Ever since they lost signal, and with the RV carrying them around everywhere, they had no way to contact anyone they knew. So the phone had basically become a tool for checking the time.
Ruan Zhe didn’t have anyone she wanted to contact. As for Fu Yinli… she didn’t know.
The Fu family was said to have spent generations building up what had become the behemoth known as the Fu Corporation.
Their family ties were extremely strong. Moreover, Fu Yinli had lost his parents early and was personally selected as heir by Old Master Fu from among the clan’s younger generation, then raised and educated by him.
Ruan Zhe took out her phone and handed it to him without looking at it, then wandered off to the side to think about what he had just said.
If they were going to live in the farm, things couldn’t be chaotic. It would be better to separate functional areas—planting, livestock, and living spaces.
Fortunately, the place wasn’t large yet. She decided to center the living area around the well; future buildings would be arranged from there. The planting area would be on the left, close to the stream since crops needed water, and the livestock area would be on the right, near the fish pond.
That was about it for now—there wasn’t enough structure to design anything more elaborate yet.
Even though she pretended to be focused, her ears were perked up.
She saw that Fu Yinli had no intention of avoiding her. He stood with a shovel planted in the dirt pile, leaning on it, his voice and expression completely flat. “Mm.”
Mm… just “mm”? That’s it?
Can you say more? Who are you talking to? What’s going on? We don’t have internet or outside contact anymore—we’re practically becoming primitive people.
She vaguely heard a stream of rapid, chattering speech from the other end, but Fu Yinli only replied with a single “mm.”
She was dying of curiosity, but also a little afraid to ask. As for what she was afraid of, she couldn’t even explain it herself.
“Here.” While she was spiraling internally, Fu Yinli had already ended the call and handed her back the phone.
Ruan Zhe took it and stared at him hard.
But he still showed no intention of explaining. Instead, he said, “I’m going to start digging. Where do you want it built?”
Her curiosity unsatisfied, Ruan Zhe listlessly told him her plan.
He immediately picked up the hoe and started digging according to the marked area.
While he worked, Ruan Zhe hurried to the stream to collect crushed stones—small pebbles, really. Otherwise they’d have to smash bricks, which would be wasteful because they didn’t have enough for the stove.
She quickly gathered them, and by the time she returned, Fu Yinli had already dug the pit.
She spread the pebbles at the bottom, then he poured in the mud mixture and smoothed it with a wooden board.
“You’ve got the potential to be a plasterer,” Ruan Zhe praised. He learned it immediately after seeing it once.
After smoothing the mud layer, they laid bricks one by one, pressing them gently so they adhered.
The base was two layers of brick. Ruan Zhe even made a simple plumb line using a string and a small stone to check the level.
As long as the deviation wasn’t too outrageous, it was fine—otherwise the pot would slide off.
After that, everything went quickly. They built the fire chamber, left the fire opening, and kept the chimney low so the structure wouldn’t become unstable.
Finally, they brought out the iron pot. Ruan Zhe had bought it herself earlier and stored it in the RV without ever using it.
The pot sat perfectly on top.
“Want to try lighting it?” she asked.
Ruan Zhe nodded.
Over the past few days, Fu Yinli had gone from not knowing how to start a fire at all to being extremely skilled.
He lit the fire, then fetched a bucket of water and poured it into the pot.
Smoke rose from the chimney and drifted away.
Ruan Zhe watched for a while and nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect. From now on we’ll cook with firewood.”
“Alright. It’s getting late—we should rest,” Fu Yinli said, wiping his sweat.
It was already midnight. From inventorying supplies, to planting vegetables, to finishing the stove—they had done all of it under the RV lights.
The farm had no sun, moon, or stars, but it still had day and night. They didn’t force themselves to stay up either; they could rest well and continue working tomorrow.
“Okay. I’ll feed the rabbits and chickens first. You go wash up.”
The rabbit, which had been injured by a slingshot earlier, had been lethargic—but inside the farm, it actually seemed more energetic.
She cut some grass and placed it in the cage. The rabbit nibbled slowly, very cute.
As for the chickens… they looked extremely lively and didn’t even need feeding, scratching around in the grass on their own.
Forget it—she’d deal with them tomorrow. They were well-behaved anyway, probably well-raised by the old man. At night, they gathered together quietly without making noise.
Ruan Zhe walked around the small farm once, feeling like she had forgotten something—but she couldn’t remember what. In the end, she gave up and went back to sleep.
When she got into the RV, Fu Yinli had already finished washing up. For the first time, he was in bed before her, leaning against the headboard reading a book very seriously.
She grabbed her clothes—there were still two more days before they ran out, so she could afford to be comfortable for now.
After taking a set of pajamas, she went to shower. When she came out and climbed into bed, she saw he was still reading, brows slightly furrowed.
“What are you reading?”
Fu Yinli moved aside. “A book you left here.”
Ruan Zhe immediately snatched it away.
The cover was disguised as a cooking book, but inside it was clearly titled:
“Flash Marriage in a Wealthy Family: Young Master Huo, the Young Madam Keeps Losing Her Hidden Identity!”
It was her bedtime guilty pleasure novel. She had downloaded many on her phone, but recently hadn’t had time to read. This one was a physical copy she bought.
Who would’ve thought Fu Yinli would actually read it—and he was already 100,000 words in.
“Why were you reading this?!” she blurted.
“I thought it was a recipe book…” Fu Yinli looked genuinely puzzled.
The story, however, was wildly dramatic: drunken mistaken-room encounter, sleeping in the wrong bed, forced marriage afterward. Then they gradually fall in love.
The plot was chaotic, but strangely addictive. Fu Yinli found it very abnormal while reading, yet couldn’t stop. Some parts were also surprisingly bold and explicit.
Ruan Zhe coughed awkwardly. “Go to sleep!”
She climbed to the inner side of the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.
Fu Yinli then asked, “You like things like in this book?”
The male lead in the story often grabbed the female lead by the chin, kissed her forcibly, and every time something happened, it escalated like that. The female lead would end up flustered and embarrassed.
For a moment, Ruan Zhe thought of those scenes—especially since older novels tended to be quite explicit.
It was similar to the kind of male lead in his kind of story too. The typical domineering, wealthy archetype.
Generally speaking, to be a male lead like that, you needed “capital.”
So the way the book described Fu Yinli… well… he was indeed quite well-endowed in that sense.
Annoyed by his question, Ruan Zhe suddenly lifted the blanket. “I don’t like it—”
But her voice cut off abruptly.
Fu Yinli had leaned in at some point. Their faces were now so close there was barely a finger’s distance between them.