Chapter 5: Is This a Farm of All Realms?

The Orthopedics Department office was located on the third floor of the Second Inpatient Building, near the staircase. Lan Mo had just moved in not long ago, and Nurse Wang, who had spoken to her earlier, had also been transferred from the Emergency Department.

Wang Lihua walked over to Lan Mo and said with a bitter smile, “Doctor Lan, we really are fated, aren’t we? Look, I’ve been transferred to your Orthopedics Department too.”

“What happened?”

“Being close to the water, you get the moon first—making room for someone else, of course!”

Could it be that Obstetrics Department nurse Li Jiaojiao again?

“Who is it?”

“Who else but that Li Jiaojiao? I never expected that right after transferring a beauty like you away, they’d move me to Orthopedics too. I already have a partner—what could I possibly be in her way?”

Hah, having a father who’s the Hospital Director is really something, isn’t it? Want to switch departments? Just switch.

That Li Jiaojiao, in the Obstetrics Department, was either arguing with doctors or quarreling with patients. Her attitude toward expectant mothers and their families was terrible. In just one year of her internship, she’d already been reported several times.

Without her father, she’d be nothing. She just throws her weight around using her dad’s name.

Thinking of this, Lan Mo kindly reminded her, “Nurse Wang, working in the Emergency Department is no easier than Obstetrics. If it’s a blessing, it won’t be a disaster; if it’s a disaster, you can’t avoid it. Coming to Orthopedics might actually be a good thing for you…”

With Li Jiaojiao’s terrible temper, it’d be strange if no problems arose in the Emergency Department. When an accident happens, it won’t just be a matter of complaints anymore. Just wait and see—there’s a good show coming. She’d just sit back and enjoy the drama.

Being close to the water, you get the moon first? She thinks too highly of herself. Is the moon in the water so easy to grasp?

Wang Lihua slapped her thigh and said with a laugh, “Oh, right! Why didn’t I think of that? Doctor Lan, I had someone put that empty medicine bottle in your dorm room.”

“Good, thank you, Comrade Wang. You go ahead and get busy! We’ll chat again when we have time. I need to go to the ward to find Director Qin now.”

Lan Mo went to the Orthopedic Ward and found Director Qin. Director Qin never expected the Vice Hospital Director to assign the hospital’s most beautiful doctor to their department. Their office already had two or three unmarried male colleagues.

“Comrade Xiao Lan, wait until I finish up here, and I’ll arrange a desk for you. You can go back to the office for now.”

“Alright, thank you, Director Qin.”

It wasn’t until 11:30 that Director Qin returned to the office. As Lan Mo was new, she was naturally assigned a corner spot.

At 12:00, when work ended, Lan Mo didn’t return to the hospital dormitory. Instead, she rode her bicycle straight to the Police Station.

Lan Jingtian knew his daughter would come to see him, so he specifically brought a box of braised pork and a box of pan-fried tofu from the unit cafeteria. After the two finished eating, they rode their bicycles to the Western-style house left by the original owner’s biological father.

“Dad, is this really the house that person left? It feels well-maintained, not desolate at all.”

“This is your dowry, so of course your dad has to take good care of it. I originally planned to rent it out to save some dowry money for you, but I was worried tenants might damage it, so I gave up on that idea. Still, I come here to clean whenever I have time, and sometimes I even take naps here.”

“Thank you, Dad!”

The Western-style building had two floors, totaling three to four hundred square meters. The average working-class family definitely wouldn’t rent such a large house.

If several families rented it together, they’d likely partition it here and there, and the Western-style building would surely turn into a dilapidated mess.

Her biological grandfather was a medicinal herb merchant, so this house would definitely attract attention. She’d have to figure out a way to rent it out, otherwise, how could she hold onto it?

“Dad, isn’t your unit’s dormitory space insufficient? This house is just sitting empty anyway—why not rent it to your unit as a dormitory?”

“But what about all these fine pieces of furniture?”

If only there were a space—a space where she could store all this furniture.

“We’ll figure out the furniture later, Dad. Your Police Station is so close by. If we rent this place to your unit cheaply as a dormitory, with a ten-year lease, your unit’s leaders would be overjoyed, right?”

“Such a long lease? What about when you get married later?”

“Dad, are you thinking of having a son-in-law move in? When I find a partner in the future, I’ll definitely choose someone with their own house. This Western-style building can be left for my future children.”

Her father was still the Deputy Police Station Chief. To get promoted, he had to work diligently without making the slightest mistake.

Over the next ten years, she naturally hoped her family would stay safe and sound, keeping a low profile and developing discreetly.

Once the situation improved in ten years, couldn’t they just take the house back?

“But if we rent this place to those bachelors, they won’t take care of it. What about the flowers in the yard?”

“Just pull them all out. Tell them to grow vegetables instead!”

When people can’t even eat their fill, what’s the point of growing flowers? If the yard looked run-down from the outside, perhaps others wouldn’t set their sights on it.

“Dad, let’s have someone embed broken glass along the top of the courtyard wall to keep people from climbing over.”

“Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, we’ll rent the place out. Momo, here are the keys. Take your time looking around; I’m heading back to the unit first!”

The letter her biological father had written to the original owner had never been opened by her family. They only knew what was in the small rosewood box; as for what Xu Changqing had left for Lan Mo, they had no idea.

When Lan Jingtian had previously seen two locks on one of the rooms in the backyard, he opened it to find only an empty container for storing grain and didn’t think much of it.

To be honest, the original owner’s family members were truly decent people. If the original owner had been unlucky enough to be sent to the countryside, she likely would have been worked like an ox, and might even have been sold off for a bride price for the family’s children.

After Lan Jingtian left, Lan Mo locked the door and thoroughly inspected every room upstairs and downstairs, finding nothing but furniture and some worthless ornaments.

Lan Mo took the keys to the small shed in the backyard and opened the room used for storing grain. Inside, aside from a large red cargo container, there was nothing.

Where exactly had her biological father hidden the things he left for her? This room no longer held any grain, so why were there two locks on it?

Following the old trope from TV dramas, this room must have a secret chamber—perhaps under this large cargo container?

Since this container was for storing grain, there must be a cellar underneath it, right?

Summoning all her strength, Lan Mo gradually shifted the container aside and, sure enough, found a large wooden plank with a lock beneath it.

Lan Mo tried each key her father had given her one by one until she finally managed to open the plank. This cellar hadn’t been opened for at least ten or twenty years. To avoid poisoning, Lan Mo deliberately waited a while.

After half an hour, Lan Mo cautiously descended and found three large rosewood boxes placed in the center of the cellar. A pile of lime was scattered in the corner, and six large sacks surrounded the boxes. Could they be grain?

Grain from ten or twenty years ago would likely be infested with insects by now, so Lan Mo decided to open them first.

Upon opening them, she discovered they contained Mugwort leaves, dried tangerine peel, and red tangerine peel—two sacks of each.

Originally, these medicinal herbs weren’t particularly valuable, but dried tangerine peel and red tangerine peel that have been stored for twenty years become valuable even if they weren’t before.

Fortunately, her father was clever and stored only durable medicinal herbs. If they had been other types, they would have either become infested with insects or lost their medicinal properties long ago.

Lan Mo opened the boxes one by one. She had expected to see large gold bars and small gold bars, but instead found calligraphy and paintings, various bowls and dishes, vases of different sizes, and assorted decorative items.

Were these all antiques? Yet she couldn’t identify the origins of any of them.

Oh my, what was this?

Could it be the chamber pot often seen in historical dramas?

Why did her father even collect something like this? Couldn’t he have left her some proper treasures? Some jade, jewelry, or gold would have been fine!

Forget it. Those things were easy to carry, and it was already good enough that he left her so many items.

Lan Mo picked up a famille-rose openwork revolving vase, and from inside came a crisp clinking sound—there was something in it!

She felt both excited and nervous, afraid she might pull out something strange.

Reaching inside, she felt something round and smooth, like glass beads, but the texture was neither like glass nor jade. Could they be golden pearls?

Lan Mo scooped out all the small beads from inside. Golden pearls?

One, two, three, four, five…

Ten golden pearls, some carved with dragons, some with phoenixes, and others with vermilion birds and black tortoises. She didn’t recognize the rest.

A flash of golden light appeared, and the ten golden pearls in her hand vanished. What the heck?

Was there a gold-devouring beast right beside her?

Lan Mo shuddered, but before she could think further, she was pulled into a strange space—an endless expanse of lawn with a small wooden house. On the outer wall of the house hung a large display screen. Was this QQ Farm?

How was she supposed to play this? It had been over ten years since she last played a vegetable-stealing game.