“Gulp.”

The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

Was it because the noodles smelled so good?

No, it was because Xiao Lan was too beautiful!

How could such a stunning beauty exist in this backwater county?

Her skin was so fair it dazzled the eyes. Her eyes sparkled with moisture, and she had a delicate pointed chin. Though she wore a proper blue top, her full chest made it somehow seem improper. The white bandage wrapped around her forehead showed faint traces of blood, making her appear even more delicate and worthy of sympathy.

Watching her eat noodles with small bites made him wish he could turn into the noodles in her bowl… Everywhere they went in the county today, they’d attracted such amazed glances. Liu Fen thought people were staring because mother and daughter were poorly dressed, but in truth, they were all looking at Xiao Lan.

The noodle stall auntie knocked heavily on a bowl, finally snapping the young man back to reality.

“Are you going to order noodles or not?”

The young man felt somewhat embarrassed and handed his lunch box to the stall owner: “Of course! The smell drew me from far away. Two bowls please, packed in the lunch box to go!”

His Beijing accent revealed he wasn’t a local.

Xiao Lan frowned. Though people had been secretly glancing at her today, none had been as bold and direct as this outsider.

She still wasn’t used to her current face. After living with an unremarkable face for decades in her previous life, it was easy to forget how beautiful she looked now. Just buying a lock wasn’t enough security – she’d need to buy scissors after finishing the noodles.

The bone broth bubbled in the small stove, and the noodles were rolled thin and fine. The outsider’s two bowls were quickly prepared. Even after paying, he was reluctant to leave, looking back every few steps.

Liu Fen also sensed something was wrong and started eating faster.

The 0.3 yuan noodles came in large bowls. Liu Fen drank every last drop of the soup. People these days had little oil in their diet – when they did eat, they ate heartily. Women could easily polish off a pound of steamed buns in one sitting.

Xiao Lan then took Liu Fen to buy a knife.

She had wanted to buy a cleaver earlier – there was a good quality stainless steel one from Shanghai… but at 5 yuan, Manager Xia had walked away immediately. The item was good, but money wasn’t easy to spend. Now thinking about it, scissors would do.

The young outsider returned to his vehicle with the two lunch boxes of noodles, spilling some soup.

In the driver’s seat sat a man with a crew cut and sharp, handsome features – the kind considered attractive in any era.

“Look at you, getting all worked up!”

The companion who bought the noodles protested: “Brother Cheng, I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful. If you’d seen her, you wouldn’t have been able to walk away either.”

How many young women were there in Beijing’s streets?

He had never seen anyone more beautiful than her.

Not a stern or heroic type of beauty, but rather soft and alluring – the kind that men found most captivating.

“We agreed before – I’m just taking you on this one trip. Learn what you can about the business along the way. If you can’t learn, stay wherever you want. You can stay right here in this county chasing girls if that’s what you prefer.”

“La Mi” was Beijing slang for chasing girls. Brother Cheng had a mischievous streak and a bad temper, so the young man who bought the noodles didn’t dare say more. After finishing their noodles, they drove off.

Two legs couldn’t move as fast as four wheels, and after two streets, they encountered Xiao Lan and her mother again.

“Brother Cheng, look quick!”

The young man in the passenger seat was making a fuss. Brother Cheng glanced up and saw only a back view. Blue-patched clothes, loose and baggy, make the girl’s figure appear even more graceful. The skin visible behind her ears was startlingly white… Beautiful or not, weren’t all women just two eyes and a mouth? Not interesting.

The young man was disappointed.

“Well, seems she’s not destined for you~”

Brother Cheng didn’t dwell on it. The vehicle quickly left Anqing County. It would take two more days to reach Shanghai. Long-distance driving was not only tiring but also risky due to potential robbers – there was no time to admire pretty girls.

The outsider with wandering eyes had given Xiao Lan a warning, so she went to buy a large pair of scissors.

Without a pot, which they couldn’t afford, they simply bought a matching pair of enamel mugs. These could serve multiple functions – cooking, storing things, drinking water – very cost-effective. Adding two pairs of chopsticks, their original 9.2 yuan was down to 6 yuan. Xiao Lan didn’t dare spend more. Wild duck eggs weren’t easy to find – the duck nests in Dahe Village had been completely ransacked. If they wanted to make money selling eggs, they’d have to go to other villages – with just mother and daughter collecting, they could only earn enough to get by.

Xiao Lan wanted to start an egg-trading business. With 20 yuan as capital, they wouldn’t need to search through reed marshes anymore.

Dahe Village was two hours from the county town, but there were villages even further away.

Walking three hours to sell ten eggs in town for 1.5 yuan meant a six-hour round trip. If she bought eggs at 0.12 yuan each, people would normally be willing to walk six hours to earn that extra 0.3 yuan, but harvest time was approaching. Even older children would be helping in the fields – who would have time to sell eggs in town? If families didn’t sell their eggs during the half-month busy farming period, they would spoil in the heat… Xiao Lan wanted to take advantage of this special period to profit from the price difference.

Earning two or three fens per egg wasn’t much, but with 100 eggs a day, it would be two or three yuan.

Excluding rainy days when they couldn’t go to town, they could still earn over 70 yuan a month. Didn’t sound like much? In her previous life, Xiao Lan had an elderly client who told her about working at the county guest house in the 1980s for a monthly salary of 36 yuan. In 1983, the wealthy were those who had started private businesses years earlier, though they kept their wealth well hidden. Those who could openly earn high salaries were civil servants and institutional staff. There was a serious “mental-physical labor wage inversion” phenomenon – intellectuals earned less than workers, especially in heavy industries like oil and coal, where many workers earned one to two hundred yuan monthly. During the same period, key high school teachers only earned a few dozen yuan per month!

Farmers had the lowest income.

If Xiao Lan could earn 70 yuan a month, the Xia family would probably welcome her back and worship her like a Buddha!

Without capital or useful connections, Xiao Lan knew the first step toward wealth would be difficult, but they would take it slowly.

After two hours, they returned to Dahe Village with their purchases.

They first put their things in the broken house – having an iron lock greatly improved their sense of security. They returned Old Wang’s flashlight to the cattle pen. Xiao Lan felt her forehead wound itching, and Liu Fen suggested she go to the health station to change the dressing. Xiao Lan took this seriously – after all that walking and sweating, she worried about infection.

Changing the dressing wasn’t expensive, mainly just disinfecting the wound.

The doctor showed some professional ethics, unlike the gossip, and carefully examined Xiao Lan’s wound:

“Don’t worry, it’s healing well. Doesn’t look like it will leave a scar.”

Xiao Lan sighed in relief, “Thank you for your care.”

As mother and daughter left the health station, Liu Fen grabbed Xiao Lan’s sleeve:

“Isn’t that your uncle?”

The Xia family lived at the village entrance. A short man was arguing with Old Mrs. Xia:

“The Xia family is completely black-hearted! You caused the death of my sister and niece. If you don’t hand over the people responsible, I’ll smash your family to pieces!”