After returning to her room, Meng Yao finished the homework Teacher Ye had assigned and reviewed the English phonetic symbols once more.
After practicing the phonetics, she immediately began memorizing the vocabulary from the next chapter. There were less than six months left. She had to seize every moment to study and make absolutely certain she got into university!
She studied all the way until late into the night. Whenever she grew tired, she would drink some spiritual spring water from her space. The moment she drank it, all her exhaustion vanished.
The spiritual spring water was practically the ultimate tool for exam preparation!
At two or three in the morning, the entire Meng household was silent. Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the floor with a pale silver glow.
When Meng Zhihong got up to use the bathroom, he noticed faint light still coming from his eldest daughter’s room. Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw Meng Yao holding a pen, busily writing away.
A wave of relief and pride rose in his heart.
When he returned to the bedroom, he proudly whispered to his wife, Zhao Meilan,
“A Yao really seems determined to get into university. She’s still studying at this hour.”
Meng Zhihong let out a long sigh.
“Whether the Meng family can bring honor to our ancestors now depends on these two daughters.”
Zhao Meilan had been woken up by him and became slightly more alert. She glanced outside the window and muttered,
“But this is way too late. Tomorrow I need to tell A Yao that even if she’s preparing for university, she can’t stay up this late studying.”
Meng Zhihong agreed and planned to remind their daughter when he found the chance.
Ever since deciding to take the university exam, Meng Yao devoted almost all her time to studying.
Meng Yu, on the other hand, lived much more leisurely. She either lounged around at home or went out to play with their old group of friends.
Occasionally, when she saw how hard Meng Yao was studying, she would sneer mockingly.
“Does she really think she can get into university just by working this hard?”
Meng Yao ignored her ridicule completely.
Having lived through life once already, she firmly believed that only the knowledge learned and stored in her own mind truly belonged to her.
After one night, the chicks inside her space had already grown into large chickens. Meng Yao took out some peanuts from home, boiled them with seasoning first, then found an old iron wok and filled it with sand before stir-frying the seasoned peanuts together with the hot sand.
Meng Yu had smelled the fragrance early on and nearly drooled from temptation.
Normally, before their fight, Meng Yao would have already called her over to eat.
But now the two were still in a cold war. Meng Yu didn’t understand why Meng Yao was still angry after so many days.
She wanted to eat them, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
Meng Yao packed all the roasted peanuts into a cloth bag and stuffed it into her schoolbag before hiding it in her room.
She planned to bring them to Gu Jingcheng the next day in the county town.
Meng Yu had been secretly paying attention to Meng Yao’s movements from the courtyard the entire time.
Only after Meng Yao finished tidying up and left carrying a basket to cut grass did Meng Yu cautiously stick her head out to confirm she was gone before rushing anxiously into the kitchen to search for the roasted peanuts.
She searched through everything and still couldn’t find them.
Unwilling to give up, she even searched Meng Yao’s room, but she couldn’t find even a single peanut shell.
Furious, she stomped back to her stool.
There was still more than half a year before she married Song Wei. Surely she couldn’t spend all that time without even having snacks to eat?
The family was dirt poor. Relying only on Meng Zhihong’s salary, forget spending money—even eating meat regularly was difficult.
Thinking of this made Meng Yu feel disgusted.
With such a poor family, they still expected her to attend university? Even if she got in, could Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan even afford to support her?
No. She needed to find a way to get money herself.
Otherwise, the next half year would be miserable.
The next morning before leaving, Meng Yao checked the chicks inside her space.
More than twenty chicks had grown into large chickens overnight. The simple little coop she built could no longer contain them, and some had even flown out and wandered around freely.
Looking at the fat, healthy chickens, Meng Yao’s eyes lit up.
When she checked the coop, she nearly gasped.
The nest was filled with eggs of all sizes!
After arriving in the county town, she first took out two hens from the space, gathered plenty of eggs, then picked several handfuls of fresh green vegetables before heading to the market.
She didn’t dare sell too much at once. Otherwise, she would attract attention too easily.
The hens that drank the spiritual spring water looked exceptionally healthy and energetic. The eggs were large and perfectly round.
Among all the stalls nearby, her goods looked the freshest and most attractive.
Even though she hadn’t arrived especially early, customers still rushed to buy from her.
In the end, even the vegetables that were usually hard to sell were completely sold out.
“Young lady, do you still have more chickens at home?” one auntie who arrived late and failed to buy any asked regretfully.
“Exactly. Your eggs look wonderful too. My daughter is about to give birth, and I wanted to buy more. Do you still have any?” another woman asked.
As Meng Yao packed up her stall, she replied,
“Yes, but my home is in the countryside, so it’s not easy for me to come into town. I come three times a week. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow and bring more chickens to sell.”
The auntie watched her efficiently clean up her stall and saw how her eyes curved beautifully when she smiled.
What a lovely young girl.
Her impression of Meng Yao immediately improved.
“Alright then, I’ll reserve one chicken first. Remember to save one for me when I come back to buy it. If it tastes good, I’ll only buy from you in the future!”
“I want some too, but I want eggs. Can I reserve twenty eggs first?” another woman asked.
Meng Yao was overjoyed.
“Of course!”
She truly hadn’t expected the products from her space to sell this well.
The nearby vendor looked incredibly envious and immediately tried to attract business too.
“Ladies, I sell chickens and eggs as well. Want to come take a look?”
The two women glanced at the neighboring stall before shaking their heads.
They were experienced market shoppers and had already developed sharp judgment. One glance was enough to tell whether something was good quality or not.
For some reason, the chickens and vegetables this young girl sold simply looked fresher than everyone else’s.
They even seemed… somehow full of spiritual energy.
Strange. Truly strange.
Meng Yao quickly packed everything away and counted her earnings for the day.
Twenty yuan in total.
And her costs were merely a few chicks and some vegetable seeds.
The profit margin was over ninety percent.
Holding money she had earned herself, Meng Yao felt an indescribable sense of freedom and satisfaction.
In this life, she had both time and money.
Everything she wanted to accomplish would succeed.
Before heading to Teacher Ye’s house, she took out another chicken, more than a dozen eggs, and some fresh vegetables from her space, carrying two large bags altogether.
Fang Xiu was pregnant, and these foods suited her perfectly.
Meng Yao planned to bring some every time she visited from now on.
When she arrived at Fang Xiu’s home, it was still early, and Ye Lei hadn’t returned from work yet.
Fang Xiu scolded her lightly for bringing so many things.
“It’s fine. These are all raised at home. We have plenty. Eat without worry. There’ll be more after this,” Meng Yao said.
“You child, you’re too polite.”
Fang Xiu knew Meng Yao felt embarrassed about receiving free tutoring from Ye Lei, so she accepted the gifts.
“Things from the countryside really do taste better. The vegetables you brought last time tasted completely different from the ones sold in the county.”
What Fang Xiu didn’t mention was that after eating Meng Yao’s vegetables, she felt full of energy, and even her pregnancy discomfort lessened considerably. It was as though her whole body had been nourished.
She was afraid that if she said so, Meng Yao would bring even more things next time.
Meng Yao simply smiled.
Of course produce grown in spiritual soil would taste better.
After lunch, Ye Lei corrected the exam papers she had completed over the past few days and began giving her targeted tutoring lessons.
Before she left, Ye Lei praised her.
“You learn very quickly. You’ve actually studied beyond what I’ve already taught you. Looks like you’ve been working hard on your own at home.”
“As for English, I’m still helping you search for an English teacher, but they’re not easy to find. For now, keep memorizing vocabulary and wait a little longer…”
Not wanting to trouble Ye Lei further, Meng Yao said,
“Teacher Ye, I’ve already found an English teacher, so you don’t need to worry about that anymore.”