Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In Lin Wanâs original world, she had also chosen to stay in the big city for her career. Her job had nothing to do with her field of study.
âMany people who struggle in big cities for several years or even decades eventually choose to return to the countryside. For example, the rural influencer Qiqi and the beautiful rural streamer Huoâer⦠They promote their hometowns and sell local agricultural products nationwide through the Internet. I really like their way of life.â Lin Wan also wanted to retire to the countryside early.
[Sister Wan, you actually watch them too! Their lives are indeed what many people long for, completely different from our lives in the village.] [I also like those two streamers. Their lives are full of poetic beauty.]
[Yes, they have beautiful courtyards. Our whole village doesnât have courtyards like that. Our courtyards are all built with brick walls, and we grow vegetables in them, not flowers.]
[If you tear down the brick walls and replace them with fences, will your parents chase you away with a stick?]
[Thatâs very true. I once pulled out a few vegetables to plant flowers, and my mom almost kicked me out of the house.]
[For aesthetics, the influencers must decorate their courtyards meticulously.]
[Sister Wan, why are you asking these things? Youâre not actually planning to make donations, right?]
Lin Wan didnât give a direct answer. âMany people long for that kind of life. Maybe more people will go back to the countryside. If everyone makes their own improvements, the whole village will become like a garden.â [Thatâs true. Someday, we will inherit our familyâs lands.] [Is that the conclusion you draw from all this?]
[Hahaha, it could be.]
[What does your family have? Iâm interested. Isnât it trendy now to have green agricultural products?]
âItâs great to have land in the countryside. The countryside is full of vegetation and clean air.â
Li Yanchen couldnât get a word in. He spent his childhood in the countryside, but only until he was ten years old. After that, his parents sold their ancestral home and moved to the city.
âMr. Li, what do you think?â Lin Wan asked.
âI think itâs good the way it is now. I find it comfortable. However, this is under the premise of having certain material conditions. We canât all rush back to the countryside. The city still needs everyone to build it, and industries still require human laborâ¦â Li Yanchenâs answer was clearly less idealistic than Lin Wanâs.
[Mr. Li, are you afraid that Chenxin wonât be able to recruit people in the future? You should check out the job-hunting websites. I can help you recruit people.]
[Here comes another little self-promotion. Why are you everywhere?]
[I think Mr. Li is right. Having time to drink tea, bask in the sun, and play with cats is only possible when one doesnât have to worry about making a living.]
[Growing our own vegetables and using them to barter for other things would be enough.]
[We can at least dream about it. Itâs not like weâre all going to quit our jobs and go back to the village right now.]
Lin Wan tugged at Li Yanchenâs sleeves.
âYes. We can at least dream. That kind of life is indeed wonderful,â Li Yanchen said.
âDad, can you play with me for a while?â Li Zekai came out of the kitchen, followed closely by Tutu.
âTutu isnât here to play with you?â
âWeâre missing one person. Dad, come with us!â The little boy pulled Li
Yanchenâs hand.
âWanwan, Iâll go and take a look.â
Li Zekai pulled Li Yanchen into the study.
There were test papers on the floor, which were obviously Li Zexinâs. These test papers were precious to him, but Li Zekai had dumped them all on the floor.
âWhy are the test papers on the floor?â Li Yanchen asked.
âBig brother gave them to me and said I could use them as a base.â
âDad, look at this. Tutu and I folded this into the shape of the compass. Tutu said itâs what his grandpa used to play with when he was young. Can you play too? Play with us!â Li Zekai picked up a toy from the floor.
He had played with such paper-made toys when he was young, but he had forgotten how to play with them. âI donât remember,â he said.
âThen let us teach you!â
Li Yanchen hadnât even agreed, but Li Zekai explained the rules eagerly. He didnât have the heart to refuse such an enthusiastic child, so he sat down on a chair and listened.
The punishment included imitating animal sounds. That traumatized Li
Yanchen.
âAuntie Lin will be great at this. You can go to the yard and find her. Itâs a good opportunity for the viewers in the livestream room to see,â said Li Yanchen.
âWill Auntie Lin be willing?â asked Tutu.
âLetâs go ask her.â Li Zekai went out.
He climbed onto a stool and talked to Lin Wan.
[North, South, East, West? Whatâs that? Iâve never played it before.]
[I donât know either. Iâve never played it.]
[Jiejie successfully changed the topic. We were just talking about agriculture, and now it turned into a game.]
âAuntie, do you know how to play North, South, East, West?â Li Zekai asked eagerly. âYes?â
âThatâs great! Can you play with us?â Li Zekai realized that Lin Wan was much smarter than Li Yanchen.
âSure.â Lin Wan had been talking about agriculture for a long time and was really worried about not finding another topic. Her stepson provided a topic for her.
âYouâre so good. Not only does my dad not know how to play, but even when I finally taught him, he still doesnât want to play with us.â
âIs that so?â Lin Wan looked meaningfully at Li Yanchen as though asking him if he deliberately pretended not to know how to play the game.
âWho knows whatâs written on it? I am a little traumatized by imitations at this point.â [I understand.]
[I get it.]
âLet me correct that, itâs called East, South, West, North.â Although the characters are the same, the order of appearance was different, and it didnât sound right to Lin Wan.
âTutu said it was called East, West, South, North.â
âI might have remembered it wrong. Whatever Auntie Lin says is correct.â
The game began, with Lin Wan controlling âDong Nan Xi Beiâ and Tutu saying they would play five rounds starting from the east direction.
When the corners unfolded, you could see punishments like tapping the forehead, pinching the nose, imitating a dog, etc. Lin Wan chose to imitate a dog.
Li Yanchen couldnât help but feel relieved. He knew these two kids wouldnât come up with any embarrassing punishments.
Tutu effortlessly imitated a dogâs bark. As the next player, Li Zekai took over the âDong Nan Xi Bei.â
[Itâs simple yet fun.]
[Tutu imitated an angry bark, right?]
[How do you fold the paper that way? Iâve never seen it before.]
[Same here. I searched on Baidu, and it really is called âDong Nan Xi Bei.â The name is quite strange, and the rules are also strange.]
[Saying you know how to play exposes your age.]
[Whatâs the big deal about exposing your age? Sister Wan is so young and can play it anyway.]
[I remember playing it a lot when I was young. Do kids nowadays not play it?]
[But how do Tutu and Jiejie know about it?]
Lin Wan was also puzzled. âHow did you learn to make this?â
âMy grandma taught me. Sometimes she plays with me at home. My grandma can even fold paper into jumping frogs. When you press the finger on the frogâs head. it jumos!â
[Grandma?]
[Well, itâs normal for grandmas to know how to make paper toys.]
[I see. Iâm only twenty years old, so I wouldnât know..]