Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

At the east end of the village, the Lin family——

In stark contrast to the bustling noise at the village entrance, this place was eerily quiet.

Lin Chen's old house is a detached house with a small mountain behind it. A small river flows slowly in front of the house. There are no villagers within dozens of meters around. It is so quiet that only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the soft sound of the flowing water can be heard.

The yard, which had been abandoned and overgrown with weeds for a long time, has been cleared out by Lin Chen, and the ground is now flat and neat.

The main house has also been thoroughly cleaned, with neat tables and chairs, and bright, clean windows, sweeping away years of desolation and dilapidation.

Lin Chen sat on a stool in the room, staring blankly at the brass lock in his hand, finally accepting his current situation.

Let's go back two days—

Lin Chen pushed open the door to his home. In front of him was an old wooden cabinet with its doors open. Inside, old clothes and old objects were neatly arranged, all left behind by his grandfather.

Looking at the old things in the cabinet, Lin Chen couldn't help but recall his grandfather's appearance before his death, and muttered to himself:

"Grandpa, I'm back. I'll find the things you repeatedly told me to do before you passed away."

He bent down and reached into the deepest compartment of the kang cabinet, his fingertips groping back and forth among a pile of old objects.

After touching it for a while, my fingers finally touched a hard object.

Lin Chen took out the item, which was a neatly folded red cloth. He slowly unfolded the red cloth, revealing a palm-sized brass lock.

The brass lock was heavy and cool to the touch. The surface was engraved with blurry, old cloud patterns. It had no keyhole and a simple, antique design, clearly an old object that had been stored for decades.

Lin Chen held the brass lock in his hand, examining it closely as he pondered its origins, when his fingertip was suddenly scratched by a tiny burr on the edge of the lock.

The pain was negligible, but a drop of bright red blood seeped from the tip of the index finger, dripped gently, and landed right in the center of the brass lock.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

The drop of blood didn't flow down; instead, it was instantly absorbed by the copper lock.

The next second, the entire copper lock lit up with an extremely faint golden halo, which disappeared in an instant, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.

At the same time, a mechanical voice rang out directly in the depths of Lin Chen's mind.

[Rural Destiny System successfully activated]

[Core rule: Must have resided continuously in Xiangyashan Village for 5 years, and the total time spent outside the village each year must not exceed 45 days]

[Penalty for violation: Outright expulsion]

[Ultimate reward upon completion of five years: 1 million RMB in cash, lifelong health without illness, permanent business luck buff, and permanent peak physiological function]

[Current countdown to settlement: 4 years, 364 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes]

A hint of surprise flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. His calm and collected nature, honed through years of working alone, prevented him from panicking or losing his composure.

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to dispel the strange feeling.

The words in my mind were crystal clear, and the countdown was still ticking steadily; it was definitely not an illusion.

"What? A hallucination? Have I been sleeping with too many women?"

Lin Chen murmured softly, his eyes full of doubt.

Having weathered countless storms in the business world over the years, he had developed an incredibly resilient character and never believed in such mystical things.

He forced down the strange feeling in his heart, trying to ignore the words in his mind and continue tidying up the old things, but the countdown was so clear that he couldn't ignore it at all.

A few minutes later, Lin Chen's eyes darkened, a fierce determination rising within him, and he decided to verify the truth for himself.

He picked up the car keys on the table, turned around and strode out of the yard, got into his car, started the engine, stepped on the gas, and the car sped off, heading straight for the village entrance.

He acted decisively, did not blindly follow others, and intended to verify the truth himself and let the facts speak for themselves.

It's all an illusion! It can't scare me!

The car sped along and soon reached the village entrance. It was not far from the boundary of Xiangyashan Village and it would soon be able to leave the village.

At that very moment, the mechanical voice in my mind rang out again, and crimson text instantly filled my mind.

[WARNING! The system has just been activated. You cannot leave your settlement area for one month!]

[Host detected is about to leave the settlement area!]

[Violation penalties will be implemented soon: 10, 9, 8...]

An overwhelming sense of fear instantly enveloped Lin Chen's entire body. His hair stood on end, and his heart clenched, as if he would disappear from the world in the next second.

Lin Chen was so frightened that he slammed on the brakes without thinking!

The screeching sound of tires cutting through the air, the tires leaving a long black mark on the scorching dirt road, the car shuddering violently, and finally coming to a steady stop less than three meters from the boundary marker.

【3, 2, 1...】

[This warning is hereby terminated; no violation occurred, and the penalty is cancelled.]

The blood-red text faded, the cold mechanical voice disappeared, and my mind returned to calm.

Lin Chen slumped in the driver's seat, panting heavily. His clothes were soaked with cold sweat and clung tightly to his body.

The oppressive feeling of death he had just experienced left him no room for doubt.

At that moment, he believed it completely.

This system is real, and the punishment for obliteration is real too.

If he had dared to step out of the village just now, he would have been doomed.

It took Lin Chen several minutes to calm down and his mind raced as he calmly reviewed the entire situation.

Running away is out of the question; gambling with my life is simply not worth it.

Instead of getting caught up in conflict and creating unnecessary trouble for yourself, it's better to accept reality with equanimity.

He has always been easygoing, but he also plans things out carefully. Since he has to stay for five years, he will stay here peacefully and make good plans for the days to come.

Lin Chen steadied himself, turned the car around, and slowly drove back to his old home at the east end of the village.

After parking the car, he walked to the bench in the yard, not caring about cleanliness, took out his phone, and dialed his partner's number in Shenzhen.

The call connected, and Lin Chen took a deep breath, speaking calmly:

"Old Wang, I've run into some unexpected trouble, so I won't be coming back to Shenzhen."

Old Wang on the other end of the phone was stunned, filled with disbelief:

"Brother Chen? What did you say? You're giving up on a perfectly good business? Our processing plant is making money right now! Why aren't you coming back all of a sudden?"

Faced with his partner's persistent questioning, Lin Chen couldn't explain the system, and only said calmly:

"Something terrible has happened at home, and I have to stay in my hometown; I can't leave."

Without any unnecessary words, Lin Chen directly stated his final decision:

"Sell off all of Shenzhen's industries at once: the processing plant, the two stalls, all inventory, and equipment—cash out everything that can be liquidated, the sooner the better."

Old Wang was completely bewildered and repeatedly pressed Lin Chen for an explanation, but Lin Chen refused to elaborate.

Finally, Lin Chen added:

"I'll keep that fully paid-off apartment in Shenzhen. Everything else will be sold at a discount. You can keep the client resources if you want. Please transfer all the payments to my ICBC account."

Old Wang had worked with Lin Chen for many years and knew his personality well; once he made a decision, nothing could change his mind.

Despite being filled with doubt and regret, I gritted my teeth and agreed, immediately starting to handle the transfer matters.

Over the next four hours, Lin Chen sat quietly in the courtyard, receiving follow-up calls from Lao Wang one after another.

Each transaction was finalized quickly, and although the price was slightly lower than the market price, the advantage was that it was settled in full at once, making it clean and efficient.

At 8 p.m., all transactions were finalized and completed.

The total amount is 4.6 million, and the full amount has been received.

Lin Chen opened his mobile banking balance page and looked at the numbers, feeling completely at ease.

He already had 630,000 in savings, and with the 4.6 million from the sale of his property, his total assets were fixed at 5.23 million.

In a small village in 2005, this amount of money was an astronomical sum, enough for him to live comfortably for five years.

Having made his decision, Lin Chen showed no lingering attachment and severed all past ties.

He has always been like this: he doesn't dwell on the past or fear the future; he does things cleanly and thoroughly, never dragging his feet.