Peach Haven Village (2)

The village chief said, "Haitang will be the sacred maiden for this ritual. According to the rules, she must live as a bride for six days. And since there is a bride, there naturally needs to be a groom..."

As the only female player, Sun Qi asked, "Village Chief, does gender really have to be so rigid?"

Sun Qi's words drew a burst of laughter from the villagers. Embarrassed, the village chief said, "That probably won't work."

The village chief coughed and returned to the subject. "The bride and groom will live in the house beside Third Lady Temple. Every morning, they must offer incense to Third Lady together. But remember this: you are not truly husband and wife, so you must not consummate the marriage."

As soon as the village chief finished, the villagers began heckling again. Haitang covered her face with both hands and kept shaking her head, her cheeks flushed red through her fingers.

The village chief interrupted the commotion. "So, which of you would be willing to become the groom? Of course, Haitang will make the final choice."

Li Si asked, "Village Chief, does the groom need to do anything?"

The village chief answered, "No. Haitang is very diligent and can handle all the housework."

"I'm willing." Li Si immediately raised his hand.

Zhang San with the glasses and Zhao Liu with the crew cut also raised their hands, making Ding Shi, the only one who had not, stand out. Everyone could not help looking at him. Ding Shi apologized, "I already have a fiancée, and she's quite the lioness."

The villagers did not understand. "What's a lioness?"

Apparently, that movie had not been released yet. Ding Shi explained, "She has a fiery temper and won't tolerate the slightest thing."

One of the women laughed. "You mean she's jealous."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere turned very friendly.

The real reason was that Ding Shi had always believed in the saying that there was no such thing as a free lunch. The groom's role was far too generous: all he had to do each day was light one stick of incense, then he could eat and loaf around, with such a pretty girl beside him acting as a maid. Never mind anything else—just looking at Haitang's graceful figure and beautiful face could make him eat two extra bites.

The village chief said, "Haitang, it's your turn to choose."

Haitang lowered her hands, her face red, and swept her gaze over the men. Her eyes immediately settled on Zhang San with the glasses. He was handsome, refined, and wore a smile on his face—completely different from the village's rough men. Her heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, Haitang pointed at Zhang San with the glasses, then covered her face again in shyness.

Zhang San System Notification: You have become Haitang's groom in Peach Haven Village. Side quest completed.

Zhang San gave Haitang a gentle smile. Her girlish shyness was fully on display as she lightly nodded in response.

The village chief motioned for everyone to look at the second villager, a woman around ninety years old. "Granny Wang is not in good health and needs a godson or goddaughter to help her handle some matters."

Li Si asked again, "What kind of matters?"

The village chief said, "Granny Wang's son and his family all live in the county town. Her son is a senior manager at the bus station, while her daughter-in-law runs the bus station cafeteria. As her godson, you must deliver a jar of pickled vegetables to the minibus driver every day, and the driver will pass it along."

No one raised a hand. Granny Wang was simply too old, and none of them wanted to live with an elderly stranger.

A villager reminded them, "Granny Wang's household eats meat every day."

The village chief explained that the minibus traveled from the county town to Peach Haven Village every day, then returned from Peach Haven Village to the county town. Granny Wang's daughter-in-law, who ran the bus station cafeteria, had to get up early to buy ingredients. Every day, she would purchase one or two pounds of meat and ask the driver to bring it to Peach Haven Village. The driver would then take Peach Haven Village's pickled vegetables back to the bus station for her.

At the mention of meat, Ding Shi and the others immediately thought of the rock-hard steamed buns that took dozens of chews to swallow. Other than Ding Shi, everyone swiftly raised their hands.

Ding Shi's reason for refusing this time was simple. He did not like living with an elderly stranger, nor did he want to eat food cooked by someone so old. He was also prejudiced and disdainful, believing that women of that age had poor hygiene. For all he knew, she might use bamboo strips in the outhouse, then immediately tear chicken apart with those same hands.

Granny Wang looked around with a cheerful smile, then pointed at Zhao Liu. Zhao Liu became her godson.

Now only Li Si, Ding Shi, and Sun Qi remained without roles.

The village chief lifted the cane in his hand. "My legs aren't good, and there are many matters to handle in such a large village. I need someone to run errands for me. So I need an assistant."

Li Si asked, "Does the assistant need to do anything?"

The village chief answered, "Whatever needs doing, you do."

Li Si and Sun Qi looked at each other, but neither moved. Ding Shi raised his hand, and the village chief nodded. "Good. It's you, then."

Ding Shi's reason for choosing it was that he could not stay cooped up at home. He was happy to have a legitimate reason to wander around the village. Besides, compared to Zhang San and Zhao Liu, he would at least be putting in some work.

Most importantly, neither Haitang's groom nor Granny Wang's godson role had mentioned money. The village chief had not mentioned money either, but based on Ding Shi's understanding of rural life at the time, making some money as the village chief's lackey would not be difficult. The others had identities; he would not only have an identity, but status as well.

The village chief continued handing out role plaques. "Our village has recently been busy with the ritual, leaving the Night Patrol Team short-handed. Would anyone be willing to join the Night Patrol Team?"

Every night at eleven, the night patrol players had to patrol along designated routes. The job was similar to that of a night watchman, except they did not need to announce the hours and were responsible for a certain degree of fire and theft prevention.

The moment Li Si heard this, he inwardly cried out in alarm. The first two roles had allowed people to eat and loaf around. Starting with Ding Shi's role, the players' duties had become more concrete. Compared with Ding Shi's flexible work, the Night Patrol Team had fixed hours, fixed locations, fixed tasks, and certain responsibilities.

With that in mind, Li Si immediately raised his hand. "I'm a man. This night patrol work is more suitable for me." After speaking, he gave Sun Qi a friendly nod.

Sun Qi nodded in gratitude. "Thank you."

Li Si received the role of night patrolman. The village chief looked at Sun Qi and said, "Girl, our village has a primary school facing quite a few difficulties. The first difficulty is that many parents have long delayed paying tuition. The teachers face pressure from their superiors and can only pass that pressure on to the children, telling them during class to go home and ask for money. But the children still cannot get the money, and they no longer dare to attend school. The second difficulty is that some parents favor boys over girls. Girls in the upper grades have to cook and wash clothes for their families every day, and after school, they must chop firewood and cut pig grass. Not only can they not focus on their studies, but they are late every morning and leave early halfway through the day. Some even carry their younger brothers and sisters on their backs to school."

The village chief said, "I hope that, as a volunteer at the school, you can help solve these problems."

As soon as the village chief finished speaking, seven quests were issued to Sun Qi at once. After hurriedly scanning them, she nearly lost her footing. The problems involving children who had dropped out of school were all exceptionally difficult.

Sun Qi regretted it immensely and instinctively asked, "Village Chief, can I change roles?"

The village chief nodded. "Of course. As long as both parties agree, there is still time to exchange roles."

Sun Qi looked at everyone. She first ruled out the groom role. Being timid, she could not do night patrol work either. That left Ding Shi's village chief assistant role and Zhao Liu's godson role. Clearly, being a godchild was the easiest role.

Seeing Sun Qi look at him, Zhao Liu repeatedly waved his hands and refused first. Helpless, Sun Qi looked to Ding Shi. Ding Shi did not mind. As the second-in-command of the city's largest criminal syndicate, handling internal affairs or external matters was basically his main job.

Erya had not gone to school for three days. Why had she stopped attending? Under what conditions would she be willing to return? She had no time for school because she needed to look after her younger brother. For Ding Shi, this was easy. In an instant, he came up with three solutions.

First, hire a nanny. Second, persuade the parents to look after the younger brother. Third, get rid of the younger brother. Ding Shi leaned toward the second option. After all, giving birth without raising the child did not make one a parent; looking after children was the parents' duty. Of course, even if he could not persuade them, Ding Shi would not truly get rid of the younger brother. At most, he would break one of the parents' legs. That way, they could stay home and look after the child while taking care of all the housework.

At that moment, Haitang spoke up. "Sister, the village chief's assistant job is very difficult."

Ding Shi looked at Haitang. Haitang gave him a shy smile, then turned her face away and refused to look at him. Ding Shi was speechless. Did countryside girls already have that saying about a dark attic back then?

Sun Qi said helplessly, "Fine. I'll be a volunteer."