05

The two acres of land Lin You had acquired were located at the eastern end of the village. This area was higher in elevation but had good soil fertility. Lin You bent down to pick up a handful of dirt, it had just rained, and the soil was slightly moist, with a delicate texture, clearly high-quality soil.

Yao Jiu, who came to help Lin You, poked the ground with a stick: “Have you decided what to plant yet?”

Lin You brushed the dirt off her hands: “Yes, I’ve decided. I’ll plant some rows of soybeans and peanuts, and also some eggplants, green beans, tomatoes, and cabbage. I’ll also set up a few greenhouses to grow strawberries.”

Yao Jiu was speechless: “So you just want to plant what you like to eat.”

Lin You looked at her in surprise: “Of course!”

Why else would she do it herself?

The land here was good, not far from the river, and further east was a Taoist temple. Although it wasn’t connected to most of the other villagers’ land, the terrain was favorable, and it wouldn’t easily flood.

It was already March, so Lin You decided to plant everything she could.

She rode her newly bought pink tricycle with Yao Jiu to the town to buy seeds and fertilizer, and to pick up her parcels.

Fangping Town only had one delivery point, and Lin You had to take several turns before finding it. She picked up more than ten parcels, leaving the delivery point owner stunned.

“Miss, how much did you buy?”

Lin You smiled, and though most of the items were daily necessities from the previous owner that she had packed before returning home, which were now finally delivered, a small portion were snacks and daily goods she had ordered online.

Perhaps anticipating that Lin You would be a regular customer, the delivery point owner gave her a simple, printed business card.

“If you have any large items, our delivery truck can come up to the village to pick them up.”

Lin You took the card, and the owner even helped carry the goods to her vehicle.

“Hey, wife, what are you looking at?”

It wasn’t until Lin You had left for some time that the owner noticed his wife, Yao Hongxia, staring blankly at the outside, ignoring their two-year-old son who was crying and fussing.

“Nothing…”

Yao Hongxia, the owner’s wife, took the toy she had shoved into her son’s hands to calm him down before collecting her thoughts.

The person just now… was clearly Lin You!

Even though many years had passed, how could she possibly forget Lin You’s name?

There may not be many people in the small town paying attention to a small internet celebrity, but Yao Hongxia, who went to the same school as Yao Jiu and Lin You, although in a different class, was still in the same grade. Lin You’s beauty left a lasting impression on her.

After realizing this, Yao Hongxia hurriedly went online to check on Lin You’s recent situation.

Although the trending topics had already been removed, the discussions among netizens had left their mark.

There were discussions about “hype,” “variety shows,” “going crazy,” “account hacking,” and “quitting the industry”… and with various marketing accounts adding fuel to the fire, the debate about whether Lin You had truly retired or was just hyping things up still had no clear answer.

Yao Hongxia’s emotions surged, and she nearly rolled up her sleeves to tell everyone that Lin You really had gone back to her hometown! She had just seen Lin You picking up parcels!

Seeing the comments criticizing Lin You for being a hype artist, Yao Hongxia was even angrier than Lin You. Under a comment calling for Lin You to be blacklisted for malicious hype, she replied: “Lin You really has quit the industry. She bought seeds today.”

This kind of explanation was unconvincing, and the other party immediately replied, “How laughable, even the paid commenters are covering for you. What, did you see it with your own eyes?”

Yao Hongxia was furious. She handed the child over to her husband and began typing furiously.

“Who says I didn’t see it? Besides, do you have any evidence that she’s hyping herself up? Did you see it with your own eyes?”

Just as she finished typing, a message popped up saying it couldn’t be sent.

The other party had blocked her.

Yao Hongxia: …

The delivery point’s little boss was playing horsey with his son when he turned and saw his wife glaring at her phone, her eyes burning with fury.

The little boss grabbed his son’s tiny hand nervously: “What’s wrong with your mom? Don’t tell me she found my secret stash of money…”

He hugged his son tightly, shivering, but the silly child was busy blowing bubbles, completely unaware of his father’s anxiety.

“…Seven seven seven, horsey!”

—

The seeds Lin You had bought needed to be soaked, and some of them needed to be processed before planting. Before officially planting, Lin You decided to prepare the base fertilizer.

In her previous life, before she became a farming blogger and returned to the village, Lin You used to think farming was just about planting seeds and waiting for the harvest. But once she started farming herself, she realized there were many techniques involved.

For example, the base fertilizer needed to be added to the soil before planting vegetables.

The best base fertilizer is organic, made from various livestock manure, leaves, and some other materials.

As soon as the villagers heard that Lin You was preparing base fertilizer, a few of them immediately came to help.

Aunt Chunling had her husband bring over some cow manure, Aunt Wang contributed chicken manure from her home, and Uncle Yang brought a bucket of dead branches and leaves along with a rake.

“Well, if we could still burn things on the mountain, your uncle could dig a big pit and we’d burn some soil manure, that would be the best.”

“If they won’t let us burn it, it’s fine, this little bit of manure will be ready in just over a week.”

—

The group worked happily together, and after a busy afternoon, they finished the task.

Lin You insisted on having them over for dinner as a thank you.

“You all helped me so much today. If you don’t eat this meal, I won’t dare ask for your help next time.”

Without giving them a chance to refuse, Lin You dragged them to her house and brought out the meat and vegetables she had bought in the town.

“Let’s have a taste of my cooking.”

She sliced the pork belly thinly, fried it to render out the fat, then removed the crispy pork slices and added a few local eggs into the pork fat, frying them until golden brown. Then she tossed in some chili segments and dry-fried them until the peppers developed their signature tiger-skin wrinkles. At this point, she added the eggs and pork belly back in, mixed everything together, and added seasonings. The dish, rustic and fragrant, smelled so good it made everyone’s mouth water.

The pig’s feet were chopped into pieces, caramelized with sugar, and then boiled with a spice bag and yellow wine in a clay stove on high heat for half an hour. The soaked soybeans were added, and the stew simmered until thick, the rich red sauce making everyone eager to eat.

Finally, she served a cold cucumber salad and stir-fried garlic chives.

The fragrant rice was the perfect complement to the meal, and everyone ate until they were stuffed.

Aunt Wang couldn’t stop praising: “Youyou really has great cooking skills, this meat is delicious.”

“Isn’t it? With this skill, she could open a restaurant in the town.”

“I think even Chef Zhao, the head chef in our town, can’t compare to Youyou!”

A bowl of fragrant food with rice was enough to make even Aunt Chunling, who usually ate little, finish a large bowl. The pig’s feet were perfectly cooked, with crispy skin and tender meat. The pig’s feet, glistening with a little oil, were so soft that just a light bite made the skin and meat spring back, and the gelatinous texture seemed to slide down to the stomach. Wrapping a bite of rice with the smooth, sticky pig skin, the combination of fat and carbs was simply a delightful clash of flavors.

Six or seven people finished the entire pot of pig’s feet stew. After eating, they all felt so full they couldn’t straighten their backs and struggled to get up to say goodbye.

Lin You put away the remaining dishes. The weather wasn’t too hot, so she decided to store the food in the kitchen cabinet.

After a busy day, Lin You slept soundly every night.

Meanwhile, next door…

Bo Chuan, who didn’t know how many times he had stared at the dark wall, still couldn’t understand why the neighbors ate with such gusto three times a day.

Even the little cow named Mengmeng next door would feed herself extra hay in the middle of the night.

No matter how much Bo Chuan practiced the Taoism, he was still an ordinary person. The fasting technique might be called “fasting,” but his longest record was only seven or eight days without food.

Bo Chuan’s handsome brows furrowed as he admitted that his cultivation wasn’t strong enough to resist the temptation of the delicious food wafting from next door…

To be honest, when he left home based on the results of a divination, he never imagined it would be like this.

He could only hope the food next door wouldn’t smell so good anymore.

For the first time, Bo Chuan didn’t sleep at the prescribed time. Instead, accompanied by the enticing smell of food, he fell asleep early.

—

In the quiet of the night, Lin You slept soundly, completely unaware of her own mischief. In her half-conscious state, the strange fragrance appeared again at her nose. However, exhausted from the day’s work, Lin You didn’t even move.

In a corner of the yard, a faint light flickered. The little calf, which had been sleeping in the cattle shed, suddenly stood up.

Mengmeng looked down at herself in confusion, as if unfamiliar with her limbs. In the next moment, she excitedly ran around the shed a few times, bouncing and jumping, causing her rope to loosen.

Lin You didn’t install a fence in the cow shed, partly because the house had a yard, and unless someone came to steal the cow, even if it ran out, it wouldn’t get lost. Also, Mengmeng was very well-behaved, almost as if she were naturally intuitive. Lin You’s heart softened and she didn’t lock her in. Sometimes during the day, Mengmeng would even go for a walk on her own.

The little calf dragged her rope out of the shed and started sniffing and wandering around the yard. Then, with a quick turn, she headed toward the kitchen.

“Creek… Bang… Hoo hoo…”

—

The next morning, Lin You got up, brushing her teeth as she walked toward the cow shed.

This had become a routine for her. She would first give Mengmeng an extra meal of hay in the morning. However, today, Mengmeng didn’t come up to greet her. Instead, she was sleeping in the cowshed with her arms stretched out.

Lin You scratched her head and turned to head toward the kitchen.

“…”

So when Mengmeng woke up, she was surprised to find her owner being so strict for the first time.

“Mengmeng, I never expected that you would sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night to eat.”

The cow’s hoof prints in the kitchen were undeniable proof.

“Not only did you open the cabinet yourself, but you’ve really learned some tricks!”

Not only did she open the cabinet, but she also ate all the food from last night.

“You could’ve just eaten, but why did you make such a mess in the kitchen?”

This little thing even got picky with the food, eating the meat and vegetables but spitting out the cucumber salad after just one bite.

Mengmeng looked at her owner with innocent eyes, as if to say she didn’t mean to cause trouble.

Lin You said, “No more extra meals for you today!”

She had thought that the little calf was still young, and she’d been going to Aunt Chunling’s house every day to get some milk for her. But this little girl actually stole food!

She wasn’t sure if the calf would get sick from eating like that.

Lin You pressed her finger onto the little calf’s head, which looked so wronged as it stared at her: “No extra meals tomorrow either!”