Chapter 16: Chapter 16: You Just Wait

Lin Lan nodded. “That’s all. Liying, don’t worry. Once I make some money, I’ll pay you back for what you fronted me.”

Yang Liying looked at her apologetically. “You don’t have to pay it back! I heard from Third Great-Aunt that Yang Laoyao was the one who wronged you. He…”

“Liying!” Lin Lan cut her off. “It’s all in the past. There’s no need to talk about him anymore. I just want to live a quiet life with Little Douzi.”

Yang Liying didn’t want to talk about Yang Laoyao either. “Okay! We’ll be here to help if you need anything.” ’She’s really changed,’ Liying thought. Ever since Yang Laoyao’s funeral, this was the first time she had heard Lin Lan mention paying back money.

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Okay!”

Just then, the whistle to start work blared from the loudspeaker.

Yang Liying smiled and stood up. “I’m off to work.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan picked up Little Douzi. “Say goodbye to your auntie.”

Little Douzi waved at her. “Goodbye, Auntie!”

Yang Liying laughed. “Goodbye, Little Douzi!”

Lin Lan dropped Little Douzi off with the old woman, then returned home. She retrieved an enamel mug from the hearth, padded her back-basket with some grass, placed the mug inside, and headed toward the sloping fields.

When she reached the cowshed, she saw Old Chen leaning against the entrance of the thatched shed. His eyes were closed and his face was a ghastly pale.

Lin Lan glanced around before taking the enamel mug from her basket. “Uncle, this is sweet potato congee. It’s still hot, you should eat it quickly.”

When Old Chen saw Lin Lan, he held out a one-yuan bill he was clutching. “Thank you, miss. This is for the medicine.” After taking the medicine and sleeping for a while, he felt much better.

Lin Lan didn’t take the money, instead handing him the enamel mug. “The medicine only cost fifteen fen, and I don’t have change for you right now. Eat this while it’s hot and sweat it out.”

Old Chen watched Lin Lan hurry away. He cradled the scalding-hot enamel mug, opened the lid, and took a sip. A wave of warmth spread through his icy stomach.

She filled her basket with grass and carried it on her back toward the shed. She saw Old Chen waiting for her, holding the empty mug. Shaking her head slightly, she walked right past him.

Liu Jinbao stood straddling a ridge between the fields, his legs spread apart, staring at her like a viper.

Lin Lan stopped a dozen paces away from Liu Jinbao and glared at him, shouting coldly, “Get out of the way! A good dog doesn’t block the path!”

Liu Jinbao pointed a finger at her. “You bitch! You dared to hit my mother? Just you wait. I’ll deal with you sooner or later.”

Lin Lan gave him a cold look as she quickly set down her basket. Raising an eyebrow, she sneered, “You bastard. This lady doesn’t like to wait. I prefer immediate retribution.” Before the words were even out of her mouth, she raised her sickle and swung it at Liu Jinbao.

Liu Jinbao hadn’t expected her to actually attack him. He spun on his heel and took off running, cursing nonstop, “Cursed widow! Shrew! I bet you don’t carry that blade with you every time!”

Lin Lan picked up a clod of dirt and hurled it at Liu Jinbao with all her might. “You bastard! I’ll beat you every single time I see you!”

With a THWACK, the clod of dirt hit the back of Liu Jinbao’s head and shattered.

“Agh!” Liu Jinbao cried out. He glanced back and saw Lin Lan chasing after him with her sickle raised. Not daring to curse anymore, he broke into a desperate sprint.

Only when he was far in the distance did Lin Lan turn and head back. She saw Old Chen leaning against the shed for support, watching her with a worried expression.

“He’s the brigade leader’s nephew and a real tyrant. A woman like you would be better off staying out of his way.” Over the years, Old Chen himself had suffered plenty at Liu Jinbao’s hands.

“Thank you! I’m fine. Just leave the mug there. I’ll come get it after I’ve delivered the grass.”

“Alright.” Old Chen turned and went back into the shed.

Later, as Lin Lan passed the shed carrying a load of mugwort, Old Chen checked to see that no one was around. He then ducked inside, retrieved the enamel mug, and handed it to her at the entrance.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Lin Lan took the mug and lifted the lid. Inside, she saw three one-yuan bills and a few smaller jiao bills. “Uncle Chen, what is this?”

Old Chen bowed his head to Lin Lan in thanks. “Thank you for saving my life. I only have five yuan on me right now. I’ll thank you properly later, when I get money from my family.”

Lin Lan took the money out of the mug and pressed it back into his hand, smiling. “Uncle Chen, your life is plenty valuable! Just focus on living well. Then you can thank me properly in the future.” With that, she walked away.

Old Chen watched her walk into the distance, then looked down at the money in his hand and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. ’My life is valuable?’ He mulled it over. ’Then again, how could a human life not be valuable!’

Lin Lan finished work early and returned home to spread the mugwort out to dry. She then picked up Little Douzi, and on the way back, she also carried home a basket of sweet potato vines. The old woman had already prepared the slips for her, so all she had to do was plant them.

She finished planting the sweet potato slips and had just watered the rapeseed on her private plot with liquid manure when the official end-of-work horn finally sounded.

Lin Lan changed the water for the soaking fava beans, then came out and said to Little Douzi, “Little Douzi, Mama’s going to take you out for a stroll.”

She wanted to check out the area near the vehicle factory to see if many people were selling goods there. While she was at it, she would map out the area, so she’d know an escape route in case the local patrol came to round up peddlers.

Little Douzi looked up at her. “Mama, are you going to buy melon seeds again?”

Yang Laoyao used to take this body’s previous owner there to sell cloth ration coupons. Whenever the woman had a little money in her pocket, she loved to go there for snacks, and Little Douzi had tagged along a few times.

Lin Lan whispered in his ear, “We’re not buying melon seeds. Mama wants to go take a look because I’m planning to make something to sell for money. Shhh, it’s a secret, so don’t let anyone hear.”

“Okay! That tickles!” Little Douzi covered his ear, bobbing his head up and down and grinning like a cat that got the cream.

With Little Douzi on her back, Lin Lan left the house and headed west. After following a tractor path for over half an hour, she saw a vegetable patch and the Eucalyptus Forest up ahead.

On the other side of the Eucalyptus Forest were the dormitories for the vehicle factory. Another brisk, half-hour walk to the south led to the dormitories for the women who worked at the silk factory.

Lin Lan entered the Eucalyptus Forest with Little Douzi on her back. Inside, she saw people selling vegetables, eggs, rice, and beans. There was a bit of everything.

Some carried baskets, others clutched urea sacks, and a few just stood with their hands shoved in their pockets.

People were trading cloth, oil, and meat ration coupons. Others spoke in hushed tones, striking a deal before heading off together.

Everyone looked wary, their eyes scanning the surroundings like radar, ready to bolt at the slightest sign of trouble.

People would emerge from a small alley, enter the woods to buy a few vegetables or some eggs, and then quickly leave.

A woman approached a handsome man whose build and looks were remarkably similar to a certain Hong Kong superstar. The man led her into the vegetable patch and lifted an old straw mat at the edge of a plot. Underneath lay a large slab of fatty pork.

The two exchanged a few quiet words. The man picked up a knife, sliced off a strip of pork, and pulled a small steelyard scale from his waistband. He weighed the cut with practiced ease, wrapped it in a taro leaf, tied it with a piece of grass twine, and handed it to the woman. She took the meat, gave him the money, and left without another word.

’So black market pork is going for 1.2 yuan per jin,’ Lin Lan observed.

A plump woman in her thirties walked over to Lin Lan with a wide smile. “Dearie, you have any cloth coupons?”

Lin Lan shook her head. “I don’t.”

“I also have sponge cakes and fried dough twists today,” she continued. “Want any?”

Lin Lan glanced at her. “How much are the sponge cakes?”

She smiled and said, “Five fen each.”

“I’ll take two,” Lin Lan said.

“Alright!” The woman took two from her satchel, wrapped them in a piece of paper, and handed them over.

Lin Lan saw that each sponge cake was slightly larger than a soup dumpling. She took them and handed one to Little Douzi.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep