Chapter 32 – “Everyone Doubted Her, So She Was Even More Determined to Prove Herself”:

“Ling Xian?”

“You’re Ling Xian?”

Lin Yan’s voice trembled with excitement. Mother Lin also recognized the visitor, but Fu Wannin was completely confused.

Professor Lin, however, grew anxious and said,
“Ling Xian, didn’t I tell you not to come again?”

“Why did you come back?”

Ling Xian said nothing and simply began pulling items out of the basket he had brought.

A box of braised pork belly, ten large meat buns, ten scallion-stuffed steamed buns, twenty meat-and-vegetable dumplings, two dozen raw eggs, a bag of beef jerky, a bag of pork jerky, ten jin (5kg) of corn flour, several cans of meat, one jin (500g) of brown sugar, one jin of white rabbit milk candy, and one jin of chocolate.

The Lin family stood there stunned—so much food!

But a second later, panic set in:
Where were they going to hide all this?!

Ling Xian said calmly,
“You all eat first. I’ll dig a small cellar to stash everything.”

He took out a small iron shovel and got to work.

The floor of the old house was just dirt, so it wasn’t hard to dig a pit for storage. He covered it with a wooden board and placed other items on top—no one would be able to tell anything was hidden underneath.

“I’ll help you,” Lin Yan offered.

With Lin Yan and Ling Xian working together, the small cellar was soon completed.

“The braised pork should be eaten tonight,” Ling Xian instructed. “The dumplings and buns won’t keep long either. Handle them as you see fit.”

With that, he turned and left—just as quickly as he had come.

Professor Lin stood dumbfounded for a moment before recovering,
“Let’s eat together.”

Everyone had a large meat bun, accompanied by slices of rich, layered pork belly. It was a scene none of them had dared dream of since being sent to the countryside.

That night, they all ate their fill and had the best sleep they’d had in years.

---

Zhou Tao knew Lin Ting was in urgent need of rice seeds, so he asked a friend to send them as quickly as possible.

Soon, the seeds began to sprout. Once they grew big enough, Lin Ting transplanted them into the newly developed rice paddy.

On transplanting day, Yu Mo and Zhao Shuhe came to help her.

Some brigade members showed up as well—but only to watch and wait for her to fail.

Everyone doubted her. That only made her more determined to prove them wrong.

She weeded, irrigated, and fertilized with great care, ensuring the rice plants had enough nutrients at every stage.

Lin Ting treated the land as if it were her child—with patience and dedication.

Every day, she stood watch at the edge of the field, observing the rice’s growth and carefully recording her findings.

Gradually, the rumors began to shift.

People who once mocked her now admired her persistence and work ethic.

Even the brigade leader came to ask if she needed extra hands.

Her own parents, who had initially disapproved of her rice experiment, quietly began sharing their farming experience with her.

Still, most people remained skeptical. No one really believed she’d achieve a good harvest.

But Lin Ting ignored all the noise.

Her world was this small patch of land—

Three plots planted with southern rice, and three with rice from Huaihua Brigade.

As time passed, the team members began to notice something strange—

Lin Ting’s late-planted rice was catching up to their early-planted crops!

Her rice stalks were thicker by the day, the leaves larger than anyone else’s.

The brigade leader couldn’t help asking,
“Comrade Lin, did you secretly use all the best fertilizer on your own field?”

Lin Ting responded seriously,
“We all used the same fertilizer.”

“If there’s a difference, it’s because I improved the soil before planting. I also chose high-yield seed varieties, better than the ones you all used. Plus, I managed everything precisely, ensuring balanced nutrients.”

“That’s why the rice is growing faster and stronger.”

Once I develop a high-yield, cold-resistant variety, the results will be even better.

The brigade leader had nothing to say about her seeds or management.

But… what was this about soil improvement?

He voiced his confusion aloud. After listening to Lin Ting’s explanation, his expression only became more bewildered.

“So the soil is… acidic?” he asked.

On a whim, he squatted down, scooped up some dirt, and popped it in his mouth.

“Pfft!” he spat it out.
“That’s not sour at all!”

Lin Ting couldn’t help but laugh.
“I meant the pH level is acidic, not that it tastes sour.”

The brigade leader dropped the issue and continued,
“And you said you used lime to improve the soil? But we’ve used lime before, and it burned the seedlings!”

Lin Ting hit the nail on the head,
“That’s because your method and proportions were wrong.”

When she first arrived at the brigade, the paddies had already been prepared, so she didn’t get involved with their soil.

The brigade leader frowned more deeply—
How could applying lime be so complicated?

Forget it. He decided to wait until Lin Ting’s harvest. If it turned out well, they’d have her lead the rest of the team in soil improvement next time.

He asked a bunch of follow-up questions in one breath. Just as he was eagerly learning from her, someone ran over from the field shouting,
“Captain! Finally found you!”

“There’s a fight going on!”

The brigade leader’s face changed.
“Who’s fighting now?”

“It’s Chen Yongcai’s mother and the Party Secretary’s wife!”

Lin Ting was surprised—
Weren’t those two in-laws in her past life? Why are they fighting now?

The captain asked urgently,
“What are they fighting about?”

“Apparently, Chen Yongcai stole money from home and sent it to Li Haitang. His mother found out and got so angry she went to demand money from Li Haitang’s mom. Then they started fighting.”

Lin Ting suddenly understood why Li Haitang had ended up marrying Chen Yongcai in her past life.

Since she couldn’t marry the man she truly loved, she chose someone who loved her deeply instead.

Chen Yongcai was so devoted he even stole money from home for her.
Truly blinded by love.

When the captain and Lin Ting arrived, the fight was in full swing. Even two young men couldn’t pull them apart.

Chen Yongcai’s mother, Auntie Wang, was a hard-working farmhand. Li Haitang’s mother, Madam Miao, was just as fierce. The two clawed at each other like they were trying to end it once and for all.

The captain’s eyebrows twisted into knots.
Why is the Party Secretary always absent when things go wrong?
And why is his wife involved in every single brawl?

He couldn’t help but mentally curse Li Haitang.
She moved so far away—yet she’s still causing trouble here.

Auntie Wang spotted the captain and immediately launched into a tirade.
“Captain! You have to get justice for me!”

“That fox Li Haitang made my son steal money—ten whole yuan!”

“I couldn’t save that much even if I starved myself for a year!”

Madam Miao scoffed,
“Your son stole the money. My daughter didn’t.”

“And how can you be sure it was sent to her?”

Auntie Wang lashed out again,
“Everyone in the brigade knows your daughter’s character is questionable!”

The captain shouted, his voice booming,
“Enough!”

He’d had enough.

Couldn’t they go a day without drama?

Just as he was about to speak, Chen Yongcai strode over and declared,
“Captain, I sent the money to Haitang of my own free will.”

Madam Miao raised an eyebrow.
“You heard that, didn’t you?”

Auntie Wang looked like she might explode.
“Son, are you out of your mind?”

The captain didn’t even know how to comment.
The guy stole from his own family. Who gets the police involved in that?
At most, the parents might beat the kid with a stick.

“So be it,” the captain sighed.
“Settle this privately. Don’t go around fighting—it damages our brigade’s reputation.”

But Auntie Wang’s rage boiled over.
“Fine! I’m reporting this to the police!”

“I’m going to report it!”

She pointed at Li Haitang’s family.
“I’ll have them all arrested!”