Volume 1, Chapter 18: Breaking Ground on the Farmstead

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At the sound of Luo Jiashuang’s voice, something seemed to brush lightly against Li Yan’s heart, and it suddenly softened.

He let out a quiet sigh.

He had intended to keep his distance from Luo Jiashuang in this life, focus on making money, and wait until he had accumulated enough capital before thinking about love. Yet only a few days after his rebirth, the entanglement between them had already deepened nonstop. For him, that was anything but a good thing.

It was like knowing full well that smoking damaged one’s health, yet so many people still could not quit. Having returned from 2025, Li Yan understood all too clearly that in the days to come, love without material support was truly like a pile of loose sand—it scattered at the first gust of wind. He did not understand why the world had become this way, but he lacked the power to change it.

Suddenly, he thought of everything in World 129 and its parallel realities.

Perhaps the futures of those parallel worlds could only be reshuffled after being tempered by war.

A thought stirred in Li Yan’s mind. If he truly gained the ability someday, perhaps he could try to change something.

When no reply came for a long while, a hint of nervousness crept into Luo Jiashuang’s voice. “Li Yan, are you listening? Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

“I’m at the building-materials market. I’ll come to you instead.”

A little after eight that evening, the two of them met at a hot-pot restaurant. Luo Jiashuang had been listless all day, but the moment she saw Li Yan, her energy returned. Her eyes shone as though they held stars.

“Li Yan, the beef tripe is about to overcook. Hurry and eat!” Her chopsticks flew as she fished out the tripe and, without giving him a chance to refuse, placed it in his bowl.

Li Yan looked at the mound of food piling up before him and gave a helpless smile. “Stop putting everything in my bowl. Eat some yourself.”

“No.” Luo Jiashuang pouted, laughter rippling in her eyes. “Hurry up and eat. It won’t taste good once it gets cold.”

“All right, then.”

Being served bite after bite allowed Li Yan to put his troubles out of mind for the moment.

“By the way, Li Yan, once the results come out, which university do you want to attend?” Luo Jiashuang suddenly asked. There was an unmistakable note of expectation hidden in her voice. Naturally, she wanted to attend the same school as Li Yan so that she could stay by his side.

She remembered that in her previous life, Li Yan had gone to a university on the outskirts of Cloud Province, while she had remained in the city. The two places were an hour apart by car. Every time she went to see him, the round trip took up most of the day. Luo Jiashuang now felt somewhat regretful. Why had she not paid closer attention to his college-entrance-examination results in her previous life?

She knew her own score now, but she could only wait until Li Yan’s results were released to learn the answer.

Li Yan picked up a bite of Spicy Blood Curd and chewed slowly, then raised his head and thought for a moment.

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Yes, he would have to wait until the scores were released before filling out his applications. Of course, he remembered his own results: 492 in the liberal-arts stream, thirty-two points above the second-tier cutoff. Back then, ignorant and inexperienced when submitting his applications, he had missed the mark during the first round and had not been admitted until the supplementary admissions period, when a school in a remote prefecture of Cloud Province finally accepted him.

Now that he had been given another chance, he naturally did not want to attend that university again. With his score, he actually had quite a few options. He remembered that Luo Jiashuang had scored 521, barely one point above the first-tier cutoff, and had later gone to a university in Soup Province.

“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll think about it after the scores come out,” Li Yan said vaguely.

To be honest, he did not particularly want to attend the same university as Luo Jiashuang. Besides, with her score, she could go somewhere better. There was no reason for her to let him hold her back.

“Oh...” Luo Jiashuang’s voice dipped, but then she looked up at him again, her eyes glittering. “After the scores come out, how about we go to the same university?”

Li Yan avoided her gaze and gently advised her, “We’ll see. You’re sure to score better than I do. If you can get into a good university, you should go.”

“I won’t.” Luo Jiashuang shook her head like a rattle. “Wherever you go, I’ll go. I’m sticking with you.”

Li Yan spread his hands helplessly. “All right. We’ll talk after the cutoff scores are announced. What if I can only attend a junior college? Would you follow me there too?”

Luo Jiashuang burst out laughing, her brows and eyes curving beautifully. “I believe you’ll definitely do well. Even if you really do go to a junior college, I’ll go with you.”

Li Yan shook his head, unwilling to continue dwelling on the subject. Instead, he said, “I’m planning to enroll in driving school in a few days. Do you want to come with me?”

“Sure!” Luo Jiashuang agreed at once, unable to hide the delight on her face. “We’ll go together!”

The next day, Li Yan and Luo Jiashuang went to driving school together and enrolled in the same class.

Li Yan was already an experienced driver. He was enrolling merely to go through the formalities and obtain a license. He was calculating that once he received the compensation from Liqiang Group, he would buy a car first. By the time school began, he could drive himself there.

Luo Jiashuang also looked completely relaxed.

She had obtained her license in her previous life, and after graduating, had even bought a car with help from her family.

As a result, when the instructor watched the young couple get behind the wheel, he could not help feeling puzzled. The way they handled the car looked nothing like that of beginners who had never driven before.

On the fourth day, the decorating company called to say that the construction plans for the farm had been completed and asked Li Yan to come over and confirm them.

In truth, Li Yan knew nothing about blueprints. He cared about only two things: starting construction as soon as possible and following every step of the process properly. That way, if Liqiang Group investigated later, nothing would appear too deliberate.

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The decorating company worked quickly. As soon as Li Yan confirmed the plans, construction began that afternoon. Bulldozers rumbled across the fields, leveling the uneven land until it lay flat and smooth.

Luo Jiashuang stood to one side, watching with bewilderment.

“Li Yan, are you really going to build a farm here?” she could not help asking. “Where did you get so much money? In just a few days, you not only paid off the remaining 310,000 yuan, but also hired a company to begin construction... How much is all this going to cost?”

She remembered that Li Yan’s family was ordinary and that both his parents were farmers. This amount of money was by no means a small sum for them.

Li Yan turned to look at her and deliberately teased her. “I sold one of my kidneys. That gave me plenty of money.”

“What?” Luo Jiashuang’s eyes widened in shock. Her gaze instinctively dropped to his waist, and an absurd thought flashed through her mind: Then wouldn’t her future sex life be left without any guarantee?

But then she saw the mischievous smile on Li Yan’s face and realized that he had been playing a trick on her. She rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. “Hmph. If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t. Stingy.”

Li Yan had no intention of telling her about the bounty just yet. The fewer people who knew about such a thing, the better. If Luo Jiashuang accidentally let it slip one day and one of Chen Xiangyang’s accomplices heard about it, the trouble would be immense.

It would be better to wait until he received the money from Liqiang Group.

As truck after truck delivered steel bars and cement, only one thought occupied Li Yan’s mind: Faster. Faster still.

The more he built now, the more he would be able to squeeze out of Liqiang Group later.

But in the end, this was still a huge gamble.

If Liqiang Group delayed the acquisition, he would not have enough money to pay for the subsequent stages of construction.

All he could do was hope that, a month later, Liqiang Group would come to negotiate the acquisition on schedule. Only then would he truly be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

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