Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 6

Song Tan was genuinely shocked.

“Are we really that rich?”

With both mountains and fields.

“Rich? What are you talking about?” Wu Lan didn’t even look up. “These were passed down from your grandfather. Desolate mountains and wild hills, we can’t sell them, and no one rents them, so they just sit there idle!”

Song Tan fell silent.

The entire village now had less than thirty households, with an average age of forty or fifty. Grain wasn’t worth much, and they barely got by. So, like their family, most others also left large areas of land unused.

The primary reason was the lack of labor.

The terrain here was mountainous, making it impossible to use large farm machinery. Using smaller ones was expensive, and the income from a year’s work on one field couldn’t cover the costs. Moreover, the winding roads made it hard to sell anything outside.

Rice and wheat were grown for their own consumption. After a year of hard work with irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and weeding, it was a significant expense.

And the yield?

With insufficient labor, they only harvested what they needed for themselves.

Looking back, the supermarket in town sold rice for two yuan per jin (500g). Though the taste wasn’t great, it was cheaper and less effort than growing it themselves!

So they left the fields idle.

To make money, they had to work outside after the busy season in the first half of the year!

For instance, Wu Lan worked at a shoe factory last year, earning six thousand a month, and only came home for the New Year.

The year before, Song Sancheng worked at a construction site in the capital, earning four hundred a day for three months, making over thirty thousand, but losing ten pounds and needing half a month to recuperate.

After all, they were getting old!

Song Tan felt a pang of sorrow in her heart and promised, “Mom, don’t worry. I will make sure you and Dad live a good life!”

Wu Lan didn’t discourage her but instead asked, “If you can handle it, you can take care of all the fields and mountains. Just don’t ruin the vegetable garden.”

“And you’ll see what real hard work is.”

“But what are you planning to plant in late February with both mountains and fields?”

Song Tan: …

She hadn’t really thought about it!

She had only returned for half a day and hadn’t had any cultivation results yet. What could she plant that wouldn’t be a waste?

But under Wu Lan’s intimidating gaze, Song Tan quickly changed her tune:

“Mom, don’t worry. When have I ever done anything I wasn’t confident about?”

That was true. Her daughter had always been obedient and sensible—except for this time.

Wu Lan responded with a nod, waiting for more.

Song Tan said, “In that case, let Dad rent some machines tomorrow to plow the idle fields.”

“I won’t touch the ones we’re already using.”

“I also have plans for the mountains, but we’ll need people to dig them. Machines won’t reach there—Mom, you just hire people, and I’ll pay.”

“You’ll pay?” Wu Lan looked at her meaningfully:

“Dear, hiring someone to dig the mountain costs two hundred yuan a day. You only have sixty thousand, so be careful, or we won’t have much savings left to support you.”

Song Tan’s face split into a smile—why had she been so obedient before! Reporting her savings, being a mama’s girl!

Song Qiao, who had just finished cleaning the kitchen, came in with red hands, making Wu Lan angry again: “How many times have I told you to use hot water in winter! Why don’t you listen?”

They had been training Song Qiao in household chores, teaching him bit by bit, fearing for the future… But Song Qiao didn’t know how to take care of his health, making the process frustrating.

For instance, now, he ignored her and snuggled up to Song Tan:

“Sis, I want to watch Peppa! Mom won’t let me!”

Oh my!

Who could refuse such a sweetheart!

Song Tan immediately took out her phone: “Alright, let’s—”

She froze.

The phone she pulled out was covered in cracks, barely holding together—

Wu Lan glanced at her own thousand-yuan phone, feeling a sudden pang of heartache.

“I know things are tough for you out there, but you don’t need to be so frugal. We’re fine at home.”

She softened her tone: “If you want to farm, then do it properly. We have plenty of land; you can do as you like.”

She turned around and transferred two thousand yuan to Song Tan: “Buy a new phone when you go to town tomorrow.”

Song Tan blinked in surprise, looking at her phone again—what an unexpected gift!

But then she heard Song Qiao making “oink oink” sounds beside her, looking at the two of them.

Wu Lan’s gentle demeanor evaporated, and she shouted:

“Song Qiao! I told you, if you keep imitating pig sounds, you won’t get to watch TV!”

…

In the quiet of the night, Song Tan finally had a chance to try drawing in spiritual energy.

Tiny points of spiritual light floated in the silent winter village, slowly drifting with the wind.

As she practiced her cultivation technique, the firefly-like spiritual energy, invisible to the average person, began to gather bit by bit.

Like sweet dew, it nourished her battered and weak body, refining her physical form…

By dawn, as the sky lightened, she gathered the now denser spiritual energy into her dantian.

She was now covered in sticky black impurities, and the room was filled with an increasingly pungent odor.

Song Tan had to sneak into the bathroom like a thief—thank goodness for modern rural areas. Even though she wasn’t as sensitive to cold anymore, she still had to say: hot water heaters are amazing!

But unfortunately, the grime was so hard to scrub off that she ran out of hot water, waking Wu Lan up.

Bathing on a cold winter morning and using up all the hot water? She must be out of her mind!

So, in an instant, the whole family was up—Qiao Qiao made ginger tea, Song Sancheng stoked the fire, and Wu Lan boiled more water on the stove, determined not to let her catch a cold!

By the time she was ready to go out, Fairy Song Tan was wrapped in an old military coat and wore a woolen hat from her grandmother’s time, only then allowed to sit on the back of the motorcycle.

Motorcycles were hard to start in winter, and Song Sancheng struggled with the kickstart. Meanwhile, she pondered her plans for the day—

First, she needed to go to the town’s police station to get her ID card.

Thank goodness, because of widespread mobile payments, she hadn’t been carrying cards during the car accident, saving her a lot of trouble.

Next, she needed to buy a new phone.

Once these two crucial tasks were done, she’d buy some farming tools, fertilizer, and most importantly—seeds.

As for which seeds to buy, Song Tan already had an idea.

Sitting on the motorcycle, looking at the rolling mountains they had just crossed and the rising sun, she felt a surge of ambition:

“Dad! It won’t be long before I make our village more beautiful! Our lives will get better!”

From the front, Song Sancheng loudly replied: “Tan Tan, just be careful with that sixty thousand yuan!”