Wandering halfway through the area, Lin Shuang was thrilled to spot seeds at a few makeshift thatched huts: rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, and millet seeds, along with various paper-wrapped vegetable seeds.
Asking for the prices, they were three times higher than regular grain.
It was acceptable enough.
“I’ll take all of these. Can you give me a discount?”
Hearing that a major buyer had arrived, the vendor instantly offered Lin Shuang a discount and threw in all the vegetable seeds for free.
After paying 120 yuan, Lin Shuang had him move the seeds behind the bamboo grove. The moment he left, she immediately swept them into her spatial dimension.
She then caught up with the man.
“Comrade, do you know where I can buy grain?”
Seeing that she had bought out all his seeds, the man displayed plenty of patience.
“Do you need a lot?”
*Nonsense! If I didn’t need a lot, would I be worrying about it?*
“To tell you the truth, young brother, my grandson works as a procurement agent at a machinery plant in the Northwest. They’ve run out of food completely and have been eating wild herbs for half a month now. If this goes on, people are going to fall sick, so…”
Without Lin Shuang needing to finish her sentence, the man could already imagine a whole host of details.
However, Lin Shuang seemed to have misunderstood him.
“If it’s a large amount, I can’t help either.”
“Where isn’t short on grain these days?”
Lin Shuang: “…”
“Old lady, do you really want to buy?”
Lin Shuang didn’t even want to answer—she felt this guy was out of his mind!
In the end, though, her obsession with hoarding grain made her nod her head.
“Of course! Otherwise, why would an old woman like me run out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? For fun?”
The man didn’t mind Lin Shuang’s sarcastic tone either.
“Then follow me.”
*Treating a dead horse as if it were alive.*
Lin Shuang actually followed him out—after all, she had her cheat.
Winding through twists and turns, Lin Shuang made sure they had exited the black market territory, her vigilance growing even stronger. She thought to herself that if this guy dared to entertain a single bad thought, she would teach him a lesson he’d never forget for the rest of his life.
Just as she was thinking this, the man suddenly stepped into a small, dilapidated shack by the roadside, the kind that didn’t even have windows.
Very quickly, the seed vendor brought a person out from inside.
Looking at the newcomer, Lin Shuang could hardly conceal her surprise.
“It’s you?”
“It’s you?”
The two spoke in unison!
Lin Shuang recognized this person—it was none other than the lookout who had worn the bamboo hat.
Right in front of Lin Shuang, the youth removed his bamboo hat, revealing a resolute face.
The seed vendor was only surprised for a brief second. “You two know each other? Then there’s nothing more for me to do here. You guys talk.” With that, he turned around and squatted off to the side.
“Ahem… young brother, I want to buy grain, the more the better.”
“As long as you have money, everything is negotiable!”
*Great, he’s someone who values money.*
Brought to the warehouse, the mountains of grain stacked inside still left Lin Shuang thoroughly stunned.
Only later did Lin Shuang learn that she had hit a stroke of good luck: someone had flaked on a deal, so she got to scoop up the leftover bounty.
There was both coarse grain and fine grain. The fine grain was mainly rice and white flour, while the coarse grain came in many varieties, even including sweet potatoes and potatoes.
After a round of bargaining, Lin Shuang spent over fifty thousand yuan to buy up all the grain.
“Do you need me to call some men to help you move it?”
Lin Shuang waved her hands repeatedly. “No need, no need, I can handle it myself. You can take your brothers and head out first.”
Having no people around was the biggest help to her.
Seeing that Lin Shuang wasn’t just being polite, the man immediately issued orders to pull his crew out.
Before leaving, he said with a meaningful look, “Little sister, your disguise skills aren’t up to par. Next time there’s a chance, I’ll teach you.”
“By the way, my name is Zhuang Zhiyuan.”
Lin Shuang was completely petrified!
She was confident that her disguise techniques were, if not flawless, then certainly one in ten thousand.
Yet her secret had blown open without a single warning!
She wanted to ask how she had given herself away, but she was worried he was just bluffing her.
She simply remained silent, her frustration beyond words.
Fortunately, Zhuang Zhiyuan led his men away briskly. Collecting her thoughts, Lin Shuang cleared out the warehouse at top speed.
Then she closed the door and tailed them out.
Half an hour later, seeing this entire group enter a small farmyard without a single person missing, Lin Shuang finally felt at ease. She pulled her bicycle out of her spatial dimension and rushed toward home.
By the time she returned to the Lin residence, dawn was breaking.
Lin Shuang returned her scumbag father’s bicycle to its original spot and went upstairs with light, cautious footsteps.
It seemed the whole family was sleeping quite soundly!
Flipping on the light, she found her room flipped upside down in a messy state.
Without even thinking, she knew it was Lin Lanlan’s doing.
Luckily, she had placed the rattan trunk hand-woven by her eldest uncle-in-law into her spatial dimension. If it had been ruined, her heart would have ached terribly.
*Rummage away, go right ahead!*
*Enjoy these final sweet times!*
*The higher your tail sticks up now, the harder you’ll crash when you fall.*
Besides, her room only had a single bed.
They had called her back, yet no one had prepared anything for her.
Even the bedding had been dug out from the storeroom by the original owner herself.
Locking the door securely from the inside, Lin Shuang slipped into her spatial dimension without delay.
She went to the two-story building first and found many farm tools piled beneath the staircase.
Lin Shuang wasn’t in a hurry to bathe just yet. Picking up a shovel, she tested it and found it quite handy.
She rolled up her sleeves and set to work on the fish pond.
After rushing about all night, she didn’t feel the least bit tired.
Her whole body felt as though it had endless strength to spare.
At this same age in her previous life, she had been thoroughly miserable.
During those scorching summer days, everyone was dragged along by the overwhelming mountain of the college entrance exam.
Grinding through test papers day after day, any interest in learning simply didn’t exist.
Looking at things now, she felt relaxed and at ease in every way.
Whatever she did, she was full of drive!
Without her knowing how much time had passed, Lin Shuang created a fair-sized fish pond.
The fish happily transferred to their new home.
Lin Shuang still didn’t feel tired, so she took another tour around the small building.
She found it quite similar to a farm courtyard.
The first floor had several rooms: a shower room, a restroom, a kitchen, and a utility room.
The largest one was a storage room.
It was packed full of grain, and whatever couldn’t fit had been piled up in the courtyard.
It probably didn’t rain inside the spatial dimension.
Lin Shuang planned to find an opportunity to buy some building materials and construct a granary herself.
The second floor had two bedrooms, a tea room, and the largest room was used as a study.
Four or five bookshelves lined against the walls were neatly filled with books.
They were all thread-bound ancient books spanning every genre imaginable, covering everything from astronomy to geography.
Lin Shuang took a shower and pulled a cotton-linen dress out from the wardrobe to put on.
They all appeared to be brand new.
The styles were simple and elegant.
Wearing it out in this era wouldn’t look out of place at all.
Moreover, it was extremely gentle on the skin, feeling wonderfully comfortable to wear.
Even in her previous life, she had never worn a material this comfortable.
*Pound! Pound! Pound!*
The heavy banging on the door made her eardrums ache, even inside her spatial dimension.
“Lin Shuang, roll out here right now and cook breakfast for me!”
“Are you a pig? Are you intentionally trying to make Dad and Mom late for work? How can your heart be so malicious?”
*Clang!*
Just as Lin Lanlan was pounding with all her might, the door suddenly opened from the inside.
Failing to pull back in time, Lin Lanlan pitched forward entirely and took a hilarious faceplant onto the floor.
“Hahaha! Lin Lanlan, do you know what you look like right now? Haha, that’s hilarious! I never thought you’d have a day where you make a fool of yourself, too!”
Lin Shuang put her hands on her hips and laughed out loud. She was willing to do anything that could break Lin Lanlan’s composure.
“Ah! Lin Shuang, you bitch, did you do that on purpose?”
“Isn’t that glaringly obvious? No way, Lin Lanlan, your IQ can’t possibly be that of a three-year-old, right?”
“Lin Shuang, how could you be so vicious? Lanlan is your younger sister!”
*Oh ho~ beating the little one brought out the older ones…* Wait, why was the whole Lin family gathered around her door in a neat crowd?
“Goodness me! What a massive blame-shift! A stepmother really is a stepmother—your skill at twisting black and white is truly extraordinary.”