After waiting for a while, Li Ge finally emerged from the stone house in the guard camp. "It's you, kid. What's up?" he asked.
Tang Wen took out a burlap sack. "Got lucky and caught two pheasants. Thought I'd bring them for you to try, Li Ge."
"Pheasants, huh?" Li Ge glanced at them and smiled. "So, what's the matter?"
"Well, I was thinking of moving to a different house. I was wondering if there are any vacant ones in the camp. Could you help me keep an eye out?"
"Simple enough. I'll take these. Come on in." Li Ge turned and led Tang Wen into the stone house, guiding him through to a room labeled "Housing Selection."
After exchanging greetings, Li Ge asked, "Xiao Liang, do you have any available houses further inside? Get this young man a place."
The young man surnamed Liang stood up and pointed at a map on the wall. "Of course, Li Ge. The white-marked huts are all vacant. Take your pick."
Li Ge chuckled and gave him a nod.
He then gestured for Tang Wen to come forward and take a look.
The map on the wall was a large piece of parchment. Tang Wen first looked at the familiar camp entrance, then traced his eyes to the rice shop he often visited.
The rice shop was located closer to the city. If he could live nearby, it would definitely be safer.
Perhaps noticing Tang Wen's gaze, Xiao Liang said, "The closer you get to the city, the more expensive the moving fee. If you want to move near the city gate and open a shop, you'll have to pay a thousand catties of grain."
Tang Wen leaned back slightly, forcing a smile. "I was just looking."
Moving from the inner camp to the outskirts didn't require any grain payment, as long as you were willing.
Tang Wen and Tang Tang hadn't originally lived near the camp entrance. Before Tang Wen's transmigration, a family had offered over a hundred catties of grain to exchange houses with them.
There was no other choice. Both of them were weak and could barely make ends meet by working in the fields.
They couldn't save enough to pay rent, so they had to sell their dwelling.
The map on the wall only showed the layout of the camp's outskirts. The city area was simply labeled with two words—"Queen."
After a quick scan, Tang Wen pointed to an area and asked, "How much grain would it cost to move here?"
He was referring to the area near the blacksmith's shop.
That area was several hundred meters away from the camp walls, so safety shouldn't be an issue. Plus, he could look out for Li Da Niu, the blacksmith, and vice versa.
Xiao Liang glanced at Li Ge, who remained silent, before replying, "Moving there would cost 300 catties of grain. The houses there come with courtyards and are spacious. The annual rent is 240 catties of grain."
That's expensive!
300 catties of grain could feed a person for a year.
And the rent had doubled.
But Tang Wen had no choice. He lowered his head, did some quick calculations, and agreed. "Alright."
"Good. There are three vacant houses here. Pick one."
"Uh, do you have any recommendations?"
The three houses looked identical on the map, all marked as white squares.
Xiao Liang glanced at the records and said, "Then take the middle one. It has a well, and the previous tenant dug a Sweet Potato Cellar. It also has a woodshed and an outhouse. Just clean it up, and it's ready to move in."
"Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take this one."
The clerk was surprised. "As expected of someone brought by Li Ge. You're decisive."
Li Ge also gave a slight nod. Hundreds of catties of grain were no small amount for most individuals and families in the camp.
Tang Wen smiled. Whether it was decisive or not, if he had come to choose a house by himself today, he would have had to bring his sister along for an on-site inspection before making a decision.
But now, Li Ge was the one bringing him here. Out of respect for Li Ge, the person wouldn't recommend a place that was too bad.
"Is there enough rice at home? This needs to be paid in full at once."
"Thank you for your concern, Li Ge. It should be enough."
"That's good," Li Ge turned his head and asked, "How much rice can we exchange for a pound of meat?"
The clerk smiled, "For a pound of meat, you can get up to 15 pounds of rice."
"Hmm. Then send a cart."
The clerk marked the house Tang Wen had chosen in black and handed him a piece of paper, which simply stated, "Renting House No. 6 on 5th Street," stamped with the red seal of "Barracks - Housing Selection Office": "Keep this safe. Since it's not busy now, I'll accompany you for a trip. Let me go call a cart."
As he went out, Tang Wen quickly thanked Li Ge again.
The latter waved his hand, instead showing great interest in the two pheasants, asking, "How did you catch them?"
Tang Wen was momentarily stunned, then answered truthfully, "I know a bit of the Stone Throwing Art."
"Oh. Throwing stones? Are you accurate?"
"Well, since Li Ge is asking, I dare not lie. Within 30 steps, I have a 90% chance of hitting wherever I aim!"
This was Tang Wen being modest. In reality, within 50 steps, he was almost always accurate.
Li Ge narrowed his eyes, as if recalling something, "Recently, several rice shops have received Red-billed Finches. They say it was a young man who delivered them."
"That was me. I didn't dare sell too much at once, so I visited several rice shops."
"Good, good." The details matched, and Li Ge looked at him with a hint of appreciation, "Have you seen the guards? Do you know why they are all so strong and powerful?"
Tang Wen shook his head, looking at Li Ge expectantly, waiting for him to explain.
Li Ge continued, "By passing the selection, one can become a guard, practice martial arts, and learn the Breathing Technique passed down by the Queen. They train during the day and have meat at every meal. It won't be long before they become strong."
As he spoke, he looked at Tang Wen, who cooperatively showed a look of longing and blurted out, "Li Ge, I also want to be a guard!"
The treatment was practically like being a civil servant in troubled times!
What? Are guards in danger?
Is hunting dangerous?
Is it more dangerous for you to go out hunting alone, or for the guards to go out in groups, fully armored, wielding long swords and riding big horses?
"Guards have to risk their lives; it's not peaceful outside the camp."
"Li Ge, I'm willing to risk my life." In Tang Wen's view, living in this godforsaken apocalypse was already risking his life every day!
Li Ge smiled, "You're still young and not tall enough. You won't make it for the selection next spring. Go back and work on building your strength. If not next year, there's always the year after."
"Okay, good."
Tang Wen's face showed reluctance, but he nodded repeatedly, like a stubborn teenager.
He was indeed feeling regretful inside.
Li Ge smiled, "You can come to me for anything in the future."
The sound of rolling wheels was heard.
Outside the window, Xiao Liang stopped a donkey cart at the door, and Li Ge led Tang Wen out.
"Xiao Liang, I won't go with Tang Wen for the move. Please take care of it."
"Li Ge, don't mention it. It's what I should do."
Li Ge nodded and went back inside, while Xiao Liang helped Tang Wen onto the donkey cart.
Sitting on the donkey cart, Tang Wen felt a surge of emotions. He had ridden this cart before, back in his childhood in his hometown on Earth, where it was called a "dipaizi cart" in the local dialect.
The cart could be pulled by either a person or an animal, making it a very flexible mode of transportation, consuming only a bundle of grass or two meals for a hundred miles.
"Brother Tang, what's your relationship with Li Ge?" Xiao Liang asked with a warm smile.
"Ah! There's no special relationship. Li Ge is just a good person who has taken care of me."
"A good person? Yes, yes, Li Ge is famously kind," Xiao Liang replied, his smile unwavering, though it was clear he didn't believe a word of it.
Tang Wen guided the old man driving the cart, and a few minutes later, they arrived at the camp entrance, stopping in front of a mud-plastered hut.
"You live here?" Xiao Liang slowly lost his smile.
"Yes. Please wait a moment, I need to speak with my family."
He walked to the door, which opened from the inside. Tang Tang peeked through the crack and saw them arriving.
"How much foxtail millet?" she got straight to the point.
"What?" Tang Wen was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood. He pondered and said, "Sister, safety is the most important thing. Even if it means spending all the foxtail millet—ah, ah, ah! Sister, what's wrong?"
Upon hearing "all the
foxtail millet," Tang Tang's eyes widened, and she fell backward.
Tang Wen was startled and quickly caught her.
She seemed dazed, her body stiff, and she kept repeating, "All the foxtail millet, all of it, all of it..."
(End of Chapter)