AYLS -Chapter 167

Lin Qiao prepared herself to overcome difficulties on her own and acquire the historical knowledge she needed.

She wanted to attempt accomplishing a great feat all by herself, without relying on anyone else.

Fat Cat silently glanced at the progress bar.

Sure enough, it had moved forward a section.

This damn planner was really contradictory—wanting to discipline these rich young masters, yet still seeming to hold some hope for them.

Not only Fat Cat, but Lin Qiao also noticed that her own progress bar had advanced—and by quite a bit.

She was astonished. “What exactly is the criteria? Is it that I have to complete the task independently?”

Fat Cat said, “I don’t know. You can try.”

“It must be, it must require me to do it alone.” That made Lin Qiao even more determined to complete the task by herself.

Fat Cat poured cold water on her. “Once you complete the task, you’ll have to leave here.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

Now Lin Qiao became conflicted. Before, if there had been a chance to complete the task, she would have worked herself to the bone.

But now…

She wasn’t really in such a hurry anymore. There were still many things she hadn’t finished.

“Then… can it slow down a bit?”

Fat Cat said, “No way. If you get Gu Huayuan to help you finish the task now, it’s still not too late.”

“…”

Lin Qiao thought for a moment and still insisted on doing it herself. She had just declared she must do it alone—if she ran to Gu Huayuan now, wouldn’t that mean she had lied earlier?

Forget it. Anyway, this bit of progress wasn’t enough to send her back. She could just do future tasks more slowly.

Going back a bit later would be fine. She still wanted to stay here longer and finish the things she wanted to do.

Just as she thought that, she suddenly noticed—the progress bar moved again.

“…Why did it move again?!”

She had worked herself half to death for years—got married, raised pigs—and only reached fifty-one percent. Yet now it was about to jump to sixty all at once.

This progress bar was clearly against her— the more she didn’t want it to move, the faster it ran!

Forget it, forget it. She wouldn’t think about anything else; she’d just focus on the task at hand.

Lin Qiao thought gloomily.

Gu Huayuan also looked upset. When he came back at noon, he even set a rule with her: from now on, whenever she accepted a task, she must inform him first.

Even if he couldn’t do it for her, he would at least supervise.

Lin Qiao: “…You even want to watch when I’m cleaning the toilet?”

“Yes.” Gu Huayuan didn’t show even a hint of joking.

Lin Qiao thought, If you watch, I’ll feel too embarrassed to do it.

That would completely ruin her little fairy image.

Lin Qiao wasn’t happy about it, but Gu Huayuan insisted.

She reluctantly accepted, deciding she would pick tasks that weren’t so humiliating. At the very least—she would not clean toilets. She’d rather do something tiring than something too smelly.

After choosing for a while, she finally selected cleaning the pigsty.

After all, the job genuinely needed to be done.

Before, Gu Huayuan and Xu Yuanzheng had taken turns helping, so she never had to shovel pig manure herself. But now, to complete the task, she chose to do it. And after doing it, she could even save Gu Huayuan and the others some effort.

Wasn’t that killing two birds with one stone?

Once she decided, she told Gu Huayuan—she would do it first thing in the morning.

Before bed, while Gu Huayuan was out training, she secretly squeezed the historical knowledge she exchanged for during the cross-country run into her notebook, bit by bit.

At night, by the time Gu Huayuan returned, she was already asleep.

After washing up, Gu Huayuan went to her desk and looked around. He soon found Lin Qiao’s treasure stash.

He opened the notebook, looked through it, then closed it and put it back.

Just as I thought—this little liar is still lying to me.

So the next morning, when Lin Qiao woke up, ready to work hard, Gu Huayuan had already showered and returned.

She greeted him and headed toward the pigsty—only to find it spotlessly clean.

While toweling his hair, Gu Huayuan said, “Why are you standing there? Go on. Weren’t you going to clean the pigsty?”

Lin Qiao stared. “I… how am I supposed to clean it when it’s already this clean?”

Gu Huayuan said, “It’s not like it has to be a filthy pigsty. Ours is this clean.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

Fat Cat: “…”

Lin Qiao really didn’t know if this would count or not. She took a broom inside and swept it once.

Even though there was nothing in there… Gu Huayuan had washed it spotless.

But after she finished, the system still showed the task as completed.

Lin Qiao: “…”

Gu Huayuan said, “It didn’t fail again, right? If something doesn’t work, we’ll figure it out slowly later.”

Lin Qiao suddenly felt that maybe Gu Huayuan knew something.

Her face went red as she asked, “Gu Huayuan… you knew?”

“Knew what?”

Fat Cat said, “See? He’s pretending to ask. Too wicked.”

This time Lin Qiao agreed with Fat Cat and scolded Gu Huayuan, “You’re too bad, pretending not to know.”

Gu Huayuan laughed. “Of course I know. I know Comrade Xiao Qiao likes me. Cares for me.”

Lin Qiao’s heart thumped wildly, her face burning hot. “It’s not like that… I just think everyone should handle their own things.”

“Mhm. Whatever Comrade Xiao Qiao says is what it is. But I feel distressed for you, and I care for you. So your business is my business. You can’t shake me off.”

By the time he finished, he was completely serious.

Then he reached out and gently pinched her cheek. “Silly girl. These tasks of yours are easy for me. Why not let me do them?”

Lin Qiao: “…I didn’t think that far.”

She thought they were difficult and didn’t want to trouble anyone.

Gu Huayuan chuckled, bowed his head, and kissed the top of her hair.

Of course she’d be flustered—he understood.

Since everything had been exposed, Lin Qiao couldn’t just leave him alone to handle things anymore.

The two of them set a new rule: Lin Qiao would decide which task to tackle, and they would complete it together.

Even though in reality, Gu Huayuan was the one doing all the heavy lifting, and Lin Qiao was just taking advantage…

But just as he said, working together was more efficient and saved time.

That alone made Lin Qiao stop refusing. She accepted his offer naturally.

Her heart felt as sweet as if she’d swallowed honey.

Fat Cat scoffed, “Women. Mouth says no, heart means yes.”

“Hmph!” Lin Qiao huffed pridefully, but inside remained sweet. Fat Cat knew nothing about human relationships. Even if she didn’t ask for anything in return, having someone willingly give to her… of course that made her happy.

One task a day was far too slow for Lin Qiao and Gu Huayuan. But Fat Cat couldn’t do anything about it. Some things were fixed by the system—just like how Lin Qiao couldn’t return to the real world until she completed her progress bar.

Fat Cat insisted it wasn’t omnipotent. If it had that much power, it would’ve run away long ago.

Thankfully the history knowledge they needed only covered this period. Otherwise, who knew how many years it would take to gather everything. If it took too long, the information wouldn’t even be meaningful anymore.

Based on the knowledge they’d collected so far, there was still some time before events truly began.

So they weren’t worried.

Instead, the courtyard residents were the ones watching the young couple go everywhere together every day, being force-fed dog food constantly.

Someone even said to Lin Qiao, “You two have been married for two years, right? How are you still so clingy?”

Lin Qiao: “…” Are we? Really?

Someone else asked, “When are you having a baby?”

This was something Lin Qiao didn’t need to answer—Su Weizhen helped explain. She told them the two had agreed that once she gave birth, Lin Qiao could start preparing.

It was mainly for work reasons. Both were key staff at the livestock farm. If both were pregnant at the same time, work efficiency would plummet.

The sisters-in-law all gave her a thumbs-up.

“Comrade Xiao Qiao is truly selfless.”

Lin Qiao’s face flushed so red she didn’t know how to explain.

After people left, Su Weizhen rubbed her huge belly. “Hey, what have you and Old Gu been busy with recently?”

“Nothing. He just doesn’t need to go out for work right now, so he’s keeping me company.”

Su Weizhen felt a pang of envy. Her Old Xu would never do anything that romantic.

She lowered her voice. “So you’re really ignoring the Gu family stuff?”

Lin Qiao replied, “Gu Huayuan said he’ll remind them. But we don’t know if it’ll work. I heard dad is a bit stubborn.”

Su Weizhen nodded in understanding. “Yeah, their generation is probably all stubborn.” Because it took stubbornness to stick to their beliefs.

She genuinely respected the revolutionary elders. “I hope everyone ends up okay.”

Lin Qiao nodded. She wasn’t all that worried. She felt that once she and Gu Huayuan completed their plan, things would probably change.

Her hopes were good.

Unfortunately, plans never keep up with changes.

She hadn’t even fully drawn out all the historical knowledge yet, when a call from the capital arrived.

Aunt Zhang never called here.

When Lin Qiao was told to go to the communications room, she wondered why the family in the capital would call.

The moment she answered, Aunt Zhang’s hoarse voice called, “Xiao Qiao.”

Lin Qiao jumped in fright. “Auntie, what happened? Are you sick?”

“…No. I have something to ask of you.”

“What is it? Just tell me. We’re family—no need to be polite.” Lin Qiao responded generously. Even though they had once schemed against each other internally, it was still within the family. When it came time to unite, she wouldn’t hesitate. Compared to Zhenzhen and Ermier’s in-laws, Aunt Zhang now seemed almost… lovable. Truly, comparisons were dangerous.

Lin Qiao was drifting off in her thoughts when Aunt Zhang suddenly choked up. “Xiao Qiao, I really have no one else to turn to. I can only rely on you. I’ve already sent your younger siblings to you through someone. You and Shitou must help me raise them. I know… I know our relationship hasn’t been good, but… they’re still your younger brother and sister…”

“W-wait, wait—what did you just say?” Lin Qiao’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. “Auntie, don’t scare me like that.”

“I can’t explain too much right now. Something happened to your dad. That’s it. I’m entrusting the child to you all.”

With a click, the call ended.

Lin Qiao: “…”

Something happened—something happened to Dad?!

But… it’s not even time yet!

Lin Qiao dropped the receiver and bolted out the door.