Chapter 337: Farm Daily Life 9

Gold wasn’t worth much these days, but Evelyn Ford’s space needed it. She remained silent, and the woman’s confident expression faded, replaced by a growing anxiety.

"Is there a problem, Farm Owner?"

"Did you two walk here?" Evelyn asked, changing the subject completely.

"No, we have a donkey cart tied up outside."

Evelyn nodded. "Alright. I can give you one hundred and fifty pounds of grain and twenty pounds of salt. Go out through this door. No one else can know about our trade."

The woman paused, stunned, before nodding. "Alright. We won’t tell a soul."

Evelyn smiled. "What if you get robbed? If someone holds a knife to your throat, you still can’t mention our trade. Can you promise that?"

The couple exchanged a look, and the man’s expression changed. "We don’t want the fine rice. Could we trade for coarse flour instead?"

"Why is that?"

"The smell of fine rice is too strong; it’ll attract trouble. That was an oversight on our part. Here, we have two more bracelets. Please, take them as compensation, Farm Owner." The man pulled two bracelets from inside his coat. Evelyn smiled, taking them for a look.

"I can give you coarse flour instead. The deal remains the same: it’s confidential, and this is a one-time offer."

The man nodded. "I understand. We won’t breathe a word of this."

"In that case... could we possibly get a bit more coarse flour?"

"That’s fine. The coarse flour may be rough, but it hasn’t expired. I can add another hundred pounds."

Fifteen pounds of jewelry for two hundred and fifty pounds of coarse flour. It was hard to say who came out ahead, but in this new world, it was an undeniable fact that jewelry was worthless.

The couple agreed. Evelyn collected the jewelry and left, while Quincy took them to get the coarse flour and salt.

Back in her cabin, Evelyn cut her palm and absorbed all the Gold into her space.

Seeing the black soil expand, Evelyn’s lips curved into a smile.

Meanwhile, the husband and wife, having traded for two hundred and fifty pounds of coarse flour and twenty pounds of salt, left the farm immediately.

"That Farm Owner isn’t so bad."

The woman sighed. "We finally got some food. I told you to hide those two bracelets. Why did you take them out?"

The man gave a bitter smile. "She obviously knew we were hiding some of the jewelry. We’ve been to so many places, and this farm was the only one that would take it. We shouldn’t have tried to be clever. Gold is worthless now, but this grain will save our lives."

"I just wanted to save a couple of pieces for our daughter as a memento."

The woman explained hastily, but it didn’t matter anymore. They had food now, and they had to get home quickly. People were waiting to be fed.

The black soil in her space expanded by ten acres. Evelyn decided to cultivate two of them and plant corn.

Her previous crop of yellow corn had yielded a great harvest, with large cobs and plump kernels. This time, however, Evelyn planned on planting sweet corn.

Before dinner that evening, Quincy came to see Evelyn. He was still stewing over the day’s events.

Two hundred and fifty pounds of coarse flour was a lot, true. But Gold was a finite resource, and Evelyn’s space needed it to expand. The return she got from this Gold could buy her hundreds of pounds of grain many times over. But she couldn’t tell Quincy that, so she just let him sulk.

"Two hundred and fifty pounds of coarse flour... gone just like that. For a pile of junk."

Evelyn was exasperated. "And who was it that got us that coarse flour in the first place?"

"You and Ronan Kendrick."

Evelyn nodded. "So I have the right to decide what to do with it, don’t I?"

"You do, but I just think it was a bad deal! That coarse flour could have lasted us for ages. In this world, grain is more precious than gasoline!"

Evelyn’s head throbbed. "It’s not like I’m letting you starve."

Quincy looked wronged. "I just think that couple was being outrageously greedy. Do they really think Gold is still worth what it used to be? That whole bag of Gold isn’t even worth a single piece of bread these days!"

"This Gold is very useful to me," Evelyn said dryly. "I plan to keep it as a burial offering."

Exasperated, Quincy stormed off. For the next few days, he made a point to sigh dramatically whenever he saw Evelyn.

He was radiating more resentment than a vengeful spirit.

"All this gold jewelry is high-quality, none of it adulterated. I thought it was a fair exchange. So why is everyone looking at me like I’m some kind of sucker?"

Ronan Kendrick gently pinched Evelyn’s ear. "Because they all think you were taken for a ride. They don’t know the truth—that the Gold has another purpose."

Evelyn laughed. "Well, the black soil expanded by another ten acres. At the end of the day, I’m the one who came out on top."

For the next few days, Evelyn focused on cultivating the land in her space. A month later, however, the couple came back.

This time, they brought even more gold jewelry than the last.

Not wanting to listen to any more complaints, Evelyn brought the couple directly to her cabin. She inspected the jewelry—it was all high-quality—and then asked what they wanted. To her surprise, they didn’t want grain this time. Instead, they asked for some chickens and ducks, and two lambs.

"When we were here last time, we noticed the farm raises a lot of chickens and ducks. They all look so healthy. We’d like to get some to raise ourselves."

Evelyn nodded. "If you don’t mind my asking, where do you live?"

"In Auspicious Unicorn County, in Oakhaven."

Evelyn estimated the distance. By donkey cart, it would likely take them a full day and night to get here.

"Farm Owner, we’d also like to trade for some seeds. We probably won’t be back after this; we don’t have any more jewelry at home. The ground back in Auspicious Unicorn County is starting to thaw, and we want to try planting something."

"I have sweet potato and cassava vines. I don’t have a surplus of any other seeds."

"Sweet potato and cassava vines will be perfect."

Evelyn weighed the jewelry. It came to a total of twenty-three pounds. The woman explained that her family had been in the jewelry business, and these pieces were from her private collection. Their family was at the end of their rope, completely out of food. Even though they knew jewelry was nearly worthless, they had to try their luck. They’d been to many places, but what they got in return was always pitifully small.

This time, they traded for two month-old lambs, two chickens, ten pounds of sweet potato vines, and ten pounds of cassava vines.

After the couple left, Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick processed all the gold jewelry.

Evelyn clicked her tongue. "TSK TSK. Thirty-eight pounds of jewelry. They must have a large group to have escaped with so much."

"The well has doubled in size," Ronan Kendrick said suddenly.

Evelyn watched the black soil and the well continue to expand, a wave of dizziness washing over her. The space was one with her, and its sudden expansion by more than ten acres was too much for her body to handle.

Seeing her suddenly collapse, Ronan Kendrick’s face went white as a sheet.

"Evelyn? Evelyn!"

Evelyn could hear Ronan Kendrick’s frantic voice, but her body felt sealed, completely paralyzed. Thirty seconds later, she lost consciousness completely.

When Evelyn woke again, it was the following afternoon. Ronan Kendrick was sitting on the bed, watching her intently. She opened her eyes, and their gazes locked.

Ronan Kendrick didn’t speak for a long moment, simply pulling her into a tight embrace.

"You scared me."

Evelyn felt his body trembling and hugged him back tightly.

"I’m fine now. I fainted because the space was upgrading. Ronan, it’s unlocked a whole new area. We can raise animals in it now."