Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 985 - 851: Differential Treatment

In the blink of an eye, Qu Jianlei and his group had spent three months on Homeland Star, experiencing the true tranquility of rural scenery.There were drawbacks too, indeed the land was vast and sparsely populated, with hardly any people around, and the nearest town was over sixty kilometers away.

Qu Jianlei and his group were all cultivation enthusiasts, but no matter how much they enjoyed cultivation, they still had social needs.

Apart from Granny Jia, even someone like Xiao Qin, who had a bit of a misanthropic streak, couldn’t stand such a tedious life.

For young girls like Claire and Xiang Xue, who loved excitement, it was even harder.

Even the Fourth Master jokingly remarked that this place felt a bit like a border outpost, seeing the same familiar faces every day.

In their free time, everyone could take turns worrying about farming matters, but most of the work was done by robots.

They had also visited the nearby town a few times to purchase some daily necessities.

However, despite the town’s large size, it was quite desolate, with most buildings abandoned.

The lively area consisted of only one street, and the total number of people didn’t even reach two thousand.

Considering that a single household typically had seven or eight children, the extent of hollowing out was truly evident.

Fortunately, around the land Qu Jianlei and his group were cultivating, there were still some other farms.

However, these farms were much smaller, the largest being just twenty square kilometers, farmed by a family called the Miltons.

The Milton family consisted of a little over twenty members, led by the Milton couple, who appeared to be in their eighties.

This couple had nine children, around seven or eight grandchildren, and three hired workers.

According to earlier discussions, twenty square kilometers wouldn’t suffice for such a large family to survive, yet the Miltons were doing quite well.

The family was also warm-hearted; when Qu Jianlei and his group arrived, they came over to visit.

However, the Fourth Master confidently asserted that this family’s warmth wasn’t innate, but rather because there were too few people around!

This reminded Qu Jianlei of certain stand-up shows from Blue Star, but the Fourth Master’s certainty clearly came from life experience.

The Milton family was indeed quite cheerful, and they even voluntarily explained why they could live well on twenty square kilometers.

The reason was simple: They were natives of Homeland Star who chose farming over leaving, and the government subsidized them.

Their loans had long been paid off, but the subsidy area was only this large, so they had to consider carefully whether to lease more land.

Currently, the Milton family had two third-generation members developing elsewhere, unwilling to be tied down by the land.

Other farm owners also received subsidies, but those with unpaid loans lacked the capacity to expand.

Qu Jianlei found this quite speechless; the protection in this place was truly ubiquitous, and the natives indeed had local advantages.

No wonder few outsiders came to lease; with such differential treatment, who could tolerate it?

Yet, even with such conditions for the locals, there were still many loafers, and not a few at that.

These people occasionally took odd jobs, but as long as they had money, they wouldn’t work again until it was spent.

In a pinch, they resorted to petty scams and theft, but never for amounts that would trigger an official case.

Some even broke into others’ homes just to eat and drink a bit, taking away a little, but never touching valuable possessions.

Such people, if caught in Hope or even Celestial Hook Star Realm, would be forced into labor by the government, but it wasn’t done here.

Upon hearing this, Claire couldn’t help but sigh enviously, "No wonder everyone wants to come to the bustling Star Realm."

Qu Jianlei also felt a bit speechless; on Blue Star, similar to Guojia, highly developed areas might very well breed a bunch of slackers.

Is this the side effect of prosperity and wealth? He wasn’t entirely sure.

But there’s no doubt that in a society lacking material resources, living so easily would be impossible.

Shortly after moving in, Qu Jianlei and his group also encountered such people; three young men came at night to steal construction materials.

The construction materials weren’t valuable, and the gain wouldn’t be much, but this "work" was simple and easy.

Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong target.

Claire despised freeloaders the most, so she stripped the three of their clothes and hung them upside down in front of the door for a whole day and night.

Eventually, an artificial satellite in space detected the anomaly through data filtering and notified the town’s City Guard layer by layer.

The town only had three City Guards in total, and one of them came over to demand they not use private justice.

Youyou released a B-level aura, indicating they didn’t like trouble and suggesting this incident needed to be treated as a typical example.

Before the City Guard could respond, the Fourth Master also released a B-level aura, staring coldly at the other.

The visitor was at a loss; he wanted to uphold justice, but over there were at least two B-levels!

So, he could only express hope that they would exercise restraint and avoid creating too much trouble, as that would be difficult to handle.

After this event, the area around the farm became noticeably quieter, and no one dared to sneak around anymore.

Even when the crops on the estate ripened, no one came to steal them.

Stealing crops was the norm for those loafers.

They only took what they could eat themselves, and the farm owners usually didn’t care—there were countless crops rotting in the fields each year.

People rarely come to Qu Jianlei’s place for free meals, shows that a bad reputation has its advantages too.

In a blink of an eye, half a year has passed, and Qu Jianlei finally completed the calculations for the ordinary version of the Spirit Gathering Array.

Just as he was about to go purchase materials, the Milton couple arrived, delivering an invitation— their youngest son is about to turn fifteen.

The farms around here have generally good relationships, and being too bored usually, they occasionally look for excuses to gather and celebrate.

Of course, a fifteenth birthday warrants a grand affair, and solemnly inviting the neighbors is a must.

Qu Jianlei thought about it and realized he didn’t urgently need to buy the materials at the moment, so he agreed.

The Milton family took this birthday party very seriously, organizing it grandly and notifying all the neighbors, nearly two hundred people were invited.

Besides, some people from the town were invited, along with their youngest son’s classmates, totaling more than three hundred attendees.

The Milton couple weren’t intending to profit from the occasion; they covered all expenses, but of course, no one would come empty-handed.

Seven people came from Qu Jianlei’s side— only Granny Jia, Xiao Qin, and Youyou didn’t attend.

They collectively gifted one present: a brand-new off-road motorcycle!

Giving cultivation resources isn’t even a thought, as it would attract too much attention.

This off-road motorcycle, worth nearly ten thousand, is quite a substantial gift.

The Milton’s youngest son was so thrilled, he couldn’t stop showing off to his classmates.

He is about to turn fifteen, long since stopped attending school in the town— there isn’t a school like that in the town.

The school is in a city two hundred kilometers away, a boarding type. Unless something unexpected occurs, he returns twice a month.

A fifteen-year-old’s birthday is a grand affair; he surely made a special trip back, also inviting ten or so classmates along.

Anyway, everyone is around fifteen years old, and he has attended classmates’ birthdays too, it’s just reciprocal.

Receiving such a gift, he couldn’t help but feel proud; after all, he’s a young man, who doesn’t love the feeling of racing through the wind?

So, he pretended to sigh regretfully, "What a pity, I’m still not of driving age!"

Most of his classmates are also quite well-off, some even wealthier than the Milton family.

In the eyes of the truly rich, simply engaging in farming can’t earn big money— merely controlling the production side isn’t enough!

Seeing him flaunt like this, someone got dissatisfied, "This bike is indeed nice, but do you dare to sneak it out for a ride later?"

The Milton’s youngest son hurriedly shook his head, saying that while he knew how to ride, he dared not ride it outside the farm.

Riding within the farm, the Imperial government wouldn’t care, but once outside, it wouldn’t be allowed; being underage is illegal.

"Coward," someone scoffed, all are at the age of boldness; who hasn’t got a bit of rebellion?

The Milton’s youngest son couldn’t stand it either; though he is obedient at home, he doesn’t want to be looked down upon.

So he could only argue, "The uncle who gave me the bike has several awakened ones in his family, can’t afford to upset them."

"So what if they’re awakened?" someone chuckled lightly, hard to determine who said it.

However, the Milton’s youngest son has good hearing and glared fiercely at someone— that person had a face full of acne.

The celebration continued, everyone gradually got more festive, starting to sing and dance loudly.

This batch of fifteen-year-old classmates is not of legal drinking age, but the Imperial rules aren’t so strict; at home, drinking is even less of an issue.

Acne face drank quite a bit, even went to flirt with a twenty-year-old girl.

In this aspect, the Imperial government imposes no restrictions; interstellar expansion leads to an infinite demand for population numbers.

The Milton’s youngest son approached while no one was paying attention, "Come over here for a moment."

He knows the other’s family is impressive, but just how powerful, he doesn’t really have specifics.

He is concerned now about whether the other has some ulterior motives.

Acne face glanced at him, laughed, speaking with a thick tongue.

"I know what you want to ask, but wait a bit, you have to ride that bike out first before I say anything!"

The Milton’s youngest son was helpless, hesitated a moment before nodding, though he was clearly somewhat unhappy, "Okay."

This celebration is quite casual; just past ten at night, people gradually began to bid farewell and leave.

Those who love having fun can continue to stay; it’s a sparsely populated area, hence no such thing as disturbing the public.

Around one o’clock in the morning, most had left, and the Milton’s youngest son rode the motorcycle around the farm.

His classmates sat in three off-road vehicles, with automatic driving enabled, following him everywhere.

Unbeknownst to them, they had driven out of the farm boundaries, entering the public area.

The Milton’s youngest son stopped the bike, pulled out a cigarette and lit it, remaining silent.

Acne face saw this and also had the off-road vehicle stop, wobbling over step by step.

Approaching, he cheekily grinned and spoke, "You’re all in big trouble, don’t you know?"

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