God-Tier Get Rich System – CH84

Chapter 84: Love in the Details

Du Xuewen lifted his head and looked coldly at Lin Shuzhen, wanting to hear what else she would say.

Lu Manman and Xu Jincheng both frowned.

Lu Manman’s tone was stern. “Don’t say things like that again. There’s no national regulation requiring educated youth to live together.”

“My cousin was sent to a rural village, and the educated youth there all lived separately with local villagers. Situations like theirs are not rare across the country. Are you saying all of them are harming unity?”

Lin Shuzhen seemed very afraid of Lu Manman and stammered, “I-I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just talking casually.”

Yue Xiaoying looked up, reminiscing. “Since we came to the countryside, Comrade Mu and Comrade Xu have treated us to meat four times, right? And some people still can’t keep their mouths shut.”

Lin Shuzhen’s face turned pale, then red. She hurriedly said, “I really didn’t mean anything!”

Xu Jincheng tried to smooth things over. “Alright, it’s been cleared up. Let’s eat.”

The tense atmosphere among the educated youth didn’t spread to Mu Lantu’s home.

The three people and one dog ate happily.

Miao Jiaze helped clean up the dishes before heading back.

After dawn, Xu Huazhang borrowed the brigade leader’s bicycle to go into town. He returned around 4 p.m., bringing back five pickle jars and using up every last industrial coupon.

The jars were hard to carry, so he spent five cents renting a horse cart to bring them back.

Xu Huazhang cleaned the jars thoroughly, turned them upside down in the yard, and propped them up with two pieces of firewood underneath—clean and better for draining.

After finishing, he started making dinner.

As the other educated youth approached their shared living area after work, chatting and laughing, their pace suddenly slowed.

“What’s that smell?”

“Smells like something burnt!”

They sniffed the air.

Miao Jiaze glanced at the smoke rising from Mu Lantu’s chimney and then at Mu Lantu’s complicated expression, quietly snickering.

“Is Comrade Xu cooking?” Lu Manman said tactfully. “Um… there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”

Always quiet and almost invisible, male educated youth Zhang Guodong smacked his lips. “From the smell, it’s not just the rice. The dishes are burnt too.”

Xu Jincheng patted Mu Lantu on the shoulder and kindly advised, “Comrade Mu, I think from now on it’s better if you cook at home. It’s a waste of grain otherwise.”

Mu Lantu nodded. “Makes sense. I’m going ahead!”

He ran off, making everyone behind him burst into laughter.

Mu Lantu rushed into the kitchen. Xu Huazhang was looking around as if trying to find a place to destroy the evidence.

Hearing footsteps, Xu Huazhang stiffened for a second. “It was an accident.”

Mu Lantu looked at the thick layer of burnt rice in the large pot and the mushy eggplant slop in the smaller pot, and held his forehead.

“I’ll do the cooking from now on.”

He gave up completely on turning Xu Huazhang into a chef. Xu Huazhang had zero talent!

Xu Huazhang was self-aware. “I’ll light the fire.”

“If you don’t, who will?”

Mu Lantu didn’t like fire-tending. Sitting by the stove in the heat of summer—only those who’ve done it know how miserable it is.

He ladled water to wash his hands, and while Xu wasn’t looking, scrubbed the pots clean with a steel wool pad.

Xu Huazhang closed the courtyard gate and came over holding a small item.

“Baby, this is for you.”

“What is this…” Mu Lantu flipped it over in his hands. It looked like an oversized fork and knife, but the “teeth” were bent at sharp angles toward the handle.

Xu Huazhang said, “Don’t you like digging for wild vegetables? I made this wild-vegetable-digging tool for you. It can also be used for weeding.”

Mu Lantu tried a few motions with the tool. It was small, convenient, and made him cheerful. “It’s really useful. I’ll try it tomorrow!”

Xu Huazhang knew he’d like it, and smiled.

“How’s your machine coming?” Mu Lantu carefully set aside the weeder and asked about their big project.

Xu Huazhang skillfully resumed prepping food. “I gathered all the materials today. Tomorrow I need to make another trip to the county to have the machinery factory help with grinding and welding.”

He didn’t have the tools himself, so he had to outsource those steps.

Mu Lantu was worried. “Will the factory help? I’ll prepare something for you to smooth the way.”

Xu Huazhang, being technically skilled, was confident he could win over the factory workers. He didn’t think it was necessary, but if it eased Mu Lantu’s mind, he’d go along with it.

“Alright.”

The night passed peacefully.

At sunrise, Xu Huazhang took the cigarettes and tea Mu Lantu prepared and went to the county. Mu Lantu took the weeder, two small baskets, and Wangcai the dog to the fields.

One oval basket for collecting wild vegetables, one square one as a stool.

The weeder’s handle was custom-designed by Xu Huazhang, perfectly sized.

Mu Lantu targeted a wild vegetable, jabbed the tool into the soil just above its root, pulled back—and it came out easily. He shook off the dirt and dropped it in the basket.

A few nearby aunties looked stunned, then curious, and walked over.

“Comrade Mu, what’s that?”

“That tool looks so handy!”

“Comrade Xu made it for me,” Mu Lantu said casually, but pride sparkled in his eyes.

The aunties chattered excitedly.

“A ‘magic tool’? Doesn’t look bad at all!”

“Comrade Xu really has a clever brain. No wonder he’s an educated city man!”

“Comrade Mu, can I try it?”

“Could we make one ourselves?”

“There’s a metal piece underneath, right? That part won’t be easy to find!”

Mu Lantu generously let them all try it out.

The brigade leader noticed the commotion and called out, but no one responded, so he walked over.

“What are you all doing crowding here instead of working?”

The aunties excitedly showed him the weeder.

When he heard it was made by Xu Huazhang, a slight smile tugged at the brigade leader’s lips. He was now even more confident in Xu Huazhang’s ability to create a manual harvester.

The points recorder scoffed a little. That tool wasn’t all that special—he could’ve made it himself.

The brigade leader snorted silently. Sure, it looks simple, but why hadn’t anyone thought of it before? The same could be said about the harvester—it seems unremarkable, yet no one else had thought of it.

Thanks to the weeder, Mu Lantu earned full points for the day—four work points—and gained 2,800 points on the Labor Honor Roll.

Since Xu Huazhang wasn’t home for lunch, Mu Lantu didn’t cook. Instead, he took Wangcai into the mountains to gather more wild vegetables.

The five pickle jars weren’t enough.

That evening, after Xu Huazhang returned, the two of them agreed to go buy more jars once they were on break.

Xu Huazhang completed the manual harvester. The machinery factory had sharpened the blades to a razor’s edge.

After dark, the two of them brought the harvester to the brigade leader’s house and stayed for over an hour before returning.

A couple of days later, the Dongfanghong brigade got a break!

The villagers were as happy as if it were New Year, and the educated youth were overjoyed.

Before sunrise, Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen came knocking on their door.

The village had only one ox cart, which could carry at most ten people. If they were too late, they’d have to walk two or three hours to the county town.

Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang quickly packed and headed out, carrying big bags.

Wangcai tried to follow but was pushed back. He had to stay home and guard the house.

“Woo woo woo…”

Wangcai whined pitifully. Xu Huazhang took the lock from Mu Lantu and closed the gate.

One of Wangcai’s eyes pressed against the gate crack, staring mournfully at Xu Huazhang.

Du Xuewen laughed. “Wangcai is too cute!”

Miao Jiaze jumped anxiously. “Brother Xu, Brother Mu, hurry!”

Du Xuewen reassured, “We got up so early, we should make it.”

The four of them ran, but were still too late. The ox cart had already left—the torches up ahead were proof.

Du Xuewen groaned, “Now what? We really have to walk three hours?”

Miao Jiaze replied, “What else?”

Unless they gave up.

Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang switched on their flashlights and led the way.

Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen hurried to follow.

More people appeared on the village paths, some with flashlights, most carrying homemade torches.

Some villagers left later but walked faster, overtaking them with a smile.

Despite the pain in their legs, Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen didn’t give up.

They finally had a chance to go into town—there was no way they’d give it up. Steamed meat buns, dumplings, and braised pork were waiting!

Following Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang’s pace, they unintentionally sped up.

Two hours later, the four of them arrived in the county.

The sky had fully brightened.

Along the way, passing other brigades, Mu Lantu’s Honor Roll followers increased from 200+ to over 600. By the time they reached town, it included city dwellers too—now totaling over 10,000 people.

Though these new names didn’t mean much yet, he now had two lottery draws.

In front of the state-run restaurant was a long queue. Delicious smells wafted out, and many in line were sniffing hungrily.

“I’ll go see what they’re serving today!” Du Xuewen ran off and returned shortly. “They’ve got meat buns, shredded pork noodles, and big wontons!”

Miao Jiaze, exhausted and sore, squatted down without a word.

Taking advantage of the wait, Mu Lantu tapped on the “Draw” button in the Honor Roll interface.

[Congratulations! You’ve won 30kg of high-quality refined rice. It has been stored in your mall space. Please claim it within 24 hours or it will be reclaimed.]

One draw left.

[Congratulations! You’ve won a friend!]

Mu Lantu tapped the message. A name, detailed address, and a few lines of explanation popped up.

The friend was from Haishi, named Gong Juren.

Gong Juren = “Tool person”?

The Labor Honor Roll really had a sense of humor!

Mu Lantu could now send materials purchased from the Honor Roll shop in this person’s name—greatly reducing suspicion in real life.

He could even choose the delivery time.

Mu Lantu looked at Xu Huazhang. Now he had a chance to cook seafood for his precious darling!

Xu Huazhang leaned closer, silently asking with his eyes.

Mu Lantu smiled back. “It’s nothing.”