Country Living on the Cloudtop

Lin Wei rescued a mute man.

He needed someone to work the few acres of land he'd just acquired. Clearing the waterways and building an orchard also required extra hands, and he couldn't manage it all by himself.

The mute wasn't especially strong, but he was young and nimble. That toughness and ferocity in his bones gave him great potential. Put to good use, he'd make an excellent worker.

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The wilds of Xizhou are harsh and perilous, rife with danger. Food and water matter more than anything.

Mang Ye is mute and often faces scorn and bullying. Survival is harder for him than for others, and he holds grudges, always striking from the shadows. When discovered, he is attacked and driven away, left to struggle for survival in the wilderness.

Rescued from the jaws of a tiger, he hasn't even caught his breath before a binding contract is placed on him. With his life in someone else's hands, all he can do is keep quiet and wait for his chance.

But Mang Ye never has to face the exploitation, forced labor, and beatings that slaves are supposed to endure. Instead, he's left with plowing fields, digging irrigation channels, planting vegetables, grain, and fruit trees, putting up nets and building a protective forest belt, and occasionally accompanying Lin Wei on patrols to drive away wild beasts.

Every morning, he wakes to an endless pile of work. He has no time at all to think about how to kill his master and break the contract.

Gradually, the wheat he planted sprouts, the rice seedlings are ready, and the vegetable patches grow lush and orderly, one after another.

Lin Wei is in such a good mood that he sets the table right at the edge of the field, eating as he admires the fruits of their labor.

Now that he's gotten a little more familiar with the mute, he casually asks, “By the way, how old are you?”

Mang Ye, who has been eating with his head down, puts down his bowl and chopsticks and holds up a number with his fingers.

Fourteen...

Lin Wei goes silent for a moment. He hadn't thought it through: the boy is a child laborer.

Reader's Guide:

1. The pursuer is mute at first, but will be cured later.

2. The protagonist isn't a perfect character.

3. This is a modern fantasy farming novel with a System.

Theme: Labor is glorious