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When Lin Ting thought about Li Lijuan’s eldest son, she couldn’t help feeling a bit upset.
The boy may have been naughty, but he was genuine and full of true emotion.
He knew who really cared for him.
That’s why, when he heard Lin Ting had been in a car accident in her past life, he rushed back from overseas in a panic—only to tragically die in a plane crash. Not even his body was recovered.
Just then, a voice broke her thoughts.
“Are you okay?”
Zhong Shuhe had come up at some point.
Lin Ting shook her head and replied softly, “There’s someone ahead—let’s go.”
Zhong Shuhe had also noticed the movement ahead and nodded.
Once the two of them had gathered enough firewood and stepped out of the small forest, Zhong Shuhe sighed, “Those two really have guts. Broad daylight, and they’re not even worried about being seen.”
“Oh right—did you recognize who they were?”
Lin Ting looked thoughtful. “The woman’s name is Li Lijuan. I didn’t get a clear look at the man.”
Zhong Shuhe’s expression tightened—clearly surprised. “I think I know who it is.”
“This morning, while we were working, I heard an old lady yelling at her daughter-in-law. She said the daughter-in-law was sneaking candy from home. She even said if it weren’t for the fact that she had given the family two grandsons, she’d have kicked her out by now!”
Lin Ting said blandly, “Let’s pretend we didn’t see anything today. Unless she causes trouble for us one day—then we’ll bring it up.”
“Mm-hmm, got it.”
When they returned to the educated youth courtyard, Yu Mo had already finished cooking lunch.
They were having sweet potato porridge and rice, and Yu Mo had even fried a sunny-side-up egg.
“Xiao Mo, where did the egg come from?” Lin Ting asked curiously.
Yu Mo whispered, “I secretly traded for some with the brigade leader’s wife.”
“We still have a few left—we can save them for another day.”
Hearing that, Lin Ting said, “Then I’ll try to trade for some too. We’re doing a ton of physical work every day—we need proper nutrition.”
Yu Mo hesitated, then said, “While I was frying the egg, I overheard one of the old educated youths accusing me of stealing eggs.”
“Lin Ting-jie, how do I explain to them that the egg wasn’t stolen?”
Lin Ting lifted her eyelids slightly. “Don’t bother explaining.”
“Let’s eat and rest first. If you hear them gossiping again, just go up and slap them across the face.”
“If they dare hit back, call me—I’ll handle it!”
Yu Mo was stunned. Before she could even respond, Zhong Shuhe added, “Lin Ting’s right.”
“When it comes to people like that, slapping them once is more effective than explaining yourself ten thousand times.”
“We’ve got your back. Do what you have to do.”
Lin Ting nodded approvingly. Yu Mo fell silent, their words still echoing in her ears.
After lunch, Lin Ting stared out the window in thought.
They shared a kitchen with the old educated youths, which made cooking anything inconvenient.
Given what she’d observed so far, she guessed they’d be eating meat more often in the future. But with all those old educated youths watching them like hawks, wouldn’t they find an excuse to report them for “eating meat too frequently”?
After thinking for a while, Lin Ting decided to discuss building a new kitchen with her two roommates. If possible, she also wanted to build a wall to separate their dorm from the old educated youths’ dorm, and install a separate entrance.
Both Zhong Shuhe and Yu Mo supported the idea immediately.
They didn’t like interacting with those old folks anyway.
That afternoon, Lin Ting found an opportunity to bring it up to the brigade leader. But she hadn’t expected his reaction to be so strong.
“What?!”
“You want to build a new kitchen and wall, and you also want to be granted a private plot of land to grow vegetables?”
Lin Ting replied seriously, “Brigade Leader, you know my situation. My parents are agricultural experts. I grew up on experimental farms—I know how to make fertilizer.”
“You were worried the poor harvest this year would get you in trouble with higher-ups, right?”
“I can help you boost yields.”
The brigade leader immediately forgot his concern about her possibly eavesdropping on his earlier conversation with the party secretary and hurriedly asked, “You really know how to make fertilizer?”
“I do.”
“As long as you agree to our requests, I’ll help you make the fertilizer.”
The brigade leader remembered how capable Lin Ting had been that morning—definitely not like a novice in the fields.
After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. “Alright. I’ll agree—but I want you to get started on that fertilizer right away.”
“Our planting is already half a month behind the other brigades. You need to help us catch up.”
Lin Ting said cheerfully, “No problem.”
“But I’ll need helpers. Can you assign Zhong Shuhe and Yu Mo to assist me?”
The brigade leader replied, “If you really can make fertilizer, I’d even assign myself to help!”
He recalled the countless times he’d begged and groveled at the supply office to buy chemical fertilizer, only to be ignored.
If their brigade could produce their own fertilizer, he could finally hold his head high at county meetings and shut up those arrogant leaders.
He daydreamed for a moment before snapping back to reality.
“Educated Youth Lin, I have high hopes for you. Don’t let me down.”
He lowered his voice. “Don’t embarrass your expert parents either.”
A daughter of agricultural professors couldn’t be too bad, right?
Lin Ting thumped her chest. “Brigade Leader, if I say I can do it, I will do it.”
“As long as you can give me the manpower and basic resources, that’s enough.”
The brigade leader gave a bitter smile. “Manpower isn’t a problem, but when it comes to resources… well, as you can see, our brigade is dirt poor. We have nothing.”
“Don’t worry. What I need, you’ll be able to provide.”
The brigade leader broke into a grin. “Then let’s do it!”
When Zhong Shuhe and Yu Mo followed Lin Ting back, they still couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
“Lin Ting-jie, you really know how to make fertilizer?” Yu Mo asked, half-skeptical.
“Just wait and see. Once we pull it off, we’ll have a brand-new kitchen and courtyard—and we won’t have to see those grumpy old educated youths every day.”
Zhong Shuhe added, “We’ll still see them at the well.”
Lin Ting paused, then said, “If we can get a water pipe, we won’t even need that.”
Zhong Shuhe instinctively looked around and, spotting the endless stretch of mountains nearby, all hope vanished from her face.
“In this godforsaken place? Even if we had the money, we couldn’t get water pipes.”
Lin Ting chuckled, “Don’t be discouraged. What if we do manage to pull it off?”
“For now, let’s focus on making the fertilizer. The rest can wait.”
As they passed the village entrance, they attracted the attention of a group of elderly women who didn’t have to work.
“Those new educated youths are way too bold, skipping work as a group!”
“I’m telling the brigade leader!”
The one who spoke was Chen Li’s mother, Xu Zhaoying.
Seeing her short legs already marching away, Lin Ting smirked coldly and said to her two roommates, “Ignore her. The brigade leader knows what we’re working on.”