Chapter 3

Hearing this, Lin Kexin stopped what she was doing and dragged over a stool to sit down properly.

“The policy has come down,” Lin Jianguo said. “Every family must send at least one person to the countryside.

Your mother and I both have jobs and need to support the family, so we don’t meet the conditions. Your brother is too young—he just started the third year of middle school and can’t take care of himself…”

He lit a cigarette and spoke calmly.

“You’re not in school right now and mostly just do chores at home. Your mother and I discussed it, and we thought that instead of letting you waste your time at home, it’s better for you to respond to the country’s call. Go be a young educated youth in the countryside. When you return to the city, the government will give you extra benefits…”

Lin Kexin listened quietly and did not argue.

Going to the countryside as a “zhiqing” (educated youth) was indeed considered an honor—at least in this era.

But before being sent to the countryside, zhiqing usually received a subsidy. In her previous life, that money never reached her hands.

“Our household expenses are high,” Lin Jianguo continued. “When you go to the countryside, take care of yourself, and if you can, help out the family as much as possible…”

He paused, saying almost the same thing he had in her past life. Lin Kexin saw him stop and knew it was her turn to speak.

“Father, I’m willing to go to the countryside!”

The moment she said this, a smile appeared on both Wang Cuihua’s and Lin Jianguo’s faces.

Even if Lin Kexin had refused, she would still have to go. But her voluntary agreement gave them a different way to present it.

“I heard that we’ll get a subsidy for going to the countryside, this money…”

Lin Kexin deliberately left the sentence unfinished, studying Lin Jianguo’s expression before continuing.

“The busy farming season is already over. At least until next spring, I won’t earn any work points.

Without work points, there’s no grain. Then it’s not just about whether I can help support the family—whether I can even survive in the countryside will be a problem…”

In her previous life, Lin Kexin had gone to the countryside with just a quilt. With no money or vouchers, she had only received twenty jin of rough rice and ten jin of sweet potatoes from the brigade.

To avoid starving or freezing to death, she woke up before dawn every day to dig wild vegetables and forage for mushrooms.

Sometimes, in her desperation, she had even eaten wheat straw outside villagers’ houses.

“You little brat! You even care about that little money!”

Wang Cuihua, displeased, jumped up and pointed at Lin Kexin’s nose, scolding her.

“Your brother still has school fees due in a few months, and there are three more mouths to feed at home. Where would your father’s and my salaries ever cover that? I’m telling you—there’s no way you’re getting any money! Whether you go or not, you’re going to the countryside!”

Lin Kexin lowered her head and forced a bitter smile. How had she never realized in her past life that they had no real parental affection for her? Yet she had still longed for their care—what a joke!

“Mother, if you don’t give me a subsidy, going to the countryside will be a dead end. I don’t mind dying, but if your workplace or father’s colleagues find out I starved to death, they’ll talk, and it might even affect your jobs…”

She spoke pitifully, her eyes full of grievance and fear, but her tone carried concern for them.

Though Lin Jianguo was reluctant to give her the subsidy, he knew her words were true.

Going to the countryside was hard enough. Now, just after the busy farming season, without work points or grain, she really couldn’t survive.

And if she starved, how many people would blame him? They’d say he mistreated his foster daughter, showed favoritism, sent a girl to the countryside without money or grain… His job depended on this foster daughter! If such rumors reached his superiors, he could lose everything.

The subsidy came from the government, not from his own pocket.

“Enough arguing!” Lin Jianguo slammed the table, irritation in his eyes.

“Give Kexin the subsidy! Also, prepare a new winter quilt and some warm clothes for her.”

Wang Cuihua opened her mouth to argue, but Lin Jianguo shot her a cold glare.

She sheepishly shut up, eyes glaring at Lin Kexin like venom.

Lin Tianci, sitting nearby, just pouted. As long as he didn’t have to go to the countryside, he didn’t care—it wasn’t his problem.

Lin Kexin, seeing that her goal was achieved, stood up to clean the dishes and scrub the pots.

That night, she locked her room door and immediately entered the space.

The wheat and corn inside had already grown up to her ankles. The moldy soybeans she had scattered that morning had taken root and were already forming pods.

Lin Kexin nodded in satisfaction. She walked to the spirit spring and, after a brief thought, pointed to a vacant spot nearby, silently willing it.

“Dig a ten-by-ten-meter pool here. I’ll use it for bathing from now on…”

In her past life, water was scarce in the countryside. She had only managed to wash herself twice the entire winter with hot water.

Now, with the spirit spring in her space, she would never suffer again.

Soon, a ten-meter-wide, ten-meter-long pit appeared where she had pointed, and the spring water flowed in.

Lin Kexin, satisfied, undressed and stepped into the spring to bathe.

The next morning, without waiting for Wang Cuihua’s scolding, she got up to cook and do the laundry.

After breakfast, Wang Cuihua and Lin Jianguo left. Lin Tianci sneaked off to his mother’s room after eating, stealing some money. On his way out, he ran into Lin Kexin, who was carrying laundry.

“What are you looking at? Shut your mouth!”

Lin Tianci scowled, stuffed the stolen money into his clothes, whistled, and left.

Lin Kexin ignored him. She carefully washed her own dirty clothes, hung them on the line, and casually rinsed Wang Cuihua’s family’s clothes before hanging them out to dry.

Once done, she returned to the space, harvested the mature wheat and corn, soaked them briefly in the spring water, and then willed them back into the soil to start the next planting cycle.

Looking at all the empty space in the field, she felt a pang of longing. Luckily, the crops could be harvested daily. In a few days, she could plant all the land.

But just growing grain wasn’t enough. She needed vegetable seeds and young chickens, ducks, and geese. Later, she could even plant fruit trees once conditions allowed.

After deciding, she went to Wang Cuihua’s room and took fifty yuan.

She counted quickly. Lin Tianci had taken thirty yuan this time. She didn’t know what a fourteen-and-a-half-year-old wanted so much money for—but it wasn’t her problem. The more money Lin Tianci took, the more she could count it against him!

With the money in hand, Lin Kexin went to the supply store. This time, she bought vegetable seeds: cabbage, radish, cucumber, tomato, bok choy, winter melon, pumpkin, beans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

She bought every vegetable seed she could find.