Anning taught her family how to grow greenhouse vegetables, and then the day for the start of school arrived.
Several days in advance, Wang Cuihua began packing her luggage, and by the time she was ready to leave, everything was prepared.
When Anning left home, the whole family came to see her off.
Lin Aiguo and Wang Cuihua were especially reluctant to part with Anning, but they also knew she was going to study, and parting was necessary.
Wu Pan'ni, being older, could not hold back her tears upon seeing Anning leaving.
Anning had no choice but to turn back, hold Wu Pan'ni's hand, and reassure her with a smile: "Grandma, as soon as I get to school, I will write a letter home. I will definitely return for the New Year. Plus, I've heard you can make good money in the big cities. Once I earn some, I will buy you a pair of leather shoes."
Wu Pan'ni couldn't help laughing after being coaxed by Anning: "I don't want leather shoes, they hurt the feet. The cloth shoes I make are much more comfortable. Also, don't just think about making money; our family can afford your education. Besides, when winter comes and your dad sells the vegetables, we'll have money."
"Mm, mm."
Anning nodded continuously.
Wu Pan'ni gave her several more reminders: "Get along well with your classmates at school, focus on your studies, write to us if anything comes up, and don't be too frugal—make sure to spend on food."
Anning agreed to everything, and only after Wu Pan'ni was happy did she pick up her luggage and leave.
Xue Feng had also applied to a university in the Capital, and he and Anning set off together.
The two of them first went to the county to catch a bus to the Provincial City train station, then took a train to the Capital.
Xue Feng took good care of Anning along the way. Despite managing several large and small bags himself, he insisted on helping Anning with her things.
Upon boarding the train, Xue Feng continued to look after Anning, which relieved her of a lot of worries.
When they got to the Capital, there were shuttle buses from various universities to pick up students at the train station. Anning boarded the Agricultural University shuttle, while Xue Feng went on another university's bus.
After Anning reported to Agricultural University and settled into the dormitory, she started wandering all over the city.
With money in hand, she wanted to buy a property in the Capital.
After all, the future real estate prices in the Capital were expected to be unreachable, and investing in property now seemed quite appropriate.
The main thing was that Anning would not have much time to think about making money in the future, so instead of letting the money sit idle, it would be better to buy property early and wait for it to appreciate in value.
Soon, she found a suitable property through someone's introduction.
The property was newly built, with good surrounding facilities, and importantly, it was in a school district.
Of course, the concept of a school district property didn't exist yet.
Most importantly, the property was not expensive.
With the more than twenty thousand yuan Anning had, she could afford to buy two small properties.
Without a moment's hesitation, Anning paid in full and bought the property.
Once she received the property deed, she became a property owner in the Capital.
Anning didn't mention this to her family; she found it hard to explain how she had so much money and decided to keep it a secret for the time being.
She wrote a letter home, filled with praises, talking about the bustling Capital, how nice her classmates were, and how amiable the teachers were, among other things.
Additionally, Anning bought some gifts to send back home.
Once she truly settled down, Anning immersed herself in rigorous studies.
Speaking of which, Anning had been to many different worlds and experienced many different lives, learning a vast array of knowledge, but she had never really farmed before and didn't know much about agricultural science.
Now that the opportunity to study has arisen, Anning has naturally thrown herself into it with great enthusiasm.
She is immersed in learning every day; apart from sleeping and eating, Anning always holds onto her books without letting go. Whenever she encounters something she does not understand, she actively seeks answers from the venerable professors around the school.
The teachers at the school are all very responsible, and they particularly like students who study diligently. When Anning persistently asks them questions, not only do they not get annoyed, but they are also quite pleased.
Many of the veteran professors patiently helped Anning with her questions and even shared many interesting stories from their experimental work over the years.
Anning learned a lot from these morally noble teachers.
With Anning's dedicated studying, time naturally flew by quickly; autumn passed, and winter arrived, making the weather increasingly colder.
The winter in the Capital is particularly cold; although Anning's hometown is also in the north, the weather is not as cold there. The first winter she spent in the Capital was somewhat uncomfortable.
Inside the house, it was still tolerable, but outdoors, when the cold wind blew against her face, it really felt as sharp as a knife's edge.
Anning particularly disliked stepping outside, wrapping herself up like a ball whenever she did; because of this, she was often laughed at by many classmates.
She had originally planned to find a tutoring job or something similar, but with the cold weather, Anning really didn't want to go out, so she had no choice but to drop the idea, thinking of looking for work when spring arrived and flowers bloomed.
As Anning endured the harsh winter in the Capital, back in her hometown, the entire Lin family ignored the exceptionally cold climate. Their hearts were ablaze with activity, growing happier as the weather grew colder.
In the autumn, the three Lin brothers, including Lin Aiguo, covered the more than twenty acres of land they divided with greenhouses and bought seeds. They planted the vegetables before the weather got too cold.
The villagers of Xiaogou Village thought the Lin family had gone crazy when they saw that they didn't plant wheat but instead covered the land with strange plastic greenhouses, accusing them of neglecting good farmland to produce worthless crops.
Wang Cuixhua and her two sisters-in-law were actually quite worried as well.
Their family had borrowed a significant amount of money to grow greenhouse vegetables, wondering how they would repay the loans if they lost money.
However, the three of them were of gentle temperaments and good-hearted. Seeing that the men of the family had made up their minds, they refrained from saying anything that might hold them back.
To avoid losing money, after planting in the greenhouses, they worked tirelessly: watering the fields, caring for the young plants, and generally doing their utmost.
When the weather turned cold and other households had only cabbages and radishes to eat, the greenhouse vegetables of the Lin family were ready for harvest.
These vegetables included quickly growing varieties like leeks, spinach, and some mustard greens.
Additionally, the Lin family planted cucumbers, eggplants, green beans, tomatoes, and more, though these had not yet matured.
Hen the Lin family harvested some of the vegetables, they were all particularly happy.
Seeing the lush and healthy green vegetables growing in the greenhouses, the whole family felt full of energy and drive.
They got up early to cut a batch of vegetables and transported them to the county to test the market.
These vegetables quickly sold out at the morning market.
People's living standards were really getting better, and with improved lives came higher demands. Tired of eating cabbages and radishes all winter, they craved tasty greens.
But the market had none to offer, leaving people only to wish.
When the fresh vegetables from the Lin family appeared, people were nearly beside themselves with excitement.
Three pounds here, five pounds there; in no time at all, the cartload of vegetables the Lin family brought was sold out.
Out-of-season vegetables were much more expensive than usual, and when Lin Hongjun and Lin Aiguo counted the money they earned upon returning home, the entire family was stunned.
That one load of vegetables sold for several hundred yuan.
You see, leeks and spinach are the kinds of crops that can regenerate and be harvested multiple times, which means that just the sales from these crops could pay off the borrowed money.
And the money from selling more expensive vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes would be pure profit.