"Our ancestors came to this place to escape the war," David Lee continued, talking to himself.
Julian King asked, "Why did they choose this place?"
David Lee shook his head and said, "How would I know? This is just how it's always been passed down. Back then, only a few dozen people came here to escape the war—four families: Lee, Zhang, Zhao, and Wang. Later, the Chen and Liu families joined. By chance, they found the soil here was fertile, there were mountains and water, perfect for living, so everyone settled down. And we've been here for centuries."
Julian King asked, "So why don't you leave the mountains and go out into the world?"
David Lee shook his head, "We can't leave."
"Why not?" Julian King asked in confusion. "Sure, it's hard to get out, but if you really wanted to, it's not impossible, right?"
"We're all cursed. If we leave, we die." David Lee shook his head as he spoke.
"Cursed? What curse?" Julian King was shocked—this wasn't mentioned in any of the files.
But David Lee just kept shaking his head, refusing to say anything more.
Julian King quickly changed the subject, "After all these years, your families have intermarried, and that's how you ended up with so many villages, right?"
"Yeah," David Lee replied sullenly.
Julian King nodded, starting to get the picture.
That's the magic of population growth!
The fertility of hardworking people is truly impressive.
Almost every household has seven or eight kids—some even have ten, and the fewest is three or four.
Generation after generation, over four hundred years, of course it turned into such a large community.
"We're here." David Lee pointed to a patch of graves ahead. "Uncle Lee's grave is the third one from the left."
Julian King followed his gaze and saw a small grave mound, looking lonely among a cluster of larger graves.
Clearly, the other tombs were regularly tended and had incense offerings, but Uncle Lee's grave was battered by wind and rain, nearly flattened.
If you're going to put on a show, you have to go all in.
Julian King dutifully went over to offer incense, pack the soil, and tidy up Uncle Lee's grave until it was clean and neat.
David Lee nodded in satisfaction.
"When you get back to the village, just greet the Village Chief and settle in. From now on, you're people of Liford Village," David Lee said.
"Alright, thanks, Brother David, but I'll still need your help showing us the way," Julian King said, acting extra eager as he pulled out another egg.
This time, David Lee refused. "You just got here and don't have much with you. Better keep it for yourselves."
Julian King didn't stand on ceremony. "Alright, when we've fixed up the house, Brother David, you have to come over for a drink!"
"Sure," David Lee agreed without hesitation.
That's the village custom.
Whenever something happens in a household, neighbors are invited over for a drink.
Julian King had already done his homework on this before coming.
When Julian King returned, Cherry Miller and Yina Yin had already teamed up to tidy up their little rundown house.
They patched up the walls with stones where they could, used two eggs to trade for a pile of straw to fix the roof, and left the broken windows and doors open for now—those could wait.
Thanks to Cherry Miller's looks, she quickly befriended the neighbors and even borrowed a scoop of coarse grains and two shriveled cellar radishes.
Yina Yin claimed to be a rich kid, so naturally she didn't do any hard labor.
She just had to stand there and look sad...
As soon as the three met up, they huddled together: "Come on, let's exchange intel."
Julian King started, "From what I learned, the population here is way more than the report's two thousand—I'd say it's at least five thousand."
"Five thousand!" Cherry Miller and Yina Yin both took a deep breath. "How could the numbers be so off? With so many people, how could you possibly relocate them all?"
Julian King shared everything he'd discussed with David Lee. Cherry Miller paused, then said quietly, "This mission is tough! And the cost of resettling five thousand people is no joke. That's basically a huge community. If you want all the supporting projects in place, the cost would be at least a billion."
"A billion is a conservative estimate," Yina Yin said. "I also asked around and noticed something odd. If these people have sealed themselves off here, how do they maintain their standard of living? If I remember right, even in the Ming Dynasty, no matter how remote, the government supplied salt and iron. That means private citizens didn't have the technology to smelt iron or purify salt. So how do they manage it?"
Cherry Miller nodded and said, "I chatted with a few neighbor ladies and noticed something odd. There's a wedding coming up in our village the day after tomorrow, and today they're delivering the bride price to the woman's family. The ladies were all talking at once, saying the groom's family was so generous—they gave a woven vine thermos. If they have a thermos, that means they know how to make glass. How do they do it?"
The three of them looked at each other, feeling that something was off.
Yina Yin said, "Since there are so many things that don't add up, let's go check out the Neighboring Town! Their business and government centers are there—if we look around, we'll know more."
"Sounds good, let's scout it out first," Cherry Miller and Julian King nodded together.
Soon, the three of them made an excuse to go shopping in the Neighboring Town, asked for directions, and headed over.
Liford Village really isn't far from the Neighboring Town.
They didn't walk slowly, so they arrived in no time.
When they got to the Neighboring Town, they saw it was laid out in a grid—four vertical streets and four horizontal ones.
The whole town's style really followed the late Ming Dynasty's design.
To gather intel, the three found a Tea House and ordered three bowls of tea.
The cost of living here was very low, but the currency in circulation surprised all three of them.
It wasn't Ming Dynasty copper coins, but paper bills exactly like those used outside!
"How is that possible?" Julian King was stunned. "Isn't this place supposed to be cut off from the outside world? How can they be using RMB?"
Cherry Miller said meaningfully, "Looks like this so-called isolation is just a front."
Yina Yin tapped the table. "I have a theory."
"Me too," Cherry Miller said. The two exchanged a knowing look and laughed.
Julian King stroked his chin. "No wonder Ethan sent us here—there's a lot going on beneath the surface."
Cherry Miller pointed at some passersby. "It really is isolated, but only for most people. There's a small group who aren't cut off—they actually have frequent contact with the outside. Otherwise, how would there be tea, salt, glass, ironware, and so on? For example, if the three of us were thrown into any ancient dynasty, could we build an empire?"
"That's just because we've read too many time-travel novels—it's impossible," Julian King replied. "First, the system wouldn't let us have private armies or weapons. Second, we're good at business, not running a country. Third, our history knowledge is superficial, not practical. Last, we'd probably struggle just to survive, let alone build a nation."
"Exactly," Yina Yin nodded. "So that's where we can act. If there's a group here who regularly contacts the outside world, they're our breakthrough. I bet they're eager to see the world beyond. No matter how rich the soil is or how much food they grow, resources are still limited. Outside, resources are endless."
Cherry Miller said, "I even suspect that this contact with the outside world didn't start recently, but goes back to the Qing Dynasty. Look at their clothing styles."
Cherry Miller pointed at a passing woman. "Ming-style horse-face skirts are usually very wide, but look at her skirt—it's got a fitted waist, clearly influenced by cheongsam design. It's like this place split off from the Ming Dynasty, a little world sometimes parallel to, sometimes intersecting with, the outside."
Yina Yin and Julian King nodded in agreement.
Just then, from far down the street came the clatter of wheels.
The three of them looked up.
Whoa!
Someone was actually riding a bicycle over!
This was... truly eye-opening!
"Hey, isn't that Mr. Zhang III? He just got back from outside," someone in the crowd called out.
"The Zhang Family is getting wealthier and wealthier."
"That's right! I heard Mr. Zhang III is going to inherit the position of Town Chief."
"The Zhang Family is really thriving."
Cherry Miller quickly stopped a passing auntie, beaming as she handed over some sunflower seeds. "Where's Mr. Zhang III headed? That bike is really something!"
"I heard he went to the outside world! That bike's from out there, of course it's rare. Hey, young lady, which village are you from? I haven't seen you before." The auntie glanced at Cherry Miller's delicate face, thinking to herself that such a pretty girl could only marry into a big family in town.
"I'm from Liford Village," Cherry Miller replied. "Just arrived to stay with my aunt. By the way, auntie, aren't people here not allowed to leave? How come Mr. Zhang III can go out?"
"You're new here, aren't you? No wonder you don't know! Most people in our town can't leave, but those blessed by the spirits can. The Zhang Family has been blessed for generations, always protected by the spirits. A lot of what we eat, use, and wear comes from the Zhangs bringing things in from outside! Our town really owes a lot to the Zhangs—otherwise, how would we get by?" the auntie rattled off.
The auntie rambled on, but Cherry Miller quickly picked out the key points.