Chapter 69: Six-Zero Farm System (35)

According to the upgrade requirements, going from level one to level two is actually quite simple—plant nine plots of Black Soil to saturation, and after harvesting, sell everything to the system; the points obtained will be enough to upgrade.

The reason Zhao Wanqing has been slow to gather enough experience points for an upgrade is, first, she didn't thin the seedlings; whatever the seeds looked like when scattered, that's how they remained in the later stages.

This resulted in the cabbage failing to grow large, and the radishes being too crowded, causing them to grow spindly.

The corn was also very crowded, leading to insufficient light for the middle rows, and because the true leaves weren't thinned periodically, the cobs that formed, while numerous, were not necessarily plump.

Second, after harvesting, she didn't sell everything to the system, but instead kept half to take outside and sell for money.

After sorting out the upgrade mode of the Sub-system, Xie Yang logged out, thanked Zhou Afu who was driving the ox cart, and carried her basket back to the Youth Hostel.

Zhao Wanqing followed her through the door, her dark, unfathomable gaze fixed on Xie Yang's back for a long time.

Xie Yang entered her room, set down the basket, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and only then sat down to check the two packages received today.

First, she looked at the one her aunt sent.

She had already torn a slit in the package when she picked up the mail earlier; following this slit, she gave it a gentle pull, opening the package and revealing the items inside:

A pink and white striped towel quilt;

A piece of fine cotton cloth with a large red background and small white floral patterns;

A canned food jar of fried peanuts.

Based on what her aunt said in the letter, these peanuts were fried using the pork lard she had sent back mixed with rapeseed oil.

The fried peanuts carried a scent of pork, making them taste just like eating pork; everyone in the family praised them, so they sent a jar for her to taste as well.

As for the towel quilt and the fine cotton cloth, both were defective goods that didn't require coupons.

The towel quilt had a few dropped stitches, and the fine cotton cloth had uneven dyeing.

However, even as defective goods, these two items are generally hard to buy without connections.

This time, it was actually thanks to Xie Yang herself—

The medicinal wine made from the Wild Ginseng she sent back was ready to drink; her uncle gave two taels to a close colleague whose wife worked at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's fabric counter. As a gesture of reciprocity, she informed Xie Chunlan that a batch of defective towel quilts and fine cotton cloth was arriving, and she would save them for her if needed.

That was how Xie Chunlan successfully snatched up two towel quilts and one piece of fine cotton cloth.

The blue and white towel quilt was kept for her eldest son's wedding, while the pink and white one and the fine cotton cloth were sent to Xie Yang.

"... I checked the towel quilt; the dropped stitches aren't very obvious. The temperature in Chuan Nan is high, so it must be very hot by May or June, right? You can't use a winter quilt, so switch to the towel quilt."

Her aunt specifically added a few instructions in the letter:

"The uneven dyeing on the fine cotton cloth is indeed a bit of an eyesore, but three feet of cloth isn't enough to make a jacket anyway. You can cut out the part where the dyeing is particularly noticeable and find time to make yourself a set of undergarments to wear inside..."

Xie Yang: "..."

Undergarments made of bright red cloth?

She found that a bit hard to accept.

So, she silently tucked the fabric into the storage chest at the foot of her bed.

The undergarments she wears now were bought in the "Limited Time Purchase" column using points.

It is made of tough silk fabric produced on a Habitable Star in the interstellar space, which can pass for local milky-white fine cotton cloth. Although it is a bit pricey, it has the advantage of being comfortable, breathable, and seamless against the skin.

She bought two sets at the time, which is enough for washing and changing, so she doesn't need to add any for now.

Besides the two sets of undergarments, she also redeemed a batch of highly absorbent sanitary pads.

In this backward era, what she is least accustomed to is not the labor or the lack of electronic products, but the absence of sanitary pads.

Therefore, these points had to be spent.

After putting away the things her aunt sent, she went on to look at the package Lin Xi sent her.

It was basically local specialties from the Heng City area:

One jin of tea oil, three jin of starch noodles, a large bag of well-dried black lotus seeds, and two smoked squabs wrapped in oil paper.

A letter was tucked inside the bag of black lotus seeds.

Unfolding it, Lin Xi's neat handwriting jumped out from the paper:

"Sister Yang Yang, I am very happy to receive your reply. Why did you send us so many things? Will you have enough to eat yourself..."

Then, the child probably thought she had sent her entire family fortune, so when school was on break, he went around the streets and alleys collecting a pile of Heng City specialties to send to her.

Besides the specialties, a bicycle coupon was also tucked into the letter.

"... Sister Yang Yang, my dad knows about the Yuewan Brigade. He said it is the furthest brigade from the Chuannan Commune, and it's inconvenient for you to travel back and forth to the Commune. I hope this bicycle coupon is helpful to you..."

It is helpful!

It is a huge help!

Xie Yang was just thinking about buying a bicycle.

The "Limited Time Purchase" column opened by the system does have bicycles, but how should she put it—they only resemble them in shape.

Gugu Bird eggs that look similar can be passed off as wild pheasant eggs and eaten;

Fabric that looks similar can be made into undergarments to wear inside without worrying about being seen, and even if washed and hung on a bamboo pole, in this era, unless someone is a hooligan, most people will just walk around it and definitely won't come close to stare.

But a bicycle is different; this thing is a rare item that draws a lot of attention, and such a large object cannot be hidden away.

If it's left there when not being ridden, with people touching and looking at it, it's bound to be discovered that its materials are different from local bicycles.

She had originally intended to wait for an opportunity to go to the city and sell some Wild Ginseng to exchange for a bicycle coupon, but she didn't expect the Lin family to be so thoughtful and send her one directly.

She definitely has to return this favor, but she can buy the bicycle and start using it first.

She sorted out the spare money she had on hand.

Before going to the countryside, she topped up two hundred into the System Mall, kept one hundred on hand, and added the fifty her aunt gave her; the total amount was exactly one hundred and fifty.

Since coming to the countryside, what she eats and uses is either scavenged from the mountains, redeemed from the System Mall, or gifted by others. Except for buying stamps, she has hardly spent any money, so one hundred and fifty should be enough to buy a bicycle.

Thus, before the busy farming season began, Xie Yang asked the Brigade Leader for another day off and went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy a ladies' bicycle.

She had originally wanted to buy a classic "28-inch" roadster, but men's bicycles were in too high demand; after all, bicycles are luxury items these days, and even if an average family buys one, it's for the men to ride. The classic 28-inch roadster had been sold out at the Commune for a long time.

The ladies' bicycle, however, had been sitting there unsold, almost gathering dust.

Moreover, it was over ten yuan cheaper than the "twenty-eight" heavy-duty bicycle, costing only 136.

Xie Yang spent almost all the savings she had on hand and rode the Flying Pigeon ladies' bicycle with a basket back to the Yuewan Brigade.

This was the first person in the Yuewan Brigade to own a bicycle!

One can imagine how sensational it was!

Zhao Wanqing stared at the bicycle Xie Yang rode back, completely obsessed:

"It must be her! It must be her who bound that magical system; perhaps she even sold the radishes and cabbages I grew, otherwise where would she get the money and coupons to buy a bicycle!"

It could be said that ever since the Super Farm System voluntarily unbound from Zhao Wanqing, she had been suspecting Xie Yang, attempting to find evidence that Xie Yang was bound to the Super Farm System.

Fortunately, Xie Yang never entered the Farm Space in places where there were people.

She had great strength and high efficiency; even during the busy farming season, when assigned labor Tasks with a full work-point intensity, she could still finish one or two hours earlier than the others.

After finishing work, she would carry her basket into the mountains as usual, find a secluded spot where few people went, and enter the space.

She would come out on time before dark, chop down a dead tree at random, drag the firewood back to the Youth Hostel, and incidentally turn in her firewood-gathering Task; no one suspected that during this time, she had actually gone to another place to continue farming.