Chapter 24: Another Encounter

He Xufeng didn’t press any further when Lin Qingmei declined his help. After all, they weren’t that familiar yet—he had already done enough by offering assistance.

Just as Lin Qingmei’s rice noodles were brought to the table, He Xufeng finished his meal and left. Now, the two-person table was just hers alone.

After hurriedly finishing her breakfast, Lin Qingmei headed to the department store.

By the time she had bought the bicycle and registered it at the police station, it was almost 10 a.m.

She hadn’t informed the team leader before heading straight to the county town today—hopefully, he wouldn’t be upset.

Of course the team leader was upset. He hadn’t even had time to go over the meeting notes properly since she returned late last night.

That morning, he’d been waiting at the brigade office for Lin Qingmei to show up. But after a long wait, there was still no sign of her.

At first, he assumed she had gone out to the coast, but after asking around, no one had seen her there.

This made him very anxious. He had come back earlier the night before—what if something had happened to her on the way home?

Eventually, he found Lin Qinglan and learned that Lin Qingmei had gone to the county town early that morning.

The team leader was so mad he wanted to drag her back and give her a good scolding. That girl was really a handful.

Around 10:30 a.m., Lin Qingmei finally rode her bicycle back to Linjiawan.

These modern bikes were way too tall—she had fallen several times before she finally made it home.

She had originally wanted a 26-inch bicycle, but the department store was out of stock. In a rush to get one, she ended up buying a 28-inch Phoenix-brand bicycle.

“Qingmei, you bought a bicycle?”

“Mm. Auntie, I’ll be going now.”

Lin Qingmei didn’t expect her bad luck—just as she rode into Linjiawan, she ran into Aunt Liu. Aunt Liu was the biggest gossip in the village—everyone called her “the loudspeaker.”

Now that she had seen Lin Qingmei with a bicycle, the entire village would know by nightfall.

Hopefully, the villagers would be sensible and not come asking to borrow her bicycle. If they did, she wouldn’t hesitate to turn them down.

At the brigade office, Lin Qinglan was helping her dear sister by copying the meeting notes. She had casually offered to help, not expecting the team leader to actually agree.

Just as she was about to finish copying, her best friend and beloved sister finally stepped through the door.

“Lan’er, what are you doing here? Where’s Xiao Zheng? I brought you some food—just heat it up at home and you can eat.”

“You’re finally back. Lin Zheng is at the team leader’s house playing with his youngest son. The team leader said you need to copy the meeting notes three times. He said other brigades need a copy too. He also said that once you’re done, he’ll give you an old hen as a reward.”

Seeing her sister return, Lin Qinglan quickly put down her pen. Writing was her least favorite task—she’d rather go work the fields than sit and copy documents.

“Don’t tell me you agreed just for a chicken? You’d do anything for food, wouldn’t you?”

Lin Qingmei knew her best friend too well. Though she hated copying documents, she couldn’t resist the thought of chicken soup. So, for the sake of that delicious soup, Lin Qingmei had no choice but to take over the job.

“Hehe, you’re the best, babe. Tonight, I’ll make spicy stir-fried crayfish just for you. Enough chatter—I’m heading home now. I only had some plain congee this morning, and my stomach’s already rebelling.”

Lin Qingmei: …So I come back and you immediately ditch me. Looks like her bestie had brought her hatred for writing into this life too.

Also, did she bring her brain when she transmigrated? They had spatial abilities!

Why not just throw the pen and paper into the space and use mental power to write inside—wouldn’t that be faster? It’s just three copies of the meeting notes. She could finish them in half an hour.

And worst-case scenario, there was even a photocopier in the space. Why suffer by handwriting everything?

Although Lin Qingmei had already finished the three copies, she didn’t rush to hand them in.

She waited until just before the end of the workday at 6 p.m. before turning in the documents.

For the next few days, Lin Qingmei went back to her routine of lazing around the brigade office.

Meanwhile, Lin Qinglan and her brother Lin Zheng took over the job of gathering seafood every day.

Time passed quickly, and a week later, the much-anticipated seafood farm officially began construction.

That day, County Chief Wang and his secretary brought over materials for building the farm, accompanied by workers to do the construction.

With so many unfamiliar faces arriving at Linjiawan, the quiet village instantly became lively.

The team leader brought Lin Qingmei along to help host the county chief. He was worried about his lack of education and that he wouldn’t understand everything County Chief Wang said.

“Captain Lin, after your village delivers the grain quota each year, is there enough left to eat?”
As they walked, County Chief Wang noticed that Linjiawan didn’t have much farmland.

Linjiawan was a large village with more than five hundred residents.

He wanted to know how Captain Lin dealt with the problem of too many people and too little land.

“Not really. Every year, we have to trade fish catches with other villages for grain.”

In truth, only a small portion of the grain came from trade. Most of it was bought on the black market—but that wasn’t something one could easily admit.

“I see. Once the seafood farm is up and running, you won’t need to worry about grain anymore.”

Nancheng County had ten communes. Only Nanfeng and Yongfeng were coastal; the remaining eight were in the mountains.

County Chief Wang planned to unite all ten communes to exchange resources. For example, mountain communes could sell wild game, medicinal herbs, and grain to coastal areas. Meanwhile, coastal communes would send seafood and dried goods to the mountains.

“Thank you, County Chief Wang. On behalf of Linjiawan, I thank you.”

Captain Lin walked up front with the county chief, while Lin Qingmei and He Xufeng walked side by side behind them.

“Your hometown is quite beautiful. The beach is clean, too. Looks like your villagers care about maintaining the environment.”

Lin Qingmei: …Isn’t it just because there’s barely any trash in this era?

“If you like it here, you should come often! You’ve never gone clam digging, right? Next time, come early and I’ll take you.”

“It’s a deal then. I’ll head out early next time and trouble you then.”

“Huh, you’re actually serious?” Lin Qingmei was momentarily speechless. Wasn’t he supposed to be busy being the county chief’s secretary?

“Of course I’m serious. I don’t like lying. What, you don’t want me to come?”
He Xufeng couldn’t help but smile at her puffed-up cheeks. He could tell she was just being polite. Who would’ve thought she was this fun?

“You’re welcome.” Lin Qingmei’s tone was a little gritted. With He Xufeng’s face, getting close to him was bound to attract all sorts of trouble.