, supporting her back, and said, "Old Ma, come with me to the restroom. Where's the restroom around here?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ma Xiao immediately stood up and reached out to help him up like a lackey.

Miao Feng also stood up, patting non-existent dust off his pants: "I'm going to the restroom too, I drank too much beer earlier."

Rosen knew the two men were deliberately making room for Hassan. He didn't say anything more; you can't force a deal. Hassan had to bring it up himself. He picked up the bottle, took another sip, and finding it empty, put it back on the table.

Hassan rubbed his hands together, swallowed hard, and said in a low voice, "Luo, I went back and spoke to the village chief about the last deal, and he agreed to it. But you have to keep it a secret for us. Our village's wealth cannot be revealed."

Rosen shrugged nonchalantly: "No problem, my reputation in Uller has always been the best. You can rest assured."

Hassan nodded, his expression complex. He had no choice. Over the years, their village's population had dwindled; few of the young people returned after leaving, leaving only the elderly, women, and children. If outsiders were to find out that their village had money but no guns, they'd be doomed.

But at this point, they must arm themselves. Self-defense is the most important thing in Africa, just like their ancestors. If they are too weak, they will have to risk their lives.

In the Ullr, the main ethnic groups are the Ban people, who are of African descent, and the To people, who are of Arab descent. These two groups have been in constant conflict since ancient times, fighting on and off for hundreds of years.

The situation only stabilized slightly after the Banyan government, which was supported by France, came to power. The real reason was that people of African descent were simpler and easier to control; they would obey if given some benefits. In contrast, people of Arab descent had religious beliefs, more extreme personalities, and were less compliant, which is why the French stopped supporting them.

But their good fortune didn't last long. Incited by those troublemakers in Europe, the Toz people formed several extremist armed groups. They began fighting against government forces and even frequently carried out terrorist attacks against civilians, burning villages, looting food, and kidnapping women and children to expand their power, forcing those children to serve in their army.

Although Hassan's village is inhabited by Ban people, they are not the mainstream branch and have been declining for many years, so their voices carry little weight. However, the village itself is very ambitious.

Rosen had seen a particularly remote and peculiar village where the wealth disparity was unbelievable, yet the villagers were content with this poverty.

They would pawn everything of value in the village to raise money to buy the village chief a fashionable outfit and some normal food, just to welcome a few guests who had come from afar.

When Rosen went to their village, he saw that the villagers were poor but very attractive, and their food was simply an attack on his taste buds.

"Our village chief will personally bring people over to trade with you the day after tomorrow," Hassan said.

Rosen waved his hand in refusal and sat up from the recliner: "No need, I'll trade in your village. It's too conspicuous for you to come here; it wouldn't look good if people saw us."

He didn't want anyone to know he was selling weapons in bulk to nearby villages. The government forces didn't interfere with the occasional sale of a few guns; they just turned a blind eye.

But if he goes too far and sells dozens of guns at once, that's a different story. In the eyes of the government forces, he'll be just like those troublemakers in Europe and America, leaving a bad impression of someone who thrives on chaos.

Hassan nodded, not thinking much of it. He thought it was for the best; the village wouldn't have to go through all that trouble, saving them from carrying so many guns around so conspicuously. Besides, their village chief was getting old and it wasn't convenient for him to travel that far.

Rosen lay back down, fanning himself, and said, "It's settled then. I'll go to your village the day after tomorrow at noon."

Hassan responded, a slight smile finally appearing on his face. He rubbed his hands together, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

After a while, seeing Rosen sitting on the recliner in a daze, Miao Feng walked over and asked, "Do you know what happened to that bombed signal tower?"

Rosen's eyes were still fixed on the sky. "Those lunatics from the Iron Army, I guess their leader Hassud thinks he's strong enough and wants to come out and show off his power."

"Sigh." Miao Feng sighed and sat down. "We're still waiting for instructions. The higher-ups are communicating with the government forces, asking when the tower can be erected again."

"Forget about it for now." Rosen tilted his head and glanced at him. "I reckon the cell towers in the field will be falling one after another in the next few days. Those guys aren't kidding you; they're going to wipe out all your informants. Let's just wait and see. Your boss will be ecstatic; there'll be another round of procurement."

"That's it, my chances of returning to China are even slimmer now. I was supposed to leave next month, but now it'll have to be postponed again."

"Then just quit. Or go to Ivia in the north. I remember your company allows internal transfers, right? If that doesn't work, just find another place to work!"

"Hey, you don't understand. There are already too few people to do the work. If I leave, all the guys in my group will want to leave too. The higher-ups won't approve it either. They'll hold onto my file and I won't be able to leave either."

Rosen shrugged helplessly. It's all just damn life.

After a while, Ma Xiao helped Dr. Pan slowly walk back. Ma Xiao was acting like a eunuch supporting the Empress Dowager, his posture as obsequious as could be.

"Let's go, it's too late." Ma Xiao waved his hand at Luo Sen. "My wife can't stay up late. She said she has to go to bed early."

Rosen leaned back slightly in his chair and waved his hand. "Come on, come on. If you're not busy tomorrow, come over and help me modify the car. I need to get a sturdier one, and while you're at it, fix up those two junks for you too."

Ma Xiao immediately shook his head. "Forget it, I need to save up for baby formula. I don't have much spare cash. You have no idea how expensive baby formula is these days, and imported ones are practically robbery."

"I don't want your money." Rosen lay back down. "Just come and help out, it's nothing."

Ma chuckled twice, didn't reply, and helped his wife walk out. Dr. Pan turned back, nodded to Luo Sen, and said softly, "Let's go, Xiao Luo."

Miao Feng also stood up. "Then I'll be going too. I'll take the day off tomorrow to come over."

"Okay, drive carefully," Rosen replied casually.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and the courtyard gate slammed shut.

After everyone left, Rosen got up from his chair, slipped on his slippers, and went upstairs, intending to browse the news online for a while before going to sleep.

In the living room upstairs, the TV was still on; Swagger had gone back to the guest room sometime ago. Only Patrick remained, with a program playing on the TV—Rosen glanced at it and immediately felt uneasy.