Starting the next day, Ah Qi got up before dawn every morning to take the little ones out for their laps.
At first, Ruan Qiao had thought that, as the head of the household, she should set an example and join in the training.
What she never expected was that Ah Qi’s “one lap” meant running all the way around the entire mountain!
Before she even reached halfway, she felt like her soul was about to leave her body.
Forget it, forget it, do whatever you want, I’m bowing out.
She slunk out of the morning run.
The little ones, however, were clearly far stronger than her.
What she found exasperating was that they all persisted without complaint, even the little hedgehog went every day and reportedly never fell behind.
She had no idea how they managed to keep it up.
So Ruan Qiao completely handed over the training to Ah Qi and didn’t interfere anymore.
Running she could ignore, but mealtimes she definitely had to manage.
More exercise meant the children’s appetites had grown significantly.
The small packets of dry food she had bought were almost gone.
Ruan Qiao had no choice but to call Doctor Aisen to have more sent over, all the while sighing as she watched the balance in her account shrink.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have money.
The oyster mushrooms and vegetable seedlings she planted would eventually bring her a substantial income, she had no doubt about that.
The peach kernels she planted had even begun to sprout.
If they survived, in a year or two she could basically say she had another treasure chest.
But even if the future looked promising, it would still take time before she could access that money.
The other day, Ah Qi had told her that Xiao Jin Ge’s diet needed meat, preferably raw meat.
Ruan Qiao had specifically checked the price of meat and was so shocked that her hand literally trembled.
In short, even if she spent all the money in her account, it probably wouldn’t be enough to feed him for a few meals.
And on top of that, the little squirrel Lin Shan was about to undergo his transformation as well, his nutritional needs were no less than Jin Ge’s.
Thinking of this, Ruan Qiao opened her computer with a heavy heart and grit her teeth as she placed another order for a bunch of nutritional supplements for the little ones.
If she couldn’t afford meat, at least she could buy some supplements to make up for it.
Just as she was staring at her dwindling balance, frowning, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
Immediately after came the familiar robotic voice: “001 at your service.”
Ruan Qiao looked up, feeling a little puzzled.
Who could it be?
In all the time she had been at the orphanage, this was the first visitor.
She stepped out of her room, and saw 001 leading a woman in a black dress across the playground toward her.
The woman looked to be in her thirties or forties, with hair that was a nearly white pale blonde, and she wore black-framed glasses.
Even in a dress, her sharp lines weren’t softened; an aura of authority and a certain cold intensity radiated from her.
Ruan Qiao frowned.
Her first thought was that 001’s programming probably needed adjusting, how could it just let a stranger in without asking first?
She walked toward the woman.
Seeing her approach, 001 reported first: “Master, Ms. Daisy of the Aixin Charity Association is visiting. She had previously scheduled a visit with Ella but missed the appointment that day.”
Hearing this, the woman called Daisy showed a flicker of embarrassment on her face, though she quickly composed herself.
She proactively greeted Ruan Qiao: “Hello, I’m Daisy. I had previously contacted Ella, but I had an urgent matter that day and had to miss the appointment. I didn’t expect…”
She made an apologetic expression and then asked, “You are the heir of this orphanage, correct? So I assume the matter of selling the forest land to our volunteer association should be discussed with you?”
Her words immediately gave Ruan Qiao even less reason to feel any goodwill toward her.
Although Ruan Qiao had only met Ella briefly, it had been enough to leave an impression.
The longer Ruan Qiao stayed at the orphanage, the deeper her respect grew for that elder.
Just considering that, despite such tight circumstances, she had never abandoned the cubs, and had raised these little ones to be so bright, kind, and lively, without a trace of gloom, was enough to show the dedication and effort the elder had invested.
As for this woman, despite her deliberate display, Ruan Qiao could sense no genuine remorse in her at all.
Staring at Daisy, Ruan Qiao’s expression grew increasingly cold.
“Before she passed, Ella never mentioned you, nor did she ever talk about selling any forest land,” she replied flatly.
Daisy raised an eyebrow and glanced around, particularly at the sparse, open playground. Then she put on a professional smile again: “It doesn’t matter if she didn’t mention it. Now that you’ve inherited the orphanage, I think it’s still timely to discuss it.”
Ruan Qiao wanted to see what exactly she was up to, and even more, she wanted to know what Ella had actually said about selling the forest.
So she nodded: “Alright, then tell me, how did Ella explain it to you back then?”
Perhaps because Ruan Qiao was so young, or perhaps because the orphanage was so dilapidated, Daisy clearly didn’t take her seriously at all. Her tone carried a completely unmasked sense of superiority and condescension.
“We previously received a request for assistance from your orphanage’s former director, Ms. Ella, who said she was willing to trade the forest behind the orphanage in exchange for two years’ worth of food for the cubs,” Daisy said.
At this, she clicked her tongue and curled one side of her lips into a mocking smile.
“Although we are a volunteer association, and rescuing cubs is part of our work, we still have to survive, we don’t give away money for free. As for your place…”
She glanced behind her. “I did a rough assessment just now. This mountain doesn’t produce much, and the soil is poor. The sale price couldn’t possibly exceed ten thousand Star Coins.”
“So,” she shrugged, “trading it for two years’ worth of food for five cubs is impossible. If you want to make the trade, the orphanage’s land itself would also have to be included.”
Ruan Qiao could barely hold back a laugh.
Maybe it was because she came from a world with a dense population that, in her mind, land was extremely valuable.
A whole mountain and it’s not worth ten thousand Star Coins?
Even if she didn’t know much about local prices, even on another planet, she could tell this woman was talking nonsense.
It was obvious: seeing how difficult things were at the orphanage, she wanted to inflate the price.
Ruan Qiao even suspected that the reason Daisy had stood up Ella, making the elder’s last wish impossible to fulfill, was likely just so she could posture and force the dying woman into further concessions.
Thinking of this, Ruan Qiao clenched her fists in anger.
But to hell with her!
Not to mention that now she had ways to make money, even if she didn’t, there was no way she would sell the back mountain to a bloodsucker like this!
Isn’t it a bloodsucker?
Ella, at the very end, truly desperate and utterly unable to find a way to care for the children, would she have been willing to sell the inheritance left by her husband?
But this Aixin Charity Association, claiming to be a volunteer group while only thinking about hiking up the price and making black-hearted profit from a dying elder, if that’s not a bloodsucker, then what is?
Thinking of this, Ruan Qiao’s tone grew even colder.
“Leave. Don’t come back. I’m not selling this mountain.”
With that, she ignored the woman called Daisy and turned to 001.
“Remember this person’s face. Never let her in again. Also, blacklist the Aixin Charity Association. Anyone from this organization, no matter who, see them and immediately drive them away, no need to inform me!”
“Hey, young lady, don’t get so worked up. Everything can be negotiated. If you think the price is too low, we can talk again.”
Hearing Ruan Qiao’s order to drive her away, Daisy’s expression changed several times.
But having come all this way, she certainly didn’t want to give up. She forced a smile, trying to salvage some rapport.
The smile was so fake it made one’s teeth ache.
Ruan Qiao wasn’t buying it.
She never intended to sell the back mountain, and on top of that, she utterly detested this woman.
She didn’t even bother to placate her, just said to 001, “Execute the order!”
Then she turned and walked away.
001 quickly moved in front of Daisy, blocking her path to Ruan Qiao.
Ruan Qiao didn’t pay attention to how 001 would drive the woman off. As a household robot, his programming included handling unwelcome visitors for the owner.
In special circumstances, they could even use force.
This was legal on Planet 0813.
Ruan Qiao returned to her room, her chest tightening more and more as she thought about it.
Especially when she imagined putting herself in the other person’s shoes, what if it had been Ella, not her, who met that woman today…
Thinking about how the elder might have been subjected to such disdain and insult—
Ruan Qiao felt her fists clench tight!
Anger aside, she also knew clearly that as long as she didn’t get money quickly and help the orphanage get out of its predicament, situations like this would keep happening, maybe more than once or twice.
So sulking was pointless; making money was the urgent priority.
With that in mind, Ruan Qiao got up and went to the seedling room.
The moment she stepped inside, the faintly damp smell of soil filled her nose, and she felt all her tension melt away.
It was strange to feel this way.
Before planting vegetables, all the information she had gathered from everyone said that Planet 0813 was not suitable for plant growth.
After sowing the seeds, she had spent several anxious nights unable to sleep, getting up in the middle of the night to check the temperature and humidity in the room, terrified that she might accidentally waste all the seeds she had brought.
But in less than ten days, the small bok choy, lettuce, and water spinach she had planted had already grown very tall, and in just a few more days they would almost be ready to harvest.
Even back in her old home, with the same careful care, greens usually took about a month from planting to harvest.
Ruan Qiao sprayed water on the small seedlings, then went to check the strawberries and tomatoes growing well in nutrient solution.
Because strawberries and tomatoes had high market value and she didn’t have a seed reserve, she treated these small seedlings like treasures and planted them on the soilless cultivation racks, afraid that poor soil might affect her “money trees.”
But now, it seemed these seedlings were growing just as well as the ones in soil.
All of them were vibrant, full of life, ready to spread branches and leaves.
Ruan Qiao thought that after this harvest, she could try planting some directly in ordinary nutrient soil.
If that worked, future planting could even be done in the ground.
After all, what she had plenty of now was land.
Planting directly in the soil over a large area would yield far more produce.
As she envisioned this bright future in her mind, her lips curved into a wide smile, and the anger brought by that woman was long forgotten.
She crouched down, picking up a tray of seedlings to move them outside to get some sunlight.
Just then, a commotion of flapping wings and scrambling sounds came from outside.
And then a small creature shot toward her like a cannonball, heading straight for her, about to crash into her!