When Lu Fajia saw that Lu Ping’an refused once again, he nodded and said, “Alright. I’ll go find your second uncle tomorrow and tell him I’ll go.”
“Once I’ve secured a foothold in the city, I’ll bring all of you there too!”
In the end, Father Lu made the final decision. Deep down, he felt a little excited—after all, he was about to become a factory worker, and the first worker from Lu Ping Village at that!
“Dad, hurry and go to the brigade leader to get an introduction letter. That way you can head straight into the city tomorrow,” Lu Ping’an reminded him as he stood up.
“Alright, got it. I’ll go now!”
Father Lu stood and walked out.
Lu Ping’an returned to his room. Seeing that it was almost dark outside, he felt rather helpless.
The village didn’t even have a single radio. There wasn’t the slightest bit of entertainment.
For those who were married, it wasn’t too bad—men and women could “play cards” at night to pass the time.
For the unmarried, it was miserable. They could only take care of themselves a few times before going to sleep early.
Lu Ping’an suddenly thought of the vast land in the Yulong Spirit Spring space. He ought to find some crop seeds to plant there.
He went to his mother’s room and said directly, “Mom, do we have any seeds at home? I don’t need many—just a few of each kind.”
Li Xiuzhi shook her head. “How would we have any seeds? The village keeps them all together.”
Lu Ping’an sighed. He had expected that answer.
Seeing his disappointment, Li Xiuzhi smiled. “Alright, go to sleep first. I’ll ask around when I go to work tomorrow and see if I can get you a few.”
Lu Ping’an’s eyes immediately lit up. “Thanks, Mom!”
Li Xiuzhi looked at her son in surprise. He had never said thank you before.
Could it be that after falling into the water, he had become smarter?
He even knew to say thank you now!
Unaware of his mother’s thoughts, Lu Ping’an left her room and stepped into the courtyard.
He was just about to head back when he spotted a plump mouse darting along the corner of the yard wall.
His eyes instantly brightened. He knew where to get seeds now.
These days, people barely had enough to eat—how could there be leftovers for mice? Most of them were skinny.
But this mouse was fat, which meant it had food stored somewhere.
It was mid-August, and many crops had already matured. There had to be supplies inside its burrow!
Lu Ping’an stared at the big mouse. The mouse stared back. After a brief moment, it bolted away.
Even though it was nearly dark, Lu Ping’an could still see clearly—his eyesight was excellent.
He followed the mouse out of the yard and chased it until it finally slipped under a tile.
Lifting the tile, he found a burrow beneath it. He chuckled. Looks like I’ve found tonight’s seeds.
He hurried home and went to the room where his father kept the tools. Sure enough, he found a hoe.
The hoe was clearly old and heavily worn.
Excited, Lu Ping’an returned to the mouse hole and began digging.
Mouse burrows don’t have just one exit. While he dug here, the mouse had long since escaped through another opening.
But Lu Ping’an didn’t care—he wasn’t trying to catch it.
The burrow wasn’t deep. After digging more than a meter, he finally found the mouse’s grain stash.
There was quite a lot—mostly corn kernels, along with mung beans, red beans, and hazelnuts.
Many of the corn kernels had been half-chewed. There weren’t many mung beans, red beans, or hazelnuts—only seven or eight of each.
After carefully selecting, Lu Ping’an chose fifteen intact corn kernels, four mung beans, four red beans, and three hazelnuts—all full and undamaged.
He refilled the dirt and left, satisfied.
Back in his room, he quickly shut the door, lay on the heated brick bed, and with a thought, entered the Spirit Spring space.
Eagerly, he planted the seeds and watered them with Spirit Spring water.
As the water soaked into the soil, bright green sprouts pushed through the earth.
Even though he had been mentally prepared, Lu Ping’an was still astonished.
Hazelnuts required several years to flower and bear fruit. Even in the Spirit Spring space, with its sixtyfold growth speed, it would still take quite some time.
So he planted the three hazelnut seeds in another area.
He decided that this area would one day be entirely for fruit trees—a whole orchard of a hundred fruits.
Looking at the tender shoots, Lu Ping’an felt his heart fill with hope.
He exited the Spirit Spring space and immediately felt waves of exhaustion in his mind. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night, his mother came by once. Seeing him sleeping soundly, she quietly left.
When Lu Ping’an woke up, it was already broad daylight.
He was surprised—how had he slept so long?
He quickly got up. Sure enough, everyone except Lu Yundong had already left the house.
“Big Brother, Mom said she boiled an egg in the pot. If you’re hungry, you should eat it,” Lu Yundong said crisply. At the mention of the egg, drool unconsciously gathered at the corner of her mouth.
In those days, people didn’t eat breakfast. They simply got up and went straight to work in the fields.
After washing up, Lu Ping’an went to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a boiled egg in the pot.
He took it out, tapped it twice on the stove edge, and peeled the shell.
The little girl stared at the snowy-white egg, swallowing again and again.
Smiling, Lu Ping’an split the egg in half and handed one half to Lu Yundong. “Here, little girl.”
Her eyes lit up. She reached out to take it—but halfway through, she quickly pulled her hand back.
“Big Brother, you eat it. Mom said you just recovered from illness—you need nutrition.”
After saying that, drool trickled down despite herself.
Lu Ping’an was deeply moved. She was clearly craving it desperately, yet she could still hold back.
“I’m already better, and I can’t eat that much. Let’s share.”
He placed half the egg into her hand.
Lu Yundong stared at the half egg, swallowing wildly, her eyes sparkling.
“Big Brother, you should eat it. I drank a big cup of water this morning—I’m not hungry!”
Reluctant though she was, she pushed the half egg back toward him and turned her head away so she wouldn’t have to look at it.
Her actions made Lu Ping’an burst into laughter, deeply touched.
This time, Heaven had treated him well—allowing him to be part of such a loving family.
He knew clearly that such deep affection would gradually fade with the progress of time, as people became more distant from one another.
Since he had come here, he had to cherish it.
“Go on and eat, little girl. Your brother is already full.”
With a smile, Lu Ping’an stepped back and returned to his room.
Seeing that her big brother truly didn’t want it, Lu Yundong could no longer resist. She brought the egg to her mouth, her eyes curving into crescents.
It was so fragrant!