Aftermath

At 4 PM, Lin Yi was leading the riders that were bringing the cattle back to the village.

They let out a mighty roar as they rode back, because they were driving nearly a hundred calves with them. The little buffalo had lost their parents and were in a half-panic. Catching and herding them where the cavalry wanted them to go had been difficult.

On the west side of the village, a row of pig stys and cattle pens had been built with the greatest speed possible. Ouyang Shuo stood aside next to Cui Yingyu. Watching the calves getting locked up in the cattle pens, he emitted a long sigh of relief, smiling and saying, “This is the beginning of a great development in our animal husbandry industry! I’ve been thinking, at this stage...I am planning to leave animal husbandry under Material Reserves Division’s care, are you confident that you can do it?”

Yingyu said, “Of course! Only, big brother, you favor too much on the Material Reserves Division. I am afraid the other divisions might have opinions…”

“What manner of views are you talking about? These are an important source of meat in the territory, and it should be under the Material Reserves Division as a type of counterpart management.”

“Big brother, you know that is not what I am saying. The Material Reserves Division now manages the lumber field, quarry, iron mine, granary, fishery, and animal husbandry, basically the entire supply chain of the territory. And in your adjustment this morning, the other divisions are now under the jurisdiction of the newly established Administration Department, only the Material Reserves Division operates independently. I am afraid of such a special status, and that some people will be jealous.”

With Yingyu saying this, Ouyang Shuo naturally considered things along her lines. Others would think that this arrangement was a result of their relationship, instead of why he had truly done these things. He hadn’t communicated with her clearly enough and considered the implications.

“So this is what you are worrying about, well I don’t see it as important. The territory is still in the stage of a mixed big pot, everything we produce is unified by the territory so as to store and distribute everything by degree of importance and need, instead of favoritism. This requires a trustworthy person, and I trust you....but this ends on the day the territory is privatized. At that time, the days of the Material Reserves Division will come to an end.

“At that time, I will readjust the Material Reserves Division. Some of the duties will still be independent of the Administration Division. Therefore, it is not advisable to simply allocate the Material Reserves Division to the Administration Division to avoid future conflicts.”

“Since big brother has thought the problem through, Yingyu is not worried.”

“Oh, yes, after processing all the bodies of the beasts from this morning, how was our harvest?” Ouyang Shuo asked with interest.

“First of all, meat. Wolf meat, dog meat, boar pork and beef are all edible. A wild dog or wolf is worth about 15 units of meat, a boar about 60 units, and 100 units of beef can be harvested off the buffalo. This time, we have collected about 310 thousand units of meat! The Material Reserves Division is ready to salt this meat and then store it. For a year’s time, we will not lack meat, and will even have a surplus.

“The second harvest was skins and furs. We collected more than 6500 animal skins. Damaged hides, we collected 4000. Ordinary hides were 1500 in number, 800 exquisite hides, and 200 perfect hides.” A thought struck her suddenly. “Oh, yes, little sister asked me before, how do you wish to deal with these hides?”

Ouyang Shuo smiled. “This is easy to handle. The fine and delicate hides are to be handed over to Mu Qingsi to deal with as she wishes. The rest, first put into the warehouse to store them and wait until we privatize in the future, they will be distributed directly to the villagers.”

“Ah, little sister was worried about it, afraid that you would be sending so many furs to her for treatment, and afraid she would be too busy. Also, in addition to the meat and hides, there are things like grease, horns, tendons, and similar things.”

The meat, fur and other materials were in fact a hidden reward from the system for completing the quest. With the meat, they could greatly ease the food crisis for the territory that was soon to arrive. Whether if you could make full use of these gifts, that simply depends on your own abilities.

“The tendons, horns, and leathers are to be stored separately as strategic materials, they will be used in the production of armor and weapons as raw materials,” Ouyang Shuo reminded her after she mentioned them.

About this time, San Gouzi returned with his team. They had another half-dozen piglets with them to show to Ouyang Shuo.

Returning to the manor, he met Fan Zhongyan again, who had been led around the village by Gu Xiuwen, and just arrived back at the yard. Shuo said with a smile, “Ours is a just a simple little village, we’re sorry Mr Xi Wen had to endure it.”

“Shanhai Village, although only a grade 2 village, had a reasonable layout, well-planned and orderly, whether it was work areas, living areas, or industry, it was all well organized. This showed the potential of the village. Xi Wen could only admire the man who had planned it all out.”

Getting praised by Fan Zhongyan was a definite achievement, and flattering. Being not a little proud of his work, and finally someone appreciating his work, gave his self-confidence a little boost.

Truthfully, his methods of setting up a village were not really original. A lot of them came from the painful groping of his predecessors, and constantly revising the results. He was standing on the shoulders of giants, combining their village designs with flexible applications.

“With your help, Mr. Xi Wen, I believe the administrative efficiency of Shanhai Village will be on an even higher level,” Shuo said in earnest.

Fan Zhongyan fell silent. In this regard, he didn’t have to be too modest.

Bidding farewell to Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Shuo headed back to his office, spent an hour reading, and then logged out of the game.

Today was the weekend, Bing’er and Xiaoyue did not have to go to school. They did not go out today, but stayed together at home. Even after Ouyang Shuo had done his morning run and returned, the two pretty ladies were still sleeping in. He helplessly sighed and put their breakfast into the microwave.

Back in his bedroom, he opened up his handbrain, checking out the game forum.

On the forum headlines, naturally Shanhai Village making the #1 in the world was at the top of the discussion posts. This time the interest of the people was not just a passing thing, unlike the upgrade to grade 2 village. This time, not only the Chinese players, but those in other countries, were also wondering about the real identity of Qiyue Wuyi.

Many foreign players had come to the Chinese forum to inquire about Qiyue Wuyi. Unfortunately, the Chinese players themselves had no knowledge of Qiyue Wuyi, so they could only return empty-handed.

This time the comments were completely one-sided. Nobody was thinking that Qiyue Wuyi was simply lucky this time around.

1 - Qiyue Wuyi has reached the top, glory for China, congrats, congrats!

2 - Congratulations +1, keep up the pattern from below!

3 - Congratulations +2, Qiyue Wuyi, raging on the Six Tyrants of Handan, awesome!

4 - Mighty +1, heihei, There will be a good show coming up in China server!

5 - Onlookers +1, the Six Tyrants must be miserable, you are threatening their lead!

6 - Upstairs be careful of your words! I am Feng Qiuhuang, congratulations to Qiyue Wuyi for reaching first place, I look forward to cooperating with you!

7- Wow, the goddess is posting too!

8- Wife, come out to see the goddess ~~~~ oh, not the face!

9 - upstairs 2B, touchy the goddess…

10 - I am Chun Shenjun, congratulating Qiyue Wuyi for his success and reaching the top, looking forward to cooperating with you!

11 - The god of wealth comes and the evil goes!

12 - Qiyue Wuyi is really powerful and domineering, ah, the Six Tyrants of Handan are only so so!

13 - Qiyue Wuyi, seeking your contact information! This is my picture!

14 - Upstairs is a beauty, confirmed!

15 - Oh my god, another flower on a pile of shit…”

Seeing the messages of Feng Qiuhuang and Chun Shenjun, Ouyang Shuo wondered if he wasn’t seeing a crack in their hegemony, it seems they weren’t a piece of iron. Still, best to be silent and choose when to confront them at his discretion. They might be voicing support, but didn’t really want to cooperate with him.

For the representatives of the major powers, they’d been immersed in an environment of intrigues since childhood. Ouyang Shuo dealing with them would just be a mouse in their eyes.

Hence, he certainly would not be so silly, facing their short-term honey faces for their long term knives. In the face of intrigue, they were monsters, and only by absolute strength could he defeat them, the one and only king’s way he will follow.

Of course, before there were real conflicts of interest, he wasn’t going to take the initiative to stir up trouble. This time, the world quest had pushed him thoroughly to the edge. In China, such an environment was too exposed, which wasn’t a good thing. Especially in the unstable early days.

He would have to show his strength at some point. He had to conserve his lead, concentrate on operations within his territory. Accumulation was the way to win.

Another hot topic on the forum caught his eye, the topic was interesting - <Are you OUT of it?> Ouyang Shuo looked at the poster’s ID, Bai Xiaosheng.

He laughed. Bai Xiaosheng was synonymous with China’s intellectuals. Nobody would try to fake this ID, or they’d be flamed in the forums without hesitation.

According to Bai Xiaosheng’s statistics, at least one quarter of the territories in the game were removed by the Siege of Beasts. It had taken luck to survive, and many of the territories had also suffered heavy losses.

It is not uncommon that the fence was broken and the manor destroyed. Some territories only had their manor survive, and were basically back to where they had been at the beginning. Fortunately, the damaged buildings could be rebuilt, they didn’t need to repurchase the blueprints, or the lords might go crazy.

According to Bai Xiaosheng’s inquiries, even the Six Tyrants of Handan had been subjected to varying degrees of damages. Ouyang Shuo was the only one who got away with his territory completely intact.

The greatest loss was the sharp decline in population. In a defensive warfare, without reliable fortifications, it would mean losses. In some territories, the losses includes losing half the population.

The totalled losses of people and buildings would greatly delay the progress of a territory towards the upgrade. Ouyang Shuo estimated that there was not anyone who could compete with him for the grade 3 village upgrade ranking.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap