Ling PingAn returned to the village, carrying Bastet.

At the village entrance, he met the old village chief who was carrying a load of grapes and rus.h.i.+ng back.

“Uncle Zhang…” He immediately stepped forward with a smile.

“Young Master…” As soon as the old village chief saw Ling PingAn, he was happy. “You're back…”

Ling PingAn said, “Uncle Zhang, I told you… There's no need to go through so much trouble…”

“I'll pick these grapes by myself when I come back…”

The old village chief smiled honestly and said, “Young master, how would I dare to let you do such a rough work in the mountains?”

“Moreover you're not familiar with the mountains either…”

Ling PingAn was stunned when he heard this.

That's true.

He rarely came back. If there was no road sign, he probably wouldn't even know how to return to the village.

Thus, he said, “Uncle Zhang… let me carry this…”

While he was saying, he wanted to take over his burden.

Uncle Zhang immediately shook his head. “Young Master, Please let me carry it to the home…”

Ling PingAn looked at him and he was helpless.

Even though now it was an information era.

However, there were still quite a lot of feudal remnants left behind by the Federal Empire.

Fortunately, the new generation of youth had grown up.

Young people living in the era of mobile Internet, their knowledge and sight are not comparable to the past.

As he thought about this, Ling PingAn heard the old village chief say, “Young Master, it happened that the two boys from my family are back today…”

“Later I will ask them to come and pay you a visit…”

Ling PingAn's expression changed drastically, and he immediately waved his hand. “There's no need to pay their respects…”

“Uncle Zhang…” he said earnestly, “Now we are in the 1940s of the 28th century of the Republic era…”

“We should let all these old things go…”

Ling PingAn still remembered the scene when he was young, where he went home with his parents, and a few old men brought their entire family along to pay their respects.

When they met, they would bow and pay their respects, and they would call him 'Little Master'.

He didn't understand when he was young, so he accepted it.

Now that he had grown up, it was really difficult for him to accept that there were still such remnants of feudalism in the new era.

Moreover, even in the feudal era, weren't there still old times when their family was in decadence?

The Old Ling family was not living in the village anymore since a few decades ago.

It was no longer the same as in the past where they offering protection to the old subordinates and servants in the village.

Since they did not take responsibility, then, even if they follow the rules of the feudal era, these old people could have many reasons to refuse allegiance!

This was a tradition that had existed since two thousand years ago.

People would pay a debt of grat.i.tude when they were helped by others.

It was because, in ancient times, people would be loyal to the emperor as they provided them food.

They would have to sacrifice their life for someone who gave them food. If someone didn't want to sacrifice yet did not want to judge by the public, they would choose to compensate with money.

Therefore, Ling PingAn couldn't accept it.

If he accepted such a model, he would take on obligations and responsibilities according to the tradition.

What obligations and responsibilities?

He had to protect them and provided privileges to his subjects.

In this modern era, it meant that he had to take on the responsibility of finding jobs for these people, making arrangements for them, and educating their children.

Did he have the ability to do that?

No.

Even if he did, would he be willing to do it?

No.

If he had the time and effort, he might as well play a few games and write a few chapters of novels.

However, the old village chief chuckled and said, “Young Master, what you said is wrong…”

“The Zhang family salutes the Ling family…”

“This is a tradition that has existed for two hundred years…”

“You can't break this tradition!”

Just as Ling PingAn was about to say something else, the old village chief picked up the grapes and walked toward the Ling family's ancestral residence.

As he walked, he said to Ling PingAn, “You don't have to persuade me about this matter anymore.”

“Oh and…” he seemed to have recalled something. “Young Master, I've just spoken to the Green Source Company…”

“Your two hundred acres of the land contract will not be renewed starting from next year…”

“This matter should be settled in two days…”

“That's right…” he asked, “What do you plan to do after we stop leasing the lands to Green Source?”

“In my opinion…”

“You might as well do some plantation by yourself…”

“My kids will take care of them for you here…”

“The money you can earn every year is guaranteed to be many times more than you rent it out!”

As Ling PingAn listened, he was fret.

After going back and forth, wasn't it going back to the old model?

The Ling family was the landlord and the Lord.

And they raised the hopes of several families.

But the problem was that this kind of old production relations.h.i.+p and production model had gone bankrupt more than a hundred years ago.

Rapid industrialization destroyed all the old production relations.h.i.+p and social mode.

The landlord?

How many steam engines did the landlord have?

Thus, he smiled and replied, “Uncle Zhang… I don't want to go through so much trouble…”

It was only two hundred acres of land.

The annual profit was only a million.

After deducting manpower, utilities and investment, how much would be left?

“Find a company for me and rent it out…”Ling PingAn said.

“If you want it…” Ling PingAn said, “Then I'll rent it to you…”

“We'll make it at the original price…” Ling PingAn said.

Anyhow the income from the land would be donated.

It was donated to the Fixed Federal Empire's Nature Conservation Fund to protect and manage the ecological environment.

When the old village chief heard this, he knew that he could not persuade this young master.

He sighed in his heart.

However, he still showed an honest smile on his face. “Young Master, since that's the case, I won't persuade you anymore…”

“But, please, you must meet those few brats of my family…”

It was very important to establish and reaffirm the relations.h.i.+p between each generation.

Its importance was even greater than life itself!

This was especially true for his family!

The Ling family was not just a sovereign!

It was also a place of faith!

However, this Young Master had always resisted such things.

He would have brought his children to the city to visit them if he was not stopped by ancestral teachings.

Thinking of this, the old village chief said seriously to increase his persuasiveness, “This is not just my request…”

“It is also the intention of the Duke of National Protection…”

“Please don't refuse!”

Ling PingAn pursed his lips and shook his head. He sighed. “Uncle Zhang…”

“I'm not as great as my ancestor!”

According to what Ling Pingan's parents had told him, the old village chief's family was the guards of the Ling family.

He was the kind of person who stood guard with a knife handle on the high wall of the landlord's family in the movies.

When Ling PingAn's ancestor joined the army and went to the southern Zhou Liberation Battlefield, the descendants of the Zhang family, Hu family, and other families also went with him.

Except for Ling Baoguo, others were eternally buried on that mountain in the new Qinling Mountains.

But the problem was that Ling PingAn's ancestor was a hero!

A hero had his integrity, so he could be seen everywhere.

What was he?

He was just an otaku who wanted to muddle along and wait for death. He wanted to win on equal terms.

He was not excellent in any aspect, and could even screw up a bookstore.

What qualifications did he have to compete with the hero's ancestor?

But, in the end, he still hadn't defeated the old village chief.

He could only agree with a wry smile.

There was no other way. He brought out their ancestor. Moreover, their family's ancestor had died in battle for the Ling family's ancestor.

There would be no Ling PingAn without their sacrifice.

One must know that he was the sole descendant of the old Ling family in the ninth generations!

“I only hope that Uncle Zhang's children are all youth of the new era…”

Ling PingAn had this thought.

He was very confident about this.

Not to mention the era of the mobile internet, even in the past era of electrified television, the traditional relations.h.i.+p had been torn apart by modernization.

To be honest, it was impressive that the Ling family was able to maintain an extremely close relations.h.i.+p with the Zhang family, the w.a.n.g family, and the Hu family for more than two hundred years.

It was truly a miracle!

One had to know that even the palace ministers of the royal family were palace guards, and who knew how many batches had changed.

As they spoke, the two of them arrived in front of the ancestral home.

Ling PingAn opens the courtyard door and walked in.

People were waiting in the courtyard.

“Little Young Master…”Uncle w.a.n.g came forward and bowed.

“Little Young Master…” a trembling old woman, who was leaning on her walking stick, also bowed.

“Grandma Hu…”Ling PingAn looked at the old woman and quickly walked over to help her up.

This old woman of the Hu family was someone who Ling PingAn invited every year when he came back to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.

The reason was simple — he didn't know how to offer sacrifices to his ancestors.

All those divinatory words, rituals, and prayers…

He couldn't get through to her.

The old woman looked at Ling PingAn, and the wrinkles on her face were kind.

She smiled and said, “Young Master has grown up!”

Ling PingAn didn't quite understand. “Grandma, I've become an adult since a long time ago…”

“Have you forgotten?”

“You were the one who hosted my crowning ceremony!”

The tradition of the federal empire was when they turned eighteen-year-old, they needed to be crowned.

This was a very crucial ceremony in the past!

Almost all adult men had to hold a crowning ceremony and then ask their elders or teachers to bestow words on them. This indicated that they had come of age and could live independently and take on the responsibilities of the country and the world.

This tradition had once abolished with modernization.

However, with the development of the times, this tradition was revived a few decades ago.

The young people of the Federal Empire, whether they were in the metropolitan territory or the countryside, whether they were in the mainland or overseas.

The importance of the crowning ceremony was once again highlighted.

This was a result of the Republican retro cultural movement', and it was also a sign of the emerging urban middle cla.s.s that began to reminisce.

The flag was very glamorous.

Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan were brought out.

Ling PingAn was no exception. He rushed back in style and went home to invite Grandma Hu, who understood tradition, to give him a coronation gift.

From then on, Ling PingAn did not want to touch those traditional rituals and ceremonies anymore!

It was too troublesome!

A coronation gift took the entire day.

People were watching as if they were looking at a monkey.

It was because he had asked for that matter on his initiative.

He had to finish what he had decided on even if he was on his knees. Otherwise, he would have run away long ago.

When the old woman heard this, she chuckled. “Young Master, I am an old woman who has a bad memory. I had forgotten about this matter!”

But her eyes were incomparably bright.

The Little Cat Bastet poked her head out from Ling PingAn's embrace.

Her eyes reflected the old woman's appearance.

One…

Two…

Three…

Nine furry tails reflected in the old woman's shadow on the ground.

Green Hill Nine-tailed Fox!

Bastet became nervous instantly.

Because this was the king's Fox!

An ancient legend flashed in the Cat G.o.ddess'mind. “The law of the land is based on the law of the land. If you got it after three times, the nine-tailed Fox will come!”

In ancient times, the nine-tailed Fox was one of the sacred beasts that were at the top!

But the problem was, wasn't the Nine-tailed Fox extinct long ago?