“I don’t know yet,” Chen Xiaolin said. She planned to finish transferring her household registration first and then return home. After all, life in the city wasn’t all that fun—going back to her hometown seemed much better. At least there were plenty of mountains there, perfect for her to explore.
“In fact, the day after tomorrow, a group of educated youths will be going to your hometown for the rural work program. My colleague will be sending them there, so if you can make it in time, you could go with them. I’ll make sure my colleague takes good care of you,” Liu Aihong said anxiously. She really didn’t trust Chen Xiaolin to travel alone—these days there were so many human traffickers, how could she let a sixteen-year-old girl ride the train by herself?
“That’s fine! I’ve already packed my things anyway. I’ll just go this afternoon to finish the household registration procedures,” Chen Xiaolin replied. Honestly, she preferred going alone, but to put Aunt Liu’s mind at ease, going with the educated youths was also acceptable.
“All right, I’ll go back later and ask Uncle Zhou to buy your train ticket,” Liu Aihong said.
After chatting a little more with Chen Xiaolin, Liu Aihong left—she still had to get home for lunch. If she didn’t leave soon, she’d miss mealtime.
Watching Liu Aihong walk away, Chen Xiaolin finally opened the door and went inside.
Since so many people had seen her outside earlier, she could only cook herself a simple meal at home.
Chen Xiaolin took some egg noodles from her space, grabbed half a roast duck, and made herself a delicious roast duck noodle dish.
After finishing her hearty lunch, she planned to take a nap in her space. She had woken up early today and fell asleep as soon as she leaned against the bed.
When she woke up, Chen Xiaolin stepped out of the villa and saw that the rice in her space had already matured.
Looking at the golden rice fields in the distance, it really looked like a golden sandy beach.
She planned to come back in the evening with a harvester to reap it. Fortunately, she had only planted five acres of rice; otherwise, it would have been exhausting.
She had initially thought that time in her space flowed the same as outside, but now she realized that time in the space passed roughly ten times faster than outside.
She wondered whether the spiritual spring water would help plants grow, so she decided to give it a try.
Chen Xiaolin filled a bucket halfway with spiritual spring water and brought it to her strawberry patch. She watered a single strawberry seedling as a test.
Unexpectedly, the strawberry seedling bloomed and bore fruit immediately. Chen Xiaolin picked a strawberry and put it in her mouth—it was incredibly sweet. It was the best strawberry she had ever eaten. Looking at the nearly one-acre patch of strawberry plants, she thought, why not water them all with the spring water? After all, once harvested, strawberries stored in the space wouldn’t spoil, and all these strawberries would be enough for her to eat for years.
Chen Xiaolin watered all the strawberry seedlings with spiritual spring water and watched the entire acre turn red with strawberries. She felt immensely satisfied—finally, she could achieve strawberry freedom in this life!
After finishing her work, Chen Xiaolin realized that two more hours had passed. It was almost four in the afternoon. If she didn’t head to the local government office soon, they would close!
Liu Aihong had been waiting at the office for a long time without seeing Chen Xiaolin. Just when she thought Chen Xiaolin wouldn’t come today, she saw her slowly walking in.
“Xiaolin, you’re here! I thought you wouldn’t make it today!”
“Aunt Liu, I promised you, how could I not come?” Chen Xiaolin said, handing her household registration documents to Liu Aihong for the transfer procedures.
“Xiaolin, are you really sure about this? Once your household registration is moved back, it’ll be difficult to transfer it again,” Liu Aihong said reluctantly. From the bottom of her heart, she still hoped Chen Xiaolin would stay in the city.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Liu! I’m already sixteen. I can take care of myself. I have money and a ticket—I’ll be fine wherever I go.” Chen Xiaolin just wanted to leave this place. There were too many familiar faces here, and her personality was so different from the original owner’s. Staying here any longer would make it easy for her to slip up.
“All right, then. After you go home, remember to write to me often. If you have any difficulties, you can ask me or Uncle Zhou for help,” Liu Aihong said, realizing she couldn’t persuade Chen Xiaolin otherwise, so she helped her transfer the household registration back to her hometown.
Before long, Liu Aihong completed the procedures. She handed back the household registration certificate and also gave Chen Xiaolin a large package.
“This package is something Uncle Zhou and I prepared for you. Who knows when we’ll meet again?” Liu Aihong said, holding Chen Xiaolin’s hand tightly. She had watched Chen Xiaolin grow from a mute little child into a graceful young girl, and now she was leaving to go back to the countryside to farm. How could Liu Aihong not feel heartache?
“Aunt Liu, it’s unnecessary. My family has everything,” Chen Xiaolin said, not wanting to take the package. She had no idea how long the Liu family had saved and scrimped to prepare these items.
“Be good, take it! It’s our gift to you.” Liu Aihong couldn’t hold back her tears, wiping them constantly. This child had such a hard life, and her mother—such a kind woman—had passed away so early, leaving only this lonely daughter. How could she bear it?
“All right! I’ll send you some local specialties when I get home,” Chen Xiaolin said, planning to mail some preserved chicken and rabbit to Liu Aihong after returning to her hometown.
“Just take care of yourself. Whether you send me anything or not doesn’t matter,” Liu Aihong said, assuming the specialties meant mushrooms or dried vegetables, so she didn’t explicitly refuse.
“Well, I’d better get going. Here’s the key to my house. After I return home the day after tomorrow, you can have Jianguo move in. I’ll lock all my things in my parents’ room; the other rooms are for him to use freely.” Liu Aihong’s house wasn’t very big—just over sixty square meters. She had converted it into a three-bedroom apartment. Previously, Zhou Jianguo and Zhou Aiguo shared it. Now that Zhou Jianguo was married, Zhou Aiguo could only sleep on a floor mat in the living room.
“All right. I’ll send you the rent at the beginning of every month. Remember to go to the post office to collect the remittance slip. Don’t forget!” Liu Aihong planned to have Zhou Jianguo move in first and later arrange for Zhou Aiguo to move in after getting married.
“Okay, then, Aunt Liu. I really am going back now.”
Chen Xiaolin had finished everything she needed to do. She planned to stay home tomorrow and rest properly since she would be taking the train the day after tomorrow.
In this era, the green trains were incredibly slow. From Beijing City to Hei Province, the journey would take four days and nights. Chen Xiaolin didn’t know if Uncle Zhou could get a sleeper berth. Otherwise, sitting in a hard seat for four days would be pure torture.
Back home, Chen Xiaolin opened the large package Liu Aihong had given her. Inside were two pairs of cloth shoes, a can of milk powder, a pack of White Rabbit candies, a pound of brown sugar, and a thick cotton-padded jacket.