Just as Lin Ran was about to head inside to read, a timid voice drifted over from the courtyard gate.
“Sister Ranran, could I borrow a basket from your family? Ours is broken and hasn’t been mended yet.”
Lin Ran turned her head and saw a short-haired girl standing at the gate, carrying a basket and blinking her large, watery eyes at her sheepishly.
Her hair was cut as short as a boy’s; one look and it was obvious it had been shorn off to be sold. Not only were her face and hair sallow and dull, but she was also quite short, only reaching Lin Ran’s shoulder—clearly the result of long-term malnutrition. Even the dusty gray clothes she wore were a size too small and covered in several patches.
Lin Ran immediately recognized the girl as the third daughter of Accountant Zheng, their neighbor. Her name was Zheng Sanya, and she was fourteen years old.
Just by hearing the name, one could tell how little favor this girl received in the Zheng household. Since Lin Ran had previously been away at school, she hadn’t associated much with girls like Zheng Sanya, who didn’t attend school and spent their days working from dawn till dusk without rest. Consequently, they weren’t very well-acquainted.
Hearing that she wanted to borrow a basket, Lin Ran handed her the one in the courtyard without a second thought. However, as her gaze swept over the basket in Sanya’s hand, she couldn’t resist asking a question.
“Are you planning to cut two baskets of pig grass?”
In her memory, Zheng Sanya had started earning work points from a very young age. Because of her small stature, she had been assigned to cut pig grass.
Zheng Sanya quickly shook her head.
“No, Sister Ranran. I only need to cut one basket of pig grass this morning. I’m borrowing the basket to dig for wild vegetables. It rained recently, so there should be many wild vegetables sprouting at the foot of the mountain. If we’re lucky, we might even find some mushrooms.”
At this point, Zheng Sanya swallowed her saliva, clearly craving the wild vegetables and mushrooms she had just mentioned.
In her previous life, Lin Ran had never even heard of wild vegetables or mushrooms. The original owner’s memories included eating them, but she didn’t know the exact flavors. Seeing the girl’s expression, she thought of things like bamboo fungus or matsutake and couldn’t help but feel curious.
“Are wild vegetables and mushrooms delicious?”
Zheng Sanya nodded repeatedly. “Delicious, very delicious!”
As if fearing Lin Ran wouldn’t believe her, she added, “Especially the mushrooms—they are the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life!”
Lin Ran found this somewhat amusing. This little girl was quite innocent; wasn’t she afraid Lin Ran would go and snatch the food from her?
However, the next second, she heard Zheng Sanya’s invitation, which was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Sister Ranran, would you like to come with me?”
Lin Ran saw the expectation in Sanya’s moist, large eyes, while her hands tightly gripped the hem of her clothes, clearly showing her nervousness.
Lin Ran thought for a moment. It would be quite good to dig up some wild vegetables and mushrooms to add to her parents’ meals. Moreover, she could take this opportunity to “discover” some meat from her space to nourish them.
Thinking back, the best thing she had eaten since transmigrating was the steamed egg custard on the day she arrived. As for meat, she hadn’t seen even a shadow of it. While she personally didn’t mind—since she frequently enjoyed midnight feasts in her space—her parents and brothers worked hard every day, and their nutrition wasn’t keeping up. If this continued long-term, their health would collapse.
It seemed she needed to find a way to improve the family’s meals. She would deal with that later; for now, she agreed.
“Alright, wait a moment for me. I’ll get ready.”
With that, Lin Ran went to find a basket and locked the door.
Zheng Sanya clearly hadn’t expected Lin Ran to actually be willing to go with her, and her face turned red with excitement. To her, Lin Ran was like a fairy and the person she envied most. Not only was she beautiful and doted on by her parents, but she had also received a lot of education. Most importantly, she didn’t bully her like others did, and she spoke very gently.
In short, Lin Ran was a very, very good person in her heart! Since she was small, no playmates had ever been willing to play with her, but now, this “fairy” she liked most was willing to accompany her. How could she not be thrilled!
Along the way, Zheng Sanya walked with a rare skip in her step. However, as she watched the way Lin Ran walked, her eyes were filled with another wave of admiration. Why was it that Sister Ranran looked like a fairy even when just walking? Looking at herself, Zheng Sanya bashfully slowed her pace.
Lin Ran didn’t notice these small movements of Zheng Sanya’s. She was looking at the surrounding environment as they walked.
It was no wonder their brigade was called the Tashan Brigade; there was a mountain behind the village that looked exactly like a pagoda (Tasha) from the front. Most of the brigade’s fields were spread out in front of the village, though two or three plots were scattered behind it.
It was currently May, the season for transplanting rice seedlings. As Lin Ran passed those few fields in the distance, she could see several people bent over, planting seedlings. However, Lin Ran wasn’t interested in farming, so she only gave a casual glance before walking quickly toward the foot of the mountain with Zheng Sanya.
What she didn’t know was that the people over there were quite interested in her. One of the female comrades, while taking a break to grab more seedlings, happened to catch a glimpse of Lin Ran’s departing back and immediately shouted.
“Look, isn’t that the brigade leader’s daughter?”
This sentence successfully caused everyone present to stop their work and look up in the direction she was pointing. Immediately, someone began to speak with sarcasm.
“Who else could it be but her? In all the time we’ve been down in the countryside, who else in the whole brigade stays at home all day? Everyone is at work right now, yet she has the leisure to wander around here!”
“Well, what can you do? She’s the daughter of the brigade leader. If she doesn’t want to work, she doesn’t have to. How can we ‘educated youth’ be so miserable?”
While some couldn’t stand it and chimed in, others remained indifferent.
“It’s because her parents pamper her and won’t let her work in the fields. If we were like her, would you voluntarily go into the fields to suffer?”
“That’s true.”
“Sigh…”
Speaking of this, the crowd lost the heart to be jealous of Lin Ran. They were all educated youth sent to the countryside. Originally, they were all city dwellers; if there were any other way, who would want to come to the countryside?
Seeing everyone’s low spirits, the round-faced female comrade who had spoken up for Lin Ran earlier comforted them.
“Everyone, don’t be like this. Although coming to the countryside is definitely a hardship, we’ve had good luck. The brigade leader we were assigned to is quite a good person. Look, the six of us were only given these three plots of land; he’s really looked after us!”
The speaker was He Xiaoyue. As she spoke, she picked up a dozen bundles of seedlings and quickly threw them into every corner of the paddy field.
The “educated youth” who had sarcastically criticized Lin Ran at first was named Zhou Manman. She was already a bit unhappy because He Xiaoyue had countered her, and hearing this, she spoke with even more disdain.
“Do you think everyone is a monster like you? Since you have such great strength, of course you don’t feel tired. But we’ve never done manual labor before; we are as weak as kittens. How can we compare to you?”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Exactly, Comrade He. I feel like my back is about to break.”
“I really envy you, Comrade He. How can you be so strong?”
“Sigh, if only I were like you!”
“…”
Seeing that the others hadn’t joined her in picking on He Xiaoyue as she had expected, Zhou Manman was furious! This He Xiaoyue was truly annoying. She had been so good to her, yet He Xiaoyue wasn’t even willing to help her with a bit of work. She was truly wasting that strength. She didn’t even know which side her bread was buttered on; she would regret it later!
…
Lin Ran was completely unaware of what had happened in the paddy fields. By this time, she and Zheng Sanya had already reached the foot of the mountain.