After coming out of the space, Lan Sisi, who had been busy for several hours, discovered that only a little over ten minutes had passed in reality.
Suddenly, she heard Lan Sinian crying. Her heart jolted, and she hurried over to check, only to find that he had not woken up. Tears hung at the corners of his eyes, and he softly murmured about their parents in his sleep. Lan Sisi felt a pang of sadness. She only had the original owner’s memories, so her emotions were not as intense, but she still felt deeply sorry for him. She reached out and gently patted him until he fell into a deep sleep again.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, the siblings headed out. Not long after leaving, they ran into Aunt Sun.
“Sisi, honestly, if you found wild eggs, you should have kept them to nourish yourselves or taken them to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to exchange for money. Why did you send them to us? And Sinian wouldn’t listen, he insisted on giving them to me,” Aunt Sun said. Although her words sounded reproachful, her eyes were full of appreciation. These were truly two children who knew how to repay kindness.
“It’s alright, Aunt. I kept a few for ourselves,” Lan Sisi said. “And my father always taught us that even a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring. If it weren’t for you helping us from time to time, Sinian and I might not have made it through.”
Aunt Sun patted her shoulder. “Such good children.”
At noon break, Lan Sisi took Lan Sinian to register at the Production Team’s primary school. At first, Lan Sinian was unwilling to go. He felt that he would be spending the family’s money, and if he went to school, all the work at home would fall on his sister.
But this time, Lan Sisi was unusually firm. Lan Guangming was already attending primary school at six, while Sinian was eight and had yet to begin. They could not remain in this small village forever, so she had to make sure Lan Sinian received an education.
Only after his sister truly became angry did Lan Sinian finally give in.
The Production Team primary school was called Chaoyang Primary School. The principal and teachers were all educated youths from the Production Team. The principal, surnamed Zhong, was in his thirties and wore glasses, clearly a learned man.
The annual tuition for primary school was six yuan. After paying the fee and receiving his books, Lan Sinian officially became a first-grade student at Chaoyang Primary School.
Holding the worn textbooks, Lan Sinian stroked them over and over again, his eyes brimming with joy.
That evening, Lan Sisi took out a chicken from the farm and also brought out a bag of rice made from her harvested crops. She simmered a pot of chicken soup over low heat for an hour. When she lifted the lid, a layer of glistening oil floated atop the golden broth, and the rich aroma filled the air. With a simple dipping sauce and sweet, soft white rice, this became their dinner.
The chicken was tender yet firm, without any hint of gaminess. Coated in the dipping sauce, it was so delicious it felt as if one might swallow their tongue. A sip of the soup warmed the stomach instantly.
Lan Sisi had long realized that anything produced by Magical Farm was exceptionally delicious.
“Today, we’re celebrating Sinian becoming a primary school student.”
The smile on Lan Sinian’s face never faded. He said earnestly to Lan Sisi, “Sis, I will definitely study hard.”
The chipped porcelain bowls lightly clinked together in the air, producing a crisp sound.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by since Lan Sisi arrived in this world. Lan Sinian was no longer the dark, thin, frail child he had been. With Lan Sisi secretly feeding him, he had gained some flesh, and his facial features had become more defined. Thanks to their parents’ genes, both siblings were quite good-looking.
These changes over the past half month did not go unnoticed, especially by those at the Lan family’s old house.
“Mother, look at those two jinxes from the second branch. It’s only been half a month, and their faces have already filled out. My Guangming said that Lan Sinian is even going to school now. The second branch must have hidden money and plenty of good things at home,” Yu Shi said to Liu Guihua.
Fang Shi glanced at her but said nothing.
“It is a bit strange. Keeping money and food for themselves instead of giving it to their elders, that’s unfilial. In a few days, I’ll go take a look. If there really are good things, I’ll bring them back to nourish Guangming and Junsheng,” Liu Guihua said.
“Ah, Mother really cares about my Guangming,” Yu Shi said happily.
Seeing that her own son would also benefit, Fang Shi’s expression softened. Then, as if thinking of something, she said to Liu Guihua, “Second Brother hasn’t been gone for long. Wouldn’t this be inappropriate?”
“What are you afraid of? Sister-in-law, you want the benefits but still want to be seen as a good person. If your Junsheng doesn’t want them, give them to my Guangming,” Yu Shi said disdainfully.
“Who would dare say anything to me, an old woman with one foot already in the grave? And I’m their grandmother. Isn’t it only right for them to be filial to me?” Liu Guihua said, glaring at Fang Shi.
Fang Shi forced a smile and said nothing more.
Unaware of what Liu Guihua and the others were plotting, Lan Sisi and Lan Sinian continued their lives. By now, Lan Sisi’s farm had reached level five. She had raised twenty chickens, producing over two hundred eggs a day. Her farmland had expanded to fourteen plots, unlocking corn, potatoes, and tomatoes. Dairy cows had also been unlocked, costing one hundred coins each. Gritting her teeth, she bought five.
The five cows came in different colors, pink, brown, yellow, black-and-white, and white, corresponding to different milk flavors, strawberry, chocolate, banana, original, and yogurt.
A dairy processing machine also appeared in the shop for five hundred coins, capable of producing milk powder, milk tablets, and other rich dairy products.
As a result, a jar of unbranded milk powder appeared in Lan Sisi’s home, and no matter how much they drank, it never seemed to run out.
Before leaving the farm, she harvested some corn. The corn resembled sunflowers, wrapped in green leaves, with layers upon layers of kernels inside. Once the kernels were removed, the husks could still be used to store items.
By now, she had accumulated quite a stock of flour, milk powder, rice, and eggs. She began to consider making a trip to the town’s black market to exchange them for money.
She did not plan to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. From what she knew, their prices were low and their attitude poor. After all, they held secure government jobs.
The next day, which happened to be a school holiday, Lan Sisi asked the team leader for leave and took Lan Sinian to town on the village’s ox cart. It was her first time leaving the village since transmigrating, so everything felt new. The same went for Sinian.
After an hour, they arrived. The drop-off point was right by the town’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative. On the wall beside it were the bright red characters “Serve the People.” As the year-end approached, people with some spare money were already lining up to buy goods. From outside, one could see that there was a wide variety of items inside, grain, oil, needles, thread, shoes, clothing, and more. There was also a separate stall selling pork.
Lan Sisi immediately decided that after earning money, she would return here to buy some things.
The town was different from the village. Although it lacked the towering buildings of later times, there were still many four- or five-story buildings, giving it a modest sense of scale.
After quietly asking around for quite some time, Lan Sisi finally found the black market. It was located in a small alley, with several people standing at the entrance.
Lan Sisi wrapped cloth around both her and Lan Sinian’s faces, leaving only their eyes visible. When the people at the entrance saw them, their expressions immediately became alert. Lan Sisi quickly revealed a bit of what she was carrying, and only then did they relax.
According to the original owner’s memories, restrictions on the black market had already loosened somewhat, and purchases no longer required ration coupons. This differed from Lan Sisi’s previous world, which was why she dared to come here.
On both sides of the alley, many people either stood or squatted, with baskets or goods placed in front of them, covered with various items.
Lan Sisi had also brought baskets and goods, covered with clothing. She and Sinian each carried one. After observing them for a while and finding nothing suspicious, the people at the entrance lost interest and resumed chatting among themselves.
It was Lan Sinian’s first time at the black market, and he felt somewhat nervous. He stayed behind Lan Sisi, helping support the basket.
Lan Sisi found an empty corner, placed the basket down, and crouched there with him.
After waiting for a while, a middle-aged woman carrying a vegetable basket approached. Lan Sisi revealed a corner of the goods inside her basket. The fine quality of the flour and the plump eggs immediately attracted attention.
“How much are the eggs and flour?” the woman asked.
“Ten eggs for fifty cents, flour is eighty cents per jin. These are from my own hens, and the flour is top quality. You can see the color is different,” Lan Sisi said quickly.
The woman rubbed the flour between her fingers. It was indeed fine, so she immediately bought twenty eggs and a ten-jin bag of flour, paying nine yuan.
“Auntie, do you want milk powder?” Lan Sisi asked.
“You have milk powder?” the woman asked in surprise. Her daughter-in-law had recently given birth, but her milk supply was insufficient. Milk powder was hard to come by, and her grandson often cried from hunger, which distressed her greatly. Encountering someone selling milk powder made her overjoyed.
“Yes, and it’s even better than what’s sold outside. Fifteen yuan per tin. It can last a long time,” Lan Sisi said, showing her the tin from the bottom of the basket.
When the lid was opened, a rich milky fragrance filled the air. The woman became even happier. Without bargaining, she bought three tins, along with ten jin of rice. In the end, there were too many items, so she called her son from home to carry everything back.
With fifty-three yuan in her pocket, Lan Sisi felt a strong sense of accomplishment. Beside her, Lan Sinian watched his sister earn dozens of yuan from a single transaction, staring at her with shining eyes full of admiration.
Soon, much of Lan Sisi’s goods had been sold, drawing envious looks from those nearby.
“Little sister, your business is really good,” a thin man nearby remarked.
Lan Sisi knew she had attracted attention. She simply smiled and said nothing.
Before long, nearly all the goods she had brought were sold. The siblings left the black market with empty baskets.
After weaving through several turns and confirming that no one was following them, they finally removed the cloths from their faces.
With more than two hundred yuan in her pocket, Lan Sisi felt extremely pleased. Seeing that it was nearly noon, she took Lan Sinian to the state-owned restaurant.
It was not yet peak mealtime, so there were not many people inside. Lan Sisi and Lan Sinian ordered five large meat buns, a serving of braised pork, and a serving of boiled fish.