My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 3 Cave Heaven
This black wooden box is long and narrow, with intricate patterns on it, giving it an old and rustic feel.

It has to be said that it is quite similar to the image of the Moonlight Box in the movie.

Chen Ling wasn't sure if this thing had the ability to travel through the past and future like the Moonlight Box.

However, he was certain that this thing was inextricably linked to his "dream of several decades," and perhaps it really wasn't a dream, but rather a kind of consciousness transmigration.

"Time travel? If it could be like the Moonlight Box, I'd be rolling in it."

When I was browsing the Yoyogi flea market in Tokyo, I just felt that this black wooden box was something from my homeland, and I felt a sense of familiarity with it, so I bought it.

I didn't think much of it.

Of course, although it is unknown what kind of wood this black wooden box is made of and it cannot be described as exquisite, it is still quite good as a collectible because of its antique charm.

Moreover, one of the older men accompanying us said with certainty that this thing was quite old and that buying it would definitely not be a loss.

Chen Ling didn't think too much about it at the time. He had bought quite a lot of things, and this thing was just something he bought while browsing the market.

After going back and taking a hot spring bath, he even played with the box for a while.

Later, his friend suggested trying the local customs, but he declined, saying he needed to take care of his health while abroad. He then put the box under his pillow and went to sleep in his room.

He couldn't remember what happened after that.

All he knew was that when he opened his eyes, he had returned from the parallel world of 2021 to 1995, back to the time when he was unconscious in bed.

They became the lucky ones who experienced more than twenty years of advanced times.

"Since I can go to another parallel world while unconscious, I wonder if I can travel back and forth between them?"

Chen Ling fiddled with the black wooden box, opening and closing it with a click-clack sound, and the idea gradually excited him.

Despite repeated attempts, the black wooden box did not respond.

Chen Ling was convinced that the black wooden box was inextricably linked to his time travel.

He wasn't sure if it would work again.

After studying it for most of the day, Chen Ling still couldn't figure it out, which made him unable to sleep well that night.

Since they know this secret box is special, even if they can't go back, they still want to uncover its secrets; that's only human nature.

……

So the next morning, Chen Ling got up and fiddled with the black wooden box over and over, but still found nothing.

This feeling of seeing hope but being unable to find a way in made him feel very frustrated, and a few strands of worry appeared on his face.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood and had slept with the box all night, Wang Susu assumed he was unhappy because he hadn't found any money inside. Not daring to provoke him, she quietly took the waste charcoal out of the stove and dumped it outside.

Chen Ling held the box, recalling some details of how he obtained it before and after his transmigration, lost in thought.

His thoughts were interrupted when Wang Susu came in and spoke to him.

“I heard people outside saying that Erzhu has exchanged farmland with several families in our village, and some families didn’t want to exchange with him, so he paid money to contract them out…”

"They've been leasing it for several years; I heard they're planning to build a greenhouse."

"Build a greenhouse?"

Chen Ling blinked and looked at Wang Susu.

Then he remembered the policies from around 95 that encouraged greenhouse farming and the second round of family land contracting.

Although Chen Erzhu was a good-for-nothing, he had been arrested a few years ago.

But even rats have their ways. For some reason, this guy managed to get to know two or three influential people in the county after he came out, and got a job at the county's sand quarry, where he made quite a bit of money.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have the capital to contract land on such a large scale.

It seems that Chen Erzhu heard about the greenhouse project from the county and took advantage of the land redistribution opportunity to try and exchange farmland with others. If he couldn't get land through exchange, he would pay someone to buy it.

"Want to make big money growing crops in greenhouses? He'll probably lose his underwear this year..."

Chen Ling chuckled and thought to himself.

Why? Because there was a major flood in 95!

According to the memories of parallel universes, several counties, including this one, are severely affected areas.

The reason for this certainty is that the historical events and natural disasters in the two parallel worlds are consistent, as has been proven in history, without the slightest discrepancy.

"I……"

Wang Susu was unaware of Chen Ling's thoughts. Seeing him laugh inexplicably, she hesitated before she could speak.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Chen Ling snapped out of his daze and asked.

“I…I was thinking, could we talk to Erzhu and see if we could contract our farmland to him, just like the other families in the village who didn’t want to exchange farmland with him…”

“If he doesn’t think it’s right, we’ll just give him the same amount of money he paid for the land exchange and give him a two-year lease.”

Wang Susu spoke softly; she was a typical little woman, afraid of her husband to the core.

Even with his older brother backing him up, he was still afraid.

Although she was speaking to her husband, her posture was as if she were begging him.

As he spoke, his eyes darted away, avoiding eye contact with Chen Ling.

Because she understood that the money Chen Erzhu had subsidized had probably been almost entirely squandered by Chen Ling.

Even if it's not all spent, it definitely won't be taken out again.

She didn't dare say anything like asking Chen Ling to return it to Erzhu.

They could only try to negotiate with Chen Ling in a tactful way, suggesting that Chen Erzhu be given the land to contract for a few more years, based on the amount of compensation he would receive for exchanging farmland.

In this way, Chen Ling wouldn't have to touch the money in his hands, and he could keep the land, so the possibility of him objecting would be smaller.

Besides, Chen Erzhu is the kind of person who's like a dog; if you try to negotiate with him, he won't even bother with you if you're not willing to spend a little money.

“I heard from other people in the village that they lease each mu of land to Erzhu for 100 yuan a year, and he will give us a subsidy of 200 yuan per mu in exchange for our land. We can lease it to him for three or four years for 200 yuan each!”

"As long as they don't trade farmland with our family..."

"OK?"

After Wang Susu finished speaking, she looked at Chen Ling almost pleadingly. She had mustered all her courage to save her family's land.

At any other time, I wouldn't dare to say so much in front of Chen Ling.

Unexpectedly, Chen Ling nodded and said "okay" after hearing her words, and then smiled and said, "After breakfast, I'll go to the county town to discuss the farmland issue with Erzhu again!"

This left Wang Susu a bit confused, and she even wondered if she had misheard.

Given Chen Ling's personality and temperament, he shouldn't have agreed so easily. Could it be...?

Did he regret it too?

She wanted to ask but didn't dare. After Chen Ling finished speaking, she walked out and sighed helplessly before going to the side to prepare breakfast.

Little did she know that Chen Ling was no longer the same rascal he used to be. How could he still dislike her like before, and take his anger out on her whenever something went wrong?
However, Chen Ling seemed a little distracted, preoccupied with the matter of the black wooden box.

As for her, it wasn't that he was deliberately ignoring her, but rather that his previous state would be too abrupt if he suddenly became better.

The young wife is probably not happy; she should be thinking more about it.

Therefore, if you want to make changes, you have to take it slowly.

"This thing is really difficult to deal with!"

Chen Ling put the box down, took a couple of breaths of fresh morning air, stretched his limbs a few times, and prepared to clear his mind, otherwise this box would drive him crazy.

"Cluck cluck, cluck cluck..."

The old hen in the house laid an egg and was pacing around the yard, clucking loudly to show off.

Seeing this, Chen Ling grabbed two handfuls of bran and put them into the stone trough in the chicken coop, poured in water and stirred it into a thin consistency, as a reward for the old hen that laid eggs.

Then I went to the hand pump well to wash up, and I immediately felt much more refreshed.

Then he took out the secret box again and examined it carefully in the sunlight.

"Eh?"

"There are words?"

Chen Ling's gaze paused, lingering on a distorted character inside the box.

It was a faint, almost invisible inscription, engraved in the center of the inside of the box.

The characters are twisted and distorted like ghostly scribbles, resembling ancient bronze inscriptions, or the eye of a monster.

Chen Ling couldn't make out the specifics, nor did he understand what the word meant.

"Hmm? There's one over here too..."

Inside the other half of Chen Ling's box, there was a similar character, which was also dim and almost disappeared, and could hardly be seen without careful observation.

Staring at the two mysterious characters, Chen Ling studied them in the courtyard for a long time, but couldn't figure them out. Instead, he made himself dizzy.

Not only does my vision become blurry, but I also feel nauseous and want to vomit.

not good!

You can't look at these scribbles too much, or you'll run into problems!
"Fugui, Susu, this is incredible, absolutely incredible!"

Just as Chen Ling was about to squat down to catch his breath, Wang Laishun's voice came from outside the courtyard again.

In a daze, I saw a thin, dark-skinned old man push open the gate and rush in.

"What's wrong, Fifth Uncle? What happened?"

Wang Susu was cooking when she heard the noise and hurriedly came out of the house.

"Erzhu used his connections in the county to build the greenhouse ahead of schedule. Now the township has issued a document approving it, and the land where Erzhu is building the greenhouse has been designated."

“If it’s contracted, it’s contracted; if it’s farmland exchanged, then it belongs to Erzhu.”

"The exchanged farmland cannot be changed; you can't get your land back now."

Wang Laishun's voice was urgent, but each sentence made Wang Susu's face paler.

They were talking on the other end, but Chen Ling could only hear the voices; the world was spinning before his eyes, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

Finally, feeling that he couldn't hold on any longer, everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Ah Ling!"

"Wealth!"

Two screams rang out in the courtyard, but Chen Ling could no longer hear them.

……

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling opened his eyes, and found himself surrounded by a white mist.

All that could be seen was a stone tablet in front of them, with a line of mysterious, distorted characters engraved on it.

Upon closer inspection, the first two characters are exactly the same as the two characters inside the secret box.

"Sun and moon..."

"Dongtian?"

For some reason, Chen Ling could now recognize the scribbles that he couldn't understand before at a glance.

"So the two characters engraved inside the secret box were 'sun' and 'moon'..."

"I was brought here by the secret box!"

Chen Ling looked at the words on the stone tablet and muttered to himself.

I gently touched the stone tablet. It wasn't as rough as it looked; instead, it was warm and smooth like jade, and felt very comfortable to the touch.

"call……"

However, the moment Chen Ling touched the stone tablet, a gentle breeze swept by, and thick white mist began to gather towards the stone tablet.

"What's going on?"

Chen Ling was startled and quickly removed his hand.

But then, something even more astonishing happened: thick white mist began to surge wildly into his body.

(End of this chapter)