The land deed, brittle parchment marked with their family name and the faded seal of a long-dead county magistrate, rested on the small wooden table that served as their altar. It was no longer hidden in a pot beneath the hearth; it lay in the open, beside the empty Debt Bowl and the small clay pot of lavender seeds. Its presence changed the air in the hut. The walls seemed sturdier, the roof less leaky, the hearth fire warmer. They were no longer tenants of Village Head Li's mercy; they were Freeholders. The word tasted unfamiliar and powerful on Lin Yan's tongue.
The eighteen-copper buffer was immediately deployed, not for celebration, but for investment. Lin Yan spent a day in the prefectural town, returning with three essential purchases: a large roll of strong, hempen rope for future fencing and livestock handling; a block of precious salt for preserving the next round of meat; and, most excitingly, two young Angus-cross calf embryos purchased from the system shop using his newly accumulated points.
[Expenditure: 80 System Points for 2 Angus-cross bovine embryos (F1 hybrid vigor, adapted to marginal forage).]
[Remaining Points: 180/300.]
The embryos were not physical objects he carried home; the system provided a location—a hidden, sheltered meadow a half-day's walk into the foothills—where two newly-born, orphaned calves would be found. The system's magic was pragmatic, weaving its gifts into the fabric of plausible reality. He presented it to the family as intelligence gained from a "traveling drover" at the market: a rumor of a small, abandoned herd, with two calves left behind, weak but alive.
Lin Gang, Lin Qiang, and Er Niu embarked on the expedition. They returned two days later, exhausted but triumphant, leading two wobbly-legged, black calves with bewildered eyes. They were bull calves, castrated already by the system's unseen hand, destined to be steers—meat animals. Their arrival marked the Lin family's entry into cattle ranching, a step up in the agricultural hierarchy that was not lost on the village.
The calves were housed temporarily in the most secure section of the goat pen. They required milk, which Willow the goat could not provide in sufficient quantity. Lin Yan used some of their precious grain to trade with a dairy farmer in the next valley for a supply of colostrum and then cow's milk, stretching it with a mash of cooked grain and finely chopped Bluestem grass. The investment was significant, but the potential return—hundreds of pounds of high-quality beef in two years' time—was transformative.
The Quest: 'Establish the Brand' now guided their production. "Lin Family" was no longer just a description; it was intended to become a mark of quality. The smoked pork had established a foothold with Butcher Gao. The next step was consistency and a story.
The herb garden, spurred by Qiao Yuelan's interest, expanded. They dedicated a larger, sunny plot. Lavender, rosemary, thyme, and medicinal herbs like echinacea and chamomile were planted from seed or traded cuttings. The goal was twofold: to produce "herb-foraged" eggs for a premium market, and to have goods to trade with Qiao Yuelan and her master. The stonecrop, thriving obliviously by the gate, was joined by these more intentional plantings.
The Bluestem grass was their workhorse. The established patch grew thick and tall, its bluish hue distinctive. They cut their first real hay crop from it, the sweet-smelling grass drying into fragrant bundles. A portion was set aside for the Zhang estate, fulfilling the next stage of their contract. The rest would feed their own growing herd through next winter.
Steward Feng visited personally to inspect the hay. He walked the field, his practiced eye evaluating the yield and quality. "It is adequate," he pronounced, which from him was high praise. "The estate will take twenty bundles. The price will be fair." The "fair price" was still below market value, but it was a reliable sale and reinforced the connection. Lin Yan accepted, using the opportunity to mention their new cattle and the quality of forage that had produced the smoked pork Butcher Gao favored.
Feng's eyebrow arched. "You aim high, for a freeholder of one mu."
"The land determines the aim, Honored Steward," Lin Yan replied. "We only follow where it leads."
A flicker of respect, or perhaps just calculation, passed behind Feng's eyes. He left with the hay, and a few days later, a modest but fair payment of coins was delivered.
Summer arrived in a crescendo of heat and growth. The buckwheat flowered, covering its plot in a cloud of white blossoms that buzzed with bees from a hive a neighboring beekeeper had placed nearby. The turnips and beets bulged beneath the soil. The homestead was a picture of abundant, organized vitality.
It was during the buckwheat harvest that Qiao Yuelan returned. She came on horseback, leading a second mount laden with empty panniers. She dismounted at the gate, her eyes taking in the changes: the new calves in their reinforced pen, the expanded herb garden, the stacked Bluestem hay.
"You have not been idle," she observed, her tone approving.
"The debt is paid," Lin Yan said, and the simple statement carried the weight of a world conquered.
She nodded, as if she had expected nothing less. "My master's report on hardy plants is complete. The stonecrop is noted. There is… interest from the military settlements. They need things that grow on rocky, poor ground to prevent erosion and provide emergency forage." She looked at him. "You have a knack for finding such things. Or cultivating the resilience in them."
It was an opening. "We are learning," he said. "The lavender is budding."
She spent the afternoon examining their herbs, making more notes. She was particularly interested in the health of the chickens who had access to the herb garden. "The yolks will be deep orange, the flavor complex," she noted. "There is a market for such eggs among certain households in the city. I could broker it."
Another thread in their growing web of trade.
That evening, she stayed for a meal—a richer one than before, with fresh turnip greens, a few eggs, and a small piece of their own smoked bacon. The family was more at ease with her now. Lin Xiaohui asked shyly about life in the prefectural city. Qiao Yuelan spoke of crowded streets, of scholars and merchants, of the strict hierarchies that governed everything. Her own place, as an apprentice to a skilled but not wealthy herbalist, was a precarious one of respect earned solely through knowledge.
After the meal, as dusk painted the sky in purples and golds, Lin Yan walked with her to the pasture where the two black calves were grazing on a tether, watched by Xiaoshan.
"You have a vision for this place," Qiao Yuelan said, not a question.
"I see what it could be," he admitted. "Not just a farm. A… ranch. Mixed livestock, improved pastures, specialty crops. A system where everything supports everything else."
"A system," she repeated, mulling the word. "It is a merchant's or a general's way of thinking. Not a peasant's."
"Perhaps that's what's needed," he said. "To turn this frontier from a place of scarcity to one of abundance."
She was quiet for a long moment, watching the calves. "The Imperial Horse Pastures," she said finally. "Their need for good hay is even more acute now. The summer has been dry in the north. The official in charge of procurement, a Deputy Minister Zhao, is a man who cares more for results than tradition. If your Bluestem hay proves as resilient as it seems… and if you had more of it…"
She was painting a picture of an opportunity vast enough to dwarf their current struggles. It was terrifying.
"We have one mu," he said, stating the limiting fact.
"You have knowledge," she countered. "And you have freehold title. Knowledge can be applied to rented or purchased land. Title allows you to borrow against it, if you dare."
It was a radical thought. Leveraging their hard-won security to gamble on expansion. But it was the logical next step. The system in his mind seemed to hum in agreement.
"You give much advice," Lin Yan said, looking at her profile in the fading light.
"I invest in interesting things," she replied, meeting his gaze. "My master's trade is in herbs. Mine… is in potential."
There was a charge in the air between them, unspoken and complex. It was more than business. It was a recognition of kindred spirits, of ambition burning behind cautious eyes.
She left the next morning, taking with her samples of their herbs and a promise to return for the lavender harvest and to discuss the egg market. She also took a message from Lin Yan to Butcher Gao, inquiring about the garrison's interest in a regular supply of smoked or fresh pork from "grass-fed, Bluestem-finished" animals.
The summer wore on. The first Lin Family branded smoked hams were delivered to Butcher Gao, who sold them to the garrison commander, who reportedly served them at a dinner for the visiting Deputy Minister Zhao. The feedback trickled back: Unique flavor. Dense texture. Excellent.
The brand was being established, bite by bite.
One evening, as the family sat outside enjoying the cool after the hot day, a traveler passed by on the road—a weathered man with the lean build of a lifelong drover. He heard the sounds of their animals, smelled the hay, and stopped. He tipped his hat to Lin Dashan.
"Fine-looking calves for a small place," he remarked, his voice a gravelly rumble.
"Thank you," Lin Dashan said.
"Heard there's a family here growing some new kind of grass. That it?"
Lin Yan stepped forward. "It is. Bluestem."
The drover spat. "Grass is grass. But I've driven cattle three hundred miles to pastures that weren't half as green as that patch there." He looked around, his gaze missing nothing. "You got the look of folks building something. It's a good look." He nodded once and moved on, disappearing into the twilight.
It was a small moment, but significant. Word was spreading. Not just in official reports, but along the dusty roads where practical men traded in truths about grass and beef.
Lin Yan looked at his family, at their land, at the stonecrop blooming perpetually by the gate. They had crossed the first, greatest chasm. They stood now on the other side, not on a safe plateau, but at the base of a far larger mountain. A mountain of expansion, of reputation, of complex trade and imperial interest.
The Freeholder's Dawn had broken. The day ahead would be long, and the work harder than anything that had come before. But the light was theirs.
[System Milestone: 'Freeholder' status fully integrated. Expansion planning initiated.]
[New Knowledge Unlocked: 'Pasture Management & Rotational Grazing.']
[Quest: 'Establish the Brand' – IN PROGRESS. First branded product successfully placed with recurring client (Butcher Gao). Imperial market interest hinted.]
[System Notice: Tier 3 Shop unlock criteria met: Achieve 'Established Brand' status AND secure title to or management of at least 10 mu of land.]
[Points Total: 180. Tier 3 awaits.]