The morning after the confrontation with Wang Da's lackeys, the ranch was bustling with a quiet, determined energy. The snow had hardened into a crust of ice, sparkling like shattered glass under the pale winter sun.
Lin Chen stood by the lean-to shelter, tightening the girth of the blanket saddle on Old Grey. The donkey stood patiently, his ears twitching as he chewed on a mouthful of dried weeds.
"You're going to ride him down?" Zhao Hu asked, walking over with a bundle of ropes slung over his shoulder. "The path is solid ice. One slip and you'll tumble three hundred feet."
"I have to," Lin Chen replied, checking the hooves for ice balls. "We need men. And I need to show my face. If I walk down like a beggar, they will treat me like one. If I ride down, head high... I am a landowner."
He placed the modified bamboo hat on his head. The wide brim cast a sharp shadow over his face, hiding his eyes and giving him an air of mystery. To the people of this era, used to the conical *douli* or simple cloth wraps, the shape looked foreign, almost barbaric.
Lin Mu ran out of the hut, handing Lin Chen a cloth bag filled with baked flatbread. "Brother, be careful. The villagers... they might listen to Wang Da."
"Let them listen," Lin Chen said, swinging his leg over the donkey's back. He felt the cold air bite his cheeks. "But they have empty stomachs. And empty stomachs are louder than Wang Da's threats."
He nudged Old Grey with his heels. "Walk on."
The donkey snorted and stepped onto the frozen path. The descent was treacherous. Lin Chen had to lean back, using his weight to balance as the donkey slid slightly on the icy stones. It wasn't a graceful ride—the donkey was clumsy, and the terrain was brutal—but they moved with purpose.
As they neared the village outskirts, the smoke from the chimneys grew thicker. The smell of burning pine and poor-quality coal filled the air.
The village of Qingniu was waking up. Women were sweeping snow from their doorsteps, and men were heading to the few fields that weren't completely buried. When Lin Chen rode past, the usual chatter died down.
Heads turned. Eyes widened.
"It's the Scholar..."
"Look at that hat! Is he a monk? Or a barbarian?"
"He's riding the donkey! Look, he's not walking!"
Lin Chen didn't look left or right. He kept his back straight, his gaze fixed on the village center. He let the silence hang in the air. He wasn't hiding; he was displaying himself. He was showing them that he wasn't freezing, he wasn't starving, and he certainly wasn't dead.
He stopped the donkey near the old millstone, a common gathering spot. He dismounted smoothly, tying Old Grey to a post. He took a bite of the flatbread, chewing slowly, letting the villagers see the food.
A few men approached, their faces gaunt, curiosity warring with suspicion. Among them was a burly young man named Dahu (Big Tiger). He was the son of a widow, strong as an ox, but with no land and no prospects. He usually worked odd jobs for Shopkeeper Zhou, but today he was idle.
"Master Lin," Dahu called out, his voice booming but hesitant. "You... you're back in the village?"
"I never left, Dahu," Lin Chen said, his voice carrying clearly in the cold air. "I'm just building my home."
"Building?" an old woman cackled from a doorway. "We heard you were playing in the mud with sheep! Wang Da's men said you're a fool who buys sick cows."
Lin Chen turned to her, a faint smile on his lips. "Wang Da's men also said my sheep were starving. Would you like to see a starving sheep, Grandmother?"
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of dried corn kernels he had saved from the silage prep. He held them out in his palm.
Old Grey, the donkey, immediately stretched his neck and tried to eat them. Lin Chen pulled his hand away.
"Not you," he scolded the donkey gently. He looked back at the villagers. "My animals eat twice a day. They sleep under a roof. They are warmer than most of you."
A ripple of murmurs went through the crowd. It was a bold claim, and in their poverty, it stung, but it also intrigued them.
"I am not here to argue," Lin Chen said, climbing onto the millstone so he could be seen. "I am here to offer work."
The word 'work' acted like a spark in dry tinder. The muttering stopped instantly.
"The winter is long," Lin Chen continued. "The snow is deep. My ranch needs strong backs. I need men to haul stone, to mend fences, and to guard the perimeter against wolves... and other threats."
"How much?" Dahu asked immediately, stepping forward. "How much does it pay?"
"Thirty copper coins a day," Lin Chen said. The market rate for heavy labor was twenty, maybe twenty-five in the harvest season. In winter, it was usually zero. "And two meals. Hot porridge in the morning, flatbread and meat broth at noon."
"Meat broth?" a skinny man in the back scoffed. "You lie. Who eats meat in the winter?"
"I do," Lin Chen said calmly. "And my workers will. I have sheep. I have cows. We cull the weak to feed the strong. That is the law of the ranch."
He looked at Dahu. "I need two men. Strong men. Men who aren't afraid of the cold. If you work well, when spring comes, the pay rises. If you work poorly, you leave. Simple."
Dahu's eyes were shining. Thirty coins! That was enough to buy a bag of rice for his mother. And hot food?
"I'll do it!" Dahu shouted. "I'm strong, Master Lin! I can carry two bags of grain on my back!"
"Me too!" another voice called out. It was a lean, wiry man named Er-Leng (Second Fool). He wasn't as strong as Dahu, but he looked quick and eager. "I can run fast. I can herd goats!"
Lin Chen looked them over. He had observed them before. Dahu was honest and simple. Er-Leng was shrewd but poor. They were perfect.
"Good," Lin Chen nodded. "Bring your own hatchets. Be at the foot of the mountain path in an hour. If you are late, the job goes to someone else."
***
While the labor recruitment was happening, Lin Chen had another, more delicate task. He walked towards the small house of the village doctor, Old Man Li.
On the way, he passed the general store. Shopkeeper Zhou was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed, his face dark.
"Lin Chen," Zhou said, his voice oily. "Recruiting men? Bad idea. If they work for you, Wang Da will blacklist them. They won't find work in town next year."
Lin Chen paused. He adjusted his bamboo hat, the wide brim tilting towards the shopkeeper. "Let him blacklist them, Zhou. By next year, they won't need to beg for work in town. They will have skills. They will be ranchers."
"Ranchers?" Zhou laughed. "There is no such thing. Just farmers who lose their land."
"There is now," Lin Chen said, walking past him.
At Old Man Li's house, Lin Chen knocked politely. The door opened, revealing a frail old man with wispy white hair.
"Ah, Scholar Lin," the doctor coughed. "Come to buy herbs? The price of ginger has gone up."
"I'm not here to buy," Lin Chen said, stepping inside and closing the door. He lowered his voice. "I'm here to offer a partnership."
"Partnership?"
"I have the cow," Lin Chen said. "The one with the hip injury. She is healing. But I lack medicine. I need a steady supply of herbal patches, bone-setting salves, and... some specific seeds."
"Seeds?"
"For spring," Lin Chen said. "I want to grow my own medicinal herbs. I will pay you to teach my brother and me how to process them. And..." Lin Chen pulled out a small pouch of silver. Five taels. "I want you to go to the Prefecture City for me."
Old Man Li blinked. "Prefecture City? Why?"
"To buy something I cannot find here," Lin Chen said. "And to check on a rumor. I need to know the price of beef in the Prefecture market. Not the price Wang Da sets. The *real* price."
He placed the silver on the table. "Your travel expenses and a deposit. If you go, and if you bring back accurate news, I will pay you another five taels in the spring. Enough to fix your roof."
Old Man Li looked at the silver, then at Lin Chen's intense eyes. He saw a madness there, but also a terrifying sanity.
"You are planning something big, Scholar," Li murmured.
"I am planning to eat," Lin Chen said. "And to make sure no one eats me."
***
By the time Lin Chen returned to the mountain path, Dahu and Er-Leng were already waiting. They were shivering, stamping their feet, but they looked determined. They carried rusty hatchets and wore layers of patched clothes.
"Let's go," Lin Chen said, leading the donkey.
The climb up was harder with a group, but Dahu proved his worth immediately. When Old Grey slipped on a patch of ice, Dahu didn't hesitate. He dropped his shoulder and heaved the donkey back onto the path, grunting with the effort but not complaining.
When they reached the clearing, the two men stopped.
They stared.
It wasn't a palace. It was a muddy, frozen construction site. But there, in the shed, the sheep were bleating. The yellow cow, Hope, stuck her head out and mooed loudly. Smoke was rising from the hut chimney.
"It's... alive," Er-Leng whispered. "The ranch. It's alive."
"It's loud," Dahu added, eyes wide. "The animals... they look big."
Zhao Hu came out to meet them. He looked at the two new hires with a critical eye. He walked up to Dahu, looked him up and down, and then shoved him hard in the chest.
Dahu stumbled back, surprised, then lunged forward angrily. "Hey! What was that for?"
"Good," Zhao Hu grunted, ignoring the anger. "You have spirit. If you can stand up to me, you can stand up to a wolf. Drop your gear. You're on fence duty. The northern perimeter is weak."
He turned to Er-Leng. "You. You look like you have quick hands. You're on feed duty. The silage pit needs to be covered again after we take from it. One bit of mold ruins the whole pile."
Lin Chen watched the integration happen. It was chaotic, but it was movement.
"Brother!" Lin Mu ran out. He looked at the newcomers, then at Lin Chen, his eyes asking a hundred questions.
"They are our hands, Mu'er," Lin Chen said, taking off his hat and wiping the sweat from his brow. "Show them where to put their tools. And heat up the broth. It's time to feed the workers."
***
That evening, the small hut was crowded. Five people sat around the brazier. The atmosphere was cramped, but the mood was high.
Dahu and Er-Leng ate the meat broth—made from the bones of a rabbit and enriched with leftover fat scraps—with a desperation that bordered on reverence. They tore into the flatbread, warming their frozen hands by the fire.
Lin Chen sat slightly apart, his notebook open. He was sketching a new structure.
**[System Alert: Workforce Established.]**
**[Mission Complete: Recruit 2 Villagers.]**
**[Reward: Basic Veterinary Kit (Herbal) - Delivered to Inventory.]**
**[New Mission: Build the Bunkhouse. Provide separate sleeping quarters for workers. Reward: Cowboy Skill Pack I (Basic Riding & Knots).]**
"Dahu," Lin Chen said.
The big man looked up, mouth full. "Mmph?"
"Tomorrow, we are not just fixing fences," Lin Chen said. "We are building a house. A long house, for you to sleep in. I cannot have you walking up and down the mountain every day in the snow. You will live here."
"Live here?" Er-Leng asked, surprised. "On the mountain? With the ghosts?"
"The only ghosts here are the ones in your head," Lin Chen said. "You live here, you eat here, you work here. You are part of the ranch now."
He looked at the fire, then at the system's reward notification. He reached into his inventory mentally and materialized the **Veterinary Kit**. It appeared in his hand—a small, polished wooden box filled with glass bottles of tinctures and sharp, clean needles.
He placed it on the table.
"What is that?" Lin Mu asked.
"The future," Lin Chen said. "With this, we don't just keep animals alive. We make them thrive."
He looked around the circle. From a useless scholar alone in a hut, he now had a soldier, two laborers, and a studious brother. He had a cow, sheep, and a donkey. He had a system that gave him tools from a world away.
"Tomorrow," Lin Chen said, closing his eyes, the weariness finally catching up. "We build the Bunkhouse. And then... we prepare for the thaw."
The wind howled outside, but inside, the fire crackled steadily. The first threads of a new fabric were being woven on this desolate mountain.