The process of charging the phone went so smoothly that Yang Bairao hadn't even noticed that Xiang Die hadn't shown up at all over the past few days.
The people of Xiang Village had been very quiet lately, as if a dark cloud hung over the little village of just over a hundred souls.
Holding his phone in the morning to snap a few selfies, Yang Bairao felt utterly miserable. The phone truly had no signal, and he couldn't muster any enthusiasm for anything he tried to do.
"The three modern hardships: phone has no power, phone has power but no signal, signal exists but no internet!"
Looking at the dozens of photos of his daughter stored on his phone, Yang Bairao sighed mournfully.
"Hanhan, if only I could manage to make a phone call to you!"
"Sigh..."
"Alas..."
Two different sighs sounded at the same time.
Yang Bairao raised his head to see Xiang Dongliu walking into the house with a deeply troubled expression.
Because of his contribution, Yang Bairao had been assigned a room of his own.
Xiang Dongliu hadn't come over recently. In the first few days, Xiang Die used to visit every day—that was Xiang Dongliu's deliberate attempt to let his daughter and Yang Bairao spend time together and build their own little world.
Xiang Dongliu's reasoning was very simple. He had no sons, and marrying his daughter off to an outside clan was completely out of the question. With no neighboring settlements nearby, marrying her off meant sending his girl away into the distance, never to return.
As for within the village—well, in this entire generation, only his daughter remained. The ones older were already married, and the ones younger were far too small. Surely he couldn't let his daughter marry a toddler!
As luck would have it, just as he was agonizing over this dilemma, he happened to cross paths with Yang Bairao, giving Xiang Dongliu some ideas.
A young man stranded in the wasteland, of a similar age to his daughter—wasn't this a blessing bestowed upon him by the heavens?
Otherwise, given the productivity of this indigenous-like village, it was hard enough just to feed these hundred-odd people; why would they ever spare extra food to raise an outsider with a different surname?
Over the past few days, the villagers had held many discussions. Someone had proposed letting Yang Bairao marry Xiang Die so that he could stay, and the majority had agreed. However, a few shrewd individuals with real influence in the village felt that keeping Yang Bairao might bring misfortune upon them.
Those wise elders' reasoning was simple: Yang Bairao clearly looked extraordinary!
Not only was his skin delicate and tender, completely unlike the cracked, dark hide of the Steppe people, but his speech, temperament, and way of doing things were entirely different from theirs. Yang Bairao was obviously an outsider.
Flipping through the village's ancient picture-illustrated records, the elders told everyone that Yang Bairao likely came from a legendary city. As for why he had come here, it could only be to escape enemies or because of family matters.
If one day people from that legendary city came searching and found Xiang Village acting willful and keeping such a person, those city folk would undoubtedly fly into a rage, staining the steppe with blood.
By then, the entire Xiang Village would be devastated, leaving not a single living soul.
Reminded by the elders, those who had previously agreed broke out in a cold sweat. They immediately changed their tune, demanding that Yang Bairao be expelled and not allowed to stay here.
With these voices prevailing, Xiang Dongliu and his daughter were naturally forbidden from getting close to Yang Bairao. That was why, during all the days Yang Bairao spent building the generator, no one had disturbed him.
Xiang Dongliu hadn't initially known whether Yang Bairao would be allowed to stay, but he and his daughter had gradually been distanced by the village. Xiang Dongliu had learned of the decision from Xiang Xiliu. Because of this, over the past few days and without Xiang Dongliu's consent, the villagers had tricked Xiang Die away and locked her up to prevent her from spending time with Yang Bairao and developing feelings. If that really happened and Yang Bairao insisted on staying, they would all be in for a massive disaster.
Sighing, Xiang Dongliu sat down on the ground and slowly explained all these matters to Yang Bairao.
His own feelings were extremely conflicted. If Yang Bairao wasn't allowed to stay, life for him and his daughter would surely be unimaginably difficult moving forward. But if Yang Bairao did stay, and things turned out as the village elders predicted, he would become a sinner against the entire village. It wouldn't matter so much if he died himself, but if his daughter were killed over this, he would honestly rather choose to be driven out of the village.
The steppe was not short on wild vegetables; at least there would still be a chance to survive.
Having heard the whole story from beginning to end, Yang Bairao managed a bitter, wry smile inwardly. Far from being angry at the village's choice, he actually found the situation rather amusing.
"Hahaha, I'm really that much in demand? Back home, my wife and I met through a blind date, and it took over a hundred thousand in bride price—emptying my entire family's pockets—just to marry her. But here, people are driving me away out of fear that I'll become their son-in-law? What kind of upside-down world is this? I wouldn't dare commit bigamy anyway! Though a good man never minds having a few wives and concubines!"
Finding a bit of cheer in his misery, Yang Bairao clutched his phone. Since he had already planned to take this opportunity to leave Xiang Village anyway, none of this really mattered to him.
"Should I leave, then?"
Yang Bairao stood up and pointed toward the door.
"Sigh, you came all this way..."
Helpless, Xiang Dongliu wanted to say something gentle that would let Yang Bairao leave of his own accord, but in the end, he didn't know how to phrase it.
Xiang Dongliu was tormented and distressed, and Yang Bairao was even more miserable.
Feeling a wave of nausea, he had no intention of staying. The roles just didn't match up, and besides, Xiang Dongliu was a man—this place wasn't a hotel.
"This feels like meeting an online date irl. I put in the time and effort, only to find out the other person thinks I'm too repulsive! Well, at least I finished the generator; I can just take it with me."
Yang Bairao walked out of the house and waved his hand, leaving not a single cloud behind.
"Very softly I came, very softly I go. Hhahaha."
Sitting inside the house, Xiang Dongliu sighed endlessly.
Before he had even walked out of the village entrance, a sudden flurry of urgent, chaotic noise broke out—the shouting of men, the drumming of hooves, and the panicked cries of the villagers.
"The Cavalry is here! Make way, everyone!"
A booming voice rang out, drawing closer and closer as they kept shouting.
Before long, a group of people riding unidentified beasts galloped up to the edge of Xiang Village.
Xiang Village was clustered loosely with no fences; every direction was an entrance, and anyone could leave from anywhere. Yet at this moment, amid the shouting, not a single person in Xiang Village dared to move.
"It's the Cavalry! The East Wasteland Cavalry!"
Hearing the commotion, Xiang Dongliu ran out of the house in terror and stood behind Yang Bairao, who had just walked a short distance out.
Yang Bairao looked at the group not far away. The people were actual human beings, looking much like the villagers of Xiang Village, but he didn't recognize the beasts they were riding.
The group radiated majesty, carrying the aggressive air of bandits, full of vigor and covered in the dust of a long journey.
"To rule out the obvious, it's not a horse, but you can ride it. Wait, would people guess it's a Pegasus? A QR code? A payment code?"
Thoughts raced through Yang Bairao's mind. Having visited zoos countless times and watched decades of *Animal Planet*, his eyes were truly opened as he discovered the ninth wonder of the world: a four-legged riding beast.
These riding beasts had short, duck-like beaks, horse-like hooves, ox-like eyes, round pig-like backs, and hairless heads. They probably handled matters quite reliably—no, perhaps not reliably at all.
One of the riding beasts suddenly shook its body and bucked its rider right off.
The man tumbled into the bushes and scrambled back up instantly, his majestic expression masking the panic of having just been thrown. Yet even as he suffered such an embarrassing moment, not a single person in Xiang Village dared to stare.
"This is a Steppe Flat-beaked Beast, the exclusive mount of the East Wasteland Cavalry. Why have they come so early this year?"
As the head of Xiang Village, Xiang Nanliu was naturally the one to handle external matters.
Standing not far behind Yang Bairao, he couldn't figure out why the East Wasteland Cavalry had come to levy grain so many days ahead of schedule this year.
"A Flat-beaked Beast? It's a duck? The platypuses back where I'm from don't look like that!"
Having zero understanding of the current situation, Yang Bairao couldn't stop running his mouth.
Under the intimidating presence of the East Wasteland Cavalry, no one paid any attention to Yang Bairao. Xiang Nanliu took the initiative to step forward, dropping to his knees respectfully before the cavalrymen: "My lord commander, what brings you here today? If you are passing through and need a meal, our Xiang Village will keep you fully fed!"
Though respectful, Xiang Nanliu's tone was neither servile nor overbearing, as if he felt this was the only way to ensure the East Wasteland Cavalry wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for them.
"Get up, get up quickly! What are you kneeling for? We cavalrymen represent justice! If the chieftain finds out, he'll skin us alive when we get back!"
A man mounted on the lead Flat-beaked Beast said hurriedly, his tone exasperated but clearly devoid of malice.
Obediently following the cavalry's instructions, Xiang Nanliu slowly stood up, though he kept his head lowered, not daring to look up too much.
Meanwhile, Yang Bairao looked left and right. Since he was standing second in line and moving forward wasn't an option, he simply retreated a few steps, blending into the crowd of villagers who had slowly gathered around.
The villagers kept their heads down, not daring to gaze at the Steppe Cavalry. But Yang Bairao, having received an upright socialist education, knew that outside of bowing to superiors when business interests were involved, the rest of the time he should look like he owned the world.
Standing tall and puffing out his chest, Yang Bairao stuck out like a crane among chickens amid the crowd of villagers.
Yang Bairao himself didn't mind, but Xiang Tian, who was not far away, caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and broke out in a cold sweat.
Quickly squeezing in behind Yang Bairao, Xiang Tian gave him a tug, gesturing for him to lower his head immediately, lest catastrophe strike in a moment.
"Why?"
Confused for a second, Yang Bairao quickly caught on. Based on Xiang Nanliu's brief remarks earlier, he could roughly piece together the cause and effect.
"Are they collecting protection money? Local thugs and hooligans?"
Yang Bairao looked at Xiang Tian with a puzzled expression, but Xiang Tian didn't dare answer.
He lowered his head and glanced at the people beside him; no one dared to explain anything to Yang Bairao.
"May I ask..."
Enduring his panic, Xiang Nanliu asked respectfully.
The commander of the East Wasteland Cavalry looked over the respectful villagers and cut straight to the point: "A band of unknown bandits has appeared on the steppe. Instead of driving away the Grassland Wolf to protect you villagers, they've been going around burning, killing, and looting everywhere. Right now, our cavalry is at war with those bandits, and our military provisions are running short. We've come specifically to levy grain ahead of schedule. Hand over the military provisions you prepared this year right away, so we can hurry off to the next village before dark."
Hearing this, Xiang Nanliu didn't dare object. He immediately called upon several strong-bodied villagers from Xiang Village to go inside and fetch the grain from the village's storage area.
Before long, they dragged out several large sacks woven from grass. Each bag was stuffed to the brim, the openings left untied, seemingly waiting for the cavalry to inspect the provisions.
Yang Bairao had been watching all of this from within the crowd. As a time-traveler accustomed to his own peaceful environment, his first instinct when encountering such injustice was to step forward. But having seen too many cases where good Samaritans ended up as defendants, reason momentarily overpowered his hot-headedness, and he stayed put.
He watched as the cavalry commander reached into one of the bags, casually tipped it over, and dumped its contents onto the ground.
The dark, irregularly shaped items that tumbled out appeared to be smoked meats and dried meat jerky.
Nodding, the cavalry commander confirmed the villagers hadn't tried to pull a fast one. He signaled three men to take charge of the remaining bags of dried meat—what they called military provisions. Then, paying no mind to the food scattered on the ground, he issued a command. Aside from the rider who had fallen earlier and quickly scrambled back onto his mount, the rest, who hadn't dismounted, pulled their reins, turned their beasts around, and galloped swiftly away.
"Is there no justice left? Is there no law?"