Li Xuejian has taken advantage of his leisurely journey to the bamboo grove and was taking time to look around the village, appreciating the way of farmers living in ancient society.

The communal features in a village included a well, where Li Xuejian pay a visit this morning, the area for washing clothes by the river, and also a place for preparing millet or rice.

The villagers' homes were built right next to the fields they owned. And just like Li Xuejian's house, they were constructed of compacted dirt, soil mud, and wood with thatched roofs. The most prosperous families also used soil bricks that were more durable and also provided better humidity that was helpful in preventing mold growth.

At first sight, it looked like in the Wuyuan village lived 50 families with what could give even more than 500 residents, because it was not uncommon for three generations of family members to live in the same house. 

Apart from the home building, there were also wooden sheds where villages raised pigs, chickens, or ducks. Li Xuejian was amazed to see even cattle grazing on the meadow field.

But he knew it only looked good from the side and the pigs and cattle needed time to mature so the villagers usually ate the simple dishes of rice, millet, coarse grain, and wheat. For fat, they crushed soybeans and made oil. They ate this kind of food pretty much all the time and hardly even ate meats or fruits. 

As for chickens and ducks, they were left to lay eggs and the people were even more unwilling to kill them.

Li Xuejian knew that being a farmer wasn’t blissful as it looked from the modern person's perspective but was a very hard and tiring work. 

It was now the summer harvest and it was a very busy time for the whole village. Starting the work at the beginning of the year was all for two big harvests. No one dared to be lazy right now, otherwise, with the autumn harvest being delayed, the one heavy rain can ruin farmers’ one-year efforts. Therefore, they all needed to swiftly collect the grain to be ready to work in the following months. 

Li Xuejian met many men and women working in the fields along the way and naturally, they also saw him but didn’t have any intention to say hello.

One of the women sourly commented: "This son of old hunter lives a life more relaxed than the xiucai in our village."

xiucai - a scholar who has passed the entry-level examination to study at a college

This society was divided by hierarchy boundaries like shi - scholars, nong - peasant farmers, gong - artisans and craftsmen, and shang - merchants and traders. Scholars were the most admired profession and every village wanted the honor of cultivating one. 

The young man next to her heard it and immediately covered his mouth to laugh: "Haha! Don't talk nonsense like this… life as a scholar? His ancestors were three generations of poor peasants. Poor as a pauper! Look what he is doing after the old hunter’s death, dragging an empty cart, no prey no food. His good days are over!” 

The woman has cheered up thinking of this: "You are right, he has to be eating dirt by now." 

eating dirt - being short of money

The people who were once jealous of Li Xuejian now were taking pleasure in his misfortune. Of course, they didn't dare to laugh at him outright so they whispered behind his back.

Li Xuejian didn't pay any attention to them. He didn’t have any interest in getting to know those villagers or making any friends with them. He was a man from the apocalypse where having someone close or special was not a gift but according to Li Xuejian’s journals, a curse. In that kind of brutal world, if you lived long enough, the only certainty left was that you will end up alone. 

When Li Xuejian was getting close to the bamboo grove, he spotted the thin-looking teenage boy working on the field. Patches were piled on the worn-out clothes, which were more worn out than even his own or anyone he had just seen. Taking a closer look, the boy had a golden skin tone, wore a yellowish loose tunic, and pants with a cone-shaped straw hat on top of light blonde hairs. 

A little yellow chicken.

Li Xuejian looked away and coughed a few times, the corners of his mouth seemed to fight against his stoic expression, betraying how amused he really felt.

After arriving at the bamboo grove, Li Xuejian wasted no time and started cutting off bamboos culms with a machete. 

While small, thin stalks were relatively easy to cut, Li Xuejian was more cautious when cutting the tall, thick culms that might have to kick him up as the weight of the stalk pulls the culm to the ground. Li Xuejian made a shallow cut on the side that faces the direction that he wanted the culm to fall and then a second cut on the other side above the first so that it could fall away from him. 

Having enough bamboos, he started to pack them into the cart. 

At one moment, Li Xuejian suddenly stopped and picked up his machete from the ground. His wrist jerked in opposite direction and a sharp pitched tone rang, even producing a blast of wind - whoosh!

The bush beside Li Xuejian shook a few times and then a pheasant without a head clucked out. The rooster shake out its wings in panic as it ran out of the bush, but it only took a few steps before falling over dead in front of Li Xuejian. 

Hmmm… it seems that today diner was delivering itself to him.