Three days passed in a blur of frozen breath and aching muscles.
The "miracle" of the mushroom soup had bought Li Wei a sliver of trust, but it was fragile. His family watched him with a mix of hope and anxiety as he spent his days tending to the mysterious patch of dirt behind the house and caring for the calf.
The calf, whom Li Wei had secretly named "One" in his head, was finally standing. It wobbled on spindly legs, bellowing for milk with a stubbornness that made Li Wei smile. It had the spirit of a survivor.
On the morning of the lease signing, the village drum beat a slow, rhythmic thump—the signal for a gathering at the Village Head's courtyard.
Li Wei stood by the door, tightening the sash of his coat. He turned to his father. "Ready, Father?"
Li Dazhuang looked up from sharpening his hoe. He looked older than his forty years, the lines around his eyes deepened by worry. "Boy, are you certain about this? The slope... nothing grows there but thorns and bitter weeds. The soil is thin. If we lease it, we owe the tax regardless of the harvest. If we fail, we lose the ten taels of silver your mother saved for your brother's future."
Ten taels of silver. It was a fortune to a peasant family. It was the cost of a year's worth of grain, or the dowry for a daughter.
"I am certain," Li Wei said, his voice steady. "Farming that land is suicide. But ranching... it's different. I need the space."
Li Dazhuang stared at him for a long moment, searching for hesitation. Finding none, he sighed, grabbed his walking stick, and stood up. "Fine. I will sign the papers. But if the Village Head asks, it was your idea. I don't want him thinking I've lost my mind."
"I'll tell him it was my idea," Li Wei promised.
They walked together through the village. Stone Roll Village was a collection of about fifty households, huddled together against the wind. The houses were low, built from yellow mud and timber, with smoke curling from the roofs. The villagers were out in force, heading toward the large wooden gates of Headman Wang's estate.
Headman Wang was a rotund man with a oily smile and a habit of rubbing his jade thumb ring whenever money was mentioned. He sat behind a heavy table in his courtyard, a ledger open before him. Beside him sat a sharp-faced man in a blue robe—the Tax Clerk from the county seat.
"Next!" Headman Wang bellowed.
The line moved slowly. Farmers stepped forward, heads bowed, placing strings of copper coins on the table or pleading for extensions. The Tax Clerk would sneer, count the coins, and mark the ledger with a red brush.
Finally, it was the Li family's turn.
"Ah, Li Dazhuang," Headman Wang said, his eyes narrowing. "I heard you had a spot of trouble this winter. Here to return the lease on the lower plot?"
Li Dazhuang stepped forward, but Li Wei moved to stand beside him.
"We will keep the lower plot," Li Wei said clearly.
The courtyard went quiet. Villagers turned to stare. A young man speaking out of turn was unheard of.
Headman Wang frowned. "And who are you to speak? Oh, the third son. The one who was sick." He chuckled. "You keep the lower plot? Do you have the tax? That will be three hundred copper coins."
"We will pay," Li Wei said. "And we want to lease the Barren Slope as well."
A ripple of whispers spread through the crowd like wind through wheat.
"The Barren Slope?"
"Is he mad?"
"That land is cursed! Even the goats don't go there!"
Headman Wang blinked, surprised, before a greedy gleam entered his eyes. "The Barren Slope? You want that rocky wasteland?"
"I do," Li Wei confirmed. "I intend to reclaim it. According to the Great Yu statutes, reclaiming wasteland for pasture grants a three-year tax reduction on the land itself, does it not?"
The Tax Clerk looked up, interested. He flipped through a thick book. "Hmph. The boy knows the law. Yes, wasteland reclamation for grazing receives a tax holiday for three years to encourage stockbreeding. But the lease fee must be paid upfront."
"How much?" Li Dazhuang asked, his voice tight.
"Five taels of silver," Headman Wang said quickly, naming a price that was high for useless land. "Non-negotiable."
Li Dazhuang stiffened. Five taels was half their savings.
"Done," Li Wei said before his father could object.
He looked at Headman Wang. "We will pay the five taels. We want the lease for ten years."
"Ten years?" Headman Wang laughed. "If you wish to be stuck with that rock for ten years, fine! Clerk, write it up."
The contract was drafted on rough paper. Li Dazhuang pressed his thumbprint in red ink, his hand trembling slightly. Li Wei pressed his thumb next to his father's.
**[System Notification: Long-term Task Initiated.]**
**[Objective: Lease 'Barren Slope'. Status: Completed.]**
**[Reward: Intermediate Ranching Knowledge (Pasture Management) + Basic Veterinary Kit.]**
**[Current Ranch Points: 12]**
As the print dried, a rush of information flooded Li Wei's mind. It wasn't just abstract knowledge; it was instinct. He suddenly knew exactly how to terrace the slope to prevent erosion, how to mix the soil for the Brachiaria, and how to rotate grazing to maximize grass growth.
Simultaneously, he felt a weight in the satchel at his hip. He didn't need to look; he knew the System had placed a small wooden box inside. It contained a scalpel, needles, and a bottle of antiseptic tincture—things that would look like magic in this era.
The walk back home was somber. Once inside the gate, Li Dazhuang rounded on his son.
"Five taels!" he hissed, keeping his voice down so the neighbors wouldn't hear. "You just spent half the family's safety net on a pile of rocks! If your mother finds out..."
"She will find out eventually," Li Wei said calmly. "Father, gather the brothers. I need to go to the slope today. I need to start building."
"Building what? There's no wood!"
"There is wood in the old forest on the ridge," Li Wei said. "Fallen timber. I have the right to collect it. I need to build a fence. A strong one."
Li Dazhuang rubbed his face, groaning. "A fence... for what? You have one calf."
"I will have more," Li Wei said, his eyes burning with intensity. "Father, trust me. The land isn't for crops. Crops need deep soil. The land is for *grass*. Grass will grow on rocks if you plant the right kind. And grass feeds cattle. Cattle are money walking on four legs."
He didn't wait for an argument. He went to the shed, grabbed the hemp sack, his staff, and a rusted hand-axe.
"I'm going to the slope," he announced. "Send Second Brother to help me when he can."
Li Wei trudged up the hill behind the village. The Barren Slope was aptly named. It was a jagged scar of gray rock and yellow earth, exposed to the biting north wind. Thorns and scrub brush clung to life in the crevices.
To the average eye, it was a graveyard of agriculture.
To Li Wei, looking through the lens of the System, it was a fortress.
**[Terrain Analysis: Barren Slope.]**
**[Elevation: High. Wind exposure: High.]**
**[Advantage: Natural drainage. Defensible. Hard for predators to approach unseen.]**
**[Soil pH: Slightly acidic. Suitable for specific hardy forage blends.]**
He walked the perimeter. It was about fifty *mu*—a sizable area. He stopped at the highest point, looking down at the village below. From here, he could see the main road, the river, and the distant county seat.
He took the hand-axe and struck a thorny bush, chopping it away.
"I claim this land," he whispered.
He spent the day hauling fallen branches and rocks from the perimeter, beginning the arduous process of building a barrier. He didn't have the money for a wooden fence yet, so he started with a rock wall, leveraging the stones that littered the field.
By late afternoon, his back was screaming, and his hands were blistered anew. He had cleared a small section of thorns and stacked a waist-high rock wall along twenty meters of the boundary.
It wasn't much, but it was a start.
A shadow fell over him.
Li Wei looked up, expecting his father or brother.
It was a young man, perhaps twenty years old, wearing a faded blue tunic. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a scar running down his left cheek. He stood with a lazy alertness, his hands loose at his sides.
It was Zhao Feng. The village's resident ne'er-do-well. A man who had left to join the border guards but came back a year ago with a scar and a bad reputation. People said he was too violent, too unmanageable for village life.
"Li Wei," Zhao Feng said, his voice raspy. "I heard you leased this trash heap."
Li Wei didn't flinch. He leaned on his shovel. "News travels fast."
"The Village Head is laughing at you," Zhao Feng said, stepping closer. "He says the Li family has finally gone stupid from hunger."
"Let him laugh," Li Wei replied. "Why are you here, Zhao Feng? Did you come to mock me too?"
Zhao Feng looked at the rock wall Li Wei had built. He noted the precision of the stacking—the interlocking joints, the stability. It wasn't the work of a fool.
"I'm looking for work," Zhao Feng said bluntly. "Real work. Not shoveling manure for Headman Wang for a handful of grain. I heard you handled a wolf in the forest yesterday. Alone."
Li Wei's eyes narrowed. "I didn't handle it. I scared it off."
"With a stick and a loud voice," Zhao Feng nodded. "Smart. Most idiots run."
He looked Li Wei in the eye. "You're building something here. I can see it. You're not just farming. You're fortifying."
Li Wei felt a flicker of interest. This man was sharp. Dangerous, but sharp.
"I have no money to pay wages," Li Wei said honestly. "Not yet."
"I don't need money yet," Zhao Feng said, kicking a rock. "I need food. And I need a place where people don't look at me like I'm a dog that bites. The village thinks I'm trash. If you're willing to hire trash, I'll work."
Li Wei studied him. The System flickered.
**[Character Analysis: Zhao Feng.]**
**[Loyalty: Neutral.]**
**[Skills: Combat (Intermediate), Tracking (High), Construction (Basic).]**
**[Temperament: Loyal if respected. Dangerous if betrayed.]**
This was the man. The right hand he needed.
Li Wei stuck his shovel into the ground and extended his hand—a gesture foreign to this world, but one Zhao Feng understood.
"I don't see trash," Li Wei said. "I see a man who can fight wolves and build walls. If you work for me, you eat what I eat. When we make money, you get a share. One rule: My word is law on this ranch."
Zhao Feng looked at the hand. A slow, wolfish grin spread across his face. He gripped Li Wei's forearm tightly.
"Deal."
Li Wei smiled back. He had the land. He had the seeds. He had the first member of his crew.
"Good," Li Wei said. "Grab a rock. We have a fence to build."