Chapter 95: Phantom Market in Veiled Star Valley, Part Two

When Li Fuzhen brought her people to camp not far from the Ross Tribe and began taking building materials from their settlement, Ross suddenly grabbed Li Hongshen’s hand with an oddly tense expression.

“Brother, can you tell me how you won over that young lady? She only just entered the Great Wilderness, and her name has already spread through the entire Elite Society. Teach your elder brother a thing or two. Share some of your experience with her and let me learn from it. I, too, want to find a place to belong in this endless Great Wilderness.”

At Ross’s words, Li Hongshen fell into thought. He had no idea what had happened before he came to this world, but ever since his own crossing over, women had been a source of constant torment.

Not long after arriving, the volunteer big sister at the Origin Orphanage had stolen his first kiss. When he grew a little older and moved out, he was still adored by those precocious female classmates, and he had encountered every kind of obvious and subtle advance imaginable.

If not for his single-minded determination to become a lord and glimpse the splendor of civilization’s upper reaches, he would already have been living a life of luxury, with women on both sides and no lack of affairs.

He had originally planned to keep working hard through high school, then let himself loose once he got to university. After all, as a lord, not being a stud for a while somehow felt like an insult to his status, and it hardly matched the experience of a proper lord.

But that rather grand plan had been cut short before it even began by Li Fuzhen. A childhood sweetheart, a well-bred young lady, and a female lord all at once had simply thrown herself at him. Before he even realized what was happening, she had forced the issue and, in a haze, they had done everything that needed doing.

Now, in everyday life, she still had him firmly under her thumb. How was he supposed to share such experience? Was he supposed to tell Ross that he had once been waiting for a heroine who would descend from the heavens, so that they could have one of those earthshaking Great Wilderness romances?

And yet, to his surprise, the childhood sweetheart heroine had made the first move herself, ignoring all the usual套路, taking him down in just a few easy steps. If he said that aloud, how little face would he have left? How was he supposed to show off his skill and valor?

Seeing Li Hongshen fall into silence, Ross assumed he was seriously reflecting and drawing from his experience, and at once grew excited.

“Brother, don’t worry. Whatever the exact details, as long as you teach me, I’ll remember your kindness.”

At last, Li Hongshen let out a breath and smiled faintly.

“Be responsible for what you say.”

“Of course. I, Ross, always mean what I say. Since I’ve promised to remember your kindness, I certainly won’t go back on it.”

“Fine. For that alone, I’ll tell you my personal experience. First, you have to be handsome, like me. Second, you have to be healthy, like me.

“Then you need a childhood sweetheart who has played house with you since you were little, pretending to be husband and wife. Last, you need a pair of future in-laws who have already decided you’ll be their son-in-law.

“If you can meet all those conditions, then finding a female lord wife in the Great Wilderness becomes very easy. For example, someone like me.”

Having said all this in one breath, Li Hongshen patted Ross on the shoulder and then hurried off toward the camp Li Fuzhen was setting up.

“Darling, I’m here. My, you’ve worked hard. Leave these things to me. Go rest for a while, or maybe take a walk nearby. I’ll handle things here.”

Behind him, Ross was left standing where he was, face flushing red as though his throat had been tightly blocked.

“If I had those conditions, why would I have come to ask you? Honestly. Why did I never meet some great family that needed a child husband when I was young? So this is how those big families do it? Their tricks are way too deep and way too old.”

Leaving Ross’s somewhat resentful thoughts aside, Li Hongshen took over Li Fuzhen’s command and quickly directed everyone to build two neighboring display stalls.

After that, they filled the stalls with their respective goods and once again confirmed the previously agreed prices with the local residents responsible for guiding customers.

Li Hongshen and Li Fuzhen were together, yet also separate. To call them a couple was accurate, but the way they lived felt like an old married pair; at the same time, their territories remained clearly divided, more like two lords bound by a close cooperative pact.

This way of life was something Li Hongshen had learned over these years after coming into contact with Li Fuzhen’s family. It was also a marriage model widely used among major noble houses.

Compared with the prenuptial asset certification of his previous life, it was essentially a matter of calculating both sides’ holdings with complete clarity, and then signing a more intimate cooperation treaty when needed.

That gave both parties a standard to follow and prevented unnecessary conflict. After all, both were lords, and no matter how much they loved one another, they still had to be responsible for their own subjects.

Especially now that lord civilization had reached the modern age, traditional female lords like Li Hongshen’s mother had become increasingly rare, while independent female lords were far more common.

Though such a model seemed to sever the emotional bond between husband and wife, leaving a gap always between them, it had to be said that it protected both lords and resolved many troubles.

After all, once two lords joined together, it was impossible for one side to simply sacrifice its own interests to fulfill the other. That sort of relationship could not last long.

And if feelings truly broke down and they needed to separate, things would also become troublesome without such contracts. In some cases, one might not even know where to begin.

This was especially true when both sides were lords. Whether one was a live-in son-in-law or a useless lord, no one could know whether, after being oppressed, that lord might suddenly stumble upon some high-level world, turn around in a single stroke, and kill the other party dead, along with the family that had bullied him.

Such things had happened several times in the early days of Blue Star’s transmigrator civilization. Even in the modern era of lord civilization, there were still many classic cases to be found. That was why most long-established families paid close attention to this matter.

Standing before the stall, Li Hongshen stared somewhat absently at the busy residents inside, while his mind wandered over these marriage clauses and the situations he might face in the future.

Just then, a hand came down hard on his shoulder, startling him so much that he jolted. Turning around, he saw that it was none other than Li Fuzhen.

“Well now, isn’t this my dear wife? You’re back from your stroll already?”

“Ha, did I scare you just now? I finished walking around nearby and saw you standing here daydreaming. What were you thinking about?”

“Thinking about our wedding in the future. We’ll probably need to sign quite a few lord contracts by then. Feels a little troublesome.”

“Hm? What do you mean troublesome? I don’t feel anything of the sort, and you’re already complaining? Tell me, do you not want to marry me anymore? Tch. Or should I say, do you not want to be married off to me anymore?”

“Hey, wife, don’t pinch me, don’t pinch me! Marrying you and being married off to you are the same thing, aren’t they? The contract will still say we’re getting married, and we both have the surname Li anyway. What difference does it make?

“Ah—fine, fine, I’ll marry you. I’ll marry you, all right? Why do you always pinch people? I never saw Auntie use this trick on Uncle.”

“Hmph. This is a secret technique my grandmother taught me. I’m only sparing you because I care about you, so I haven’t used the secret technique my mother taught me. If you’re unhappy, I can let you experience it for real!”

“No, no, no. I’m afraid of you. By the way, you went wandering around the outskirts and didn’t buy anything?”

“Oh, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten. I just took a quick look around to gather some information.

“I did buy something, though. It was for you, here.”

With that, Li Fuzhen handed Li Hongshen a rather refined sack. It was bulging and looked quite full.

“This is something I bought specially for you. Boil some water and soak it later. See how it works tonight. I’m going to walk a bit farther out. You stay home and behave yourself, all right?”

After giving Li Hongshen the item, Li Fuzhen turned and led the others out. She looked as though she was thoroughly enjoying this rare chance to go shopping in the Great Wilderness.

Li Hongshen looked at the sack in his hands, loosened the tie, and saw dried fruits inside, bright red in color and spindle-shaped, the sort that seemed to make warmth rise through the body just by looking at them.

I’m continuing with one chapter at a time. To be frank, I’ll probably keep it at that until mid-April. In that period I’ll do my best to keep to one chapter a day, and if fate allows, two. Once April comes and I finish my final exams and go on break, I’ll be able to see about increasing the pace.

The good news for me personally is that I’ve finished the PHP and Java project assignments. The bad news is that another teacher has assigned a TCP/IP project, and I still have an HTML assignment left.

At this point I’ve already made peace with it. This is probably what it feels like when life has become bland and colorless, while I enjoy the pleasure of pounding out code and racing deadlines. How wonderful homework is. I’m so happy.