God-Tier Get Rich System – CH90

Chapter 90: Keeping Secrets

Su Qianqian turned pale at those words, and she began to waver. Twisting her fingers nervously, she looked helplessly at Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang, who had remained silent the whole time.

“Comrade Mu, Comrade Xu, do you two also think it’s inappropriate?”

Xu Huazhang showed no intention of speaking.

Mu Lantu said, “As educated youth, we came to the countryside in response to the nation’s call to build up the rural areas. If we encounter any confusion or difficulties in life, we can ask for help from the Educated Youth Office. The people there know a lot of others and have wide connections. If you want to inquire about something, it shouldn’t be difficult.”

Mu Lantu wasn’t close to Su Qianqian and didn’t say more. When it comes to dealing with people, the worst mistake is speaking too openly with someone you barely know.

His words were not only a reminder to Su Qianqian, but also to the other educated youth.

Looking outside, the sky was nearly dark. He and Xu Huazhang stood up to take their leave.

Once the courtyard gate closed, Lin Shuzhen immediately went to count the eggs. “There are six eggs! Shall we make egg custard tomorrow morning?”

Du Xuewen said, “Comrade Mu and Comrade Xu are both very decent people.”

Zhang Guodong nodded. Yes. He had only given them a bundle of firewood, worth maybe two cents. Later, when Comrade Xu received his first month’s wages, he invited people over for a meal and included Zhang as well.

*

The refined and proper Mu Lantu had gotten up early, eaten breakfast, planted vegetables, and weeded the garden. He wore a straw hat and carried a basket on his back.

He was heading out.

Wangcai even had a little basket hanging from its neck.

In the cornfield, villagers were chopping down stalks and bundling them to take to the drying yard. The young women, housewives, aunties, and elderly ladies plucked the ears of corn, husked them, and laid them out to dry.

A scorekeeper approached Mu Lantu. “Comrade Mu, what brings you here?”

Mu Lantu replied, “Brother Lu, I’ve mostly finished things at home, so I came to help out.”

“That’s great. Should I mark you down for work points?” The scorekeeper was essentially asking how long Mu Lantu planned to help—short durations wouldn’t earn any points.

“No need to record points. I’ll head back once I’m tired,” Mu Lantu said. “But, I’d like to taste some of this year’s fresh corn. Could I take three ears home?”

“You’re helping for free, why not?” said the scorekeeper. “Take six. I’ll make a note and let the team leader know.”

Harvesting corn required bending over—it was tiring. Mu Lantu didn’t want to chop stalks.

He simply plucked the corn ears and put them into his basket. Once full, he carried it to the edge of the field and went back for more…

Du Xuewen, sweating heavily, shuffled over and massaged his sore back. After making sure no one was nearby, he whispered, “You really don’t know how to enjoy life. Wouldn’t it be better just lying at home instead of suffering out here?”

[Ding! You picked an ear of corn. Points +20.]
[Ding! You picked an ear of corn. Points +20.]
[Ding! You picked an ear of corn. Points +20.]

Hearing the pleasing system notifications, Mu Lantu said, “Labor is glorious.”

“Yeah, yeah, labor is glorious. Let’s see how many days you last being ‘glorious’!” Du Xuewen laughed and ran back to his assigned spot, chopping corn energetically.

At that moment, a thin man in his fifties passed by not far off. When he saw Mu Lantu, his eyes lit up, and he jogged over.

“Comrade Mu! I was just planning to visit your house this afternoon. The day after tomorrow is my eldest grandson’s one-month celebration—you and Comrade Xu must come for a drink!”

Mu Lantu didn’t recognize him. The man didn’t give him a chance to reply—he said his piece and ran off.

Xu Jincheng came over. “That’s Zhao Dapao. He and his wife are infamous for ‘milking’ others.”

Back when their group of ten educated youth had just arrived, they were naïve. Zhao Dapao’s family was marrying off their eldest son and invited them to the wedding feast. They sent one youth as a representative and gave ten cents as a gift.

Then Zhao’s wife personally came to their living quarters and insisted they all come eat.

They thought she was being hospitable and couldn’t decline. But food was scarce back then, and such a big group could eat a family into poverty. They didn’t want to go empty-handed, so each brought another ten-cent gift.

After that, Zhao’s family found a money-making trick. Even small family events like birthdays became excuses to invite them over—and once they were in the door, they’d be expected to give another gift.

“After the second time, we figured it out. Now, whenever Zhao’s family announces something, we ask around in the village to confirm it’s real. Then we send a representative with a ten-cent gift and leave—no eating at their house. Otherwise, who knows when we’d be taken advantage of again.”

Mu Lantu was enlightened.

“So this time it’s a one-month banquet?”

Yes.

Xu Jincheng said, “I heard one of the aunties mention it a couple of days ago.”

Since Zhao personally invited them, and it was the first time, it would be impolite to turn them down completely.

“So who will you guys send?”

“Guodong.”

Mu Lantu decided to ask Guodong to take the gift money for him.

They chatted for a while longer before Xu Jincheng left—just in time to avoid being warned by the scorekeeper.

“My advice? Best to hide out somewhere that day. Otherwise, they’ll definitely come knock on your door.”

Mu Lantu gave the scorekeeper an apologetic smile and went back to picking corn.

Take good advice, and you’ll eat well.

When the day of the baby’s one-month celebration came, Mu Lantu gave Zhang Guodong a dime and had him deliver it. He locked the door and went into the mountains.

As expected, Zhao’s wife came by. It was her first time visiting, and the door was locked. She came again half an hour later—still no one home—so she grumbled and left.

Mu Lantu only found out in the afternoon when Du Xuewen told him.

Mu Lantu relayed the story to Xu Huazhang.

Xu Huazhang praised him thoroughly.

Although he wasn’t always in the village, he maintained good relationships with the team leader, the accountant, and the Party secretary—regularly gifting them rare items or ration tickets every ten days or so. He had a clear understanding of each household’s situation.

Zhao’s family wasn’t just after money. Before their younger son got married, he had tried pursuing female educated youth, but failed. To protect the girls’ reputations, not many people in the village knew about it.

Zhao also had a 17-year-old daughter who hadn’t been betrothed yet.

It was wise for Mu Lantu to avoid stepping into that household.

“Baby, you learned how to knead dough? Who taught you?”

Xu Huazhang watched in surprise as Mu Lantu poured two bowls of flour into a basin and added water. Then his expression turned slightly wary—was the teacher male or female?

Mu Lantu shot him a resentful look. It was all his fault for not having unlocked the cooking skill. If he could cook, Mu Lantu wouldn’t need to learn dough-making himself.

He found kneading dough both difficult and annoying.

But he had to learn. They couldn’t eat rice every day and never make noodles.

He didn’t want others in their house, and it felt too awkward to lug flour around and ask others for help, so he had to experiment on his own. It took several days just to figure out the right flour-to-water ratio.

In this respect, Xu Huazhang admitted he was a notch below his “baby” and tactfully went to wash his hands.

“From now on, if you want to eat noodles, just give me the ratio and I’ll do the kneading.”

Like Mu Lantu, Xu Huazhang’s first priority after each time-travel was always to retrain his physical skills. They didn’t go looking for trouble—but they wouldn’t let anyone harm them either.

This was one reason why both had such large appetites. They burned a lot of energy daily.

So kneading dough was a piece of cake for Xu Huazhang.

Today’s dough was a mix of wheat flour and cornmeal.

Once kneaded, Mu Lantu clumsily rolled it into long logs, then cut them into small dough pieces.

Xu Huazhang neatly arranged the pieces in the steamer—two layers.

Mu Lantu didn’t warn him: stacking them so close, those ten-plus buns would fuse into one.

Whoever messed up, took the consequences. Let him eat the whole thing himself.

Mu Lantu pressed his lips together, eyes brimming with suppressed laughter.

Xu Huazhang looked at him, then at the cutting board, and quietly rearranged the dough balls—this time spacing them farther apart.

Mu Lantu chuckled, “Smart move.”

Xu Huazhang pinched his nose, “What goes with buns?”

Mu Lantu replied, “Shredded pork with green peppers?”

Xu Huazhang leaned his forehead against his, “Buns go with flower rolls—I go with you.”

Mu Lantu burst into laughter. “Buns are plain and poor—they don’t deserve flower rolls. Flower rolls and dumplings are more of a match.”

Xu Huazhang laughed too. “In that case, dumplings and baozi go better together.”

“Now that you mention dumplings, I’m craving them. Three-delicacy dumplings, mushroom and pork, pork and cabbage, lamb dumplings, sour soup dumplings…”

Unlike their past life, where you could just go buy frozen dumplings or dumpling wrappers at the supermarket, there were no ready-made options here.

Mu Lantu suddenly felt glad he had learned how to knead dough.

Xu Huazhang said, “Let’s make some tomorrow night. I’ll knead extra dough, and we can freeze the extras for whenever you feel like eating.”

With the weather cooling down, Mu Lantu asked if Xu wanted to bring meals to the factory.

“No need. Whatever I want to eat, I’ll eat it when I come home.”

Mu Lantu had been to the machinery factory once and eaten at the canteen. The food was mediocre—low oil, few seasonings—just enough to fill you.

There were three meat dishes a week—sometimes fish, sometimes pork—and while they weren’t bad in flavor, the actual meat content was low. If your luck was bad, you might not even get a single piece.

“This year’s not ideal, but next year I’ll make more preserved meat for you to take to the factory. If anyone asks, just say it was made this year and stored.”

Living by the mountains really was nice. There was plenty of wild game—especially rabbits.

Rabbits reproduced quickly, and Mu Lantu could catch one or two every time he went into the forest.

“Baby, I’ve kept something from you,” Xu Huazhang said, holding one of Mu Lantu’s hands, rubbing it gently, afraid he’d be angry.

But Mu Lantu wasn’t angry. He had full confidence in their relationship. He trusted that Xu Huazhang’s secret wasn’t anything harmful—he must’ve had a reason for keeping it.

“What is it?”

It turned out that for the past month, Xu Huazhang hadn’t been eating in the factory canteen at all.

All the servers there were women—some married, some single—and every time they served him, he got more food than the others.

It didn’t matter which line he joined—it was always the same.

After realizing this, Xu stopped going to the canteen and instead asked a male coworker to get his meals for him.