“Uncle Yuan, please give me two more days. I’ve already found a buyer for the farm. Once the money comes in, I’ll send you the payment for the fish stock immediately, alright?”
“Yes, yes, Auntie Chen. As soon as the farm is sold, I’ll have the money to settle the debt for the seeds. For my mother’s sake, please give me a few more days, okay?”
“…”
Hanging up the last debt-collection call, Fang Jinzhu grabbed her water bottle and gulped it down before walking out of the farm office in a state of agitation.
A sea of golden rice instantly filled her vision—a full five hundred mu. It had to be harvested by the end of this month at the latest, or it would rot in the fields!
Shifting her gaze slightly, she saw the fish ponds covering several mu. The fry had been released just over a month ago and were in their period of rapid growth.
Behind the fish ponds was a large area of breeding sheds. Even from a distance, she could hear the noisy cries of chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep from within.
This was the Fang family farm.
It had originally been built as a joint venture by Fang Jinzhu’s father and her two uncles. The crops and livestock had been raised to be sturdy and plump, but the men didn’t understand management or operations, leading to a lack of sales channels. In just two short years, they had lost everything.
Her parents had both died in a car accident while searching for buyers. While the funeral was still ongoing, her two uncles had silently and swiftly withdrawn their shares, taking with them the farm machinery that was easy to sell off and dismissing the workers.
They left Fang Jinzhu with nothing but this farm full of animals and plants, along with a mountain of debt.
This was Fang Jinzhu’s second day taking over the farm.
The immense pressure of the debt forced her to push past the pain of losing her parents and the betrayal of her boyfriend and best friend right after graduation. she had to pull herself together to deal with this massive mess.
There was no machinery and no manpower.
If she couldn’t hold on for a couple more days, the livestock in the sheds would starve to death. There was also a heavy rainstorm forecast for the end of the month; if the grain rotted in the fields, the farm would truly be worthless.
After getting a clear picture of the situation yesterday, Fang Jinzhu had decisively resolved to sell the farm!
She had already contacted the leaders in the industry and selected the highest bidder, scheduling a time for them to come and finalize the purchase.
This afternoon, the buyer would arrive with a lawyer appointed by the local government. Once the lease transfer and purchase contract were signed, the farm would change hands.
Fang Jinzhu would then be able to reduce her debt from five million to one million.
“Sigh…”
With mixed emotions, Fang Jinzhu looked at the vast farm. She turned to grab a calculator and a liquidation ledger from the office and plunged into the farm grounds.
Before the buyer arrived, she had to take an inventory of the farm’s existing assets.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck—”
“Chicken, cluck cluck—”
As soon as she entered the breeding shed, Fang Jinzhu saw the flock of chickens fluttering and jumping in a panic.
Through the fence, she could faintly see two… children running around amidst the chickens??
Startled, Fang Jinzhu hurried forward to investigate.
She discovered two children dressed in ancient Hanfu attire, wandering through the chicken troughs and competing with the birds for food!!
The two children looked to be about three or four years old. Their little faces looked identical, and their clothes were so soiled that the original colors were indistinguishable.
If it weren’t for the fact that one had hair tied in double buns and the other had a topknot, it would be impossible to tell their genders apart.
“Sister, this is delicious. Open wide, Brother will feed you!”
“Brother eat too—”
The two children were so thin that their little faces were skeletal, and their loose clothes hung limply on their small frames. At that moment, they were carefully picking out crushed corn and wheat grains from the gaps in the trough, feeding each other with wide, sparkling eyes, their dirty little faces overflowing with happiness.
It was only a few scraps of grain left in the crevices where the chickens couldn’t reach, yet the two little ones treated them like precious treasures, unwilling to let a single crumb go to waste.
Even though they were so small they couldn’t even speak fluently yet, the bond of brotherly love and sisterly respect was on full display. One look was enough to melt anyone’s heart.
It took a moment for Fang Jinzhu to snap out of it. Though she didn’t want to startle them, she called out softly, “Little ones…”
“Cluck, cluck, cluck—”
The two children trembled with fear, and the chickens behind them also flew up in a fright.
“Fairy… Fairy Sister, have mercy…”
The little boy immediately stretched out his short arms, tightly shielding the little girl beside him. He looked at Fang Jinzhu in terror. “We… we didn’t… didn’t steal anything. We’re… just eating a little bit of the crumbs…”
The little girl huddled in her brother’s arms, shivering and equally terrified.
Seeing this, Fang Jinzhu ignored everything else and quickly opened the gate, crouching down in front of the two children.
To her surprise, the little boy squeezed his eyes shut in fear, not forgetting to cover the little girl’s eyes as well. “Fairy Sister, please be gentle, be gentle, I beg you…”
Their terrified, trembling state filled Fang Jinzhu with self-reproach. She hurried to reach out and pat their heads to comfort them. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Sister won’t hurt you…”
“Where… where did you come from?”
The farm was in a remote location with no villages nearby. It took an hour just to drive here. The appearance of these two small children was too strange and bizarre.
Moreover, they were wearing ancient clothing and calling her “Fairy Sister”…
Intelligent as she was, Fang Jinzhu had already begun to guess the situation. She suppressed her shock and asked softly.
The little boy’s eyes flickered with fear, but he obediently looked around and pointed at the shed door at the far end of the chicken coop. He said in a small voice, “Sister, we… we came from there…”
Fang Jinzhu’s eyelid twitched. Her suspicions were almost confirmed.
Opening that shed door led directly to the fish ponds; it was designed that way for the convenience of using fermented chicken manure in the ponds.
If it was as the little boy said, then they definitely weren’t people of this world!!
Fang Jinzhu swallowed hard, feeling a slight chill amidst her shock.
However, she had always been a steady and rational person. Even though she found it unbelievable, she didn’t forget to reach out and carefully check the two children.
They were very thin—nothing but bone under her touch—but their little bodies were warm. They were undoubtedly living children!
“You’re very hungry, aren’t you? But this is chicken feed. It’s raw and full of bacteria. You’ll get a stomachache if you eat it.”
“Come, Sister will take you to eat something else.”
Seeing that the two children couldn’t help but peek at the scraps in the trough and swallow their saliva even in their state of terror, Fang Jinzhu suppressed the various shocks and doubts surging within her and extended a kind hand toward them.
No matter where they came from, they were just poor, starving children. She would let them fill their bellies first!
The two little ones looked apprehensive as they timidly followed Fang Jinzhu to the farm dormitory.
After being gently sat down on small stools by Fang Jinzhu, the two children placed their hands properly on their laps, nervously clutching their trousers. They didn’t dare move a muscle, but their large eyes couldn’t help but flicker around as they cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
Fang Jinzhu had picked up a few eggs on her way out of the chicken shed and pulled two handfuls of greens from the vegetable patch in front of the dormitory. She skillfully whipped up two bowls of egg noodles.
“Do you know how to use chopsticks? Or do you want Sister to feed you?”
As she brought the noodles out, Fang Jinzhu asked softly with uncertainty.
She had no experience taking care of children; she only knew from what she’d seen and heard that it was normal for children this small to be chased around to be fed.
The two children were stunned by the two large bowls of fragrant food. They stared blankly, nodding and shaking their heads at the same time.
They were as adorable and dazed as bewildered kittens.