Landlords Wouldn't Even Dare Do This

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 30: Landlords Wouldn't Even Dare Do This!

Compared to Lin Yuzhu, the female lead, Li Xiangwan, was much more high-profile. Her basket contained not only grain, but also sweets and snacks like White Rabbit Milk Candy, walnut cookies, egg cakes, and more.

Even more eye-catching was the huge slab of pork in her basket, estimated to weigh around forty-five jin. Zhao Xianglan and Zhang Yanqiu stood there swallowing hard. No matter how they looked at it, that pork would never end up in their stomachs, but that did not stop their minds from being filled with the meat in that basket. It was enough to drive people mad.

With Li Xiangwan ahead of them, the two no longer regarded Lin Yuzhu as anything worth noticing. Their hearts were full of malice toward the female lead. Was buying so much meat at once just showing off that she had money?

Was she mocking them for not even being able to afford food?

They were all female Educated Youth sent to the countryside. Why did they have to live so miserably?

Nothing was more frightening than comparison. With the female lead around, Lin Yuzhu gave up on going to the Scrap Station. The Scrap Station was practically the female lead's treasure trove; she would take a stroll through it almost every time she came to town.

Lin Yuzhu had no intention of snatching that opportunity. Deep down, she had a feeling that it was best to keep a certain distance from the female lead and avoid any karmic entanglements.

She always had a gut feeling that if she stole the female lead's opportunity, she would lose even more in return. It was rather mystical.

She had not wanted to go to the Scrap Station to get rich. She wanted to buy some textbooks and prepare for the National College Entrance Examination a few years later.

She remembered that in those days, even science-track candidates had to take politics. She absolutely had to read newspapers from this era, or she feared her politics score would be abysmal.

For politics, she needed to understand current affairs and the writing style of the era. The style used to answer questions was important. As a transmigrator, she had to blend into the characteristics of this time. Old newspapers were best scavenged from the Scrap Station, where they would be cheaper.

But there was no rush. Getting the textbooks first was more important.

Lin Yuzhu did not want to waste any more time on the other subjects, so she went straight to the bookstore and bought the books.

When she had left the Lin Family, aside from her high school textbooks, she had not dared take anything else from home.

As she always said, details mattered. She could not exactly carry a whole stack of textbooks to the countryside, so it was better to leave those books at home in case someone wanted to borrow them.

Lin Mother might remember her books, but Lin Yuzhu was lucky. She managed to buy all the middle school and high school textbooks at the bookstore.

It was said that the first National College Entrance Examination was extremely easy, roughly on the level of middle school, but the admission rate was only a few percent.

Out of nearly six million candidates, only a little over two hundred thousand were admitted. With odds like that, Lin Yuzhu did not feel even the slightest sense of superiority.

All she could do was keep studying and drilling problems over the next few years. Only after working hard could she face the future without regrets.

That was why she was willing to spend money on textbooks at the bookstore rather than hunt for old books at the Scrap Station. If she could not get everything in one go, it would waste too much time.

Aside from the villagers' gossip, Lin Yuzhu's life had been quite comfortable. In one month, her space had risen another level. It had leveled up five more times, allowing her another spin of the grand prize wheel. She drew side dishes, unlocking the entire supermarket section. When Lin Yuzhu opened it, she was not quite as thrilled as she had expected.

There were all sorts of ready-made seasonings, along with peppercorns, star anise, and other supplementary ingredients.

To put it bluntly, she felt the system might have mistaken her for a chef. Although she was not overly excited by the lottery result, she could now make delicious meals, which was still pretty good.

Lin Yuzhu's cooking certainly could not compare to a professional chef's, but her dishes were good enough to be the kind of food bratty children called "someone else's cooking." From then on, she was truly free when it came to food.

More delightfully, walnuts, apples, and strawberries had also been unlocked among the space seeds. These were enormously tempting to Lin Yuzhu. Just looking at the seeds made her drool. She craved them terribly.

When she went to town, she had even deliberately looked around the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Forget rare goods like strawberries—she had not even seen a single apple.

Whenever apples hit the shelves these days, they were snapped up immediately.

The moment town residents heard there was something good for sale, they would line up early in the morning and wait for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to open.

How could Educated Youth like them, who only occasionally went into town, possibly buy any? The less she could get something, the more she wanted it.

Lin Yuzhu, who used to peel apples before eating them, would now devour even applesauce if you gave it to her. Many more vegetable seeds had been unlocked as well: chives, cauliflower, tomatoes, peas, peppers, celery, cucumbers, pumpkins, and so on.

There was quite a variety, but only two kinds could be sold at the Black Market.

Once winter came, chives and pumpkins could still be hyped up a bit.

Mm, apples had plenty of potential. After the autumn harvest, her space would also open up a lotus pond where lotus roots could be grown.

Aside from eating some herself, for now she could only sell them to the system.

Lin Yuzhu had asked Wang Xiaomei about this time and place. At present, no villages in the Northeast grew lotus roots—at least not within a hundred li around Eelwater Village.

It was naturally best not to sell that kind of vegetable at the Black Market. It was too conspicuous.

There was also something else that gave her a headache: red roses had been unlocked among the seeds.

Lin Yuzhu wondered what she needed red roses for now.

And what did Caesar Continent need red roses for?

To give to lovers, of course.

The little system was still using its gentle tone to disparage her narrow-mindedness.

Roses had many uses. They could be used in food, clothing, housing, and travel.

Lin Yuzhu clicked her tongue. It was making her more and more shallow.

Red roses also fetched a very good recycling price. Important—very important. She could use them to farm Contribution Points.

At present, Lin Yuzhu's space was flourishing, and her purse was slowly filling up. She had great expectations for the future.

However, before she could be happy for even two days, the village chief returned with another batch of Educated Youth. There were actually five of them: three men and two women.

The allocation of those five Educated Youth made the village chief's face darker than ever.

The moment he entered the courtyard, he called Lin Yuzhu and the other two living in the back courtyard to the front.

Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan could not help frowning, while Wang Xiaomei asked in confusion, "Village Chief, why did you specifically call us over here?"

If it was just to introduce them, there was no need. After living in the same courtyard for a while, they would naturally get acquainted.

Sure enough, just as Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan had expected, things were not that simple.

They only heard the village chief speak in an official tone. "Our village has received several more Educated Youth. You old Educated Youth should help each other out. Don't be so selfish. Learn from role models, keep a spirit of dedication at all times, and do more good deeds."

The moment she heard that, Wang Xiaomei bristled and said unhappily, "Village Chief, autumn harvest is almost here. The grain we found last year is barely enough for ourselves. How can we possibly spare any?"

"If we don't eat enough during the autumn harvest, how can we have the strength to work? Without strength, we can't earn work points. Without work points, there'll be no money or grain. Without money or grain, won't we starve to death?"

The village chief pressed his lips tightly together, veins bulging on his forehead.

Thinking it over, these Educated Youth truly could not spare any grain. But the grain in the village Warehouse was not abundant either; he had wanted to save it for the villagers.

The autumn harvest was about to begin, and families without grain would come borrow from the village around this time.

There was plenty of work during the harvest and it demanded a great deal of physical strength, so food had to keep up.

Without labor, there was no productivity. Asking the village chief to spend grain on the newly arrived Educated Youth was a bad deal no matter how he looked at it.

Those five Educated Youth ate a lot, but they might not necessarily do much work.

At that thought, the village chief could not help cursing the town's Educated Youth Office again. "This time, three more male Educated Youth have arrived, and the front courtyard has no room left. How about you give up one room in the back courtyard?"

The words the village chief had rehearsed all the way finally came out.

His face was dark and thick-skinned, with not even a hint of red visible.

Lin Yuzhu gave a cold laugh, and the vein on the village chief's forehead twitched.

Wang Xiaomei's firecracker temper exploded again.

"What?"

"Give it up?"

"How are we supposed to give it up? I spent a fortune building this house, and you say we should just hand it over? Are you trying to force me to my death?"

Wang Xiaomei's words immediately left the village chief unable to save face, but they also sobered him up considerably. The thoughts in his heart faded somewhat.

Lin Yuzhu could see it. The village chief had been harboring some small schemes regarding the houses they had built. If they gave up one room today, they might have to give up two tomorrow, and eventually they might be made to hand over everything.

She despised the village chief somewhat, but this was his territory. They absolutely could not let him lead them by the nose. "Surely the village chief doesn't mean to seize our house. Even landlords wouldn't dare do this nowadays."

Lin Yuzhu comforted Wang Xiaomei, then turned to ask the village chief, "Perhaps we misunderstood. Village Chief, you want us to give up a room, so does that mean the newly arrived Educated Youth will compensate us for all the money we spent building this house?"

"Do they want all the things we furnished the room with as well?"

"Or will the village compensate us as before?"

"Anyway, the kang in my room can only fit one person. I spent at least seventy or eighty yuan, if not a hundred, buying this and that. Is the village going to pay to buy the house?"

After hearing Lin Yuzhu's words, the village chief's mind cleared considerably.

If he dared seize the house now, these Educated Youth would dare report him to the commune. She had practically compared him to a landlord.

The village chief was annoyed, but also somewhat frightened afterward. Fortunately, he had not continued being muddleheaded.

"But we can't let the newly arrived comrades have nowhere to sleep!"

Zhang Yanqiu muttered softly from the side, but everyone in the courtyard heard her.

Lin Yuzhu gave her a cold look and said, "Wouldn't it work if the male and female Educated Youth switched rooms?"

The village chief's eyes lit up when he heard that.

That's right. The female Educated Youth's room was large, and they could add another kang.

Exactly. It could fit even two more male Educated Youth.

"Pah, don't let any more come!"

Zhao Xianglan's expression changed, and she said fearfully.

"How can we switch rooms?"

"Then I'd be separated from Zhao Zhiqiang. That feudal superstition nonsense is unacceptable!"

Having repeatedly lost face in front of everyone, the village chief was thoroughly angered. He immediately made the final decision. "You male and female Educated Youth will switch rooms. Half a day is enough. If that isn't enough, start work later this afternoon. The male Educated Youth can squeeze in for now, and after work tonight, we'll build a kang in your inner room."

Having said that, he turned and left at once, afraid someone would stop him.