Farming Honors the Ancestors, Raising Pigs Glorifies the Clan

That night was the third night since the rainy season began. Chen Fan, along with Quehou and a few others, kept watch atop the wall, prepared for that night's crisis. Zhou Mo and the others who had spent the daytime bustling about had gone to sleep early under his orders. Yet... As they stood guard, dawn broke. ... "..." Frowning slightly, Chen Fan gazed at the darkness receding swiftly like an ebbing tide. A whole night had already passed. It was morning. Last night could even be described as calm and tranquil. There had been no flesh worm ghost tide, no female ghost riding in a sedan chair, not even a passing ghost creature. The surroundings of the camp had been dead quiet, without the slightest sound. Logically, that should have been a good thing. Yet... Too many ghost creatures and he wouldn't be able to hold them off, but too few wouldn't do either. He had specifically crafted ten new arrow towers to brace for the assault of ghost creatures in the rainy season. How was it that he hadn't seen a single ghost creature all night? Where had they gone? Killing ghost creatures was currently his primary source of ghost stones. If he couldn't see a single ghost creature, where was he supposed to get ghost stones? Squinting slightly, he pondered for a long moment before turning to Quehou and the others who had soaked in the rain with him on the wall all night. "All right, dawn's here. Tidy up and head back to your cabins to sleep." This didn't make sense. It was impossible for the rainy season to be so calm and tranquil. When things are abnormal, trouble is brewing. He would have to be fully prepared for tonight. Right at that moment— Looking out at the farmland beyond the wall, he suddenly smiled. Under the first rays of sunlight, the seedlings in the fields shot up rapidly and bore bountiful fruit, each one plump and round, a delightful sight. The first batch of crops had ripened; it was time to harvest! "Stationmaster!" Brimming with vigor, Zhou Mo jogged all the way up the steps to the wall. "The rest of us have had more than enough sleep. What's the mission for today?" Chen Fan looked at Zhou Mo and Qi Chong standing behind him, pausing briefly before continuing, "Qi Chong won't be going on field duty today." "In a bit, harvest all the fruit in the fields." "Zhou Mo, today you'll be responsible for hauling the resources from nearby fallen outposts back to camp. The closer ones were mostly cleaned out by Wang Kui and the others early on, and the remaining outposts are farther away. Don't be greedy; safety comes first." "Understood!" Full of drive, Zhou Mo stood in the pouring rain, grinning broadly as he called out. "Stationmaster... I..." Standing to the side, Qi Chong looked down as a flicker of shame and embarrassment crossed his eyes. "I..." "It's fine." Chen Fan shook his head and patted Qi Chong's shoulder with a smile. "There's plenty of work to do inside the camp too. It's no less valuable to the camp than field duty." Yesterday, Qi Chong had been sent out on this task. Only... He hadn't brought back a single ghost stone. Not long after leaving camp holding a ghost-skin map, Qi Chong failed to keep a tight grip on it, and the wind blew it away. Completely like a headless fly, he wandered aimlessly in the storm all day. Only when Eternal Night was about to fall did he manage by sheer luck to find the camp. It was pure good fortune. He didn't even die from it. To the camp, ghost-skin maps were a non-renewable resource. Counting the one in Chen Fan's hands, there were only five in the entire camp. Now that Qi Chong had lost one, only four remained. Chen Fan didn't dare send Qi Chong out on field duty again. He couldn't afford to lose another map and have two men die on top of that. That would be too heavy a loss. "I..." Qi Chong's lips moved hesitatingly, but in the end, no words came out. He merely hung his head, not daring to meet Chen Fan's gaze at all. "Then I'll be off, Stationmaster?" Zhou Mo asked with a cheerful chuckle from the side. "Go ahead." ... Quehou and the others had already gone to sleep. Chen Fan stood by the farmland, watching thoughtfully as Qi Chong rolled up his trouser legs and bustled about harvesting fruit in the fields. Truth be told, the man was actually quite skilled at farm work. Chen Fan casually asked, "Did you farm before?" "Yeah." Wiping the rainwater from his face, Qi Chong hurriedly stood and replied, "After Eternal Night fell, farming became a huge hassle. While ghost creatures don't damage farmland, farmers have to travel back and forth between the cities and the fields outside, which takes a lot of time." "A lot of chambers of commerce carved out farms within large natural safe zones. Before joining the Wild Wolf Gang, I worked on a farm under the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce in Jiangbei City." "They were all ordinary crops." "I've never grown this kind before." "That's fine." Chen Fan gave a slight nod with a smile. "From now on, you'll be in charge of this farmland." He then turned his gaze to the subordinate behind Qi Chong. "This brother of yours works pretty briskly too. What's your name?" "Stationmaster." The somewhat rugged-looking man spoke in a muffled, heavy voice, "I'm called A'le. I used to work on the same farm as Brother Qi, in charge of raising pigs. Later, I left the farm to join him." "Raising pigs?" "Mhm-mhm." "Works for me." Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle this time. Between the two brothers, one farmed crops and the other handled livestock—they made a complete set. "From now on, you'll be in charge of livestock in the camp. For now, there isn't anything for you to raise yet, so work the fields with your Brother Qi. Once we get some, you'll take over the livestock." "Whatever you say, Stationmaster." "Put these fruits and the ghost materials unloaded yesterday into that wooden cabin over there in a bit." "Right away!" Chen Fan took out two ghost stones and crafted a wooden cabin inside the camp outside the wall, intending to use it as a storehouse. They had killed quite a few mantis ghosts the previous night. Their mantis arms were ghost materials. They could be used for forging. He had no immediate use for them, but he could gather them first for later. It would still take some time to pick everything, so Chen Fan didn't linger. He turned and walked toward his wooden cabin, planning to sleep first and deal with things after waking up. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside. With the support of Heating System 1.0, the cabin was exceptionally warm, without the slightest chill. It was still somewhat damp, but much less so. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted another cross marked on the "rainy season countdown calendar" on the wall, and smiled without a word. Zhou Mo had probably marked it before heading out. That guy... He certainly loved his sense of ceremony. ... "Brother Qi." In the camp's farmland, A'le carefully plucked the rain-soaked fruits while asking in his muffled voice, "We failed our mission yesterday and even lost a ghost-skin map. Did the stationmaster chew you out this morning? When I woke up and saw you two talking on the wall, I didn't dare go up." "No," Qi Chong replied, shaking his head. "Though he probably won't let me do field duty anymore. You heard him just now—he told me to oversee this farmland from now on." "Isn't that great? I think farming is way safer than field duty. We almost didn't make it back yesterday. Besides, Brother Qi, you've always been good at farming." "But back then, I only joined the Wild Wolf Gang because I thought farming had no future. Now I'm back to being a farmer. Didn't you also think raising pigs had no future, and that's why you came to join me?" Qi Chong sighed with helpless resignation. He had genuinely wanted to make something of himself, which was the only reason he had agreed to become a stationmaster. Being a stationmaster was hardly safe work, but he had discovered... he truly didn't have what it took. "Not at all." A'le shook his head. "I never thought raising pigs had no future. Raising pigs is skilled work. When my pigs went to slaughter, they were always the heaviest, and my piglet survival rate was the highest. With that trade in hand, I'll never go hungry wherever I go." "It was just that after you left, Brother Qi, there was no one to talk to. I felt a bit lonely, so I came to find you." "And farming this time isn't the same as before." "Who was your boss back then, Brother Qi?" "A petty supervisor at a farm under the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce." "And now?" "An architect..." "What you do doesn't matter; who you do it with does." Busy with his hands, A'le said in his thick, muffled tone, "Follow the right person and you rise in rank; do the right thing and you make a fortune. Follow the right person to do the right thing, and you rise in rank and make a fortune." "..." Qi Chong froze in place, staring blankly at the busy A'le. Only after a good while did he finally come back to his senses. The clutter of thoughts in his mind cleared in an instant, like a sudden enlightenment. He felt full of vigor—never in his entire life had he felt so much drive for farming. Grinning, he cursed with affection: "You little rascal..." "You know, if the camp can pull through the rainy season and the farmland keeps expanding, won't my rank be way higher than a Wild Wolf Gang stationmaster?" "Way, way higher, for sure." "Then wouldn't you get to be a big official too?" "Heh-heh." Seeing that Brother Qi had cheered up, A'le smiled naively. "Farming honors the ancestors, raising pigs glorifies the clan—put the two of us together, and that's truly bringing glory to the ancestors!"