The old man lived in a small village not far to the west of the city. After walking for about an hour, the two of them avoided the villagers and headed toward the back of the village. They passed three mud-brick houses with half-collapsed roofs before the old man finally said, “We’re here.”
He knocked on the door three times. From inside came the dragging sound of a limping step, followed by the creak of rusty hinges—creeeak—as the door opened to reveal half a face covered in knife scars.
Li Luoyu’s gaze remained calm. She didn’t scream, flinch, or take a step back. In her previous life, she had seen horrors a hundred times worse—zombies with rotting flesh hanging off their bones, mutated dogs gnawing on human brains. Compared to those, this scarred face was nothing.
She even had the leisure to observe: the direction of the scar ran perpendicular to the muscle fibers—it must have been a horizontal slash from a dagger during a fight.
It made sense. In these times, with a face like that, finding decent work was nearly impossible. Unless driven to desperation, who would resort to black-market dealings?
“Old Huang, what brings you here?” The limping old man leaned on a jujube-wood cane. A scar ran from his brow down to the corner of his mouth, twisting his face when he spoke.
“Oh, this kid wants to buy some livestock,” Old Huang said, stepping aside to reveal Li Luoyu.
The lame old man’s gaze fell on her. At a glance, he realized the “young man” was actually a young girl. Her eyes were clear—unlike the usual villagers, there was no fear or disdain in them, only a calm frankness. He shuffled forward half a step on his cane. “What do you want? How much?”
Li Luoyu smiled shyly. “Chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, pigs, cattle, sheep—whatever you have, I’ll take.”
“Ho! Bold kid!” The old man chuckled, his cloudy eyes sweeping over her. After a moment, he said, “Big appetite! Come with me.”
In this era, households were strictly limited in how many animals they could raise. Commune rules stated that farming households could keep at most two chickens and one rabbit; urban households weren’t allowed to raise any at all. Any extra eggs had to be handed over to the production team. As for pigs, cattle, and sheep, raising them required approval from the production brigade. If caught raising them privately, at best they’d be confiscated; at worst, one could be labeled as “taking the capitalist road” and publicly denounced.
This girl had guts.
Still, he tried to scare her a little. “Just the other day, someone in the neighboring village raised three chickens. They plucked them bare and hung them at the commune entrance as a warning!”
Li Luoyu smiled openly. “Once I walk out that door, I’ve never met you—and you’ve never met me.”
The old man stared into her eyes for a long moment, then suddenly laughed. “Come in.”
The reason Old Zhou had all these animals was because he operated in the black market. In his early years, he had lived in pastoral regions and knew livestock trading inside out. After becoming lame, he turned a cave in the back hills into a secret breeding farm. He would buy sickly young animals from farmers, nurse them back to health, then sell them at high prices on the black market.
Following behind him, Li Luoyu grew more and more astonished. Even commune officials would never guess that within this shabby courtyard lay a hidden “living treasury” of the black market.
Without hesitation, she selected two piglets, two lambs, two calves, and two rabbits—each pair male and female—along with ten chicks. After paying Old Zhou three hundred yuan, she and Old Huang left carrying four large cages.
When they reached the village entrance, Li Luoyu stopped. She pulled out a handful of White Rabbit candies from her canvas bag and handed them over. “Uncle Huang, thank you for today. You can stop here. Take these candies back for the kids.”
Old Huang waved his hands hurriedly. “I can’t accept that—these are precious things! Besides, those cages are heavy. Let me carry them back for you.”
Li Luoyu took the two cages from his hands, hooking them onto her arms. She bounced them lightly and smiled. “It’s fine, I’m strong. I can manage.” Then she strode forward, carrying two cages in each hand. “You should head back, Uncle Huang.”
Old Huang carefully cradled the candies in his hands, thinking to himself: That kid is really strong—a natural for farm work.
At a corner, after confirming no one was around, Li Luoyu sent all four cages into her space and handed them over to Liuli. “Little Liuli, I’ll leave these animals to you. If you don’t understand something, go check the Livestock Raising Manual in the study.”
Liuli looked up at the sky, feeling like life was particularly hard.
She then took out a bicycle from her space and started pedaling, muttering to herself. “It’s already noon… I wonder if the old man’s hungry? Did he eat the porridge and eggs I left him this morning?”
“Sigh, such a worrying life…”
“When I get home, I should make more food to store in my space. For long trips, steamed buns are best. And I should boil some eggs too.”
As she passed by the state-run restaurant, she braked. Taking out two aluminum lunchboxes, meat coupons, and money from her canvas bag, she handed them over. “Comrade, I’d like one portion of braised pork, one portion of braised ribs, and ten meat buns to take away.”
The server curled her lips and looked at the plainly dressed Li Luoyu with obvious disdain. Reluctantly, she said, “Braised pork: two meat coupons, 1.2 yuan. Braised ribs: four meat coupons, 1.5 yuan. Meat buns: 0.3 yuan each and half a grain coupon. Total cash, excluding coupons: 5.7 yuan.”
Li Luoyu didn’t care about her attitude. She took her food and left. As she mounted her bike, she could still hear the server muttering behind her, “Poor-looking thing.”
Li Luoyu: “……”
Should she endure it—or make a scene?
She had barely turned the pedals half a rotation when, from the corner of her eye, she saw a tall, handsome soldier ordering at the window. The server’s drooping eyelids instantly lifted, her face breaking into a wide grin like a blooming chrysanthemum. “Comrade, what would you like? We just got fresh sweet-and-sour ribs today!”
Her voice dripped with sweetness, so cloying it almost made Li Luoyu gag.
When the soldier took out his enamel mug, Li Luoyu saw the server secretly ladle in two extra pieces of ribs. The glossy red sauce overflowed, leaving a suggestive stain on the white enamel.
Rolling her eyes, Li Luoyu marched back over and, with a bright smile, loudly snapped, “Snob.”
The surrounding customers: “……”
The soldier froze mid-motion, holding his mug. “……”
The server’s face flushed red. She opened her mouth to curse, but when her eyes met the handsome soldier, she swallowed her words, her fingernails digging into her palm.
After speaking her mind, Li Luoyu felt much better. With a carefree swagger, she turned and left.
When she climbed back over the wall into her home, she heard an argument—just as she expected.
“I don’t agree! Liu Jiangniu, give up on this idea! Get out! She’s my only granddaughter—I won’t let you mess her up! I’ll beat you to death!”
“Li Jue Lu, can you stop being so childish? Who do you think I’m doing this for, huh? Hey, hey—put down that stool leg! … You stubborn old mule, why are you still so strong?!”
The two old men shouted back and forth, one yelling “Li Jue Lu,” the other replying “Old Liu.” Their voices were so loud that the two young soldiers on duty outside covered their ears.
Li Luoyu’s eyes lit up. “It’s done.”
The young soldiers let out a long breath. The little ancestor has finally returned.