Chapter 165: Chapter 161: The News Has Arrived

“We’re here!” The old madam entered the kitchen, placed a basket of vegetables on the table, and beamed at the two of them. “I already had dinner ready, but Little Douzi insisted on dragging me and Dandan over for your braised loaches, so I just brought our food along.”

Lin Lan chided her gently. “Oh, you shouldn’t have! Coming for dinner and bringing your own food.”

“It’s nothing special!” the old madam said as she took the dishes out of her basket. “Dandan likes twice-cooked pork. I stewed some radishes and went to the vegetable patch to find a few autumn chili peppers to stir-fry with fermented black beans.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Please, have a seat. Once I finish frying the loaches, we can eat.”

Lin Yuezhen smiled and brought a bamboo chair over for the old madam, gesturing for her to sit.

The old madam pulled a packet of vegetable seeds from her pocket and handed it to her, smiling. “Yuezhen, in a few days it’ll be time to sow the er cai and bang qing cai seeds. I brought them over for you.”

Lin Yuezhen nodded, took the seeds, and put them away in the cupboard.

Lin Lan took out a few eggs, added some flour and potato starch, and mixed them into a smooth batter. She removed the green onions and ginger from the marinated loaches, then dipped them in the batter until they were fully coated.

She heated rapeseed oil until small bubbles formed on the surface. One by one, she placed the battered loaches into the hot oil and fried them until golden brown, then removed them with a slotted spoon. After letting them cool slightly and allowing the oil to heat up again, she returned them to the pot and fried them a second time until they were perfectly crispy before scooping them out.

Lin Yuezhen brought out the steamer. Beneath the main basket was braised taro, which she sprinkled with chopped cilantro and served in an earthenware bowl.

Lin Lan went to the side room and saw Dandan and Little Douzi reading a picture book. “Dinner’s ready! Let’s eat.”

“Coming!” The two children quickly put down their book, turned off the lamp, and ran into the kitchen.

The fried loaches were crispy and delicious. The spicy and numbing loaches were savory and fragrant, with no hint of a muddy taste.

The old madam ate two of the fried loaches. “The fried ones are quite good too. The batter on the outside is so crispy, and even the bones are fried until they’re brittle.”

“Mhm!” Dandan picked one up. “Great-grandma, Little Douzi and I both like the fried ones best.”

Little Douzi, his mouth full, nodded repeatedly. “The fried ones are tastier.”

Seeing how much they enjoyed them, Lin Yuezhen placed a few more into each of their bowls.

Dandan covered the top of her bowl. “Auntie, it’s full! I’ll get more after I finish this.”

Lin Yuezhen beamed and nodded again and again. ’I was married for years but couldn’t have children,’ she thought, ’so my husband’s family just decided I was barren.’

’My mother-in-law was always making pointed remarks, and my husband never stood up for me. He even joined his mother in beating and cursing me before they threw me out without a second thought. I don’t know what terrible things I must have done in a past life to be struck mute in this one, only to be cast out later.’

’Thank goodness I came here. With Little Lan and Little Douzi, life finally has some flavor again.’

Lin Lan saw Lin Yuezhen was just watching the two children eat and said with a laugh, “Look at you two. Your auntie is happier watching you eat than eating herself.”

When the children heard this, they each picked up a loach and put it in Lin Yuezhen’s bowl. “Auntie, you eat too!”

Lin Yuezhen happily picked it up, popped it into her mouth, and began to eat with gusto.

The old madam watched the two children with a loving gaze, then said to Lin Lan, “Those two are truly blessed. Some families in the production team go a whole month without a taste of anything fried. But these two can have whatever they want to eat!”

Lin Lan thought back to her family’s situation when she had first arrived and nodded. “It’s true. Relying on just the few work points from the team, it was hard enough just to have enough food and warm clothes.”

The old madam also recalled the state of Lin Lan’s family in the past and sighed. “You have to know how to adapt. I think from now on, families that don’t find other ways to get by, the ones who only know how to stick to their fields and refuse to change, are going to have an increasingly difficult time.”

Lin Lan thought of the years to come. ’Fortune favors the bold, while the timid starve.’

’The bold and hardworking will get richer and richer, while the timid and lazy can only watch as others wear gold and silver, build tall mansions, and drive luxury cars.’

’They’ll still be struggling just to make ends meet.’

The two children loved the crispy fried loaches, eating about ten in one go, but only had two or three of the fish-fragrant ones. After eating half a bowl of rice, they put down their bowls and ran out to the courtyard to play with Wangcai.

After the three adults finished eating, Lin Lan and Lin Yuezhen had the old madam sit and rest while the two of them cleared the table and started washing the dishes.

The old madam watched them. “Lin Lan, once the house over there is ready, where do you plan on living?”

Lin Lan thought for a moment. “Auntie, it depends on whether Little Douzi can get into the city’s No. 1 Primary School. If he can, we’ll live there. If not, and he has to attend the team’s primary school, we’ll have to stay here.”

“That’s true.” The old madam remembered going to see the house the other day. It was certainly a nice house, but she was still a bit reluctant to see them go. “If you move there, you’ll end up spending a lot on coal throughout the year.”

“Auntie, don’t you worry about that. With coal ration tickets, it’s much cheaper. Besides, using coal briquettes is so much more convenient! We won’t run out of hot water when it gets cold. If you stick to a wood-burning stove, you have to spend money on firewood too!”

The old madam didn’t understand why everyone wanted to live in the city. ’What’s so great about it?’ she wondered. ’At least in that little Western-style house, you can still plant a small vegetable garden and raise a few chickens. In those boxy city apartments, you have to spend money on everything, even green onions, ginger, and garlic.’

After cleaning the stove, Lin Lan washed a batch of large white beans and put them in a steamer basket. She poured a large basin of red beans into the main pot, placed the steamer on top, and began to cook both.

She rubbed the skins off some soaked peas and put them in a clay pot to cook into a paste.

Lin Yuezhen stood at the cutting board peeling a pumpkin, and the old madam picked up a knife to help.

The pumpkin peels from each day were cooked with soybean pulp to feed the pigs. Any excess was formed into small balls and dried in the courtyard to be used when they were raising more pigs.

The three of them worked for a while, getting all the ingredients for the next day ready.

The old madam looked at the two and chuckled. “Time sure flies when you’re busy. When I’m home alone and Dandan has gone to bed early, I just toss and turn, unable to fall asleep.”

Lin Lan reminded her worriedly, “You can’t do any more heavy lifting. You can’t risk injuring your back again.”

The old madam smiled and nodded. “I know, I know. I’ll take Dandan home to bed now.”

“I’ll walk you,” Lin Lan said, grabbing a flashlight and leaving the kitchen with the old madam.

They went to the door of the side room and called for Dandan, who was playing Go-Moku. Little Douzi wanted to come along too, so the four of them set off towards the old madam’s house.

Just as they reached the bridge, they ran into Yang Meihua and her husband, who were approaching with a flashlight. Lin Lan smiled. “Meihua, where are you headed so late?”

Yang Meihua took the old madam’s arm and smiled. “We saw your house was dark, Auntie, and got worried. We were on our way to Lin Lan’s place to check on you.”

The old madam looked at the couple, relieved. “I’m fine. Dandan was home with me. If something had happened, she would have gone out to get help.”

Yang Meihua nodded. After a moment’s thought, she leaned in and whispered to Lin Lan with a smile, “Lin Lan, you won’t have to be afraid of doing business anymore. Xiang Hua went to a commune meeting today. He heard they’re going to open up a big market at the end of the year, and next spring, they’re implementing the household responsibility system.”

“Household responsibility system?” The old madam looked at He Xianghua, confused. “Come on, let’s go to my place. You have to tell us all about it.”

“Alright,” He Xianghua agreed with a nod, and the group turned back together.

’It’s finally happening,’ Lin Lan thought. ’Once the urban districts implement the household responsibility system, I wonder when the communes under the East Market’s jurisdiction will follow suit?’

When they arrived at the old madam’s house, He Xianghua told them what he was permitted to share from the meeting. “The household responsibility system is a production-based contract system centered on the family unit…”

After listening, Lin Lan felt it sounded similar to previous policies.

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