Translator: ryangohsff  Editor: ryangohsff

It was already 10 AM when Doctor Song finished treating the injuries of the female Nian beast. As Ouyang Shuo still had things to do in real life, he didn’t stay any longer after housing the two Nian beasts temporarily in the stables before going offline.

In reality, it was already the first day of the new year. Last night, the sounds of fireworks were incessant and had never stopped, bustling with excitement.

When Ouyang Shuo walked out of his room, Bing’er was already out of bed, playing with Xue’er in the living room. When she saw her brother, she smiled and said, “Brother is a lazy bug, Bing’er woke up earlier than you.”

“Lazy bug, Lazy bug!” Xue’er that little fella copied her words.

Ouyang Shuo gave a forced smile and shook his head. These few days he had been going in and out of the game, being super busy. In the end, in the eyes of Qing’er and Bing’er, he had became a lazy bug, he really had some unspeakable trouble.

He walked into the bathroom and after washing up, he went back to the hall and smiled to Bing’er, “Baby, today I will bring you out to shop. Is it okay?”

“Great, great!” To be able to go out and play, Bing’er, that little monkey, was delighted.

“If we go out we can’t bring Xue’er, its too busy outside. It’s not safe.” Ouyang Shuo explained.

“Ya? How can we do that? Bing’er doesn’t want to separate from Xue’er.” The little brat seemed to feel bad.

Xue’er flew onto Bing’er’s head in a very humane way and grabbed onto her hair, reluctant to leave. “No, No!”

“Then you keep Xue’er in the summoning ball. Don’t summon her out.” Looking at the inseparable couple, Ouyang Shuo could only take a step back.

“En.” This could be accepted as Bing’er took out the summoning ball and Xue’er obediently entered the ball.

After they left home, the siblings went towards the bustling New Year temple fair.

The New Year temple fair in State of Jiao was held around Cheng Huang Temple Zhongyou Square, Zhongshan Road, Fuxue West Street, Beijing Road, Huifu East Road Food Street, Buddha Temple and Wu Xian. Each area would have their own cultural performances and display of cultural goods, and various foods and activities were on sale.

The tourists at the market could not only see performances such as Chinese opera, acrobatics, magic, hard qigong, but also other Chinese unique skills, like Bai Mei fist, Cai Li Fu fist, Wing Chun boxing and other martial arts. Other shows like wood puppets, folk puppets, Wuhua line puppets and various puppet performances were on show.

The siblings strolled around in the crowded temple fair, going in and out of the ocean of people. A temple fair showcased all the festivities of the new year and was a place where people could eat, drink, play, have fun, shop and find entertainment.

In the end what the two foodies paid attention to most was the food street. Beijing Sweet Hulu, Tianjing Goubuli, North Korea Dagao, Changsha smelly tofu, Tianjing 18 street Mahua, Mongolian Barbecued pork, Shanghai Xiao Longbao, Old Beijing fresh pear soup, Taiwan-preserved vegetable stinky tofu, and food from various countries all could be found here.

Bing’er, that little brat, still had some heart. While she was shopping, she remembered to buy gifts for people. She used her pocket money to buy an opera mask and a clown mask for her brother. Of course, she also brought a gift for Xue’er, a mini Beijing opera dress which was exquisitely made.

Ouyang Shuo carried the clown mask, shaking his head. That little brat just wanted to tease him.

When they returned from the temple fair, it was already 6:30. Bing’er was so exhausted, she quickly showered before carrying Xue’er and going back to sleep.

Ouyang Shuo was delighted that she went to sleep early as he still had a super important event to participate in. When he hurried into his room and went online, it was just a nice 7 in the morning.

After waking in the game, he didn’t wear his usual leather clothing, but instead he wore the woven scribe dress that Qing’er had bought for him. The reason being that it was New Year’s day, Shanhai Town was about to hold their sacrificial ritual.

Before 7 in the morning, all the people in the town gathered in the square in front of the ancestral hall. Even the villagers in Shanhai Village woke up early and took a boat to come to the sacrificial ritual.

The administration director Fan Zhongyan was the priest of the ritual while the director of Resources Tian Wenjing was in charge of wine offerings. When Ouyang Shuo arrived, the ritual officially began.

The ancestral hall of Shanhai Town paid respects to the Yellow Emperor. The whole ritual included welcoming the god, laying silk, entering, the 1st offer, 2nd offer, the final offer, withdrawal, sending off the god and burning the offerings, these 9 steps. They all proceeded with strict supervision. None of the steps were carelessly done.

After the entire process, it was already 9 in the morning. After praying to Yellow Emperor, everyone moved to the Mazu temple and started a sacrificial ritual for Mazu. As the only recognised religion in Shanhai town, the ritual was grand and comparable to the one for Yellow Emperor.

After the ritual, it was already 11. Ouyang Shuo seeing that there was still time, called Gu Xiuwen and Zhou Feng, who had specially rushed back from the rituals into his office.

After they sat down, he smiled and asked, “So is everything going well in Beihai Village?”

“Thank you for sire’s concern. Beihai Village is on the right track; we managed to rush to a grade 2 village before the New Year. The planning for the village followed the original plans for Shanhai Village. At the same time, to strengthen our connection with the territory, we built a harbor near the river mouth.” Gu Xiuwen reported.

Ouyang Shuo nodded his head. “That’s good, the speed is really fast. What do you all plan to do now?”

“For the next step, we prepare to slow down a bit. We want to solidify our foundations and build a perfect structure.” Gu Xiuwen said carefully.

Ouyang Shuo shook his head and said, “No, that’s too conservative. I plan to leave the fishermen under Beihai Village’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, after the activation of the Beimu salt pan’s 3rd phase expansion, Beihai Village’s population count will grow exponentially. Hence, I need Beihai Village to get to a grade 3 village. And also, when Shanhai Town gets to a grade 2 town, Beihai Village needs to be a grade 1 town by then.”

As he was originally the Household Registration officer, Gu Xiuwen had a good understanding of Shanhai Town’s population. Hearing the plans of Ouyang Shuo, he couldn’t understand them and asked, “According to sire’s arrangements, won’t moving a part of population from Shanhai Town to Beihai Village slow down the growth of Shanhai Town?”

“Shanhai Town is already levelling up fast enough, it’s time to give our opponents time to rest. I’m afraid that if we force them too hard, it might have a bad effect. It’s better to make use of this time to strengthen our foundations. As they are focusing on their main town, no one will expect that our 2nd town has already raised to a grade 1 town.” Ouyang Shuo smiled as he explained.

“Apart from that, I need you to calculate. Shanhai Town’s refugee adding rate is 75/day, and Beihai village’s is only 14/day. Hence, its worth to risk a little of Shanhai Town’s growth speed to raise the level of Beihai Village. Overall, this will be highly beneficial to the growth of our territory.” Ouyang Shuo continued on.

This method of increasing population was thought of by players in the last life who had raised to grade 1 city and wanted to raise their secondary bases as quickly as possible. Now it was used by Ouyang Shuo at just a grade 1 town, which could be said as very willful.

Gu Xiuwen suddenly realised and said excitedly,” Sire has thought about it well, Xiuwen is full of respect. Since its like that, when I go back, I will gather people and put all our efforts at building the basic buildings of a grade 2 village. Definitely in 1 week, we will raise to grade 3 village. We won’t let sire down.”

Ouyang Shuo smiled and said,” When you do things, I will naturally be at ease. How is the establishment of garrison team in Beihai Village?” This sentence was for Zhoufeng who had been quiet.

Zhoufeng nodded his head and said loudly,” Sire, we followed your orders and after building the intermediate army camp, we chose 20 good soldiers from the refugees and changed them to militia. The next stage would be to raise them to the max level and change them to navies.”

“Did you communicate well with the intermediate shipyard? Do you understand the building speed of the small warships?” Ouyang Shuo asked.

“Yes. Zheng, the factory manager, said that the small sized warships were already starting to be built. With their current speed, they can build 1 in 3 days, enough for the training requirements of the navies.” Worthy of being recommended by Lin Yi, Zhoufeng had clear thinking and thought about the big picture, making Ouyang Shuo very pleased.

“Good, you can probably guess that the reason why I sent you to Beihai Village was not only to build a garrison team. In the future, Beihai Village will be the navy base and camp. Hence, from the start when building the village, you must work hard with this goal in mind.”

“I understand, I will work hard for sire and not disappoint you.” Zhoufeng replied loudly.

“Good. Seems like it was the right decision assigning you 2 to Beihai Village. With the progress of the village, I am very pleased. I hope you two can continue to work hard and create more glory.” Ouyang Shuo concluded, ending the talk which wasn’t an official job reporting session but a casual talk that included job reportings.

“We won’t let sire down!” Gu Xiuwen and Zhoufeng answered unanimously.

Ouyang Shuo looked at his watch. Unknowingly, it was already 12. He laughed, “Lets go and eat lunch together.”

After the meal, Gu Xiuwen and Zhoufeng immediately sat in a boat and returned to Beihai Village. With Ouyang Shuo describing everything to them and laying all the cards on the table, they were very excited for the development of Beihai Village. They were filled with expectation and were extremely motivated.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap