He chose termites as pets for the Ant Queen's exceptionally long lifespan.
A mediocre Ant Queen could live for more than twenty years, while a superior one might exceed thirty years.
Many people think termites are ants, but in fact, they predate ants by over a hundred million years and belong to the same species as cockroaches, which are known for their resilience. The only difference is that cockroaches are solitary, whereas termites are social creatures.
Ants are Hymenoptera, whereas termites are Isoptera.
Qin Niu chose what seemed like the weakest species as pets, for he had his far-reaching considerations.
The top three most coveted professions in this world were Planters, Insect Masters, and Beast Tamers.
Insect Masters raise insects as pets, continually training them to evolve.
A powerful insect could have significant utility and combat prowess.
The cost of raising beast pets was something he, as a poor man, simply could not afford. The beasts with the most potential were carnivores requiring meat at every meal. Qin Niu himself could not afford to eat meat even once in a year; how could he possibly provide meat for a pet?
Choosing an insect as a pet was the choice of most poor people.
These were omnivorous, ate little, and were easy to keep alive — low-maintenance and low-cost.
The diet of termites was incredibly diverse, including grassroots, tree bark, paper fabric, and even minerals and silver money—they were not fussy eaters.
History records a case of silver theft from the government treasury that went unsolved, unable to catch the thief.
After several innocent officials were executed, it was finally discovered that termites were to blame.
Qin Niu bit the tip of his finger, squeezing out a droplet of blood onto the activation zone of the talisman. It absorbed the blood and instantly erupted with dazzling golden light. Ultimately, it ignited in the breeze, transforming into a stream of golden light that wrapped around a termite busy sealing the entrance of its nest.
Before choosing a termite as a pet, he certainly did his homework.
To make a contract with an Ant Queen, one must choose to do so before they lay eggs; otherwise, it would result in failure.
The best opportunity to make a contract was after it successfully built its nest and before laying eggs, which could greatly reduce the risk of the pet's death.
After wrapping around its body for a moment, the golden light slowly seeped into it. A short while later, a thin stream of golden light shot out and entered Qin Niu's forehead. He closed his eyes, experienced a brief pain in his brain, and then everything returned to normal.
The low-grade contract talisman had bought for one tael of silver was fairly decent and did not have any quality issues.
After the contract was successfully made, he was now able to check the pet's attributes.
This was like opening a blind box; before making the contract, an ordinary person like him could not know the attributes of the insect.
Its lifespan, special abilities, and so on were all impossible to discern.
Female Milky White Ant (Breeder Ant)
Grade: Grade One Isoptera, Experience 75/100
Lifespan: 4.2 years
Energy: 171
Skills: Breeding First-Grade 0/10, Feign Death First-Grade 1/10
Talent: Medium Intelligence
Most insects have low intelligence, so it was surprising that this small female ant had medium intelligence, which explained why it performed so well in various aspects. He had struck gold this time.
It was the high intelligence that enabled humans to dominate this world.
An intelligent insect was invaluable.
The only downside was its lifespan, which was only 4.2 years, far less than the average lifespan of an Ant Queen.
Further, due to its small size, it could only store 171 points of energy. From laying eggs to the growth of the first batch of Worker Ants, it would need about 21 days. Plus, considering a seven-day preparation period for egg-laying, this meant it would go for up to 28 days without any food intake.
This made Qin Niu extremely worried about whether it could hold on until the final moment.
At this moment, having successfully formed a contract with it, Qin Niu became its master. He could take this termite home and raise it safely in a clay jar.
But he did not do so.
Raising insects as pets and maintaining their wildness was the best way to nurture them.
Keeping them in clay jars was only good for observation and made it difficult for them to become stronger.
Even a mighty tiger, the king of hundreds of animals, would become docile as a cat if kept in a cage for a long time and fed every day. It might lose to a wild wolf.
"The mountains are extremely dangerous at night, I must go back now, good luck to you!"
Qin Niu looked at the mountain ridges as night fell, like a terrifying beast choosing its prey. His current strength was still very weak, merely that of an ordinary mortal, and spending a night here could mean not a trace of him would be left.
Luckily, he had accomplished his task, and he stood up and quickly ran along the path back toward the village outside the mountains.
When he became powerful one day, this mountain range, and even the entire mountainous region, would become his territory.
That tiny termite was the help he used to become stronger.
"Awooo!"
From behind him came the howling of a wild wolf, the signal that they were preparing to come out in search for food.
Wild beasts mostly prefer to stay hidden during the day and emerge at night.
As night descends, they all come out to hunt for food. The deep mountains at night become a place of chaos and danger.
Qin Niu's lean body exploded with astonishing stamina, and he escaped the dangerous mountains by running along the muddy mountain path.
There were dozens of families in the village, and many already had lights shining through.
Poorer families, in an effort to save a bit of lamp oil money, often hesitated to light their lamps.
Neighbor Wang Furen's house was a three-room five-bay brick and tile house, quite impressive.
Every evening, it would be brightly lit, and one could faintly see the silhouettes of servants bustling about.
By rule, the residences of commoners were not allowed to exceed the scale of three rooms and five bays. Only officials were allowed to have more than five bays.
Bay referred to a rafter frame, and the number of bays referred to the number of purlins on the rafter frame, usually an odd number.
If someone's house had more than five bays, they were undoubtedly the local power figures and not to be trifled with.
Even just a one-room seven-bay house was a symbol of authority.
It meant that someone in the family was an official, naturally commanding awe and respect from everyone.
Wang Furen had made some money in his earlier years in business, then returned to his hometown to buy over a dozen acres of good land, married a beautiful wife, employed servants, and lived a very comfortable life. He was one of the richest households in the village.
The only imperfection was that he only had a daughter and no son.
Wang Wanyan grew up to be slender and graceful, her appearance delicate and charming.
When Qin Niu ran past Wang Furen's house, the second-floor window opened, and a lovely, teasing face peeked out.
Her bright eyes were as clear as autumn water, her skin as smooth as lustrous white jade.
What was more precious was the air of purity that emanated from her face, the scholarly aura nurtured by years of reading poetry and literature.
The daughters of wealthy families didn't have to do rough work and were taught needlework, embroidery, and the arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
"Ah Niu, have you had dinner yet?"
She called out to Qin Niu in a hushed voice as he ran past.
Clearly afraid of being overheard by her father downstairs.
"I've eaten already!"
Qin Niu didn't even lift his head as he headed towards his own home.
That irritated her, causing her to wrinkle her delicate nose.
She had tied the food box she was holding with a string, now she had to untie it.
The neighbor's Ah Niu had been parentless since he was young, said to have been picked up from the mountains by the elderly bachelor, Uncle Liu. Last year, when Uncle Liu passed away from illness, Ah Niu didn't cry or make a fuss, but sat silently beside the coffin for three days and nights.
He would kowtow to anyone who came in.
Seeing how pitiable the child was, everyone worked together to carry Uncle Liu to the mountains for burial.
After Uncle Liu's death, nobody took care of Ah Niu.
At first, Ah Niu still diligently farmed their thin plot of land.
Later, due to his lack of farming experience, the harvest was very poor.
After paying the grain tax, he hardly had anything left, not even enough to feed himself.
After that, he started to squander.
All the slightly valuable things in his house were sold by him, and nobody knew what he spent the money on.
The village's old drunkard, Zhang Banzui, claimed Ah Niu took the money to the city to drink away his fortunes, squandering it all.
He spoke with such certainty, as if he had seen it all.
Later, people from the neighboring villages also said they saw Ah Niu enter the city themselves.
So, the rumors gradually spread, and many people talked behind his back, criticizing Ah Niu for being lazy and indulging in prostitution and gambling.
Only Wang Wanyan didn't believe Ah Niu was that kind of person.
Because she occasionally saw Ah Niu buying books at the bookstore when she went there to purchase books herself. However, Ah Niu probably had no money and only bought used books from others.
Additionally, she saw Ah Niu in a pitiable state and once tried to give him some money for food.
He firmly refused it.
Ah Niu, though poor, was not poor in spirit; he was very prideful at heart.
She took out the food, wrapped it in oil paper, and hid it in the wide sleeves of her robe.
"If I don't take it to him, he's most likely going to end up nibbling on those bitter and astringent wild herbs that are hard to swallow tonight."
Wang Wanyan muttered to herself as she descended the stairs.
Once when she went to deliver food to Ah Niu, she had personally seen him eating tree bark and wild grass to stave off hunger.
Ah Niu returned to his extremely impoverished home, lifted the lid of the rice jar, and looked at the scant amount of unrefined rice left, silently calculating that with such a small quantity, it would barely last a month.
Their thin plot of land was infertile, also referred to as 'poor backbone' land.
Apart from the rampant growth of weeds, the crops he planted hardly grew at all. The corn he planted with difficulty last year was like a malnourished patient, weak and frail.
This type of infertile land could not retain fertilizer or water, the soil was prone to compacting, and there were many rocks underneath.
Moreover, they were chunks of stubborn rock that were impossible to clear away.
The spring had started awhile ago this year, and he had been contemplating which crops might yield a slightly better harvest?
The corn and wheat he had planted last year had very poor yields.
Fortunately, the grain tax for infertile land was much less than that for fertile land.
Otherwise, he would have had to pay the government instead of the other way around.
Outside the leaky wall, Wang Furen's voice could be heard, "You child, are you sneaking off again to give that poor boy food?"
"I... I just want to help him out! Don't you always say that doing good deeds brings blessings?"
It was Wang Wanyan's crisp voice.
Very soft.
She wanted to secretly bring food to Ah Niu and had been caught by her father; she must be bowing her head now, with an attitude of admitting her mistake.
"You're fifteen already, a girl running to his house every day, aren't you afraid of people gossiping? You need to be aware of your reputation, don't get too close to him. Your mother hopes that you can ascend to greater heights and become a phoenix. With your talents and beauty, you will surely marry a wealthy and influential gentleman one day, understand?"
Wang Furen earnestly advised his daughter.
All parents hope their children will become outstanding and lead a good life.
He would never allow such a beautiful daughter to marry a poor boy.
"I know, I know!"
Wang Wanyan didn't dare to contradict her father and verbally agreed.
What she really thought, only she knew.
Unlike other girls who were clueless and obedient to their parents, she had her own opinions because she was well-read.
"I'll come back right after I've delivered the food; otherwise, it will all spoil overnight."
"Wait a minute!"
Wang Furen called out to his daughter.
"Or you can bring it to him instead!" Wang Wanyan thought her father didn't want her to go.
"Go to the kitchen and get a small bag of corn and two pounds of meat to take to him. That boy's harvest from his thin land was extremely poor last year, and he's probably been going hungry. The day after tomorrow is my fiftieth birthday, and we have neighbors coming over. Consider it a reward for him."
"Thank you, Dad!"
Wang Wanyan was extremely delighted.
"We have so many mouths to feed at home, don't take too much."
Wang Furen was worried his daughter didn't realize how costly provisions were and would take too much, which would make him feel the pinch.
"I've got it under control!"
After a while, Wang Furen's voice was heard again from outside.
"You girl, taking so much corn and such a big piece of meat, you really don't know how expensive food is until you run a household! Oh well, the boy is starving down to his skin; I can't bear to see the suffering in this world. Go on then!"
Despite being concerned, in the end, he didn't stop her.
Qin Niu was starting a fire to cook, with only a few grains of unrefined rice in the pot and the rest filled with grass and tender tree bark.
As the fire grew, a distinctive aroma of green grass mixed with the scent of rice began to emanate.
That was the smell that came from the rich folks' pig food.
Thump, thump, thump!
Someone was knocking at the door.
"Ah Niu, open the door!"
The crisp call pierced through the mottled wooden door.