Business 

After lunch, news came from the commune that several teams were asked to select two more people from the newly arrived educated youth to become elementary school teachers. 

Of course, this didn’t concern Lin Miaoyin and the others. According to their original plan, they were preparing to head to the commune to buy some things. 

In less than half a month, the wheat harvest would begin, followed by the corn harvest, then the rice harvest. They would be busy until the end of September before they could take a break. 

Because of this, Lin Miaoyin had to put her money-making plans on hold until things calmed down. For now, her priority was to work hard and gather as much food as possible for the end of the year to avoid starving in the winter.

Another priority was to look into the black market and see if she could find a reliable meat seller.

Meng Yuanzheng organized the things he had brought from the city. There were two watches, several coats, two pairs of leather shoes, a few sweaters, shirts, pants, socks, and some remaining tickets. 

When he came to the countryside, his family hadn’t faced any problems yet, and he had only brought some valuable items. The watches alone were worth over two hundred yuan. 

He had arrived at Houtouwan just after the New Year, and by early March, his family had encountered trouble. They could no longer send him things since they had their own problems. 

The grain and meat tickets had long been used up, but there were still some industrial, cloth, and food tickets left. 

“Are you really going to sell all of this?” Lin Miaoyin asked. 

She was holding a woolen coat in her hand. It was finely crafted, thick, and obviously very valuable. 

“There’s no use keeping it,” Meng Yuanzheng replied. 

“What a waste, such a good coat,” she said, stroking the fabric. 

Meng Yuanzheng saw her regretful expression and said gently, “I’ll buy you something better in the future.” 

Lin Miaoyin stopped for a moment. She was genuinely just feeling sorry for the coat, not because she wanted it—though, deep down, she did want it. 

In this era, people just wore black, white, gray, and blue. From five meters away, you couldn’t tell one person from another. As a young woman, she couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied. 

“Let’s sell the cheaper ones first. If we really run out of money, we’ll sell the expensive ones,” Lin Miaoyin sighed. “If these things end up on the black market, they probably won’t even sell for half the price.” 

“No.” 

“Huh?” 

“They’re in demand, and the supply is limited, so they won’t be too cheap,” he explained. 

Lin Miaoyin suddenly understood. “Oh, I get it now. It’s the idea that things are valuable because they are scarce, right? What’s it called again? A seller’s market!” 

Upon hearing this, she noticed that Meng Yuanzheng was looking at her with that unreadable expression, which made her feel a bit uneasy. “Why are you looking at me?” 

“Nothing.” He turned his eyes away. “You know about a seller’s market?” 

She realized she had gotten a little carried away and regretted saying so much. 

Lin Miaoyin pretended not to care. “Isn’t it the seller who decides whether or not to sell? I just made up the name. Don’t you think I’m smart?” 

“Smart,” he said with a slight smile, then picked up a pair of leather shoes. “Let’s sell these first.” 

“How much did you sell the coat for last time?” Lin Miaoyin asked. 

“Ten yuan.” 

She quickly calculated in her mind: pork in the supply and marketing cooperative was 50 cents a pound, and pork in the modern era costs 20 yuan a pound. So, ten yuan times forty equals four hundred yuan. 

“Fifty cents, ten, forty, four hundred…” she murmured to herself, finally figuring out how much the coat was worth. 

Seeing her mumbling, Meng Yuanzheng asked, “What’s wrong?” 

“This coat is quite valuable,” she came to her senses and said. 

“It’s alright, but after buying things last time, there was only five yuan left.” He took out a large bamboo tube from the cabinet. It was filled with various tickets and banknotes, which he handed to her. 

“You’re giving this to me?” She took the bamboo tube and checked how much money was inside. 

“You’re the one in charge of all the money at home.” 

“This… this doesn’t seem right.” This was the money he had gotten in exchange for his things. She already felt like she was taking advantage by getting some meat, so how could she take all the money for herself? 

“Take it.” After saying that, he squatted down, found a cloth bag, stuffed the leather shoes into it, and put it in the basket. 

Seeing that he had an expression that said, I’ll give it all to you, I don’t like money, Lin Miaoyin smiled, took out the money and food tickets, and put the bamboo tube back into the cabinet. 

She then found two straw hats and a water bottle, filled it with cool boiled water, smiled at her reflection in the mirror, and called out, “Let’s go.” 

Meng Yuanzheng placed the basket on his back and locked the door. She put the straw hat on his head and pinched the edge to straighten it. He bent down, allowing her to adjust it, his eyes lowered, looking incredibly obedient.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Today, we must return with a full load.” 

Realizing that she had used a “cultural word” again, she quickly stopped talking and secretly glanced at him. He was looking straight ahead, seemingly not caring about what she had said. 

The two walked along the road. As they passed the clinic, she suddenly remembered Meng Yuanzheng’s memory loss. She wondered if it had any serious impact on his health. Maybe they should go for a check-up? But what if he regained his memory and became the villain from the original story? 

Never mind, she thought. Let me be a little selfish. Preserving my own life is more important. 

The road was crowded with people, all heading to the commune to buy things during their rest day. As they walked, many people glanced at them—some openly, others more discreetly. 

Some thought, Lin Miaoyin sure is bold. Her husband is already at a self-criticism meeting for having an affair with another woman, and now here she is, walking to the commune with him, smiling. What a naive woman. 

Others thought she was pretending that nothing was wrong, but who knew what kind of trouble she was causing behind closed doors? 

Some people cast disapproving looks, thinking it inappropriate for a man and a woman to walk together. However, this view mostly came from those whose marriages were not harmonious. In the modern era, free love was widely accepted, and dating was considered normal. 

Lin Miaoyin naturally felt the gazes coming from all directions. Let them guess, she thought. It’s not like I’m going to lose a piece of flesh. Anyway, with my identity as Captain Lin’s daughter, no one would dare to spread rumors about me. 

When they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, it was already packed with people. Because of the self-criticism meeting in the morning, they hadn’t come early, and now only the most basic things were left. 

They first went to the grocery store to buy some necessary items, such as salt. They still had tickets at home, so they didn’t need to go to the black market. They also bought two pairs of gloves, two towels, a bar of soap, and some kerosene. After putting everything in the basket, they left. 

After turning through a few alleys, they arrived at the same place as last time. 

There were still many children keeping watch around. As they walked by, a few of the children stared at them since they were unfamiliar faces. 

The transactions inside were happening very quietly. Everyone wore hats and headscarves, and the goods weren’t displayed too openly—everyone was afraid they might not have time to escape if there was a surprise inspection. 

The items for sale were quite varied, and there were many people. Some were exchanging goods, while others were middlemen buying things at low prices and selling them at high prices. 

Pork was still a rare item, and only those with “connections” dared to sell it. 

Lin Miaoyin and Meng Yuanzheng lowered the edges of their straw hats to cover half of their faces and went in search of a middleman to sell the leather shoes.

Meng Yuanzheng’s shoes were purchased at a large department store in Shanghai and were nearly new. They originally cost was over thirty yuan, which, converted to the familiar price Lin Miaoyin knew, would be more than a thousand. After some negotiation with the middleman, they agreed on a price of twenty yuan and ten kilograms of grain tickets in exchange. 

He used another five yuan to exchange for five kilograms of meat tickets. 

After putting the money in their pockets, they bought two pounds of pork belly, some fresh vegetables, eggs, five pounds of flour, and ten pounds of rice. Their baskets were both full, and already a third of the money from selling the shoes had been spent.

Meng Yuanzheng placed all the rice, flour, and meat in his basket, letting her carry only the lighter vegetables and eggs, which they covered with a cloth they had brought from home.

By the time they reached Houtouwan, the sun was almost setting. To avoid running into too many people, they took a small path through the cornfield. 

The corn leaves sticking out on both sides were very irritating, so Meng Yuanzheng reached out to help her push them away. As they walked, they suddenly heard some provocative sounds up ahead. 

As they got closer and listened carefully, both of them stopped.

It was the infamous ‘cornfield incident’ they had heard about.

And it was right in front of them. There was no way to avoid it; taking a detour was too far. If they waited for them to finish, they might not even make it before dark, and the sounds were quite embarrassing. 

Lin Miaoyin looked up at him and saw that his expression remained unchanged—he was extremely calm. She silently scolded herself and forced herself to calm down. 

“What should we do?” she whispered. 

Meng Yuanzheng gently shook his head, clearly unsure of what to do either. 

At that moment, the noise stopped, and they could hear two people talking. 

“Brother Song, you don’t need to send me. It’s close to the team, I can go back myself,” a woman said coquettishly. 

Why did Lin Miaoyin feel that the voice sounded familiar? 

The man responded, “No, I can’t let you go alone. I’ll still send you.” 

“Oh, no need for that!” 

“Ah, really, it’s fine!” 

“Hongyue, be good. I have a bike, I can make it back in time.” 

Hongyue? 

Yan Hongyue? Lin Miaoyin was startled and recalled the plot of the original novel. 

Yan Hongyue had been seeing a young businessman from the city. She had cheated on her fiancé, Jin Chengren, and the affair was only exposed when she became pregnant. This caused the poor man to trigger the female protagonist’s sympathy.

Yan Hongyue and Jin Chengren had been engaged since childhood. However, after some time, Jin Chengren’s family was no longer considered worthy of the Yan family due to their background. Despite this, the head of the Yan family, who was kind-hearted, chose not to break the engagement.

But Jin Chengren was just a fool and had no idea how to coax girls. He was nothing like the smooth-talking men from the city who knew how to charm people. Yan Hongyue turned around and kicked him. 

Oh, this was embarrassing. Although she had read the original novel and knew that the man was a loyal one who eventually married her, she was still Yan Hongyue’s cousin after all. Regardless of whether she cheated on the male protagonist or not, it was not right for her to do such a thing in the cornfield. 

Meng Yuanzheng clearly remembered who Yan Hongyue was. The two exchanged looks just as they ran into Liang Song and Yan Hongyue, who were walking out holding hands. 

As soon as they came out, they saw two people standing on the road with baskets on their backs, unsure of how long they had been standing there. 

“Cousin?” Yan Hongyue recognized Lin Miaoyin, and her legs went limp with fear. Liang Song quickly supported her and looked over. “You’re Hongyue’s cousin?” 

Lin Miaoyin was also very confused at this moment. She wondered whether she should act as a generous and understanding older sister or a woman who would break up the couple. 

No matter what, she still had to put on a show to save face. 

“Hongyue, come here!” She put her hands on her hips and said angrily. 

“Cousin…” Yan Hongyue was about to cry from fear. 

“If you don’t come here, I will tell your parents!” 

Author’s note: 

Some readers said that the female protagonist is too kind to the male protagonist in the beginning. 

To explain: my female protagonist is not a strong, calm, and intelligent woman. She is just an ordinary person. After crossing over, the first person she met, Meng Yuanzheng, had always treated her well. She is quite simple-hearted; anyone who treats her well, she returns the favor. Also, it is very natural for a woman who travels to a strange world to develop a sense of dependency on the people she interacts with daily, just like how you might become reliant on a new roommate when you enter a new school. 

Spoiler: My male protagonist only knows that he crossed over but doesn’t realize that he is inside a novel. He doesn’t have the original owner’s memories and can only guess that the original character was a bad man based on what others say. The reason he treats the female protagonist well is because there was already a connection between before they crossed into the book… 

Alright, explanation over! 

Lastly, thanks for everyone’s support. I will keep working hard!