Chapter 115: Chapter 112: Do You Still Love Cracking Sunflower Seeds?

When Zhou Xiaohong came to pick up her goods, Lin Lan suddenly realized the fifteenth of next month was the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was time to start preparing to make mooncakes.

“Sister Zhou, what do you use to bake your sponge cakes?”

“I had Master Lu build me an earthen oven. He’s from the north, and the ovens he builds work exceptionally well.” Zhou Xiaohong smiled at her. “Are you planning to make mooncakes?”

Lin Lan laughed. “Sister Zhou, you’re a natural at business. How did you know what I was planning to do from just one question?”

Zhou Xiaohong’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the fifteenth of next month, and you’re asking how I bake my sponge cakes. It was an easy guess! I’ll find Master Lu for you when I close up my stall. You can talk to him yourself.”

“Thank you! When my sister gets back, I’ll come to your place first to see what the earthen oven looks like.”

“Okay!” After a moment’s thought, Zhou Xiaohong added, “If you’re going to make mooncakes, then I won’t bother finding another supplier.”

“Okay!”

Lin Lan then asked about the mooncakes she’d sold in previous years and which flavors were most popular. The two of them discussed which varieties would sell best before Zhou Xiaohong left.

Thinking of Little Douzi, Lin Lan still felt uneasy. She locked up and headed for the school. As she neared the brigade house, she saw the rice paddy in front of it was abuzz with activity.

Men and women in straw hats were bent over, swinging their sickles. With a synchronized SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, row after row of golden rice stalks fell, lining the paddy in neat formation.

Two shirtless men shouted a work chant as they cranked a thresher. Grains of rice pattered like rain against the enclosure, falling back into the threshing drum.

Lin Lan quickly reached the school. The preschool class was in the first classroom on the left after the main gate. She walked to the window and immediately spotted Little Douzi, sitting upright in the third row of the middle section with his hands clasped behind his back.

Teacher Zheng was teaching them how to count. When she saw Lin Lan standing outside the window, she told the children to keep counting and stepped outside.

Lin Lan explained that Little Douzi had a slight fever that morning and asked her to keep an eye on him. Upon hearing that Little Douzi insisted on attending school even while sick, Teacher Zheng praised him and happily agreed to watch over him.

Lin Lan thanked Teacher Zheng. As she turned to leave, she saw a scholarly-looking male teacher holding a stack of textbooks, staring at her in pleasant surprise. She wracked her brain but couldn’t place him, so she just gave a polite nod and started to walk away.

“Lin Lan, you don’t remember me?” he asked, pointing to himself. “I’m Wang Yong. I sat behind you in our first year of middle school.”

Lin Lan thought back hard, pulling from her memory the image of a boy who was always clutching textbooks. Their classmates had even nicknamed him “Wang the Bookworm.”

“Oh! I remember now. Are you a teacher here?”

Wang Yong nodded with a smile. “I later passed the make-up exam for the teachers’ college. I graduated last year and was assigned here to teach fifth-grade math. I’m also the director of studies.”

Lin Lan smiled. “If the academic environment had been better back then, you definitely would’ve been able to get into a proper university.”

Wang Yong looked at the girl who had always loved to sneakily crack open sunflower seeds in class and blurted out, “Do you still like eating sunflower seeds?”

“Not anymore. I don’t have time for that these days.” Lin Lan laughed, glancing at the textbooks in his arms. “Well, I shouldn’t keep you from your class. Let’s talk again when we’re free.”

“Today is the last day of classes before the harvest break.” Wang Yong hesitated for a moment before asking, “I heard you married someone from around here. Your child is already in school?”

Lin Lan looked back, smiling as she gestured toward the preschool classroom. “My son is a little over four. He’s in the preschool class.”

“Time really flies!”

“It sure does,” Lin Lan agreed, giving him a wave before walking off with brisk steps.

Wang Yong sighed as he watched her walk away. ’The girl who always loved to sneak sunflower seeds in class is a mother now.’

****

Wang Zhilin arrived at the clothing factory. While packing up his stall, he thought of the large dog in the black market courtyard. He found Yang Zhigang and asked him where the dog came from.

“The dog’s from one of the wolfhounds at Brother Li’s pig farm. It’s a very clever breed.”

Wang Zhilin said ingratiatingly, “Brother Gang, could you do me a favor and ask Brother Li if he has any more puppies? A thief killed my aunt’s dog, and he almost broke into her house.”

“Is she okay? I heard your aunt is Captain Yang’s sister-in-law. I’ll head over to Brother Li’s place later and ask for you.”

“She’s fine. My uncle reported it, and they arrested Ye San.” Wang Zhilin looked at him. “Brother Gang, the Captain Yang you mentioned is Yang Dingbang, right? He’s my uncle.”

“Oh! No wonder Brother Li told us to look out for you. Turns out you’re Captain Yang’s nephew.”

“Thank you, Brother Li. And thank you, Brother Gang, for looking out for me.” Wang Zhilin finally understood why Yang Zhigang had been so good to him and his brother ever since they started their stall here.

After the market closed, Yang Zhigang went to Li Xiangyang’s house. He told him about the break-in at Lin Lan’s and asked if Black Tiger had any pups left.

Li Xiangyang’s face darkened as he nodded. “Go to the pig farm right now and get the one we kept for ourselves. I’m going to the police station.”

“I’m on it.” Seeing Li Xiangyang’s dark expression, Yang Zhigang rubbed his stomach, then hopped on his bike and left.

Li Xiangyang went to the Public Security Bureau, then over to Yang Dingbang’s house. The moment he saw him, he asked, “Ding Bang, has Ye San confessed? Why did he go to Lin Lan’s house?”

Yang Dingbang gave him a strange look. “Xiangyang, how did you know my sister-in-law’s place was broken into? And why are you so concerned about them? Don’t tell me you’ve got feelings for her?”

Li Xiangyang nodded without hesitation. “I do. I like her. But she isn’t interested in me at all and has no idea how I feel. She just thinks I’m helping her because you and I are such good friends.

I’m planning to wait until after the one-year anniversary of your late cousin’s death. Then I’ll find a chance to tell her how I feel. If she’s willing, I’ll ask my grandmother to act as a matchmaker. If she’s not willing but doesn’t hate me, then I’ll court her openly until I win her over.”

Seeing the look on his face, Yang Dingbang knew he was serious. “I’m happy for you that you’ve found someone you truly like. Knowing your character, I’d be at ease with you looking after them. But your father and your sister…”

“Ding Bang!” Li Xiangyang cut him off. “I’m confident I can convince my old man. And I’ve already told Dongzi—who I marry is none of her business. She has no right to tell me who I can take as my wife.”

Yang Dingbang laughed and gave him a light punch on the chest. “You sly dog! So Dongzi already knew? If this hadn’t happened, when were you planning on telling me?”

Li Xiangyang blushed and rubbed his nose. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. That clever monkey Dongzi figured it out the other day when we were having dinner at your place.”

“Dongzi has the sharpest eyes!” Yang Dingbang said, pulling him over to sit on the sofa. “The guy who went to Lin Lan’s place is named Ye Gang. He’s also from the first production team and lives over by the alley. He put a packet of poison on a slice of meat and tried to give it to Dahuang, but Dahuang wouldn’t eat it.

After Ye Gang climbed over the wall, he clubbed the dog to death. Lin Lan heard the commotion… According to his statement, he knew Lin Lan ran a stall in the Eucalyptus Forest and just wanted to get some spending money. I saw the scene, and I have to admire her. She’s a total badass, like one of those female soldiers in the movies.”

When Li Xiangyang heard that Lin Lan had run out clutching Little Douzi to call for help, the knot in his chest finally loosened. But upon hearing Ye Gang’s confession, he shook his head. “Impossible. I heard from Shuiqing that he, Old Gui, and a few others were running a gambling scam and won a lot of money off Liu Jinbao. He shouldn’t be short on cash.”

Yang Dingbang mulled it over for a moment. “I’ll pass this on to Little Liu and the others. We’ll give him a proper interrogation.”

Li Xiangyang nodded. “Okay. I’ll head back and wait for Zhigang to get back with the puppy for Lin Lan.”

****

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep