Ch 102: Bringing a Farming Game System to the 1970s

Yu Xiangan waited until the twins’ emotions had completely settled before she left.

She had to go back—her hotel project with Yu Mansheng was about to open, and she needed to oversee the launch.

More and more hotels were appearing in the area as the market continued to boom. With the influx of investors, guests no longer cared about price; what mattered was the quality of service and the taste of the food.

Yu Xiangan’s hotel had a traditional Chinese aesthetic. It wasn’t ostentatiously luxurious, but its Chinese cuisine earned great praise—especially from foreigners eager to try authentic local dishes.

Chinese food became a major selling point. With its distinct flavors, antique-style calligraphy, paintings, and decorations she’d collected, the hotel drew more and more attention.

One loyal customer, a foreigner named Clait, became an enthusiastic promoter. He told his friends, “If you come to a new country, you should stay in a place that reflects its culture and eat its local food—that’s the only way the trip is worthwhile.”

Business boomed at the grand opening, then dipped slightly, and finally stabilized.

Two months later, while reviewing the financial reports, Yu Mansheng said, “A hotel chain, huh? That’s a great idea.”

Even if he did nothing else, the steady income from these hotels would be enough to support both his children. It was a business built for the long haul.

Yu Xiangan nodded. “Good. Next, let’s open one by the sea—a seaside hotel. There’s a plot of land right by the main road.”

She spread out a map.

Yu Mansheng hesitated. “Isn’t that area a little remote?”

Yu Xiangan replied, “You can’t just look at the present. At the current pace of development, it won’t take long to reach there. Once it does, the land price will skyrocket.”

Yu Mansheng thought about it and realized she was right. “Alright! Let’s do it there.”

Meanwhile, Qin Shenghua took a vacation and returned to Baishi County to reunite with his younger brother, Qin Shengsong. After that, he traveled to the Special Economic Zone to meet Yu Xiangan, bringing a friend along.

The Northeast was rich in resources, and Yu wanted some of its ingredients for her hotel. The Northeastern side, in turn, needed a market for their products. Both sides quickly saw an opportunity, and during Qin’s vacation, they worked out the details—planning for long-term cooperation.

Qin Shenghua, now holding a respectable position in the Northeast, had a lean, muscular build and a crew cut. His smile was open and bright, but when he wasn’t smiling, his expression was stern and unapproachable.

He laughed and said, “It took me years to develop this face—it helps keep the young soldiers in line.”

Yu Xiangan didn’t get to see this older cousin often, but they wrote to each other frequently. Back in the seventies, she’d eaten plenty of Northeastern specialties thanks to him, while he’d enjoyed southern delicacies and sauces she mailed in return.

That brought up an old memory. Qin chuckled. “I still remember that spicy diced beef you made once and mailed me. I kept it by my bed. When I came back one day, my comrade had opened it, and only one spoonful was left! They tried to make it up to me by buying meat, but no matter what, they couldn’t recreate that flavor. I lost out big that time.”

Yu laughed. “After that, you wrote me a letter asking specifically for spicy diced beef. I made three big jars for you.”

Qin nodded. “That’s right—three jars. I took two home. My wife and son treasured them, eating just a little each time. It lasted two or three months.” Meat was hard to come by back then, let alone beef.

His eldest son was about to take the college entrance exam, and Yu naturally asked about him.

Qin said proudly, “He’s already decided—he wants to apply to a military academy. His physical fitness is excellent. Now it just depends on his grades.”

Following in his father’s footsteps—that’s what he hoped for. With him as a guide, his son could avoid many detours.

Yu nodded in understanding.

Qin added, “Things are different now—goods are plentiful, no ration tickets needed. As long as you have money, you can buy almost anything. I’ve heard the Special Zone has changed a lot.”

He’d been stationed in the Northeast for years, and during this vacation, he wanted to see Yu Xiangan—and see this new frontier of reform for himself.

Yu smiled. “Then let me be your tour guide. There are places here you’ll regret not seeing.”

Qin grinned. “Then I can’t miss them.”

Yu asked, “How many days off do you have?”

Qin replied, “Three more. Tomorrow I’ll look around, the day after I’ll visit a comrade’s family, then head straight back.”

Yu asked, “A comrade?”

Qin nodded. “Someone you know—his father is Lan Wangshan.”

Yu immediately remembered—the family they’d met on the train heading north to Qincheng years ago. Lan Wangshan’s son had been Qin’s comrade. He’d died in service.

Now that Qin was back, he intended to visit. “My comrade’s son just enlisted last year. There’s also a daughter still at home with their grandfather.”

When he returned from visiting the Lan family, he brought back a young girl. “This is Lan Xiaoni, my goddaughter. Her grandfather is away on business. She has something going on, so she’ll stay here for a few days until he comes to pick her up.”

Yu Xiangan was stunned. “What?”

Why had he suddenly brought a girl home?

Still, though puzzled, Yu kept a warm smile. “Xiaoni, how old are you?”

Lan Xiaoni fidgeted with her sleeves nervously. “Seventeen…”

Yu asked gently, “Still in school?”

Xiaoni nodded. “Yes, I’m in my second year of high school.”

After a few back-and-forth questions, the girl relaxed a bit.

“You’ll stay here for now,” Yu said kindly. “We’ve got bedding ready, and I’ll find you some clothes.”

The girl had come with nothing but the clothes on her back.

“If you need anything, just tell me.”

Once Xiaoni was out of earshot, Yu asked Qin what had really happened.

His face darkened with anger. “Her grandfather was away, and she was alone at home. Her uncle and aunt lived next door—not strangers, but worse. While no one else was around, they decided to marry her off. Poor child—lost her father first, then her sick mother. She was being raised by her grandfather. Now her brother’s in the army, and she’s in school. She was just starting to have a good life, but her uncle took a high bride price to marry her off to a lame man in his thirties. Their plan was to force the marriage before anyone could stop it—once the deal was done, they’d use the money to get their own son a wife. Even if her grandfather or brother came back later, it would’ve been too late.”

He still looked shaken. “When I got there, she was locked in the house—couldn’t even run. Luckily, I arrived just in time.”

Yu sighed deeply. “Then she should stay here until her grandfather comes. She’ll still need to go back to school, right?”

Qin nodded. “Her uncle already withdrew her from school. But at her age, what else can she do if she doesn’t study? Even if she doesn’t get into college, a high school diploma is still valuable—it’ll help her find work later.”

At that time, a high school education was already respectable.

Yu assured him, “Don’t worry. While she’s here, I’ll take good care of her.”

So Lan Xiaoni stayed. Qin had already called ahead, and Lan Wangshan would be coming soon to fetch her.

Xiaoni was a quiet, timid girl who rarely spoke. Yu, afraid she’d get lonely, kept the TV on for her every day and told her where to find newspapers and magazines. If there were any books she wanted, Yu promised to bring them back for her.

If she ever got bored staying indoors, Yu Xiangan told Lan Xiaoni to go outside for a walk.

Yu Qingshan was also very kind to the young girl. Whenever he saw her wanting to help with something, he let her lend a hand.

Being useful—rather than just sitting around—made her visibly more relaxed and at ease.

Within a week, Lan Wangshan arrived, covered in dust from traveling.

His eyes were bloodshot, and when he saw Yu Xiangan, he looked deeply apologetic as he handed over the gifts he’d brought. “I’m sorry for all the trouble. It’s my family’s shame—my fault for not teaching them better.”

Yu Xiangan shook her head. “Uncle Lan, don’t be too upset. Without you, life would be so much harder for Qianqian.”

Lan Wangshan forced a small smile. “Don’t worry. I know my limits. I still need to live a long life and take good care of her. I’ve taken early retirement, so from now on, I’ll stay by her side. As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to her.”

At that, Lan Xiaoni suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. “Grandpa! Grandpa! I was so scared—”

She hadn’t cried once in front of Yu Xiangan or Qin Shenghua, but in her grandfather’s arms, she could no longer hold it in.

Her sobs brought tears to Lan Wangshan’s own eyes.

“There, there, don’t be afraid. Grandpa’s here now. I’m not going anywhere again. Oh, and we’re moving—to your godfather’s place. He’s already arranged a new school for you. You’ll continue studying there, understand?”

“Moving?” Lan Xiaoni blinked in surprise. “Not staying with Uncle’s family anymore…?”

Lan Wangshan patted her head. “From now on, he’s no longer your uncle. If we stayed there, we’d have to see them every day—it would only upset us. We’ll move closer to your brother instead.”

Lan Xiaoni smiled through her tears. “Alright, we’ll go be with Brother.”

After resting for a day, Lan Wangshan took Lan Xiaoni and left.

Yu Qingshan sighed. “It’s one thing for her aunt to be like that, but how could her uncle just stand by and let it happen? Her father was a martyr, and her grandfather’s a righteous man—how did he raise a son like that?”

At that moment, Yu Mansheng’s family walked in and overheard. He laughed. “Second Uncle, you know the saying—‘Nine sons of a dragon, each different from the rest.’ There’s also ‘a tiger father can have a dog son, and a dog father can have a tiger son.’ It comes down to personality and upbringing. Education is key. Even if someone’s born with a bad temperament, the right guidance can set them straight.”

His explanation was smooth and reasoned, leaving Yu Qingshan staring at him in surprise. “Have you been taking lessons lately?”

Yu Mansheng brushed his hair back sheepishly. “Actually, yes. My daughter’s about to start kindergarten, so I’ve been researching options, but I can’t find a good one. I wanted to ask if you knew any.”

Lu Anran had found one earlier, but just a few days ago, a neighbor happened to stop by at lunchtime and caught a teacher secretly pinching a child. It turned out it wasn’t the first time—it had just gone unnoticed because the kids were too young to explain what was happening. The incident caused an uproar. After hearing that, Lu Anran refused to send her daughter there.

She sighed. “I checked out other kindergartens too, but they’re all about the same. Lunches are just plain vegetables—no meat at all, the kids can’t eat that. And one teacher is responsible for dozens of children—how could she manage? One’s crying, one wets the bed, another’s thirsty… even if she had six arms, she couldn’t handle it. Some schools are better, but they’re too far away.”

She wasn’t asking for perfection, but there was no way she could leave her child somewhere she didn’t trust.

Yang Huili said, “Then don’t send her to kindergarten! I can take care of the child myself, can’t I?”

Yu Mansheng explained patiently, “Mom, that’s not the same. In kindergarten, she learns to interact with other kids, with teachers—it’s important for development.”

Yang Huili gave him a look. “You didn’t go to kindergarten, and you turned out fine.”

Yu Mansheng countered, “That’s because we couldn’t afford it back then. But now that we can, why not give her the chance? When she grows up, all the other kids will have gone to kindergarten—what’ll we say then?”

That silenced her. “Then maybe I’ll bring her lunch myself and stay there during the day to keep an eye on her. That way, no one can bully her.”

She was more worried about bullying than about food. Breakfast and dinner were at home anyway, and the child could bring snacks for lunch.

But Yu Mansheng shook his head. “That won’t work. When the younger one goes to kindergarten too, you can’t be in two places at once. We need to find a school we can truly trust.”

Lu Anran turned to Yu Xiangan for advice.

Yu Xiangan said, “When our twins were little, we sent them to a nursery nearby. The teachers were kind and took good care of them. They didn’t learn much academically, but we had time to teach them at home after school.”

Lu Anran frowned. “We don’t have that much time. If nothing else works, I’ll just try to come home early. She can go to kindergarten to play, and I’ll handle the learning later.”

It was hard—she wanted a place that both cared for children and actually taught them something.

Yu Xiangan sighed. “If you can’t find both, you’ll have to give one up. Unless it’s your own school, you can’t have it all.”

Lu Anran’s eyes lit up. “You’re right!”

Yu Xiangan blinked. “Huh?”

Lu Anran said excitedly, “I can build my own! What do you think of a bilingual kindergarten? English programs here are terrible. I’ll look into the policies—if I open it right near home, we won’t have to worry anymore.”

Yu Xiangan stared. “…You’re serious?”

Yang Huili was speechless too. Build a school? Was that so easy? But after thinking about it—well, it was just a kindergarten, not a university—so she didn’t object.

They were making good money anyway, so she let them do as they pleased.

Lu Anran threw herself into the project with her usual fiery energy. At first, Yu Mansheng thought it unnecessary, but once she set her mind on something, nothing could stop her. So he helped instead—finding a small, safe building and remodeling it with child safety as the top priority.

They even hired an English-speaking teacher from Hong Kong and arranged for lunches from the Wuwei Restaurant, ensuring every meal was healthy and balanced.

The fees were several times higher than other kindergartens, so it wasn’t for ordinary families—but the children received bilingual lessons, cognitive learning, and nutritious lunches with both vegetables and meat.

By the time little Yu Cailan enrolled, about twenty other children of similar age joined as her classmates, with one teacher for every six or seven kids.

The kindergarten problem was solved.

Yu Xiangan teased, “So when she’s ready for primary school, are you going to open one of those too?”

Lu Anran laughed. “There’s still time before that. I’ll see how things go. Primary schools should be fine—kids are older and can tell adults if something’s wrong. We could even send her to school in Hong Kong, but her father won’t agree, and honestly, I’d miss her too. So, no.”

Every parent wanted to come home and see their child right away—that was reason enough to keep her close.

Still, Yu Xiangan had to admit that, compared to Hong Kong, local schools just couldn’t keep up in quality or teachers. It wasn’t like in later years, when private schools could afford top instructors.

One day, on her way to Wuwei Restaurant, Yu Xiangan’s phone rang. She pulled out her large mobile handset—it immediately drew attention.

That thing cost tens of thousands of yuan.

People passing by couldn’t help but stare.

Anyone who could afford a “brick phone” like that was obviously rich.

Song Dong, standing nearby, stayed extra alert, watching the people around them carefully—worried someone might get greedy at the sight of wealth.

Yu Xiangan could feel all the stares from passersby. Every time she pulled out her big mobile phone, people looked at her like she was from another world. She still wasn’t used to it.

Compared to the sleek smartphones of later generations, this thing—nicknamed “the brick”—was bulky and inconvenient. But inconvenient or not, she had no choice. The technology of the time was what it was.

It was Lin Chuanbai calling. She had one of these phones, and so did he—so it was easy for them to stay in touch.

On the other end, Lin said, “Where are you? Are you free tomorrow?”

Yu thought about her schedule. “Why, what happened?”

Lin replied, “I just got a call—Yihong got into a fight at school. The teacher wants a parent to come in. I’m in the capital right now.”

A question mark slowly appeared in Yu’s mind. “He… got into a fight?” Had she heard that right?

Lin reassured her, “Don’t worry, you heard right—but he wasn’t the troublemaker. He was protecting his sister. I don’t know the full details yet, but it wasn’t his fault.”

Yu exhaled in relief. “Alright, I’ll go tomorrow.”

---

After hanging up, Yu planned to use the landline when she got home to ask Yihong what had happened.

Liu Sanbao, who was nearby, overheard part of the conversation—something about fighting? What on earth had happened?

The boss’s son had always looked so well-behaved.

He put the thought aside and followed Yu into the Food City complex.

This was currently the largest Wuwei Restaurant branch in the Special Zone—and also the first complete food complex ever built here.

Like its counterpart in the capital, it had three floors. Each floor was divided into storefronts—some leased out, some used by Wuwei itself. Thanks to the prime location and constant crowds, there was never any trouble finding tenants.

You could eat and drink here, then walk a few hundred meters to a supermarket or visit the clothing market next door.

Gu Nanfeng was waiting at the entrance. When he saw Yu, he smiled and went up to greet her before leading her inside.

He had followed the business from the capital to the Special Zone and now oversaw all Wuwei Restaurant operations in the area.

Some locals recognized him and grew curious when they saw how deferentially he greeted Yu.

One man asked an old fellow sipping tea by the door, “Who’s he waiting for? That’s quite the reception.”

The old man glanced over. “That’s his boss.”

The man was surprised. “His boss? Not the boss’s daughter? She looks so young.”

A female boss wasn’t unusual—but this young? He had assumed someone in their forties or fifties at least.

The old man nodded. “Yep, that’s her. I know who she is.”

The passerby whistled. “So young and already built such a huge business. Her family must be rich beyond imagination.”

Next to them, a woman handing out flyers overheard the conversation and leaned closer. “You know the person who just went in?”

The old man chuckled when he saw the flyers in her hands. “You don’t know? She’s the owner of this whole place.”

The woman froze. “Wait—this entire food complex belongs to her?”

The old man nodded again. “Yes, the whole thing.”

The flyer woman blinked in disbelief. “…I’d heard that the Wuwei Restaurant chain and this food complex had the same owner, but all of them are hers?”

The old man nodded once more. “That’s right.”

The flyer woman looked as if she’d just been struck by lightning. Her knees almost buckled, and a bystander quickly caught her. “Whoa, ma’am, are you okay? You look pale—maybe take a rest.”

She forced a smile. “I’m fine. I just got distracted. But could you tell me more? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

The old man was happy to talk. “Sure, I’ll tell you. The owner’s surname is Yu—I don’t know her full name, but I’ve been a customer since the first Wuwei Restaurant opened. They held a raffle that day, and I still have the washbasin I won—it’s sturdy and still in use! Since then, the restaurants have spread everywhere.”

Another passerby joined in. “I’ve followed the chain for a while too. There’s a new branch near my home—some are big, some smaller.”

The old man said, “No matter the size, the food tastes the same.”

The passerby nodded. “Exactly. I’ve eaten at several, and the flavor’s consistent.”

The old man continued proudly, “I’ve got a relative who rents a little shop here in this Food City—just a few square meters—but it costs dozens of yuan per month.”

The passerby gasped. “That expensive? That’s almost my whole monthly salary!”

The old man nodded. “Yeah, pricey. But the business is good, so he doesn’t mind. He says he’s rented in other places before, but the crowds weren’t this big, and the service was worse. Here, if something breaks, they fix it. There’s cleaning staff, security guards, even patrols to deter thieves.”

The passerby asked, “Is all that free?”

The old man shrugged. “Not sure, but even if there’s a fee, it can’t be much. My relative’s satisfied and wants a long-term lease. But they’re not offering that—probably because the rent’s bound to rise.”

The passerby agreed. “If I were the owner, I wouldn’t agree either. With this kind of foot traffic, there’s no shortage of tenants. Signing long-term leases now would just lose money.”

The old man laughed. “Exactly! The owner’s a sharp businesswoman. She only signs two-year contracts at most. Think about it—so many shops, each just a few square meters, paying dozens of yuan a month. All together, the rent must be enough to make her hands cramp from counting.”

Listening to all this, the flyer woman—Zhao Qiaoniang—looked up at the bustling food complex behind her. The building loomed like a giant in her eyes.

She could hardly believe it belonged to one person.

Yet, it was Yu Xiangan’s.

She’d known Yu was doing business in the Special Zone—but to this scale? She’d never imagined it.

Still dazed, Zhao returned to her rented room. It was her day off, and she’d wanted to earn a little extra money by handing out flyers. She hadn’t expected to run into Yu Xiangan—or to learn something that left her so shaken.

She sat on the stool in silence, staring blankly out the window. She didn’t know how long she sat like that until Ding Minxiu came home. She’d also been out doing temporary work. Seeing Zhao sitting motionless, she called out, “Mom, did you make dinner yet?”

Zhao blinked, snapping out of her daze. She’d completely forgotten—but she didn’t want to talk about dinner. Instead, she asked quietly, “If back then…”

Halfway through, she stopped. Looking at the wrinkles on Ding Minxiu’s face, the words died in her throat. She and Yu Xiangan were about the same age—but now, standing side by side, they looked like they belonged to different generations.

🌱🌿 🫧🍃