Chapter 1: Life Is Not Easy
A light rain, carrying a chill, fell gently. Outside the dilapidated house, the grass was gradually growing, as if being gently caressed by the raindrops, quietly stretching its veins.
Shen Zhiyi woke up from a nightmare, wiping the cold sweat from her temples. The lingering fear of falling during the plane crash had not dissipated even after half a year in this world!
"Cough cough." Shen Zhiyi coughed lightly a few times, and a voice came from the other side of the wooden board: "Zhiyi, are you still feeling unwell?"
"It's alright," Shen Zhiyi replied in a hoarse voice. She had caught a cold again recently, and only her best friend Tang Huaya would worry about her catching a chill at night and stay with her.
If it weren't for the help and support from Tang Huaya and everyone in the village, her lonely soul from another world would have had a hard time integrating into this world.
Having transmigrated to this fictional world as a contemporary agronomist, she possessed knowledge and had also brought her vegetable seeds with her. However, her body was too weak, and she was forced to lie down for so long before she could even put her skills to use.
As she watched helplessly as her friends who came to talk to her dwindled one by one, until only Tang Huaya was left by her side, a particularly bad premonition welled up in her heart.
"Zhiyi, can't you sleep?" Tang Huaya asked softly. "Are you thinking about Xiaocui and the others?"
"Hmm," Shen Zhiyi replied softly, "Have you received any news from them during this time?"
"Not yet, but they should be doing quite well! Everyone says that Master Lin's family has surplus grain, so working as a servant or tenant farmer at his house won't make you starve," Tang Huaya advised.
From Tang Huaya's tone, Shen Zhiyi discerned her thoughts and couldn't help but ask, "You want to go?"
"If I become a maid, I can send two taels of silver to my family, so they won't have to sell land for the time being," Tang Huaya said slowly.
A month ago, Shen Zhiyi heard the village chief talking about the village's winter wheat harvest. Those who had long tended the fields knew immediately how bad the harvest would be. Meanwhile, neighboring villages were touting how good it was to be tenant farmers, and some people were already tempted.
People like Tang Huaya's family, who still hold onto the land, would mortgage their children to become servants in landlords' homes, saying that after a few years of work, the whole family could recover.
In this atmosphere, Shen Zhiyi knew that a few words wouldn't be enough to dispel her thoughts, so she didn't answer and pretended to be asleep.
As dawn broke, the cries of anguish echoed throughout the entire village.
Shen Zhiyi woke up groggily, not yet recognizing whose voice it was, when Tang Huaya exclaimed, "It's Xiao Cui Niang crying!"
"Could it be..." Shen Zhiyi paused at the right moment, as there was no need to talk about those bad premonitions at this point.
She quickly followed Tang Huaya's footsteps, and the villagers also started walking or running in the same direction.
When Shen Zhiyi caught up with the thatched hut, she saw Xiao Cui's mother holding Xiao Cui, who was pale and already dead, and crying loudly. Xiao Cui's father was silently wiping away tears beside her, and a few pieces of silver were scattered on the ground.
"Xiao Cui's father, what exactly happened? Xiao Cui was sent to Master Lin's house as a maid half a month ago, how come she came back like this..." the village chief asked.
“They said that when Cui’er served tea to the young lady, she burned her, and after being scolded by the young lady, she threw herself into the lake.” Cui’er’s father said, his voice choked. “They also said that Master Lin was generous and compensated our family with one tael of silver.”
"How could that be!" Tang Huaya shouted from the crowd. Seeing everyone's gaze turn towards her, she mustered her courage and continued, "Cui can swim! I know that, and Zhiyi knows that too!"
Shen Zhiyi stood to the side and nodded firmly.
But what good is knowing the truth now? It won't save Xiao Cui's life.
Everyone felt uneasy, and Tang Huaya trembled all over, standing close to Shen Zhiyi. This incident had already caused a significant shock.
A voice gradually rose from the crowd: "Master Lin is a kind man after all. He still sent the person back under these circumstances and even gave him money."
If they don't persuade them like this, what will happen to their children who are still at Master Lin's house?
"Yes, at least there's a way to survive."
"Something terrible has happened, Village Chief! Something horrible has occurred at Tie Tou's house!"
The two voices overlapped, and the village chief finished offering a few words of comfort to Xiao Cui and her family before hurriedly leaving with the person who had rushed over to deliver the news.
The crowd split into two groups: one group stayed behind to help Xiao Cui's family with the funeral arrangements, while the other group went with the village chief to check on Tie Tou's family.
"Zhiyi, go to Tietou's house and see what's going on. I'll stay here," Tang Huaya said.
“Okay,” Shen Zhiyi replied, and followed the last of the crowd to Tie Tou’s house.
She remembered Tie Tou, a boy of about ten years old, as thin as a bamboo pole, who would timidly call her "Sister Chen," and was somewhat reserved and sickly.
Apart from the half-thatched hut where the orphan Shen Zhiyi lived, all the other houses in the village were thatched. They were still habitable in the February weather, but in the hot summer and cold winter, even the healthiest person would have an accident living there.
However, this is the norm for life here.
Shen Zhiyi walked to the door and sat down weakly. She heard the village chief's voice inside: "How could you borrow grain from Master Lin's family? They always repay three times what they borrowed. How will you pay it back?"
“But if I hadn’t lent it to him, Tie Tou would have starved to death long ago,” a weak voice retorted.
"Then why did you call me here? You already have your own ideas!" the village chief said angrily.
"It's not even the due date yet, but they're already urging me to pay, and they've even sent people to smash things. I'm thinking of asking the village chief to help me talk to them, so I can go work and pay them back when the due date arrives." The woman's voice was very soft at the end, clearly lacking confidence.
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Considering that the maid's affair was unreliable and the grain loan was also unreliable, and that both were related to Master Lin, she knew that being a tenant farmer for such a master would not be a good life.
If that's the case, why be so fixated on these few paths?
She slowly stood up, leaning against the wall. Although she was standing behind the crowd, she had an undeniable aura. In the dimly visible gaze, Shen Zhiyi spoke up: "Grandpa Village Chief, let's reclaim the wasteland in our village."
“What nonsense are you talking about, Da Ya? Clearing land isn’t that easy…” someone nearby retorted. Shen Zhiyi calmly replied, “For the first three years after clearing land, you don’t need to pay taxes. You just need to register it and pay one tax. Then, in the sixth year, you pay the normal four taxes. Am I right?”
The village chief recovered from his shock and slowly said, "That's true. But girl, the wasteland allocated to our village is sandy loam. Even if we clear it, we can't grow crops."
“The harvests have been bad these past few years, and every household has no surplus grain or silver. Plus, there’s the matter with Cui’s family and Tie Tou. Is the Lin family really that easy to stay in? Rather than living in a daze, we should fight for a way to survive!” Shen Zhiyi stopped hiding her intentions and, taking advantage of the silence, continued, “I… got some seeds that are suitable for planting in wasteland like ours.”
"What kind of seeds?" the village chief asked keenly.
"Chili peppers," Shen Zhiyi said directly, her expression becoming confident.
Have you heard of it?
What is a chili pepper?
A cacophony of voices arose, all questioning Shen Zhiyi, but she was not afraid, and understood their concerns even more.
Shen Zhiyi took the initiative to say, "These are seeds I obtained by chance. They have a short planting cycle and don't need to be replanted after each harvest. If you take good care of them and they successfully lignify, they can grow into a chili pepper tree and produce even more chili peppers. They are a common ingredient similar to scallions and ginger, but they can enrich the flavor and will be highly sought after by dignitaries and restaurants."
When it came to professional matters, Shen Zhiyi's eyes lit up, causing these people to fall silent and listen patiently.
After a moment of silence, the village chief said, "This is no small matter; we need to discuss it carefully."
The light in Shen Zhiyi's eyes suddenly disappeared. She knew that persuading her might not have a good outcome, but she still couldn't get over her conscience and couldn't help but speak up.
The land is very important to them, and they won't easily take risks because of a few words from her.
It seems I have to start by doing it myself before I can bring the whole village together!
The more challenging the situation, the more determined Shen Zhiyi became to rise to the challenge.
Even with the scandals involving Mr. Lin, many people still harbored a sense of侥幸 (a sense of luck or侥幸心理, a feeling of being lucky or fortunate).
Shen Zhiyi saw this and was anxious. During this time, she could only calm down and stay in the dilapidated house to cultivate seedlings.
Strangely enough, because she did this, those illnesses quietly disappeared.
Although she recovered from her illness, Shen Zhiyi noticed that since Xiao Cui's incident, Tang Huaya had stopped talking about going to Master Lin's house to be a maid and had become increasingly clingy to her.
But this is good too. It's better for the two of them to be together and do things, rather than for her to overthink things alone.
"Zhiyi, it's grown!" Tang Huaya exclaimed excitedly.
Shen Zhiyi had noticed it last night and was just waiting for Tang Huaya to see it today and show a surprised expression. Seeing the plants showing signs of life is a pleasant thing.
"Next, we'll plant them in the wasteland behind the house," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile, looking tenderly at the chili seedlings.
"Are you really going to clear the land?" Tang Huaya asked incredulously, focusing her attention on Shen Zhiyi's slender arms and legs.
"Yes, this is the only path I can take," Shen Zhiyi replied earnestly, her eyes filled with determination.
Tang Huaya shifted her gaze to the so-called chili seedlings, her lips pressed tightly together, revealing her inner turmoil. Finally, she said in a deep voice, "Okay, I'll help you!"
"I promise you won't regret this decision!" Shen Zhiyi said confidently.
In her professional field, Shen Zhiyi has absolute confidence.
With Tang Huaya's help, the chili seedlings were quickly planted all over the wasteland behind the house.
Shen Zhiyi brought over some cooled water, and the two sat by the wasteland drinking water without any regard for appearances. Looking at the greenery in front of them, her eyes were full of smiles.
"There are still some seedlings inside the house. If there's not enough space in the wasteland behind your house, where else do you plan to put them?" Tang Huaya asked.
“Plant on the back mountain,” Shen Zhiyi said seriously. “The mountain has been piled up with fertile soil for who knows how long, and we can find a suitable spot for them.”
Tang Huaya looked slightly puzzled but didn't press for details. Instead, she said seriously, "But we can't go deep into the mountains."
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you," Shen Zhiyi assured her repeatedly. She was going to farm, not to see wild animals!
Shen Zhiyi has a natural advantage when it comes to assessing land, sunlight, and water, and she feels even more at home in these mountains. She even found several natural compost pits, which made her even happier.
The afternoon sun witnessed their wanderings in the mountains. Despite their hands being covered in mud, they wore happy smiles. When Shen Zhiyi planted the last cucumber seedling, she looked up and saw a squirrel peeking out from a branch, munching on a nut in her hand. Her eyes immediately turned into crescent moons.
"Hua Ya, look, there's a squirrel!" Shen Zhiyi exclaimed quickly. "Then it must have a place nearby where it's hiding its food!"
Tang Huaya was building a simple fence. Following the direction Shen Zhiyi pointed, she looked over and asked, somewhat puzzled, "How does grain have anything to do with squirrels?"
“Squirrels like to hide food for the winter, but they always forget where they hid it, so they hide it in various places,” Shen Zhiyi explained. “You see, it’s still eating in its hand, which means there’s a food storage spot nearby.”
"Then we need to catch squirrels?" Tang Huaya asked tentatively.
"I'll look around the neighborhood, I should be able to find some," Shen Zhiyi said happily. "Maybe we can survive until the cucumbers bear fruit by feeding the squirrels! That way we won't go hungry!"
This plan and expectation for the future inspired Tang Huaya, who smiled and loudly replied, "Okay!"
Shen Zhiyi carefully observed the trees and quickly found a typical three-way intersection. She climbed the tree with extreme lightness and saw that it really was there. Seeing the direction the squirrel had run away in fright, she murmured, "I will pay it back double when I make money. Little squirrel, don't hold a grudge against me in advance."
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