The moment Wang Zhuo and his party returned to the village, they were met with the most solemn welcome. After all, not only had Wang Zhuo secured immense benefits for the village in one fell swoop, but he was also arranging long-term, stable employment for them, which held profound significance for the Taoyuan people.

So, upon their return, Meng Mingliang immediately mobilized manpower to slaughter pigs and sheep, preparing a lavish, continuous banquet—a feast that included the entire village, grander than even the village's most extravagant wedding.

The solemnity of this meal was evident in the toasting ritual. Each round of toasts involved four young women or newly married wives of similar age, all of whom downed their cups in one go. Wang Zhuo and his companions, however, were only expected to sip moderately. Furthermore, the men did not offer toasts, which was another peculiar custom.

It wasn't until the evening feast concluded, and a thoroughly inebriated Meng Mingliang, speaking with a thick tongue, finally revealed the secret to Wang Zhuo.

It turned out that according to a very old custom in Taoyuan Village, when entertaining honored guests who had shown great kindness to the village, this was the method of toasting. If the honored guest took a liking to any woman, he could share a drink privately with her, and that evening the woman would bring her pillow to the guest's lodging to offer herself. If, after that night, the guest found the woman agreeable, he would keep her, leaving the pillow at the doorstep, and her family would know to retrieve it.

"Uh—" Wang Zhuo was utterly dumbfounded upon hearing this.

"But we haven't done that since the founding of the nation," Meng Mingliang chuckled slyly. "My grandfather said there was once a general suppressing bandits who chose four women in one night and took them all away the next day. One of them was my grandmother's sister-in-law."

Good heavens, Wang Zhuo instantly recalled the succession of young women and wives who had just toasted him. The soil and water of Taoyuan bred people well; the village was full of handsome men and beautiful women—all fair-skinned, lively, and well-figured. If he had been that bandit-suppressing general, he suspected he might have chosen even more than the general did.

As he mused over this, Meng Mingliang, still in a drunken, foolish grin, failed to notice.

"Your grandmother's sister-in-law was taken too?" Wang Zhuo suddenly caught a point of confusion. "Then what happened to your grandmother's brother?"

Hearing Wang Zhuo's question, Meng Mingliang suddenly burst into roaring laughter, leaving Wang Zhuo completely baffled, unsure what the joke was.

"Didn't you notice?" Meng Mingliang lowered his voice after his laughter subsided, speaking mysteriously. "There are many more women than men in Taoyuan Village..."

Wang Zhuo paused, nodding thoughtfully. "It does seem that way a little."

"So," Meng Mingliang chuckled lowly, "if a man's wife is taken, he just marries another! There are plenty of women to go around."

This time, Wang Zhuo completely understood. "Are you saying the birth rate in Taoyuan Village is abnormal—fewer men and more women?"

"Yes, yes, that’s exactly it," Meng Mingliang declared, waving his hand dismissively. "Take me, for instance. My eldest is a daughter. My second is also a daughter, so I named her Sheng Nan (Give Birth to a Boy). My third is still a daughter, so I named her Sheng Di (Give Birth to a Younger Brother). Later, Teacher Sun said there were too many girls with the same name, so she changed them to Sheng Nan and Sheng Di [different characters]. I really wanted to have a son, but alas, my wife can’t lay eggs anymore."

Wang Zhuo nodded with a wry smile. It was true; he had heard the names Sheng Nan and Sheng Di numerous times in the village.

There were three people cooling off under the big tree in the back courtyard: Wang Zhuo, Meng Mingliang, and Lu Weimin, who had been silently drinking tea the whole time. Hearing this, Lu Weimin finally couldn't help but interject.

"Village Head Meng, then according to what you're saying, wouldn't there be many single women in the village?"

Meng Mingliang smiled meaningfully, deliberately taking a slow sip of tea, whetting the appetite of the other two before revealing another secret of Taoyuan Village.

"The birth ratio of males to females in the village is roughly three to seven. So, many men have more than one wife, it’s just that outsiders don't know about it..."

This gossip was earth-shattering; Wang Zhuo nearly spat out the tea in his mouth, thinking how he was still struggling to achieve his dream of having a few wives, yet the men of Taoyuan had almost all realized it. How absurd!

"Look, I'll list them for you," Meng Mingliang began recounting the capable men in the village. "Meng Guang, the third eldest at the east entrance, his first wife died of illness, and the one living with him now is the second; he has two more outside. He Qiu in the back alley has two sisters living together, plus another young one outside, only eighteen this year..."

"Wait a minute," Wang Zhuo quickly interrupted. "I know He Qiu; isn't he over forty? He already has two at home, how can he find an eighteen-year-old?"

"What does that matter?" Meng Mingliang laughed. "Taoyuan lacks men! That eighteen-year-old is a plump girl, not easy to marry off. Besides, He Qiu is skilled with his hands and willing to work hard."

Wang Zhuo was speechless. No wonder the village of three hundred people only mustered a work team of just over twenty—it turned out there were relatively few young and strong men in the village.

"Is this a common phenomenon?" Lu Weimin asked.

"It is," Meng Mingliang sighed with some frustration. "If I weren't the village head, I would have set up another household outside long ago and sired a son."

Wang Zhuo offered a wry smile of comfort. "Brother Meng, everyone recognizes the contributions you've made to the village."

"That is true," Meng Mingliang agreed emphatically, nodding.

Lu Weimin spoke slowly, "No wonder Taoyuan Village used to have the custom of giving away women. It seems they had too many women; keeping them in the village would have been a waste."

Meng Mingliang hummed in agreement, laughing, "That’s why my grandfather said it! After that bandit-suppressing general took my grandmother's sister-in-law, my grandmother's brother was overjoyed and married another wife, then went on with his life."

Wang Zhuo scratched his head. "Then what would happen today if I shared a drink alone with any of the women?"

Lu Weimin immediately let out a chuckle; he had been wanting to ask that very question.

Meng Mingliang grinned mischievously. "If it's an unmarried girl, you'd have to take her away after sleeping with her. As for the newly married wives, one night is permissible, but taking her away requires her consent."

"No wonder some of the men were looking at me strangely during dinner," Wang Zhuo said with a bitter smile. "Turns out they were afraid I'd sleep with their wives. What on earth is this place?"

Lu Weimin looked at Wang Zhuo teasingly. Though he didn't know the intricate details of Wang Zhuo's relationship with Qi Fei and Guan Yingying, he had a general idea; he knew if Wang Zhuo were to chase women elsewhere, those two certainly wouldn't let him off lightly.

"However, I think this custom won't last many more years," Wang Zhuo said seriously. "Once the road is finished, opportunities for contact with the outside world will greatly increase. In the future, Taoyuan women can marry out, and men from outside can settle here. The history of Taoyuan lacking men will soon be rewritten."

"That makes sense," Lu Weimin joked. "Then Village Head Meng needs to hurry up if he wants to have a son."

The three of them laughed together. After a long pause, Meng Mingliang finally said with some emotion, "It seems Taoyuan Village is about to change drastically. The outside world is too vast."

...

The night in Taoyuan Village was indeed as lively and festive as Wang Zhuo had imagined, filled with a joyful atmosphere.

After electricity was installed, the county transportation bureau allocated funds to build ten streetlights. A young man named He Gen bought a cheap motorcycle after several trips to the city and opened a small dealership in the village. Every evening, his place was the busiest. The young men gathered under the streetlights to learn to ride motorcycles, while those waiting took turns in the yard watching VCDs with the young women.

That evening, He Gen had brought out a new disc—it was a compilation of three-level films. Men, women, old, and young sat huddled together, commenting and judging, watching with great interest...

When Guan Yingying and Qi Fei walked into the small courtyard one after the other, the thirty-seven-inch television screen was showing Ye Yuqing bathing naked in a bathroom. A boy whose voice hadn't finished breaking let out a froggy squawk, "City women have such big..." which immediately caused a burst of laughter throughout the crowd.

The hot springs in Taoyuan Village were communal baths where men, women, and children bathed naked together, so scenes of actresses' breasts were not a rarity for them. Sometimes, during roughhousing in the springs, it was common for a sister-in-law to grab her brother-in-law by his third leg; this was the local custom and had nothing to do with obscenity.

However, Qi Fei and Guan Yingying were from big cities; they had never witnessed such things. Thus, when that boy shouted out, both women flushed bright red with embarrassment.

They had intended to wander around the small village shop and look around; now, there was no need. The two retreated sheepishly from the courtyard, looking at each other, before bursting into laughter.

After a long moment, Qi Fei finally said with a mixture of exasperation and amusement, "Watching pornography in a crowd, and nobody manages it."

Guan Yingying was quite understanding. "It's new stuff; there always needs to be a period of acceptance."

Just as she finished speaking, several children aged six or seven ran out of the courtyard, each holding a large balloon, cheering as they rushed past the two women toward an alley entrance.

"Huh?" Guan Yingying twisted her head to look at the group of children and was amused again. She raised her hand and pointed. "Sister Qi Fei, look what they're holding!"

Qi Fei followed the direction of her finger. A little girl with a runny nose was holding a large, fully inflated, transparent balloon. It was elongated, resembling a winter melon, with a nipple-like protrusion at the top. As it bumped against the other children, it made a soft sound, appearing quite elastic.

That wasn't a balloon at all; it was clearly an inflated condom!

This time, Qi Fei was utterly speechless. It seemed Guan Yingying was right: the people of Taoyuan truly needed a period of acceptance for things from the outside world.

At the same time, Wang Zhuo had just excused himself to the latrine and taken the opportunity to check the wound on his middle leg. The skin around the scab was beginning to peel, and the connected parts had already separated; it was about to fall off. This meant bathing in the hot springs wouldn't be an issue. The only problem was that the new skin revealed after the scab fell off would be a light pink color, noticeable at a glance if one paid attention. Therefore, for his intimate moments with Qi Fei recently, they would have to wait until night with the lights off... V