"What is the Spring Festival?"

"I don’t know... It’s the first time I’ve heard of it."

"Maybe to celebrate that the Tide was defeated."

"Possible."

In the patriarch’s house of the Frost Spear tribe.

The men sat cross-legged in front of the patriarch, talking about the upcoming celebration, discussing whether to follow the example of those blue coats, and stick red stickers and notes in the village.

Doing so was said to bring prosperity and good luck.

Although they didn’t know the principle behind it, since it was the experience of blue coats, there was probably some basis for it. After all, they were all so smart.

Patriarch Frost Spear did not speak, but he was seriously considering the suggestions of the tribesmen.

Celebrations were very important things in the tribe. A lively celebration was often the beginning of a thriving population. It was at the New Year’s Day celebration that his eldest son, Frost Stove, found a good companion. His second son, Frost Stone, just came of age. It was time for him to start a family.

Half a year ago, they migrated to avoid the war in the north. They had lost too many young people along the way. Now was the time to reinvigorate his tribe.

But…

Celebrations cost a lot of money.

Unlike his tribe, his neighbor, Iron Axe, ran a textile factory. They came to the outpost early. It was just in time for the recovery of trade routes. They made a lot of money from the textile business, and every household in their tribe was now living in a house built of bricks.

On the contrary, most of the houses his tribesmen lived in were built of a mixture of brick and wood.

Frost Spear also wanted to lead the tribesmen to become rich. But it was useless to just think about it, he had to take action.

After pondering for a moment, he finally spoke, "The matter of the celebration would be discussed later. Now there is a more important matter waiting for us to decide on."

The people surrounding the patriarch fell silent, waiting for him to continue.

Frost Spear paused for a moment before continuing, "A few days ago, the administrator summoned me to discuss something. He planned to give us a piece of wasteland about 666,000 square meters north of the brick factory."

"I want to build a ranch."

That was also the intention of the administrator.

Hunting was no longer enough to fully maintain the residents’ demand for meat, especially eggs and milk, which were difficult to obtain by hunting.

The residents of those shelters were surprisingly particular about what they ate.

It may be because of their persistence that they were able to clear a large piece of wasteland on the north bank of Linghu Lake in such a short time before the spring plowing.

Hearing the patriarch, many people wore expressions of shock.

666,000 square meters of land!

Although it was an uncultivated wasteland, that land was close to Linghu Lake and had sufficient water sources. And not only that, but it was also protected by Longevity Town and the shelter, so they didn’t have to worry about the intrusion of large mutants and marauders.

It sounded like a dream.

"Praise the lord administrator!"

"Is he really going to give us that piece of land?"

"Are there any other conditions? I won’t agree to we have to betray our people!”

It came as such a huge surprise not many people were willing to believe it.

Frost Spear understood what they were feeling as he felt the same thing when he first heard it.

"There are no conditions. The land will be leased to us, and the rent will be exempted for 2 years. After that, as long as we can guarantee that the ranch can produce 100 cows per month, the land rent for that year will be exempted. If the monthly production can reach 200 cows, he promised that he’ll give more land to expand our ranch."

According to the administrator, it was called agricultural subsidies.

However, in exchange, the agricultural products they produced couldn’t be sold to foreign traveling merchants. At most 20% of the products could be kept in the village for collective consumption or sold to the nearby local market. The remaining 80% would be purchased by Longevity Town at the price set by the warehouse.

As for what breed of cattle to raise… There was no limit. After all, no one could say what could be bought and what couldn’t.

However, Frost Spear heard from his daughter Frost River that in Brocade River Province in the south, there were many farm owners raising cattle. It wasn’t just two-headed oxe who pulled goods, but also cows that were ready to be sold to markets and dairy cows with high milk production.

It just so happened that the outpost seemed to be planning to set up a traveling merchants association recently, so he planned to hire a caravan to try his luck there.

In addition to cattle, other livestock such as pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese also had similar subsidy policies.

The older elder pondered for a while and said, "But we can’t afford cattle..."

"The generous administrator is willing to lend us half a million silver coins to buy livestock and fodder."

"Half a million silver coins?!" The elder was startled and looked at the patriarch in disbelief, "The lord administrator… Is he really willing to lend us so much?!"

Even if they sold everyone in the tribe, they wouldn’t be able to collect half a million!

Everyone whispered to each other, with incredulous expressions on their faces.

Frost Spear nodded seriously and continued, "I believe that the administrator is not joking with me. He is a very serious person. I have heard from my daughter who works at the trading station that it costs around 4,000 silver coins to buy a cow from traveling merchants. If we bring some special products here to the south, it should be even cheaper. It’s said that 5 rifles can be exchanged for a cow from the farm owners there.”

5 rifles, even if bought at retail price, were only 1,000 silver coins. Not to mention there was a 10% discount for bulk purchases from the factory.

Looking around at the group, Frost Spear seriously stated his plan, "All of our families will send some people to build this ranch first. I will find a way to contact the farms in the south to see if I can use weapons to exchange 100 or 200 cows… If the conditions permit, we can raise some sheep and pigs as well."

"With cattle and sheep, our life will be much easier!"

Hearing the patriarch, everyone showed expressions of excitement and yearning.

They had secured stable housing and were able to exchange their labor for food from the local ruler. But if they could, of course, they also wanted to become rich like the neighboring tribe and live in houses made entirely of bricks.

However, when everyone was optimistic, some people also expressed concern. "500,000 silver coins is too much... If we can’t pay it back, I am worried that the administrator will put all the blame on us."

"That’s right... Even if the administrator doesn’t punish us, he will probably expel us from here."

A young man could only earn 300 to 400 silver coins in a month, and only about 5,000 in a year before expenses.

10,000 silver coins were already an astronomical sum for them.

Presumably for the administrator, hundreds of thousands of silver coins were not a small number either.

Seeing the worry on the faces of the tribesmen, Frost Spear smiled. "I was also worried about everything you are. However, the administrator specifically told me that we don’t have to think too much about it, and we just need to do our best. Even if we are not able to pay off the debt in the future, Longevity Town will just take over the ranch and the debt, and he won’t blame us."

Of course, no one wanted to see that happen.

Frost Spear knew very well that if he really got to the point of filing for bankruptcy, even if the benevolent administrator wouldn’t blame him, he would be completely disappointed in his tribe’s incompetence.

The money was not a small sum.

If there was another similar opportunity, it would definitely not be given to them anymore.

Frost Spear had already made up his mind that he and his tribesmen would definitely do it well.

Hearing that the administrator promised not to hold them accountable, the elderly man finally stretched his brows.

No longer having any concerns, he just sighed with emotion from the bottom of his heart. "... Thank lord administrator for his kindness."

For an elderly person who was nearing the end of his life, whether he could make money or not was longer important. Watching his children grow up healthily and safely was already the greatest blessing.

Looking at those faces full of vigor and hope, the old man really couldn’t bear to let them live a wandering life again.

Those days were too difficult.

The young people were not interested in what the elders discussed, and most of the village affairs were rarely discussed with them. In contrast, they were full of curiosity and were most interested in celebrations, work, new things, and topics between men and women.

In the wooden house next door.

Frost Night and Frost Snow were holding the hands of their elder sister who had just come back from Longevity Town, listening to her talk about what happened at work with great interest.

The work at the trading post was very busy, and she needed to work six days a week, from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night, with only a 1 hour lunch break in between.

It cost 2 silver coins to take the shuttle bus back to the outpost. So in order to save money, she usually lived in the staff dormitory of the trading post, and would only come back by bus on Saturday night.

Every time she came back, she and her younger sisters would have so many topics to talk about. Especially when she was watched by their pairs of eager eyes, she instantly felt the fatigue in her whole body had disappeared.

Listening to their elder sister talking about the interesting things and interesting people she met at the trading post, Frost Night who was holding her chin with her hands, suddenly spoke, "Elder sister, when are you going to bring a brother-in-law home?"

Frost River patted her little head with a smile. "I can only bring him back when I have one"

Frost Snow, who was sitting by the side, asked curiously, "Didn’t you meet a lot of people there?"

Frost River revealed a helpless expression. "Those were traveling merchants and mercenaries... I can’t just find one of them, can I?"

Frost Snow nodded slowly, seemingly understanding what her elder sister said, "Oh, that’s true."

If they were traveling merchants, they were indeed not good candidates for partners.

Although they had not been in contact with many traveling merchants, they still had some impressions of the profession. None of which were good…