Seeing that Lu Xinglong was still trying to argue, the police officer didn’t indulge him at all.
“What are you waiting for? We already have solid evidence. There’s no point in arguing. The truth will come out during the investigation.”
“For now, you’re coming back with us!”
Suddenly, Lu Manling went berserk.
“It must be that bitch Lu Xinran! She holds a grudge against us and doesn’t want us to leave Shanghai—”
“Manling, shut up!” Zhao Cuilü snapped.
How could this girl say everything out loud? Did she think their situation wasn’t chaotic enough already?
“Sure enough, you were planning to leave Shanghai and escape to Xiangshi!” The police officer had heard her clearly.
The nationwide campaign to deal with capitalist families had already begun, and many capitalists were trying to flee while they still could.
Capitalists were regarded as class enemies, and preventing them from escaping was one of the things the Red Guards took very seriously.
“Comrade Police Officer, you misunderstood. She was just too anxious and started talking nonsense.”
“Our Lu family is a famous patriotic capitalist family. We’re completely different from ordinary capitalists—” Zhao Cuilü was usually extremely quick-witted and smooth-tongued.
At this moment, she recovered her composure even faster than Lu Xinglong.
“Being a patriotic capitalist refers to Old Master Lu, not you.”
“Enough. Stop wasting time and come with us!”
The three members of the Lu family had no choice.
The police and Red Guards had arrived so suddenly that they were caught completely off guard. They had no room to negotiate at all.
They certainly couldn’t confront the police or Red Guards head-on.
They could only go with them for now and figure out a way to deal with the situation afterward.
Standing on the second-floor landing, Lu Xinran watched as they were taken away.
A victorious smile curled across her lips.
Today, she had only completed the second step.
She needed to leave as soon as possible.
Before long, the campaign against capitalist families would reach its peak. Her grandparents were already gone, and with her background, she would inevitably become a target.
Staying in Shanghai would definitely be dangerous.
Zhao Cuilü had already given her the military officer’s information, along with a letter of introduction. Even the name of the fiancée had been changed to hers.
She would go there and take a look first.
If she could stay there temporarily to avoid the turmoil, that would be good enough.
She had heard that he had recently been wounded, so he would certainly need someone to take care of him.
Her spiritual spring could heal any illness or injury. She could negotiate terms with him and let both sides get what they needed.
The place where her parents had been sent down was his hometown.
Perhaps he might even be able to help her.
If things really didn’t work out, she could make other arrangements.
After all, she was wealthy enough. She could always find somewhere else to go.
She needed to prepare for the worst.
In any case, she absolutely could not stay in Shanghai.
After Lu Xinglong’s family was taken away, the house immediately became much quieter.
She had to leave Shanghai as quickly as possible.
She had heard that conditions in the northwest were harsh and supplies were even scarcer there, so she needed to stock up on more necessities.
Her super spiritual-spring space could store an unlimited amount of goods.
And if the items were food, the space could preserve their freshness.
In other words, anything with an expiration date would never expire once stored inside the space.
That was incredibly convenient.
She planned to stay one more night, stock up on supplies the next day, and leave the day after that.
There was no time to waste.
The next morning, Lu Xinran took her money and ration coupons and headed out.
Early in the morning, she first went to find the local production team.
The team leader had once eaten at her home and had been a friend of her grandfather’s.
She asked him to issue her some certificates or letters of introduction for purchasing agricultural products.
The team leader knew about Lu Xinran’s circumstances and sympathized with her. He had also received kindness from Old Master Lu in the past.
He readily issued the necessary documents for her.
She planned to buy some supplies openly on the market and stock up on essential goods, then purchase the rest from the black market at night.
The black market had many good things that couldn’t be found through regular channels.
Most importantly, she wanted to buy some seedlings and livestock to raise and grow inside her space.
She couldn’t possibly waste such a huge stretch of fertile land.
Her grandparents really had left a fortune for her family.
They had told her about it before they died.
There was a bank deposit certificate, along with some ration coupons and industrial coupons.
She hadn’t counted exactly how much there was, but the stack was quite thick.
There had to be a considerable amount.
Her grandfather had probably already sensed this ungrateful family’s intentions and taken precautions.
Fortunately, the original owner hadn’t been completely foolish either. She had silently memorized everything and had already been wary of this family.
She wouldn’t touch the bank deposit for now.
Her grandfather had said it was absolutely safe and didn’t need to be withdrawn.
If she suddenly withdrew such a large amount of money, it would definitely arouse suspicion.
So for now, she would leave it alone.
The money she had obtained yesterday was already enough to feed her for several lifetimes.
The following morning, Lu Xinran set out with her money and ration coupons to stock up on supplies.
She went to the largest supply and marketing cooperative in Shanghai.
It had a wide selection of goods, and the supplies were relatively abundant.
Lu Xinran thought about the vast stretch of black soil inside her space.
There was a control panel, so she didn’t actually need to do the farming herself.
Almost anything could be done with the push of a button.
Still, she wanted to buy some farming tools in case she needed them later.
It was better to be prepared.
Besides, the space had plenty of room and even dedicated storage areas.
She bought plows, hoes, sickles, sieves, winnowing baskets, stone mills, rakes, shovels, bamboo baskets, shoulder poles, buckets, watering cans, and more buckets.
Lu Xinran didn’t buy much.
She bought only one of each item.
She spent a few industrial coupons, which was no big deal.
She didn’t need fertilizer.
The soil in her space naturally contained nutrients, saving her the trouble.
And she had spiritual spring water specifically for irrigation, which was far more useful than fertilizer anyway.
She had basically bought all the farming tools she needed.
After looking around and finding nothing else she wanted, she decided not to buy household necessities here either.
She planned to go to the department store for those, and then take a look at the Friendship Store as well.
Shanghai was a major city, so all of these places were available.
The sales clerk saw that she was a young girl buying so many farming tools.
She obviously couldn’t carry everything herself, especially since some of the items were quite heavy.
So the clerk offered to help her carry them.
Lu Xinran asked them to put the things somewhere secluded, then gave each of them a pack of cigarettes as a token of appreciation.
The cigarettes had come from Lu Xinglong’s stash.
They were definitely good-quality cigarettes.
She had also secretly stored plenty of them in her space.
Once the farming tools were safely inside her space, she hurried to her next destination—
The seed company.
The most important things in her space were cultivation and livestock breeding.
Soon, Lu Xinran arrived at the seed company.
Without wasting any time, she started buying.
First, vegetable seeds:
Mustard greens, spinach, lettuce, chives, celtuce, white radishes, tomatoes, chili peppers, broccoli, water spinach, eggplants, pumpkins, cucumbers, winter melon, loofah, green beans, edamame, potatoes, and jicama.
Then came staple crops:
Rice, corn, sweet potatoes, taro, wheat, sorghum.
She also bought various other crops:
Peas, soybeans, mung beans, peanuts, rapeseed, cotton seeds, as well as seasonings such as scallions, ginger, garlic, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and cilantro.
Lu Xinran counted everything.
This would be enough to keep her fed for a very long time.
Some of the vegetables could also be used to produce seeds after they matured, so she wouldn’t have to worry about running out.
After leaving the seed company, she still needed to visit the agricultural technology extension station to buy some fruit tree seedlings.
Fortunately, it wasn’t far.
It took only ten minutes to walk there.
She asked one of the staff members and learned that there weren’t many varieties of fruit trees they could cultivate at the time.
There were only apples, pears, peaches, oranges, pomelos, apricots, grapes, and watermelons.
Lu Xinran bought several seedlings of each variety.
Once she put them into her space, she only needed to plant the seedlings in small pits and cover their roots with fertile soil.
Then she watered them with the spiritual spring water meant for irrigation before leaving.
She could check on them again once she had some free time.
There were still many things she needed to buy.