Chapter 219 - 206: Heartwarming
This year’s harvest was exceptionally good, thanks to the one acre and a quarter of land that Lu Hong had cultivated, the entire family decided to prepare two new sets of clothes to comfortably get through the winter.
"Big brother, big brother," Weiwei asked with a smile, clutching Lu Hong’s rough palm, "what kind of clothes do you want?"
"What else could it be, aren’t all clothes the same?" The old man rolled his eyes and said, "Don’t bother asking Erleng, he can’t talk anyway. When we get to Qi’s shop, just let him pick for himself."
Lu Hong nodded with a smile in agreement.
Because Lu Hong was lame and couldn’t walk fast, the old man and Weiwei slowed down to accompany Lu Hong as they leisurely strolled down the country lane.
Accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the city, the quiet countryside had a different flavor. Since his arrival through time, Lu Hong had never had such leisure. Unlike his previous ambitions, Lu Hong no longer had the fervor of competitiveness; instead, he felt a hint of weathering. The recent blow to him was just too heavy.
It was still a distance to the old man’s family town, had it not been so, Lu Hong could not have casually reclaimed wasteland without drawing envy.
A journey of an hour took a full three hours, as they accommodated Lu Hong’s pace. Members of the Sand Mercenary Group stationed there simply inquired about their identities and let them pass. An old man, a child, and a cripple – what harm could they pose?
The empire ruled over many realms, but only a handful were permitted to establish their own nations within them. Most of the realms were divided among major families as the dominant forces, with each realm containing several administrative cities built by the empire for centralized management.
But in reality, these cities could not cover the entire realm, and many smaller towns and marketplaces were established by families of old or the original residents. They were not protected by imperial troops, so most of them contacted mercenary groups, paying a certain fee every month for protection against bandits.