I secretly sold grain at age 60

Chapter 6 Seeding with Mind

As evening fell and people returned home, the sky had already gradually darkened. A cool evening breeze blew through the village, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys of every household. The villagers, exhausted from a long day's work, dragged their weary bodies toward their own courtyards.

Gao Huaiyi followed his parents home. He kept the secret of secretly hiding various seeds in the fields during the day to himself, and on the surface, he remained calm and showed no sign of anything amiss. After putting down the farm tools, his mother was already busy preparing dinner at the stove. Food was scarce at home, and they usually ate coarse grains for every meal. Tonight, they would simply cook a pot of the most common corn porridge to tide them over.

Seeing this, Gao Huaiyi didn't stand idly by. He stepped forward to help add firewood and squatted in front of the stove, patiently controlling the heat. The firewood crackled and burned in the stove, the flames reflecting on his face. The water in the pot gradually boiled, and the coarse cornmeal slowly simmered in the water. Without refined grains or white flour, without any oil or side dishes, the family had been surviving year after year on this bland and tasteless coarse grain diet.

Before long, a pot of thick, warm corn porridge was ready. The family sat around the simple wooden table, silently drinking their porridge. The table was bare except for a small dish of bland pickled vegetables, a testament to their poverty and hardship. Just then, the youngest brother finished his meal and looked at Gao Huaiyi, saying, "Big brother, I want to eat meat again! When are you going to cook meat for us?" Gao Huaiyi patted his little brother's head and smiled, saying, "Tomorrow I'll let you eat meat, as much as you want." The youngest brother's name was Gao Huaijun; everyone in the family called him Little Brother, or Xiao Jun. Because of poor nutrition, the seven or eight-year-old was as thin as a four or five-year-old. The whole family needed more nourishment! Hearing his older brother say there would be meat tomorrow, Xiao Jun happily ran and jumped away.

After finishing his meal, the father put down his chopsticks and hesitantly began to speak of a matter weighing on his mind. Life was difficult for the family; food was scarce, labor was limited, and his eldest daughter was getting on in years and ready to be married. Recently, a matchmaker from the village had come to their door, specifically to arrange a marriage for her. The man was from a nearby village, an ordinary farming family, of modest means, but hardworking and honest.

The couple discussed the matter in hushed tones. On one hand, they felt sorry for their daughter, who was still so young and reluctant to marry and leave home so early. On the other hand, they were also helpless because their family was too poor, and feeding another mouth would only increase their burden. They thought that arranging a marriage sooner would reduce their financial burden and prevent her from delaying her future marriage. The two of them talked quietly, their hearts filled with difficulty and conflict.

Gao Huaiyi listened quietly, without interrupting. He understood the helplessness of this era; it was not easy for poor families to raise daughters, and their marriages were mostly beyond their control, constrained by their family's circumstances and the struggle for basic necessities. He felt a pang of sympathy for his eldest sister, but he also knew that he was powerless to change the situation at present. He could only silently keep it in mind, thinking that when he had the ability in the future, he would never let his family suffer such humiliation.

After a simple dinner and cleaning up the dishes, Gao Huaiyi's parents, along with his younger siblings, went to bed early. The courtyard became completely quiet, and there was no sound of anyone else moving around outside. Gao Huaiyi returned alone to his simple hut, closed the door, and made sure no one would see him.

He immersed his mind in his personal supernatural space, and with a thought, all kinds of seeds that he had secretly obtained from the production team's fields during the day appeared on the open space.

The seeds are available in a wide variety, including cabbage seeds, carrot seeds, radish seeds, corn seeds, sorghum seeds, millet seeds, potato seeds, as well as scallion seeds, garlic seeds, and chili pepper seeds. There is no shortage of any kind of vegetable seed.

Gao Huaiyi didn't need to bend over to dig soil or do any manual labor like sowing seeds; he controlled the entire five-acre spiritual field entirely with his mind.

With a thought, the dark, fertile soil automatically softened and transformed, neatly dividing the ground into orderly zones. One zone for grain crops, another for vegetables, and separate zones for root vegetables and fruits, all clearly organized.

As he conceived the idea, plump seeds fell automatically into the soil, at just the right depth and with even spacing. Corn, sorghum, and millet took root in clusters, potatoes were quietly buried underground, cabbages and radishes were planted in rows, and scallions, ginger, and peppers were neatly arranged. The entire vast field was sown in batches in a short time, effortlessly and without expending any physical strength or sweat.

Looking at the space filled with newly planted seeds, and considering the incredibly fast time flow—one day outside the space equals three days inside—Gao Huaiyi was filled with anticipation. Before long, this place would yield a continuous supply of grains and vegetables, and he would no longer have to worry about going hungry while looking at his empty grain jars at home.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, he couldn't help but recall the days when he worked in the fields with everyone else, earning work points. Day after day, he toiled under the scorching sun and wind, enduring hardship and exhaustion, only to earn a few work points after a day's toil, and the grain distributed at the end of the year was still meager. He was trapped in the fields his whole life, toiling away, barely making ends meet, with no hope of advancement and forever unable to escape his impoverished fate.

Relying solely on the production team to earn work points is far too futile and hopeless.

He gradually formed a new plan in his mind. Since he had an opportunity that others did not have, he could not just honestly stay in the fields and live a life of mediocrity. There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains behind the village, including rabbits, pheasants and other wild creatures. He was agile and could easily hunt them in the mountains.

Instead of going to work, he could make an excuse the next day that he wasn't fully recovered and ask the team leader for leave again, then venture deep into the mountains alone. He could catch a few plump wild game, accumulate enough, and then secretly take them to a market in a distant town to sell.

Without revealing the secrets of the space, they could exchange it for cash and coupons, quietly supplementing their household income, slowly accumulating wealth, and step by step leading their family out of their current hardship of not having enough to eat.

After planting the seeds, Gao Huaiyi lay in bed, still planning to go into the mountains to hunt and sell wild game.

Not only are there wild rabbits and pheasants in the mountains and forests, but the rivers, ponds, and streams surrounding the village are teeming with fish and shrimp. Others have to roll up their trousers, wade into the cold water, and spend half a day searching in the river to catch fish, only to catch a few with great effort. But he is different; he possesses a special ability space and the power of his will to act at will.

With a mere thought, he could remotely control the fish in the water, without getting wet, casting nets, or chasing them. He could effortlessly and silently collect all the fish, big and small, into his spatial storage. By hunting wild game while simultaneously fishing in the river with his mind, he could accumulate both simultaneously without hardship, and his harvest would only increase.

As he accumulated more and more, he could no longer indulge in meat secretly at home. He planned to smuggle a batch of wild game and fish out of the village. He initially considered trying his luck at the commune market, but immediately dismissed the idea. The commune was crowded and full of familiar faces and cadres; everything required ration coupons and registration. Selling meat and wild game privately was considered blatant speculation and profiteering, and he would be caught red-handed.

When the official channels were blocked, he naturally thought of the most secretive place of the time, the place known only to those in the know—the black market.

Only in remote, unguarded black markets hidden between villages in the countryside do people dare to barter and secretly conduct cash transactions without needing letters of introduction or ration coupons. Even scarce meats, dried goods, and wild game are snapped up at high prices.

The more excited he became, the calmer and more cautious Gao Huaiyi remained, carefully considering each and every risk in his mind.

First, one must not arouse suspicion when entering or leaving the village, and must not frequently ask for leave without reason to go out, lest the team leader and villagers keep an eye on one's whereabouts every day.

Secondly, when hunting and fishing, one must not leave footprints or reveal any patterns, lest someone follow one into the mountains or to the riverbank and discover one's extraordinary abilities.

Third, you can't take too much stuff to the black market at once. If you're too conspicuous, you'll easily attract the attention of bad guys and get robbed, or you'll be caught by patrolling militiamen.

Fourth, never reveal your home address during transactions, never say a word of idle chatter, and avoid close relationships with strangers to prevent being reported or accused.

Fifth, the money earned should not be taken home all at once. It should be used to subsidize the household expenses little by little, so as not to surprise the parents or arouse envy and jealousy from others, which could bring disaster upon oneself.

The current climate is extremely tense, with strict measures in place to prevent private transactions.

Gao Huaiyi slowly sorted out all the pros and cons and made up his mind.

Work points won't earn you a good life, and farming won't guarantee you a wealthy destiny.

With his extraordinary abilities to capture beasts and fish with his mind and store goods in his space, he slowly accumulated goods, developed quietly, avoided all the risks and trouble, and secretly ran to the black market to exchange money and tickets, gradually changing his family's impoverished situation, filling the empty grain jar as soon as possible, and preventing his parents and sisters from suffering from hunger for many years.

Having formulated a comprehensive plan, Gao Huaiyi suppressed his thoughts and quietly considered his secret trump card. Everything was ready; he was simply waiting for the right opportunity. He would act discreetly, quietly accumulating strength, and in the difficult 1960s, he would quietly carve out his own path to survival, ensuring his family's well-being and livelihood.