Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 63 Ruthless Man 1
In the afternoon, Tuoba Niu directed several men to build a cattle pen, constructing a simple cattle shed with mud-brick walls.

After finishing his meal, Beiji Wu looked at the empty grape trellis and gourd vines and began practicing his kung fu.

"Take the cows, donkeys, chickens, and dogs from the backyard to the woods outside. I want to practice my kung fu in the backyard."

Beijiwu gave instructions to the women in the kitchen who were about to take a nap. These women had recently gotten used to the pleasant thing of resting for a while after eating.

Li Bing stood up and asked, "What kind of kung fu would you like to practice, sir?"

Arctic Martial replied, "I might be surrounded by a group of people in the future. There are more than fifty trees in the forest. I'll just grab an axe or a knife and start hacking at them to get my body used to the fastest way of swinging."

Beijiwu added, "If you have nothing to do, you can practice your marksmanship with wooden guns. If you have a fighting mindset and a habit of fighting, you won't be so afraid or panicked when you really encounter a situation."

Li Bing and the other girls really didn't want to fight; they were terrified of that kind of thing.

Li Hong came out of the house and said, "Now that the world is at peace, there is no need for war. It's not good for us women to learn that. We still have to do chores every day."

Beijiwu smiled and said, "That's true. You guys do the work, I'll protect you, and you can serve me instead."

Li Hong smiled and said, "That makes sense."

Beijiwu took a wooden stick and went out. Li Hong, Li Bing, Xiulan, Xianglan, and the two wives and two little girls all came out to help, moving the livestock from the backyard to the frontyard.

After moving all the livestock to the front yard, Li Hong said to the others, "Our house is still too small. In my opinion, we don't need to tear down the wall of the front yard. We can just build a few passageways and enclose a larger yard on one side of the yard to raise horses and donkeys."

Gao Conglian nodded and said, "Yes, there's plenty of space in front and to the left and right. We might as well take it. No one will dare to object, since it's all our property."

Jiang Rong also revealed a noblewoman's smile.

"In a few days, we'll have the villagers work for our family and give them work points. These people rent our cows to work, so they should work for our family to build our house!"

The concept of work points has become deeply ingrained in people's minds, especially with the arrival of oxen, which has led families to not only calculate their work points for food but also to work hard to earn work points to rent oxen.

Work points are used for meals. You can earn work points by working for Arctic Martial Arts, but Arctic Martial Arts does whatever it wants, and there are only a few ways to earn work points.

You get work points for cooking in the canteen, for accompanying Bei Jiwu on outings, for cleaning the house for your wife and children, for tilling the land for Bei Jiwu's family, and for raising horses, feeding cattle, and taking care of donkeys.

Beijiwu doesn't go out every day, and his family of so many people doesn't get work points every day, so they're currently eating on credit.

While Beijiwu was warming up and trying to hit more tree stumps with his wooden gun, five men arrived outside Beitian Village.

A man on horseback was walking in front, followed by an old ox pulling a cart with three people, and an old man riding a donkey.

The man driving the oxcart said, "Boss, shall we go directly to the Li family's house, or go find the village chief, Beitian Gen?"

Mr. Yang said with a smile, "Go directly to the village chief. The people in his village owe money, so we need to give them a heads-up before we come to collect the debt."

Upon hearing this, Ma Mang drove the oxcart inside.

Not long after they left, they saw some children in the village.

The children, having eaten and drunk their fill, saw people coming in and quickly ran into the yard, shouting as they went.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! The outsiders are here!"

Beigong Dingbian, who had Tatar ancestry, went out from the dining hall after hearing his son shout.

Beitian Gen looked at Tuoba Niu, "Master, have the people from your village arrived?"

Tuoba Niu hurriedly got up. "I'll go take a look."

"Let's do it together." Kitada Ne, who had drunk a few cups, stood up, feeling a bit dizzy.

The other men followed them out, and Mu Chuanliang also saw the group of people in the distance from the doorway.

"What do you do?"

Mu Chuanliang went over and asked him questions.

He's one of the people who's gone out with Arctic Martial Arts twice.

I used to be an honest but cowardly person, just like Ai Dake. But that was mainly because I was easy to get beaten up if I stood out, and I lacked ability and confidence.

Now that he has Arctic Force backing him up and is following a leader that everyone fears, he has easily become confident.

He is also willing to stand up for his wife and children and take on some of the responsibility.

The man on horseback, Yang Qing, looked at the man who had spoken, and after approaching him, revealed a contemptuous smile. Yang Qing laughed and said, "Isn't this Mu Chuanliang? It's time to pay back the money you owe me, isn't it? Where's your beautiful wife? She signed and fingerprinted the agreement back then; pay back the money together!"

Mu Chuanliang felt a chill run down his spine. When he saw that the person who came was actually his creditor, his heart raced and his legs went weak.

At the critical moment, a child quickly ran to the west end of the village.

Mu Chuanliang, Yang Qing, and the others all looked at the child.

Mu Chuanliang recognized the child as his son.

Yang Qing and his group of five did not recognize the child. Since they were in a village and dozens of other people had come out together, they couldn't easily stop the child.

Mr. Yang, riding his donkey, noticed more than a dozen horses tied up outside the nearby woods, along with a large number of cattle and donkeys, and a flock of sheep grazing.

"Have you had guests in your village? Why are there so many livestock? Whose livestock are these?"

Mr. Yang asked questions in a friendly manner, without pressing for payment.

Mu Chuanliang replied, "It belongs to the Arctic family."

Boss Yang frowned. “The Arctic family? There are three families in your village that owe me money: the Li family, your family, and an old man from the Arctic family who owes me a tael of interest. Last year when I came here, a kid told me to go to the city to find someone to collect the money, and that he wouldn’t handle this matter.”

Mu Chuanliang breathed a sigh of relief, "It's this Arctic family. He's now the patriarch of our clan."

Boss Yang looked at the villagers nearby, "Isn't your village chief Beitiangen?"

Boss Yang and his five companions were not afraid of the hundred or so people in the village. Over the years, they had become very familiar with the surrounding villages and knew that this village only had thirty households.

Five strong, adult men with weapons coming to the countryside were enough to keep these hundred or so people from making any rash moves!

Boss Yang shouted, "Bring out your village chief!"

Beigong Dingbian walked over and shouted, "What do you want with our clan chief?"

Mr. Yang had no idea what was going on here.

“Brother Beigong, we’ve come to collect our money. All three families in your village owe us money. It’s only right to pay back debts!”

Bei Gong Dingbian said, "I know that Old Man Li's family and Mu Chuanliang's family owe Yang Gaoli. Who else but them is it?"

Boss Yang took out an account book from his pocket. "There's also the Beiji family. The old man in their family who owed money died. Neither the older brother nor the younger brother acknowledges him. Today, I'm going to ask the younger brother, Beiji Wu, for some interest. It's not much, just one or two taels of silver."

Bei Gong Dingbian stared wide-eyed at Boss Yang.

Not only Beigong Dingbian, but also the second and third brothers of the nearby Ma family, and a large group of men looked at Boss Yang with expressions of admiration for a powerful figure.

Seeking to collect debts from Arctic Martial Arts?
Seeing that Bei Gong Dingbian, Ma Lao Er and Lao San, and the three Bei Tian brothers clearly meant no harm, Boss Yang became even more confident.

Professional debt collectors know exactly how to legitimately and reasonably exclude the elderly and weak from villages, legally collect debts, and smoothly abduct other people's wives and children.

That's really true!

When Old Man Li was about to sell Li Hong to a brothel to make money, Li Hong was stopped by Bei Gong Dingbian and others when she tried to run away.

It's only natural for someone's parents to sell their wife and daughter to pay off their debts. Nobody would stop them and cause trouble or offend a powerful figure like Boss Yang.

Mu Chuanliang said directly, "I'll take you to our clan chief; my wife is there too."

As Mu Chuanliang spoke, he led the group toward the Beijiwu family's home.

Yang Qing smiled and said, "Did you have your balls cut off? How can you be so spineless? I bet you can't pay back the money. I'll take care of your wife for you!"

Mu Chuanliang approached the man who was mocking him and said with a smile, "If you're so capable, take him back and take care of him! Anyway, I can't pay back the money!"

Yang Qing spat at Mu Chuanliang.

"Bah! What's a woman worth? Let me tell you, don't even think about defaulting on your debt! Whatever you have, that's what we'll give you. I remember you have a son. If you don't have enough food and clothes, just use your son to pay off your debts!"

Mu Chuanliang wiped the spittle off his face and led the five men toward the Beijiwu family's home.

"I have another daughter! If you can take it, you can have it all!"

Yang Qing cursed, "Damn it! Still trying to act tough with Grandpa, huh? Let me tell you, Grandpa will show you what a ruthless person is right now!"

(End of this chapter)