Protect Our Chief

Nineteen years old, just the age for marriage. Although Sang was tall and her figure was already taking shape, her face still had a childlike charm.

She easily carried a basket full of mulberry leaves on her back, with a bright smile on her face, happily chatting with her girlfriends: "Last night, when I went to check the silkworm room, my dad said that our silkworms had finished molting for the fourth time and were about to cocoon. My dad plans to start setting up the silkworm mountains today. In a few days, when the silkworms stop eating, we’ll put the silkworm mountains in, and the silkworms will start to cocoon."

"Wow~ so fast?" The young girl next to her looked envious, "My family’s silkworms haven’t finished molting yet~ Looks like your family’s silkworms will be the first to cocoon again this year."

"Oh, not necessarily. Qian’s family at the east end of the village is also quite formidable. I heard they’re researching silkworm farming techniques as well, maybe they’ll surpass us this year." Sang smiled modestly.

"You don’t need to be so modest~ Your dad is really amazing, the silkworms he raises grow fast and well. The cocoons are also the largest, and you earn more money than other families raising the same amount." A relatively calm-looking sister, in her twenties, laughed as she chimed in.

"It’s not actually that extraordinary~" Sang smiled shyly and explained, "My dad is, after all, the great-grandson of the previous Great Gu Master. His bloodline is just a bit stronger than others, but compared to those geniuses who can become Gu Masters, he’s still lacking. My uncles and grandfathers, now they’re the truly impressive ones."

The little girlfriends couldn’t help but admire the Gu Masters.

In the Gu Village, Gu Masters hold a revered position. Generally, the village chief is chosen from the most outstanding Gu Masters, known as the "Great Gu Master."

Only Gu Masters and Great Gu Masters can protect the village from the dangers of the Wilderness.

To ensure the Gu Master’s bloodline is passed down from generation to generation, some powerful Gu Masters would even marry multiple wives. With many children, sometimes a lineage with excellent talent would emerge, allowing them to better protect the village as they grew up.

The girlfriends chattered on, and somehow, they started talking about the past.

"I heard that our village used to have less than two thousand people, and it was one of the smallest villages. We only grew in number after the [Quasi-Saintess Jing] came, improving our living conditions," someone said.

"Our ancestors worked so hard to develop terraced fields, but irrigation and production were very difficult. The amount of grain produced each year was very limited. In bad weather, there might be nothing harvested at all. It was hard enough to support a village of a thousand people, let alone more. Now, all the terraced fields are planted with mulberry and Spiritual Mulberry trees, providing more income sources, so life has become easier."

"And back then, children couldn’t survive the miasma, and many couldn’t even live to adulthood, unlike the good days we have now."

The calm sister couldn’t help but sigh, reflecting on the hardships of their ancestors.

"I’ve heard from Grandma too," Sang chimed in. "Grandma said life was really tough when she was young. There was something called bug funeral. They said when the elderly couldn’t work anymore, they would leave all their valuables at home, wearing only clothes, and go into the mountains. After they died, they would feed the bugs in the mountains. Grandma saw her own grandma go into the mountains."

As Sang spoke, she got goosebumps, shook her head to dispel the images in her mind, and couldn’t help but reflect: "Thankfully, times are better now. Otherwise, at Grandma’s age, she might have to go into the mountains too. I couldn’t bear that."

"That’s right." The other girlfriends nodded in agreement, "It’s much better now. Without Quasi-Saintess Jing’s efforts, we wouldn’t have the good life we have today."

A group of them chatted, and the topic easily strayed. They started talking about cocoons again.

"When autumn arrives, the people from the Changning United Weaving Department will come to collect cocoons. I heard the price will increase again~ What are you planning to buy with the money?"

"Speaking of which, when winter comes, the Gu Masters working outside should return. Besides bringing back large quantities of grain, they will also bring many fine things from Daqian. We can buy them from them then. Last time, the jewelry and cosmetics Sister Dihua brought back were hot sellers~" One of the young sisters spoke, then hesitantly asked the others, "Is ’hot sellers’ the right term?"

These "words" from Daqian were still somewhat unfamiliar to them. The so-called working outside referred to the young Gu Masters in the village, hired by the Wang Family to go to Daqian to specialize in pest control in the fields.

A young Gu Master could rear many Grasshopper King and other beneficial insects. Once skilled, they could protect tens of thousands of acres of good fields from insect disasters. Their annual income was astronomical.

They earned enormous sums and naturally bought many advanced and good things to bring back.

"The things Sister Dihua brought back are great, but they always have to be grabbed. Especially the Beauty Cream, if you’re a bit slow, it’s gone." A girlfriend complained, "I heard [Quasi-Saintess Jing] uses that Beauty Cream, and only the Daqian Wang Family has it. Last time, my dad managed to grab a box; I thought it was for me, but he gave it to my mom instead."