Chapter 14

As soon as Wang Cuihua heard their home had been robbed, she didn’t spare another glance at Lin Jianguo—she bolted toward their house like a madwoman.

When she saw the emptied-out home, she plopped onto the ground and wailed loudly:

“Heavens above! Which damned thief stole everything from my house?!

Oh, merciful lord, I can’t go on living! Who stole all my things…?”

Her voice carried far, and soon neighbors gathered around. Seeing her in such a state, they hurried to ask what had happened.

When they learned that the Lin household had been robbed down to the last twig, they all broke out in a cold sweat.

After all, this street always had people at home. If thieves had come and cleared out an entire household, surely someone would’ve noticed!

And large items like beds and cabinets weren’t something you could just spirit away unnoticed.

“This is like seeing a ghost! I was home all day and didn’t hear a thing!”

“Same here—I live right next door to Sister Cuihua. Didn’t hear a peep. How can this be? Broad daylight, and it’s like ghosts did it!”

“You never know. If the Lin family did something shady, maybe spirits really did come to haunt them…”

The crowd buzzed with speculation until a retired teacher stepped forward to calm Wang Cuihua.

“Comrade Tianzi’s mother, crying won’t solve anything. Better hurry to report it to the Public Security Bureau. If it really was thieves, the police can try to track them down quickly.”

The teacher’s words snapped Wang Cuihua back to her senses. She slapped her thigh and scrambled to her feet.

“Yes, yes, report it! I’ll report it right away!”

By the time Wang Cuihua arrived at the police station, Lin Jianguo was already there, explaining the situation.

“Comrade officer, you must catch the thief quickly. Too outrageous—they left nothing behind except maybe our chamber pot!”

“Don’t worry, comrade. I’ll send some colleagues to inspect your home immediately.”

The police acted fast. Two uniformed officers followed the couple back to their house.

After inspecting the scene and speaking with the neighbors, their brows furrowed so tightly they could’ve cracked a fly.

In broad daylight, under clear skies, who had the ability to completely empty out the Lin family’s house without anyone noticing? And so cleanly at that?

Could it really be, as the neighbors whispered, the work of spirits?

The thought flashed through the officers’ minds, but they quickly spat it away.

Since the founding of the Republic, it had been forbidden to believe in superstitions about animals becoming spirits, let alone ghosts. How could they even think that?

Still, the case was too strange. In the end, it simply stalled out without resolution.

That night, the Lin family had nothing—not even a bed to sleep on.

Slowly accepting that their home had truly been stripped bare, Lin Jianguo hurried off on his bicycle to request an advance on his wages at work, while Wang Cuihua did the same at her workplace.

With no money, they didn’t just lack a place to sleep—they couldn’t even fetch a bucket of water to drink.

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Meanwhile, picturing the Lin family’s misery made Lin Kexin work even faster. In no time, she had cut two full baskets of pig grass.

“You there, boy!”

She called out to a half-grown boy working nearby.

When he came over, she took two candies from her pocket and held them out.

“Little one, I’ll give you these candies if you help me with something, okay?”

The boy swallowed hard, staring at the sweets. But instead of grabbing them right away, he asked cautiously:

“What kind of help?”

“See these two baskets of pig grass? I’ve already cut them, but my stomach hurts and I need to run to the latrine. Could you carry them to the brigade office for me?”

“If I deliver the grass… the candies are mine to eat?”

The boy looked at her in disbelief, as if doubting such an easy task could really earn him two whole candies.

“That’s right!”

Lin Kexin nodded firmly, showing him he hadn’t misheard.

“To tell you the truth, I can cut grass just fine—it’s just carrying the baskets that digs into my shoulders and makes my bones ache.

So, will you help me?”

“Mm! I will!”

A wide smile lit up his skinny face, two little dimples appearing on his cheeks.

“Good! They’re yours.”

She affectionately ruffled his hair before giving him the candies. Then she added:

“Remember, my name is Lin Kexin. When you hand in the grass at the brigade office, don’t forget to tell the recorder to mark the work points under my name.”

“Don’t worry, big sister! I’ll do it!”

The boy clutched the candies in his fist, his heart already as sweet as if he had eaten them.

“Good. Just go when everyone else goes to hand theirs in—not too early, not too late. Got it?”

She paused, then asked,

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Big sister, my name is Shen Liufeng, but you can call me Xiaofeng!”

His eyes sparkled brightly as he introduced himself.

“Alright then, I’ll count on you, Xiaofeng. If the captain asks where I am, just tell him my stomach hurt and I couldn’t come.”

“Don’t worry, big sister, I know what to say!”

Xiaofeng thumped his chest confidently to reassure her.

Satisfied, Lin Kexin bent low and slipped down the mountain path, jogging straight to the village entrance.

Luckily, the ox-cart driver happened to be passing by. After exchanging a few words, they headed to town.

Her first stop was the house she had rented. She asked the driver to wait at the door, then went inside.

From her hidden space, she released 100,000 jin of wheat, and in another room over a thousand jin of corn. Once everything was arranged, she had the driver take her to the black market.

On the way, she pulled out a scarf from her pocket and wrapped herself tightly.

Just as she reached the alley leading to the market, she spotted Brother Long and Yan Dao already waiting.

“Miss Lin, we thought you weren’t coming! Heh…”

Yan Dao hurried over grinning. His boss had warned him yesterday to treat her more politely in the future.

“How could I not come? Didn’t we agree?”

Lin Kexin patted his shoulder with a smile, then greeted Brother Long.

“Brother Long, have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all—we just got here too!”

Brother Long waved casually.

“So, shall I call the brothers to come along?”

“Yes, but we’ll need plenty of sacks for the grain,” Lin Kexin admitted with some embarrassment. She always placed the grain straight from her space onto the ground—she didn’t have enough bags.

“That’s nothing!”

Brother Long immediately told Yan Dao to fetch men and sacks, then got on the ox-cart with Lin Kexin to lead the way.

When they arrived and Lin Kexin unlocked the door, Brother Long stood stunned for a full three seconds at the sight of the towering piles of grain.

“Miss Lin, impressive!”

Though he had known she could get grain, seeing such a mountain of it with his own eyes was still overwhelming. He raised a thumb in admiration.

“Brother Long, you flatter me. You’re the one doing the real business. I’m just running errands for a friend,” she replied modestly.

After a few polite words back and forth, Yan Dao and his men began bagging and weighing the grain.

Thanks to their numbers, it took just over an hour.

“Miss Lin, the wheat totals 10,220 jin, the corn 1,030 jin. At market rates:

Wheat, 10,220 jin × 0.25 = 2,555 yuan.
Corn, 1,030 jin × 0.10 = 103 yuan.

Altogether, 2,658 yuan. Does that match your calculation?”

Brother Long held out his notepad with the figures. Lin Kexin glanced over them, then nodded.

“Yes, that’s correct.”