Chapter 70: Singing
??When the carriage passed through Emerald Town, it was exactly lunchtime.
Each person ordered the simplest black bread and wine at a small restaurant in Emerald Town.
Of course, Chu Jiu still nibbled on his own dry rations with Little Can.
As they were eating, the old Village Chief suddenly brought up a topic: “Jiu, we’ve recently taken in quite a few new farmers…”
Chu Jiu: “Mmm-hmm?”
Old Village Chief: “According to your method, there’s so much wasteland in the village. How can we get them to plant as much grain and cultivate as much land as possible?”
Chu Jiu took a sip of honey water, briefly recalled the situation in rural China decades ago, and replied matter-of-factly:
“Well, of course, we should agree with everyone that more work means more gain.”
“The farmers pay a portion of management fees or something to the village, and the rest of the grain belongs to them.”
“That way, everyone will work hard to cultivate the land and reclaim the wasteland.”
After saying this, Lauren looked at Chu Jiu with considerable surprise, Douglas nodded repeatedly, and the old Village Chief smiled, saying “good” several times.
The old Village Chief continued, “Jiu, the ‘chicken coop’ blueprints you gave us last time will probably be finished tomorrow.”
“The day after tomorrow, I plan to gather everyone in the village and talk to them about how the land will be divided and how the chicken coops will be managed—you must be there.”
Chu Jiu: “Mmm-hmm!”
*
The third day after returning from Sea Moon City.
That morning, Chu Jiu was tidying up scraps of cloth and linen in the workshop when he heard a bell ringing.
Actually, ever since the [Totem Pole] was erected outside the Pioneer’s Cabin and the system prompted that “the Totem Pole’s deterrent range has overlapped with Bean Village’s original deterrent range,” Chu Jiu had told the villagers that they could also directly enter the Pioneer’s Cabin without worrying about monsters entering this area.
But perhaps the villagers were used to ringing the bell, or the idea of “not crossing the road sign” was deeply ingrained, so apart from Quick Feather and the squirrels who would directly knock on the door, other villagers who wanted to find him would still ring the bell near the road sign.
Chu Jiu ran over to take a look and, sure enough, it was Aman.
The boy excitedly shook the bell, shouting, “Brother Chu Jiu! Grandpa Village Chief has invited everyone to a meeting, saying he wants to explain clearly how we’ll work in the future, and he’s asked Brother Chu Jiu to come too!”
Chu Jiu followed Aman to the plaza.
After everyone had arrived, the old Village Chief stood in the center of the plaza with his cane, holding a parchment scroll in his hands, and began to explain things carefully to the villagers.
First, the village’s land.
The old Village Chief said that he would divide all the wasteland in the village among the new households for cultivation.
Those who didn’t have farm tools or couldn’t afford seeds would be provided by the village.
At the end of the year, each household would pay a management fee to the village proportionally. Those who used farm tools and seeds would pay an additional “usage fee.”
At this point, the old Village Chief paused and slowed his pace, saying, “Apart from these two payments, the rest of the harvest—all of it belongs to each household.”
Hearing this, Chu Jiu didn’t feel anything particularly strong, only that it was similar to what he had said in the restaurant.
And judging from the expressions of the old Village Chief and Douglas at the time, they probably thought so too.
Unexpectedly, after the old Village Chief finished speaking, the new villagers were all stunned.
The Luca family, who had just moved in, the husband holding his wife’s hand, looked incredulous: “What? Whatever extra we grow… belongs to us?
The village only collects a management fee and a usage fee?”
Fanna, who had also moved in not long ago, held her two-year-old child, letting the child’s small hand slap her face, and muttered, “N-no way? Didn’t you say it backwards…”
For a moment, the plaza was in an uproar, extremely lively.
On the other hand, Granny Zhu, Grandpa Du, and the other old villagers were much calmer.
They told the newcomers: That’s right. That’s the style of our Bean Village.
Luca shook his head: “This… I heard before that the village would provide farm tools and seeds… I thought we would just grow the land, and the village would give us food to eat, and the rest would be handed over to the village…”
“This… this is giving us… too much, too much…”
Only then did Chu Jiu realize the extraordinariness of this matter.
Taking advantage of the lively discussion, he asked Reg beside him, “In other villages, for new farmers, don’t they use this method that the old Village Chief is talking about?”
In Chu Jiu’s opinion, if you wanted everyone to work hard to grow the most grain in the short term, this “more work, more gain” model was the most natural incentive, wasn’t it?
Reg looked somewhat surprised:
“Other villages? Of course not.”
“In other villages, all the grain grown is handed over to the village chief, and the farmers who cultivate the land receive some rye beans or something.”
Chu Jiu: ……
So, that’s how it is.
Only then did Chu Jiu realize that the situation here might be vastly different from his preconceived understanding.
After some further inquiry, Chu Jiu finally understood:
According to the royal family’s “wasteland reclamation incentive policy,” the old Village Chief and others came to the remote Bean Village, worked hard to reclaim the wasteland, and maintained this land without it being trampled by monsters. In normal circumstances, the produce of this village belonged entirely to the old Village Chief and them—Chu Jiu had read in the “Compilation of Laws” that even the royal family couldn’t arbitrarily requisition the village’s crops.
In other similar villages, the village chief would regard the land as their own and try their best to accumulate grain and copper coins for themselves. Even if they hired farmers to cultivate the land, they would only pay the farmers a minimum wage, just enough to keep them from starving.
But Bean Village’s current approach completely subverted this model.
The old Village Chief used the “grain that could have been kept for himself” to encourage everyone to reclaim the wasteland properly.
Reg clicked his tongue in admiration: “I would never have dreamed of this method that the old Village Chief is talking about.”
“That way, the old Village Chief himself only gets a management fee, and the extra grain doesn’t belong to him.”
“The old Village Chief doing this… it takes so much courage.”
Indeed.
Although in the long run, as long as everyone’s land yields better harvests, the management fee will definitely be higher—
But who could think that far ahead right now? Who wasn’t thinking about earning more grain and saving more money for themselves as soon as possible?
The village that had been painstakingly maintained was now being given away for others to cultivate, and the old Village Chief was only taking a management fee. Wasn’t that a huge loss?
No wonder other village chiefs didn’t do this, because this approach was indeed… novel and risky.
But Chu Jiu was certain of the effectiveness of this approach.
After all, thousands of years of history on Earth had already proven this point.
Only when everyone knew that “more work means more gain” would they truly persevere in working hard.
All other talk of grand plans and motivational speeches was unreliable.
At this moment, Douglas walked over and said, “Jiu, do you know that this method wasn’t originally thought up by the old Village Chief and me?”
“It was Mr. Lu who suggested it to us. We ourselves would never have thought of this, even if we racked our brains.”
Chu Jiu: “Ah…”
Douglas continued, “However, what I admire the most isn’t just that Mr. Lu gave this suggestion.”
“But that Mr. Lu knew very clearly where we would have doubts and what questions we would hesitate about… that’s why the old Village Chief accepted this idea so quickly!”
Chu Jiu thought: Oh, right. He had casually said it without knowing the background, but Lu Qingyan had cautiously given an extraordinary suggestion.
He… hmm, was very capable.
Douglas smiled as he said this: “When you so naturally said something similar to Mr. Lu the day before yesterday, I was a bit surprised at first.”
“But then I thought, ah, isn’t it very normal for Jiu and Mr. Lu to have synchronized ideas?”
Chu Jiu: “…Eh?”
Why did he say, “It’s very normal for me and Lu Qingyan to have synchronized ideas”?
Was it because we chatted together that day? But we didn’t talk about this.
Just as he was curious, the old Village Chief cleared his throat and started talking about the chicken coops.
The old Village Chief said that they would set up chicken coops, a mill, and a communal bakery in the village.
The money earned by these workshops would be used in part to pay the villagers who took care of the chicken coops and the mill, and the rest would be kept to build more facilities for the village, repair better irrigation ditches, and buy communal farm tools…
The chicken coops were the first to be built.
All villagers were welcome to become chicken farmers. Those with some experience were preferred. If someone had absolutely no experience and through improper operation killed all the chickens, they wouldn’t receive any salary.
The old Village Chief smiled at everyone: “Who wants to do it?”
Chu Jiu had originally thought that everyone would rush to raise their hands.
But instead, everyone became much quieter, looking at each other shyly.
Fanna said, “Raising chickens… I, I haven’t even eaten an egg in my life, I have absolutely no idea how to raise them… what if I kill them all…”
Apart from not getting paid, the mere thought of “killing all the chickens in the village” was enough to make her cry for days.
Luca’s family also discussed, “We have raised them before, but we just threw them in the yard and didn’t care about them. In the end, the ones we raised weren’t much bigger than sparrows…”
In short, everyone either had never raised chickens or the ones they had raised were half-dead, and for a moment, no one dared to raise their hand.
Just then, a clear “chirp chirp” sounded from above the crowd.
Looking up, it was actually a gray bird!
This gray bird happily raised its wings: “Village Chief! Me, me, me! I want to raise chickens!”
Most of the villagers who had moved to the village some time ago had already met this lively Feathered Folk prince and weren’t too surprised.
But some who had only moved in the past two days inhaled sharply: “A bird, talking?” Immediately, an old villager corrected them: “Not an ordinary bird! That’s a Feathered Folk!”
New villager: “Ah? Feathered Folk? Those legendary beings who only live in high mountains and cliffs? They’re actually real?”
The old villager immediately said proudly and heartily, “Of course they’re real!”
“Let me tell you, this is the Feathered Folk prince that our village’s pioneer, Chu Jiu, invited back from the wasteland!”
“Our Chu Jiu not only invited the Feathered Folk back but also the dwarf beastmen! The blacksmith shop at the other end of the village is run by them!”
“Didn’t I say before that our Chu Jiu is incredibly capable!”
The new villagers were all dumbfounded and secretly sized up the clean and well-behaved young man in the crowd.
Chu Jiu was staring at the gray bird at this moment, and said strangely, “Quick Feather? You said… you want to raise chickens?”
The gray bird circled in the air: “Yep.”
“I live in the village now, so I’m a villager too, right?”
The Village Chief chuckled: “Yes, of course you’re a villager.”
“But, little fellow, have you ever raised chickens before?”
The gray bird nodded vigorously: “I have—and super big chickens!”
“You humans usually call those chickens ‘golden eagles’!”
Old Village Chief: ……
Villagers: ……
Chu Jiu gently rubbed his forehead.
A certain bald golden eagle wearing a wig sneezed and looked around in alarm.
The old Village Chief cleared his throat lightly: “Since ‘Swift Wind of the Rocks,’ Quick Feather, will be the first chicken farmer of the ‘Bean Village Chicken Coop,’ does anyone have any other opinions?”
Everyone expressed: They really wanted to see how the Feathered Folk raised chickens!
The gray bird proudly puffed out its chest.
Old Village Chief: “Then, please, Quick Feather, sign the contract.”
“Here… just press your claw print.”
“Alright, the contract is established! Quick Feather, the chicken coop is now in your hands!”
*
From that day on, Chu Jiu noticed that the gray bird had indeed started raising chickens very seriously.
Besides feeding the chickens water and grain according to the instructions attached to the [Chicken Coop Construction Guide], the gray bird would also instruct the chickens: “There, there are bugs! Very fat, delicious!”
So the chickens would chirp and rush over.
After the chickens were full, the gray bird would also make them line up and walk around the village to get enough exercise.
When it was time to sleep, as long as the gray bird gave an instruction, the chickens would obediently go back to their coop and lie down, never staying outside for even a minute longer.
Seeing how invested the gray bird was, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but feel a little worried and tentatively asked,
“Quick Feather, do you know that these chickens either lay eggs or… produce meat, and will eventually be eaten?”
He was a little worried that the gray bird had treated the chickens as pets. When it came time to kill the chickens for meat, the little fellow’s young heart would be hurt.
The gray bird widened its eyes: “Huh…?”
Looking at the gray bird’s expression, Chu Jiu secretly groaned in his heart: Not good, this fellow really didn’t think of that! What should he do now?
The gray bird excitedly flapped its wings: “Chu Jiu, are you saying this because some of the chickens are already ready to be caught and eaten?”
Chu Jiu: “…Eh?”
He was stunned for a moment and said truthfully, “This… it’s not time yet.”
The gray bird said regretfully, “Ah ah, so it’s not time yet.”
“Chu Jiu, when you make roast chicken and fried chicken and stuff, you must call me!” “The roast chicken, fried chicken, and spiced eggs you make are super delicious!”
“I was thinking of handing over the fattest chickens to you to roast and eat, that’s why I’m raising them!”
Chu Jiu: ……
Alright then.
Perhaps the gray bird’s young heart wasn’t as easily hurt as he thought.
*
Twenty days passed in a flash.
The weather had now turned warmer.
The chicken coop managed by Quick Feather could now steadily produce more than a dozen eggs every day.
Several more farming households had moved into the village one after another, signing contracts, receiving wasteland, and carrying farm tools to work in the fields.
In the originally barren and hardened land, first, tiny specks of green emerged, and then clusters of continuous green seedlings grew, looking like a soft forest from afar, making people’s hearts feel happy.
The farmers knew that after these seedlings grew into wheat and soybeans, they wouldn’t have to hand them all over to “Master Village Chief” like before, only receiving a little leftover scraps from the master. Instead, most of it would belong to them, they could eat it themselves, and whatever they didn’t eat could be stored for next year!
Thinking of this, each farmer had inexhaustible energy!
They went to work in the fields before dawn every day, racing against time to turn the soil and loosen it, learning from the old villagers to fertilize, bending over to check the growth of every wheat seedling…
Seeing this scene, Douglas couldn’t help but sigh again: He had been to many villages, but he had never seen farmers in any village so diligent and hardworking.
The effect of “working for oneself” and “working for the master” was indeed completely different.
With this momentum, the spring plowing in Bean Village was definitely not a problem!
*
A warm afternoon.
Joey of the ability user patrol team took on a routine escort mission, escorting the merchant Anthony from Amber Town to Bean Village.
Previously, Bean Village only had one merchant, Marco. However, as the number of villagers in Bean Village increased, they needed to buy more things.
Marco recommended his good friend from Amber Town, Anthony, to the old Village Chief, intending to have Anthony also do business in Bean Village.
This way, Bean Village would have a “merchant market” twice a week, making it more convenient to buy and sell goods.
Today was the day for Anthony to meet the old Village Chief and sign the agreement.
Driving the carriage from Emerald Town for almost two hours, with only about fifteen minutes left until they reached Bean Village, the stout Anthony stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying:
“Let’s rest for a while, let’s rest for a while.”
“It’s only March, how can it be so hot?”
He parked the carriage at a fork in the road with a small road sign and jumped out of the carriage himself.
The small road sign here only marked two locations: [Black Wheat Village] and [Bean Village]. Going up the fork ahead would lead to Black Wheat Village; continuing straight without taking the fork would lead to Bean Village.
Joey knew that there wouldn’t be any monsters near the road sign, so he didn’t stop Anthony.
Anthony took a few swigs of wine, and Joey said, “Speaking of which, have your patrol team noticed that the monsters around here seem to have changed recently?”
“A few days ago, a bold fellow from Amber Town walked all the way to Emerald Town without bringing any ability users—he said he only encountered two weak monsters along the way, the kind that ran away with just a scare!”
Joey replied, “Yeah, it seems to have decreased a bit.”
Actually, according to the reports their patrol team received, it had decreased “a lot.”
Especially in the Emerald Town and Bean Village area.
According to Reg, there were times when there wasn’t even a single monster on that road!
Some people said that perhaps Emerald Town’s “road sign” had been upgraded to one like Sea Moon City’s, so the range for repelling monsters had also widened.
But others said that “road sign upgrades” were just a legend, and no one had ever seen a town’s road sign get upgraded. The recent decrease in monsters was probably just a coincidence, or the monsters had gathered in other areas.
In short, no one had offered a particularly convincing reason.
Anthony said, “Hehe, I wonder if there will ever be a day when we can go wherever we want, driving our carriages directly, without ever worrying about being bitten and swallowed by monsters on the way…”
As he was talking, he noticed that Joey’s expression had changed.
This usually baby-faced patrol team member now had a furrowed brow and a dark complexion, his gray-green eyes staring intently at the road ahead.
Anthony was so frightened by Joey’s expression that his heart pounded in his chest.
His voice hoarse, he said, “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me…”
Joey lowered his voice, “Rest is over, quickly get back in the carriage, move forward, and hurry!”
Anthony shuddered in fright and immediately scrambled back into the carriage with all his might.
However, his arms couldn’t normally support his weight, and it usually took him a long time to climb onto the carriage seat, let alone now when he was panicking?
He got one leg over the carriage seat, pushed with his arms again and again, but still couldn’t flip himself up smoothly!
Just then, he noticed that the surroundings had become unnaturally quiet.
The chirping of insects, the calls of birds, all gone.
Even the blades of grass no longer moved.
Anthony felt goosebumps all over his body.
He knew he should try his best to climb into the carriage, but his lower body was frozen and wouldn’t move, and his head turned backward against his will—
He saw that the sky had completely darkened.
In the sky, fine and dense, countless black dots!
These black dots twisted into a swirl, spinning like a tornado, crooked but unstoppable, heading towards the carriage!
And wherever this tornado passed, fruits, blades of grass, whether poisonous or not, all were eaten clean, leaving only a layer of soil on the ground; birds and beasts, whether flying or crawling, all were reduced to white bones!
Anthony was so frightened that he lost his voice and couldn’t even shout. He hung on the carriage like soft mud, thinking that this time was over—
Joey grabbed him and pulled him into the carriage, shoved the whip into his hand, and roared, “Drive! I’ll block them!”
In the next second, Joey pushed his hands outwards: the sand and stones on the ground surged upwards, forming one large vortex after another, engulfing the black monsters within!
Anthony trembled and waved the whip, driving the horse forward desperately.
But how could the speed of the horse compare to the black tornado in the air!
And Joey’s low-level earth and stone abilities were like a drop in the ocean in front of these overwhelming monsters!
Finally, Joey gritted his teeth, knowing there was no hope of outrunning them, and pulled Anthony to the side, jumping heavily to the ground. At the same time, he used all his strength to unleash all his abilities, building an inverted bucket around the two of them, protecting himself and Anthony inside!
The moment the “stone bucket” closed, the two of them heard a heartbreaking whinny from the horse beside them.
Anthony huddled inside the earth and stone bucket, covering his mouth, tears and snot streaming down his face.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
The horse’s whinnies had long since stopped.
The terrifying gnawing, the flapping of wings, the clicking of mandibles all disappeared.
Joey laboriously poked open the stone bucket with the hilt of his iron sword and poked his head out to look around:
The horse, not a shred of flesh left, only an empty skeleton lying to the side.
Wherever the black tornado had passed, literally “not a blade of grass remained.”
Anthony crawled out of the stone bucket and knelt beside the horse, crying loudly, sobbing, “W-what… what was that? Monsters?”
Joey walked to the corpses of the monsters that had been swept down by his vortex earlier and used the tip of his sword to pick one up for close examination—
After a long while, he exclaimed in disbelief, “These aren’t monsters!”
“These… are locusts!”
“Palm-sized locusts!”
Anthony was stunned.
“Locusts? At this time? This… this area… shouldn’t have locusts, and so big, so big…”
His mind was now confused, and he murmured, “But… at least… they’re not monsters, not monsters…”
Joey, however, gritted his teeth, his expression even worse than before:
This thing was inexhaustible, its devouring power far surpassed ordinary locusts, and its destructive power was no less than that of monsters—
No, no! This thing wasn’t a monster, so the “road sign” couldn’t defend against them!
This thing was even more terrifying than ordinary monsters!
Joey ran forward a few more steps, trying to deduce where the swarm of locusts was going.
Looking, he only felt a chill run down his spine.
Anthony, supporting himself on the overturned wheel, stood up, trembling. “Locusts, where did they go?” Joey squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: “…Bean Village.”
*
Bean Village.
The Pioneer’s Cabin.
Chu Jiu was concentrating on writing [Paper-making Recipe] on a wooden board when Little Can suddenly stood up, its ice-blue eyes widening alertly.
“Outside… outside Bean Village, there’s something!” Little Can meowed softly.
Chu Jiu: “Hmm?”
Outside Bean Village?
Little Can: “I’ll be right back!”
With that, Little Can leaped out of the window at a speed invisible to the naked eye!
Chu Jiu frowned and turned to walk towards the door.
He hadn’t even left the courtyard when a black shadow landed in front of him again.
Little Can had returned.
And it had turned into Big Can.
Big Can’s voice was much deeper than Little Can’s: “Insects. Flying insects that will devour everything, not monsters, unaffected by road signs, will reach the village entrance in five minutes.”
Chu Jiu’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t panic.
He flipped onto Big Can’s back: “Go find Quick Feather.”
*
Three minutes later.
Mary was leading two children younger than her, picking herbs at the village entrance.
As they were picking, Mary heard a continuous crunching sound in the distance.
What was this sound? And why had the sky suddenly darkened?
Just as her friends were about to look up, someone behind them picked them up and placed them on a warm, large black cat like putting down potatoes.
“Can, take the children away!”
Chu Jiu jumped to the village entrance, followed by a large gray bird and ten “elite Feathered Folk” wearing red guard uniforms.
Chu Jiu looked at the overwhelming swarm of locusts approaching and shouted at the gray bird in the air:
“Quick Feather! Sing!”
“The louder the better!”
