Chapter 135: Impossible in This Lifetime

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One should not underestimate that twenty percent. Li Kai had helped his sister-in-law sell things several times and earned twenty yuan in total, which meant that he himself had received four yuan.

That was no small sum. He had earned it in half a month, and it was far better than working in the fields.

Besides, his sister-in-law had said that they were still only in the early stages of their venture. In time, their operation would certainly grow and bring in even more money.

Li Kai had, in fact, once wondered where his sister-in-law got all those goods.

But he knew perfectly well that such matters could not be openly discussed. Why pry into them too closely?

Everyone had a few private calculations of their own. In those days, if one hoped to live well, relying solely on a life of labor beneath the open sky was simply not enough.

It was impossible to live that way for an entire lifetime.

So Li Kai had learned to be clever. Even when he had doubts, he merely observed in silence. If something was not his place to ask about, he would not utter a single unnecessary question.

Upgrading the ranch was somewhat more difficult than upgrading the farm, and it also took more time. To this day, there were only three cows and four little goats.

But one must not underestimate those four little goats. At the very least, Tang Xin had more milk and goat's milk every day than she could drink. Whatever was left over was processed in the workshop into milk candies and milk powder.

She found a way to bring the milk powder out and mixed it into the old milk-powder tin. Every day, she made a cup for each member of the family.

Although the key was in Madam Fang's hands, she was an open-minded mother-in-law who never interfered in her daughter-in-law's affairs. Besides, no one else knew exactly how many good things Tang Xin possessed.

Thus, no one had noticed that the milk powder Tang Xin had taken out earlier had long since been used up. In reality, what they were drinking now had all been added later.

Whenever she was in the mood, Tang Xin would also make yogurt, cheese, and the like to satisfy her cravings. After all, she only needed to provide ten times the amount of raw materials in exchange for points; she did not have to do the actual processing herself.

Of course, these things could only be enjoyed by her alone. It was truly inconvenient to take them out and share them with everyone.

It was not that she wanted to keep all the good food for herself. Some things simply did not belong to this era. If she brought them out and frightened everyone, how could she possibly explain them?

So no one should assume that Tang Xin was merely lazy every day, sleeping until the sun was high in the sky before getting up. The truth was that she stayed up far too late at night.

When Li Sheng was home, they slept together. Tang Xin could not keep vanishing without warning, so each day she could only squeeze out a little time to enter the farm in her space.

And secondly—cough, cough—any ordinary married couple would understand.

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The two of them kept quite busy at night. Where would Tang Xin have found the time to do anything else?

These past few days, however, had been different. Brother Li Sheng had gone out on a delivery run, leaving Tang Xin alone through the long, cold, lonely nights. She missed her man terribly.

Since she could not sleep anyway, she took advantage of the opportunity to work as hard as she could on her farm.

With entire stretches of uninterrupted time at her disposal, Tang Xin began making ambitious plans to put her farm in proper order.

She had to tend not only to the crops, but also to the fruit trees, cattle, and sheep, as well as the fish pond and beehive that had come as benefits from upgrading the farm.

Tang Xin was therefore filled with anticipation. Who knew what wonderful things the next upgrade would bring?

It was no wonder that, after sleeping so poorly at night, she naturally could not get up early in the morning. As a result, she slept late every day before finally rising.

Whenever she had free time, Tang Xin also had to write manuscripts and continue submitting them to the newspaper, while planning the grand course of her future life.

In addition, she taught the people in her family to read and write. From time to time, she kept an eye on the younger ones' studies and assigned them extra work beyond their school lessons.

So, apart from finding ways every day to improve life for herself and her family, earning a little spending money and putting some aside, she also had to concern herself with matters affecting the nation and its people.

She was busy—truly far too busy. Tang Xin almost wanted to sigh and declare that life was simply too difficult.

In truth, her farm contained something even better: spirit spring water. It could strengthen the body, prolong one's life, and, at a crucial moment, even save a person's life.

She received one drop for signing in each day, and a reward after signing in for ten consecutive days. As a result, Tang Xin had accumulated quite a lot over time.

But this stuff was even less convenient to bring out.

Using it as ordinary drinking water would be a terrible waste, while using it to save someone's life would be far too conspicuous.

After meeting the several professors living in the cowshed—men destined to become important figures in the future—Tang Xin had thought of a good solution.

Whenever she secretly brought them food, she would add one or two drops of spirit spring water to it, helping them restore and improve their health.

One should always carry a heart of gratitude. Tang Xin knew that, during the early years after the founding of the nation, those people had indeed made tremendous contributions.

This was merely a special transitional period. The country and its people would remember them and be grateful for their service. One day, they would return to the positions that truly belonged to them.

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For now, Tang Xin only hoped to contribute what little strength she could, so that they would not perish during the long darkness before dawn.

The reason she had taken more things out of the warehouse in her space this time was mainly because she had been quite satisfied with the items obtained from the previous upgrade.

Take eggs, for example. Their old hen could now lay eggs very diligently every day, and her mother-in-law was willing to let everyone in the family eat them.

Then there were sausages, cured meat, and the like, which could also be brought out.

There were also biscuits, along with pickled vegetables and raisins that Tang Xin had made herself in the workshop. The adults and children in the family would all be delighted to eat them.

Li Xihua's tongue was as irritating as ever, so her mother-in-law kept smoothing things over and treated Tang Xin with even greater gentleness.

Tang Xin naturally had no intention of quarreling with her sister-in-law. Instead, she took the initiative to change the subject and began chatting with her about other gossip from the production team.

As for what was happening at present, a major event had taken place in the Eighth Production Team of Harvest Brigade, attracting the eager attention of everyone who was working feverishly to prepare for spring plowing.

No—it would be more accurate to say that it had drawn the attention of all the women.

The former deputy women's leader of the Eighth Team had temporarily stepped down because she was pregnant and needed to give birth, so they had to elect someone new.

The deputy women's leader was chiefly responsible for organizing the women's production work in the Eighth Team. It was a position of considerable responsibility and authority.

Tang Xin had already been wearing a simple cucumber mask for some time. Finding herself bored, she slipped another slice of cucumber into her mouth. After hearing her elder sister-in-law's gossip, she paused in surprise and asked, "They're electing a new deputy women's leader? Are all the candidates women from our own team?"

Wasn't that obvious?

Li Xihua nodded, unable to resist taking a slice herself.

And she had to admit, after an entire winter, there was hardly any green produce left in the vegetable garden. On top of that, their family had eaten an abundance of rich meat and fish during the New Year celebrations. She had begun to crave something crisp and refreshing, such as cucumbers.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Xin said, "Sis, are you familiar with the former women's leader? She's pregnant, isn't she? Take her twenty eggs as a gift, and ask her to recommend you for the election."

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