The Bargain Red Date Tree

Produced by Tomato Listening.

Jiajia wasn't well-off either, and there was no tradition of throwing a housewarming party for Qiao Qianyan. Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan discussed it and pooled their money to buy a pound of meat. They also bought an old hen from a local family that could no longer lay eggs, made a meal, and invited the educated youths over. It was their way of thanking everyone for their help during this time.

The meal was exceptionally harmonious. By the time Lin Yuzhu finally lay down on the kang in her new home, she was so excited that she kept rolling around.

Well, she couldn't really roll around on the kang, but that didn't stop her from being happy.

From this moment on, Lin Yuzhu could be considered someone with a house in the countryside.

Good things kept coming!

Just as Lin Yuzhu was about to fall asleep, the system's jubilant voice rang out. Ding! Congratulations, host, on reaching Level 5. You may draw a prize gift pack. Would you like to draw now?

Huh?

There was even something as good as a prize draw?

Lin Yuzhu instantly woke up!

Hehe.

She saw a spinning bar in the light screen before her. It spun for more than ten seconds before stopping, followed by a small image that grew larger and larger, sparkling as it did. Looking closely, it seemed to be a card.

Congratulations, host! You have obtained a Thatched Cottage!

Would you like to construct it now?

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

Yes!

Construct it!

Construct it!

After giving the command, Lin Yuzhu vanished from where she stood and entered the space.

Once inside, she 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 remarkably festive.

After the system and Lin Yuzhu confirmed the location for the Thatched Cottage, the Small Robots began working with great efficiency. Everything was orderly and well organized.

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

Previously, because she lived collectively and was busy, she had only managed the space in a hurry. Things like harvesting and planting crops had all been entrusted to the robots using Contribution Points.

Now that she wasn't sleepy, Lin Yuzhu thought she might as well tend to the space. Every time the system leveled up, another plot of land could be reclaimed.

By now, four plots of farmland had been reclaimed in her space, and every harvest had yielded quite a lot.

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, making her curious about how red dates were planted.

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

After the first batch of red dates is harvested, you may transplant the mature date trees into ordinary soil and continue growing them. The choice is yours.

Lin Yuzhu nodded. Although date trees were a little expensive, they were worthwhile from a long-term perspective. In fact, they were an incredible bargain.

So she decided to plant some date trees.

Red dates were still a rare commodity at the moment. Women needed them during pregnancy, childbirth, and confinement. If she took them to the Black Market to sell, they would count as highly sought-after goods.

That's right, Lin Yuzhu planned to try her hand at the Black Market of this era. She couldn't bring her things out openly. Even if she took red dates or dried goods to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to sell, she was still afraid villagers would see her.

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

She thought that with money in hand, she would have to visit the Black Market sooner or later. Besides, she was still thinking about buying a house in the city after getting into university.

The earlier you bought a house, the cheaper it was. And with supplies so unevenly distributed at this time, as long as she had goods in hand, she wouldn't have to worry about money.

Lin Yuzhu truly didn't want to waste her Golden Finger. If she could use it to make a fortune, then she ought to at least ensure she never had to worry about food or clothing for the rest of her life.

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

Lin Yuzhu drooled as she looked at the Pasture interface, but—however, yet, but—she didn't have enough Contribution Points to buy those animals.

In order to reclaim farmland, she had sold off nearly all the crops she planted. The Chicken in her space could already lay eggs, but Lin Yuzhu didn't intend to sell the eggs to the system. She wanted to save them and sell them outside for money.

She also intended to sell the Chicken. Raising chickens seemed more practical no matter how she looked at it, so she raised another ten chickens and didn't raise any other animals.

You couldn't get fat in one bite. She would take it slowly.

The good news was that when the space reached Level 1, the system had unlocked a daily necessities and food store.

Uh, uh, it worked like an online store. It wasn't an actual shop opened inside the space. As long as she placed an order, she could receive the goods, naturally in exchange for Contribution Points.

The store currently offered ingredients such as oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. This upgrade had also unlocked yeast.

This food store was quite tempting to Lin Yuzhu.

In an era when everything was scarce and even cooking oil was rationed by weight, it was easy to imagine what a temptation the system had placed before her.

Sure enough, it constantly whipped hosts into selling their products.

Lin Yuzhu wasn't the calculating type. She couldn't be bothered figuring out which plants had the shortest growth cycles and were most profitable to grow and sell.

She simply planted whatever she wanted. Now that she had a house, everything was much more convenient.

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

She would unfailingly plant one plot of corn. That was what she planned to bring out into the open.

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

As for vegetables, she would grow a batch of each, keep enough for herself 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 she 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 especially kind to her.

The Thatched Cottage couldn't be built in an instant. After deciding which crops to plant, Lin Yuzhu left the space. At that moment, she was especially grateful for the Small Robots. Otherwise, if she had to farm by herself, the space probably wouldn't even reach Level 1.

Although lighting the stove would heat the kang, summer nights in the Northeast weren't hot. Lin Yuzhu had brought a thin quilt, and it was just right to cover herself with it now.

The fire in the stove had long since gone out, but the warm kang gave Lin Yuzhu a comforting feeling. She fell asleep with great peace of mind and had a wonderful night's rest.

At the sound of the rooster's crowing, Lin Yuzhu woke from her sleep. She had hung the coarse cloth curtain that used to be put up in the Educated Youth Dormitory over the window in her room as a curtain.

To be honest, the coarse cloth blocked light quite well. It was much better than the neighboring family's curtains.

In the hazy morning light, Lin Yuzhu got up and dressed. It was another energetic day.

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

But building a house had already drawn enough attention. If she skipped work too, she was afraid she would provoke public outrage.

Careful, careful!

A few days ago, she had heard that a family in some village had nearly been called in for a meeting because they hadn't gone to work for several days. Too terrifying.

Over the past half month, she had gone to the county town once, mailed Lin Jia a letter to let her know she was safe, and mentioned her address here.

Afterward, she also browsed the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Since she hadn't officially moved out yet, she didn't dare buy too much. Besides, she truly didn't have much money left and couldn't afford to splurge.

An iron pot required industrial coupons. She didn't have enough, and even if she did, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had none in stock.

Later, she bought a clay casserole. It was quite large and could be used to stew dishes or cook porridge. She could even put a steamer tray on top and steam buns in it. It was pretty practical. As long as it could withstand the heat, Lin Yuzhu didn't even want to buy an iron pot. She also bought two clay basins that didn't require coupons, spent the rest of her industrial coupons on a kitchen knife, and bought two large jars for storing grain.

None of these could be saved on.

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

She still had to keep up appearances.

Lin Yuzhu looked at the bare walls of her home and clicked her tongue with practiced ease.

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

She placed a previously steamed corn bun on the steamer tray, covered it with the lid, and that was breakfast.

When she opened the door, the fresh scent unique to the vegetables in the garden greeted her, mixed with the lingering smell of morning dew. It instantly made her 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.

Although it wasn't as lively as the front courtyard, it was pleasantly free and easy.

Lin Yuzhu suddenly felt that her current life was rather comfortable. Although the house had been built in the back courtyard, neither she nor the others had opened a gate there. They still used the main gate of the front courtyard. As long as they entered through the same gate, they were still living together. It wasn't exactly self-deception. As long as they hadn't officially moved out, it was somewhat safer for the two of them.

Lin Yuzhu didn't have the coupons or money to buy a lock. Li Xiangwan asked whether she needed one, and in the end, she couldn't resist borrowing one from Li Xiangwan, promising to pay her back once she had money. She believed she was capable of earning enough to buy a lock.

Lin Yuzhu's impression of Li Xiangwan improved even further. This girl was truly generous. The moment she received the lock, she could tell it was probably bought in a later era and didn't look cheap.

Thinking about the heroine's personality, Lin Yuzhu figured she probably wouldn't buy cheap goods. She felt quite at ease using the lock.

What she didn't know was that Li Xiangwan had noticed that Lin Yuzhu hadn't tried to take advantage of her even once over the past half month. Li Xiangwan had formed a good impression of her, which was why she was willing to lend her a lock for free. She wouldn't casually lend one to anyone else.

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

Lin Yuzhu watched Wang Xiaomei keep shaking her head and clicking her tongue, and couldn't help rolling her eyes. She had noticed that Wang Xiaomei especially liked gossiping with her. Did she really look that nosy?