The Village Chief sold the house they were temporarily staying in to Hong Xiulian and her daughter. It was said to be a sale, but the price was so low that it might as well have been a gift.
Hong Xiulian and Zhao Laidi quietly kept everyone’s kindness in their hearts.
By the time they had settled down, the New Year was almost over.
Lin Ruihai received a reply from his friend, along with some supporting documents. After reading them, he went out.
When he returned, the Village Chief followed behind him. Lan Sisi, who was cooking, was completely puzzled.
“Sisi, Comrade Lin Ruihai has actively responded to the country’s call and is now an Educated Youth sent down to our village. I heard he is a relative from your mother’s side, so he will continue staying with you,” the Village Chief explained briefly.
“Comrade Lin Ruihai is also a university student. From now on, the students will be entrusted to you.”
Only then did Lan Sisi learn that Lin Ruihai had quietly used his connections to come to Chaoyang Village as an Educated Youth, and had even secured himself a teaching position at Chaoyang Primary School. It could be said that his talents were being underutilized. For a moment, she did not know what to say. Now she had even less reason to drive him away. The lie had been told by her, so she could only continue maintaining it.
Seeing that Lan Sisi was not angry, Lin Ruihai secretly let out a sigh of relief. He made another trip to the city, and when he returned, he stuffed several hundred yuan into Lan Sisi’s hands again, saying it was for future living expenses.
Lan Sisi accepted it.
After the New Year, Lan Sinian turned ten, and Lan Sisi turned seventeen. Lan Sinian officially advanced to the third grade at Chaoyang Primary School.
Lin Ruihai happened to be the teacher of Lan Sinian’s class. Dressed in a Zhongshan suit and carrying textbooks, he looked quite proper.
With the new year came new news from the Village Chief. The land was no longer collectively owned. Instead, the household responsibility system was implemented. Land was assigned to individual families for use and management. As long as they handed in the required amount of grain each year, the rest would belong to them.
This news was undoubtedly sensational throughout the entire village. Everyone’s enthusiasm surged. Working for oneself was entirely different from working for the collective.
Lan Sisi’s family was also allocated land, located right by the riverside. The soil was fertile, and irrigation was convenient. It was clear that the Village Chief had given her special consideration.
However, this also drew envy from others, including Liu Guihua’s family.
“Why does that jinx get such a good location? This should belong to my son, and naturally it belongs to me as well,” Liu Guihua said unreasonably.
“Mother, do not say that. We would not be in the right. How about we go and exchange with her? We can use the plot at the foot of the mountain. That one is even more spacious than hers,” Yu Shi said, her eyes darting around. She seemed to have learned to be a bit clever this time, though it was only petty cunning.
The land at the foot of the mountain was far inferior to the one Lan Sisi received. It was the farthest from a water source, and the soil quality was poor. Anyone with sense could see this, yet Yu Shi still thought she could trick a young girl.
Liu Guihua’s eyes lit up as well. She had never been satisfied with that plot to begin with. Not only was it remote, she did not even know what to plant there. Why should that jinx have such good land?
In fact, because of their larger household size, Liu Guihua’s family had been allocated several plots, all of them decent. The village had plenty of such wasteland, and almost every large family had received one.
With proper use, it could still be cultivated.
Fang Shi stood nearby, clicking her tongue in disdain at their behavior.
At this moment, Lan Sisi was in her room harvesting crops. Another batch of vegetables and fruits in the farm had ripened. After harvesting them, she went to the pond to catch fish. With the farm now at level twelve, she had thirty plots of land. Grapes, strawberries, and sorghum had been unlocked.
The grapes hung like sparkling jewels on the trellis, slightly smaller than ordinary grapes. When bitten, there was almost no flesh, only sweet juice.
The strawberries were small and delicate, with soft, fine flesh and a sweet yet slightly tangy flavor, extremely delicious.
There was also tall and sturdy sorghum. Lan Sisi had almost figured out the pattern of the Magical Farm. Vegetables and grains grew larger, while fruits grew smaller.
With these two crops, she could now brew wine. Without hesitation, she exchanged for a brewing machine, spending over a thousand coins. The machines were becoming increasingly expensive. If she had not accumulated a good amount of coins, she would have been reluctant to buy it.
After planting new seeds, Lan Sisi exited the farm and walked out of her room.
The gradually warming weather had driven away the biting cold. Sunlight filtered through the leaves outside the courtyard, casting dappled shadows. Inside the courtyard, Lin Ruihai, on holiday and idle at home, was chopping firewood with an axe. He wore a short-sleeved shirt, his arms showing smooth, well-defined muscles. He looked slim when clothed, but clearly well-built underneath. Bathed in sunlight, he appeared tall and handsome.
Seeing this scene first thing in the morning, Lan Sisi felt very satisfied. It was truly pleasing to the eye.
At lunch, Lin Ruihai suggested renovating their house, but Lan Sisi refused. Standing out too much would attract trouble, and she did not want unnecessary attention, especially from Liu Guihua’s family. She was not afraid of them, but they were troublesome. More importantly, she did not plan to stay in this village for the rest of her life. Once policies officially allowed private trade, and after Sinian entered middle school, she would leave.
Seeing this, Lin Ruihai did not insist.
“Sisi, you are eating,” a woman’s voice came from outside the courtyard gate.
Lan Sisi looked up and saw Yu Shi, with Lan Meili following behind her. Lan Meili’s face was flushed as she occasionally stole glances at Lin Ruihai. Lan Sisi’s expression instantly turned cold.
“Oh, there is even meat,” Yu Shi said, looking at the chili stir-fried pork on their table. Unlike Liu Guihua, who only used a small amount of meat when cooking, Lan Sisi’s dish was half meat. Yu Shi was practically drooling. She had deliberately come at mealtime, clearly intending to freeload, but Lan Sisi had no intention of inviting her to join.
“Third Aunt, what is it?” Lan Sisi asked.
“Yes, yes, it is good news,” Yu Shi said as she familiarly sat down at the table and brought up the idea of exchanging land. In her words, the plot at the foot of the mountain was described as exceptionally wonderful.
“If it is such a good deal, you would think of me? You would not even believe that yourself,” Lan Sisi said with a faint smile.
“You child, we may have had some unpleasantness before, but we are still family. No matter what, we share the same surname,” Yu Shi said, trying to look sincere.
“Do you think I am a fool? You should leave now, or I might not be able to stop myself from throwing you out,” Lan Sisi said.
Hearing this, Yu Shi instinctively covered her backside. She finally remembered the fear of being dominated by Lan Sisi’s strength.
“Sisi, my mother and grandmother are doing this for your own good. You are being too cold-hearted,” Lan Meili said softly, her tone completely different from her previous arrogance.
Lan Sisi glanced at Lin Ruihai and shook her head. What a troublesome beauty.
“Isn’t that coat you are wearing mine? What, trying to act virtuous while doing disgraceful things? If you truly meant well, why not just give me money and grain directly?” Lan Sisi rolled her eyes. The cotton coat Lan Meili was wearing had originally belonged to the previous owner of this body. It had been taken by them and given to Lan Meili. Lan Sisi found it dirty and had not taken it back.
“You…” Lan Meili was about to lose her temper, but when she glanced at Lin Ruihai, she quickly resumed her gentle and considerate demeanor.
Lin Ruihai sat to the side, not sparing Lan Meili even a glance. His indifferent attitude did not anger her. Instead, she felt that such a refined, almost ethereal man ought to be this aloof.
“Sisi, eat. It will get cold soon. There is no need to waste words on irrelevant people. If it comes to it, let the Village Chief handle it. He will know whether that piece of land is truly as good as they claim,” Lin Ruihai said.
At the mention of the Village Chief, Yu Shi immediately lost her nerve. She dragged Lan Meili away while muttering complaints. Lan Meili looked back repeatedly as she left.
“How can people have such relatives,” Lin Ruihai said, shaking his head. He picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Lan Sisi’s bowl, then thought of his own situation and sighed.
“People who only think about scheming against you and carving a piece out of you are not relatives,” Lan Sisi scoffed.
On the other side, Yu Shi and Lan Meili returned to the Lan family house in a sorry state. After hearing Yu Shi’s embellished account, Liu Guihua cursed Lan Sisi angrily.
“That jinx used to be weak and easy to bully. It seems it was all an act,” Yu Shi said resentfully.
“Exactly. She used to do whatever she was told and never dared to talk back. Look at her now. We cannot get anything out of her,” Liu Guihua said angrily.
“Mother, actually… there is another way…” Yu Shi said.
“What way? Let me hear it. Do not tell me it is another one of your petty tricks,” Liu Guihua glared at her.
“Lan Sisi has reached the age to be married. Her parents are gone, so her marriage is in your hands. Find someone to marry her off to. Then everything in her house, the cotton clothes, quilts, and that piece of land, will all belong to us,” Yu Shi said, growing more convinced as she spoke. She did not take Lan Sinian, who was still young, into consideration at all.
“That method is not bad, but who should she marry? I do not have any suitable candidates. My relatives are all decent. It would be a waste to match them with her,” Liu Guihua said disdainfully.
Fang Shi silently mocked this. Several of Liu Guihua’s younger relatives were idle men who lived off women, and the rest were merely ordinary and unremarkable. She could not see what was so good about them.
Thinking of Lin Ruihai’s gentleness toward Lan Sisi and his indifference toward herself, Lan Meili felt a surge of resentment. After a moment of thought, she spoke as if casually, “Mother, I remember there is a man in grandmother’s village, a bachelor in his thirties with a skin disease who still has not married. Didn’t grandmother say last time that he was planning to spend five hundred yuan to buy a wife?”
Hearing “five hundred yuan,” Liu Guihua and Yu Shi’s eyes lit up.
“That is right. Aside from gambling and being prone to violence, there is nothing particularly wrong with him. A family that can pay five hundred yuan would not be considered a bad match. Alright, I will go back to my maiden home and ask about it,” Yu Shi said as she prepared to leave.
“Good, good, go quickly,” Liu Guihua said, for once not showing disdain at her daughter-in-law returning to her family, but instead urging her on.
Lan Meili revealed a satisfied smile. Once Lan Sisi married that man, would she not be able to be with Brother Lin? Without Lan Sisi, Brother Lin would surely notice her good qualities.
Lan Sisi, of course, knew nothing of this and had no idea that plans were already being made to marry her off.