The Bargain Red Date Tree

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

At the time, everyone was poor, and there was no such thing as throwing Qiao Qianyan a housewarming party. Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan discussed it and chipped in to buy a pound of meat. They also bought an old hen from a local family that could no longer lay eggs. They cooked a meal and invited the Educated Youth over, as thanks for all their help during this time.

The meal was exceptionally harmonious. By the time Lin Yuzhu finally lay down on the kang in his new home, he was so excited that he rolled around nonstop.

Well, even though there was barely enough room on the kang to roll around, nothing could stop his happiness.

From this moment onward, Lin Yuzhu was someone with a house in the countryside.

Good things came one after another!

Just as Lin Yuzhu was about to fall asleep, the system's delighted voice sounded. "Ding! Congratulations, Host, on reaching Level 5. You may draw a prize package. Would you like to draw now?"

Huh?

There was even something as good as a prize draw?

Lin Yuzhu instantly woke up.

Hehe.

A spinning bar appeared on the light screen before him. It spun for more than ten seconds before stopping, followed by a tiny image that gradually enlarged and glittered. Looking closely, it seemed to be a card.

"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained a thatched cottage!"

"Would you like to build it now?"

Lin Yuzhu sat up in surprise. This really was like being handed a pillow just when he was sleepy!

Yes!

Build it!

Build it!

As soon as he gave the command, Lin Yuzhu disappeared from where he was and entered the space.

Once inside, he saw a group of Small Robots emerge from the primitive little house. Some carried ladders, some tools, and some materials. Every one of them looked delightfully festive.

After the system confirmed the construction site for the thatched cottage with Lin Yuzhu, the Small Robots immediately got to work with great efficiency. Everything was orderly and well organized.

Lin Yuzhu watched for a while, then lost interest and stopped staring.

Previously, because he had been living collectively and had been busy, he had only tended to the space in a hurry. For things like harvesting and planting crops, he spent Contribution Points to leave them under the robots' care.

Now that he was no longer sleepy, Lin Yuzhu thought it was a good time to tend to the space. Every time the system leveled up, he could reclaim another plot of land.

At present, four plots of farmland had already been reclaimed in his space, and each harvest brought in quite a bounty.

The available crop seeds now included garlic, Chinese cabbage, wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, rapeseed, lettuce, and more.

After this upgrade, Lin Yuzhu specifically checked the newly unlocked seeds. They were eggplant and red dates, and he could not help wondering how red dates were planted.

"The system will directly distribute saplings. Planting them in reclaimed farmland can accelerate their growth. In one month, you will be able to eat sweet, fragrant red dates."

"After harvesting the first batch of red dates, you may transplant the mature date trees to ordinary land and continue growing them."

Lin Yuzhu nodded. Although date trees were somewhat expensive, they were worthwhile in the long run. In fact, they were an incredible bargain.

So, he decided to plant some date trees.

Red dates were still a rare commodity at the time. Women could not do without them during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery. If he took them to the Black Market to sell, they would definitely be in demand.

That was right. Lin Yuzhu planned to try his hand at the Black Market of this era. His things could not be sold openly. Even red dates and dried goods were risky to sell at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, since people from the village might see him.

Not to mention the villagers, everyone at the Educated Youth Dormitory knew exactly what others had picked up while hiking in the mountains. Every one of them had sharp eyes.

He thought that, as long as he had money, the Black Market was somewhere he would have to go. Besides, he still planned to buy a house in the city after getting into university.

Buying a house had to be done early. The earlier he bought, the cheaper it would be. Moreover, supplies were unevenly distributed in this era. As long as he had goods in hand, he would never have to worry about lacking money.

Lin Yuzhu truly did not want to waste his Golden Finger. If he could rely on it to make a fortune, then at the very least, he ought to secure a life without worries over food and clothing.

The Pasture had unlocked rabbits, sheep, geese, and pigs. This upgrade unlocked cattle.

Lin Yuzhu drooled as he looked at the Pasture page. But, but, but... he did not have enough Contribution Points to buy all those animals.

In order to reclaim farmland, he had sold nearly all the crops he planted. The Chickens in his space could already lay eggs, but Lin Yuzhu did not plan to sell the eggs to the system. He wanted to keep them and sell them outside for money.

He also planned to sell Chickens. No matter how he looked at it, raising Chickens was more practical, so he raised another ten Chickens and did not add any other animals.

You could not become fat in one bite. He would take things slowly.

Fortunately, when the space leveled up once, the system unlocked a lifestyle grocery store.

Uh, uh, it operated like an online store. It was not an actual shop opened inside the space. As long as he placed an order, the goods would be delivered to him. Naturally, he had to exchange Contribution Points for them.

The store currently offered ingredients like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and so on. This upgrade had also unlocked yeast.

This grocery store was quite tempting to Lin Yuzhu.

In an era when everything was scarce and even cooking oil was rationed by weight, one could imagine what kind of temptation the system had placed before him.

It truly never stopped whipping the Host to sell his products.

Lin Yuzhu was not the calculating sort. He could not be bothered to figure out which crops had the shortest growth cycles or were the most profitable to plant and sell.

He planted whatever he wanted. Now that he had a house, everything would be much more convenient.

He planned to grow some rice and wheat. He had been craving steamed rice and white-flour buns for a long time.

He would always plant one plot of corn. That was what he intended to bring out into the open.

Whenever he went to the county town, he planned to bring back some grain. As for where he bought it, they could use their own imaginations.

As for vegetables, he would plant a batch of each as well, keep enough to eat, and sell the rest to the system.

As for how rice became polished rice, wheat became white flour, and corn became cornmeal or corn kernels, as long as he had Contribution Points, the Small Robots in the space could do anything.

And as far as Lin Yuzhu was concerned, that primitive house in the space truly had everything. It was clear that Heaven had been very kind to him.

The thatched cottage could not be built in an instant. After deciding what crops to plant, Lin Yuzhu left the space. At that moment, he was especially grateful for the Small Robots. Otherwise, if he had to farm by himself, the space probably would not even have reached Level 1.

Although lighting the stove would warm the kang in the room, summer nights in the Northeast were not hot. Lin Yuzhu had brought a thin quilt, and it was just right to sleep under now.

The fire in the stove had long gone out, but the warm kang gave Lin Yuzhu a cozy feeling. He fell asleep feeling utterly secure and had a good night's dream.

At the sound of roosters crowing, Lin Yuzhu woke from his sleep. He had hung the coarse cloth curtain that had previously been strung across the Educated Youth Dormitory on the window in his room as a curtain.

It had to be said, the coarse cloth blocked light quite well. It was much better than the curtains next door.

By the faint morning light, Lin Yuzhu got up and dressed. Another energetic day had begun.

No, Lin Yuzhu did not have that kind of energy. Over the past half month, he had worked in the fields and built a house. It could be said that he had practically been skinned alive. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to sleep for two days and two nights.

But building a house had already drawn enough attention. If he skipped work as well, he feared he would stir up public resentment.

Be careful, be careful!

A few days ago, he had heard that a family in some village had nearly been called in for a meeting because they had not worked for several days. It was terrifying.

Over the past half month, he had gone to the county town once. He mailed Lin Jia a letter to let her know he was safe and also gave her his new address.

Afterward, he wandered around the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Since he had not officially moved out on his own yet, he did not dare buy too much. Besides, he truly did not have much money left and could not afford to spend freely.

An iron pot required industrial coupons. He did not have enough left, and even if he did, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative did not have any in stock.

Later, he bought a clay casserole pot. It was quite large and could be used for stewing dishes or cooking porridge. He could even place a steaming rack over it to steam buns. It was rather practical. As long as it could withstand the heat, Lin Yuzhu did not even want an iron pot anymore. He also bought two clay basins that did not require coupons, spent the rest of his industrial coupons on a kitchen knife, and bought two grain storage jars.

None of those things could be skipped.

After all that, Lin Yuzhu truly had no money left. He only kept ten yuan for buying grain.

He still had to keep up appearances.

Lin Yuzhu looked at his bare-walled home and clicked his tongue expertly.

He lit the stove and boiled a handful of millet, planning to have millet porridge for breakfast.

He placed a pre-steamed corn bun on the steaming rack, put on the lid, and that was breakfast.

When he opened the door, the fresh fragrance unique to the vegetables in the garden washed over him, mixed with the scent of morning dew. It immediately made him feel much more refreshed.

Li Xiangwan happened to come out to wash up as well. The two smiled at each other, exchanged greetings, and went about their own business.

It was not as lively as the front courtyard, but the rare thing was the freedom.

Lin Yuzhu suddenly felt that his current life was quite pleasant. Although the house had been built in the back courtyard, Lin Yuzhu and the others had not opened a separate gate there. They still entered through the main gate of the front courtyard. As long as they used the same entrance, they were still living together. It was not exactly deceiving themselves. As long as they had not officially moved out separately, it was somewhat safer for the two of them.

Lin Yuzhu had neither coupons nor money to buy a lock. When Li Xiangwan asked whether he needed one, he could not resist borrowing one from her. Once he had money, he would pay her back. He believed he still had the ability to earn enough for a lock.

Lin Yuzhu's impression of Li Xiangwan improved even further. This girl was truly generous. When he received the lock, he could tell that it was something bought in a later era. It did not look cheap.

Thinking of the female lead's personality, she probably would not buy cheap things. He felt quite reassured using it.

How could he know that Li Xiangwan had seen that he had never tried to take even the slightest advantage of her over the past half month? She had a very good impression of him, which was why she was willing to lend him a lock for free. If it had been someone else, she would not have lent it out so casually.

After everyone left for work, Wang Xiaomei slowly drifted over to Lin Yuzhu and said, "Now that the two of you have moved out, you should have seen Zhao Xianglan's expression this morning."

Lin Yuzhu watched Wang Xiaomei shake her head and click her tongue nonstop, then could not help rolling his eyes. He found that Wang Xiaomei especially liked gossiping with him. Did he really look that gossipy?