Chapter 168: Chapter 164: Waiting for the Show

Lin Lan felt his gaze and looked up to see him watching her, his eyes full of mirth. Embarrassed, she shot him a playful glare. “Go kill the chicken for my sister.”

Li Xiangyang smiled and nodded. “Okay! You take your time picking. I just have half a row left. I’ll come back and help you when I’m done.”

Lin Lan didn’t answer, ’wondering how she’d never realized he was so chatty before.’

Li Xiangyang carried the basket of potatoes back, poured them out in the main room, and went to the kitchen. “Sister Yuezhen, did you catch the chicken?”

Lin Yuezhen smiled and nodded, walking to the backyard to lift out the rooster that was tied under a stone slab.

Li Xiangyang fetched a bowl of water and added a pinch of salt, stirring it with chopsticks. He then took a kitchen knife to the backyard. Taking the chicken from Lin Yuezhen, he made a clean, swift cut across its neck, and blood immediately gushed out.

He pinched the chicken’s neck and held it upside down by its legs, letting all the blood drain into the bowl. After a stir, it would solidify into chicken blood curd.

He placed the large rooster, still in its death throes, on the stone-paved ground and called out, “Sister Yuezhen, it’s done.”

Lin Yuezhen, smiling broadly, brought out a large wooden basin and waved at him.

Li Xiangyang nodded and headed out with his carrying pole and baskets toward the private plot. Just as he got there, he saw Zhang Yazhen and He Cuicui returning from a round of gossiping. He stopped, shot them a cold glance, and walked straight to the plot.

Zhang Yazhen pulled He Cuicui into the courtyard, saying with lingering fear, “What do you think he was going to do, looking at us like that?”

He Cuicui thought that a pig butcher was just different from ordinary people; the way he looked at them was terrifying. “Yazhen, I think you should stop provoking that little widow from now on. That man is not someone to be trifled with.”

Zhang Yazhen stubbornly insisted, “What’s there to be afraid of? We weren’t spreading lies. You think he’d dare come to my house and beat me up?”

He Cuicui glanced at her and tried to persuade her, “Yazhen, listen to me. Yang Liying and her sisters must have known for ages. Her own sisters-in-law don’t even care that their brother’s wife is taking a lover, so what right do we have to meddle? Besides, that little widow’s brother is no pushover either. He beat up Zhang Jun last time, and the Zhang family just let it go.”

After hearing that, Zhang Yazhen nodded. “I can’t be bothered to care anyway. It’d be best if that shameless vixen has one man today and another tomorrow. Then everyone will see I wasn’t lying.”

“Exactly. Just listen to me. We’ll just watch and see how long this new man sticks around. When she gets dumped, we can buy some melon seeds, pour some tea, and enjoy the show.”

“Mhm!” Zhang Yazhen nodded emphatically.

Li Xiangyang finished digging up the rest, then gathered the potato vines into the basket. He said to Lin Lan, “Little Lan, should I throw the potato vines in the latrine pit or lay them out to dry?”

“I’ll do it. You don’t know where the latrine is!” Lin Lan stood up and walked toward him.

The corners of Li Xiangyang’s mouth turned up as he looked at her. “How would I not know? It’s right behind the pigsty.” He bought pigs from households, so he knew that country latrines were always connected to the pigsties.

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “That’s right, it’s behind the west wing. Just take them and dump them in the pit.”

After throwing the potato vines into the latrine pit, Li Xiangyang came out and said to Lin Lan, “Your latrine pit is huge. You could raise at least four pigs.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “There are two pigsties, so raising four pigs is no problem. Once the household responsibility system is in place, we’ll need plenty of manure.”

Li Xiangyang looked at her, confused. “What’s the ’household responsibility system’?”

Lin Lan repeated what He Xianghua had said, telling him that the commune held a meeting and was planning to open up the main market.

Li Xiangyang laughed. “That already started in the south at the beginning of the year. We’re a year behind them here.”

As the saying goes, work isn’t tiring when a man and a woman pair up. It didn’t take them long to pick the field clean of potatoes, and all the vines were thrown into the latrine pit to compost.

Back in the courtyard, Lin Lan went inside and got a new towel. She poured some hot water for Li Xiangyang. “Wash your face. Then, go check on Grand-aunt and bring Dandan back for dinner. I’ll go season the chicken.”

“Okay.” Li Xiangyang noticed a bit of mud on the hair at her temples. He took out his handkerchief, gently wiped it for her, and looked at her softly. “You wash up first.”

Lin Lan’s heartstrings were tugged by his gentle action and exceptionally tender gaze. In her previous life, she had never seen Liu Jianguo look at her that way.

’Is this what it’s like to truly cherish someone? That gaze… it was as if he wanted to melt her right into his heart.’

Lin Lan reflected on it. ’Ever since she’d met Li Xiangyang, she’d found his way of handling things very much to her liking. It felt like they were often on the same wavelength.’

Seeing her holding the handkerchief, her mind seemingly a million miles away, Li Xiangyang waved a hand in front of her eyes and chuckled. “What are you thinking about so hard you’ve zoned out?”

Lin Lan looked up and couldn’t help but give him a soft smile. “Nothing!” she said, handing the handkerchief to him. “You wash up.”

Seeing her, Li Xiangyang broke into a happy grin. “Okay! This is my first time eating at your house!”

Lin Lan smiled faintly and said softly, “From now on, if there’s anything you want to eat, just tell me. I’ll make it for you.”

Li Xiangyang felt like there might be something wrong with his heart—it seemed about to leap out of his chest.

He steadied himself, his eyes shining as he nodded. “Okay! Haha…” At that moment, happiness spread through his heart like ripples on water, and he burst into joyous laughter.

“You big oaf!” Lin Lan’s face flushed red, and she quickly ran into the kitchen. She bumped into a curious Lin Yuezhen who had come running over. Face still red, she said, “Sis, it’s nothing!”

Lin Yuezhen looked at her blushing face and understood immediately. She happily turned, pointing and gesturing at the cooled chicken on the kitchen counter: “The chicken is cool. Once you’ve seasoned it, Little Douzi should be back.”

“Okay, I’ll chop it and season it right now.”

Li Xiangyang quickly washed his face, draped the towel over a bamboo pole, and tossed the wash water onto the vegetable patch. Then he got on his bicycle and headed toward the old lady’s place.

Lin Lan had just finished seasoning the chicken and stir-frying some spinach when Little Douzi’s shout echoed from the courtyard gate. “Mom, I’m home from school!”

“Go wash your hands. We’ll eat as soon as Great-Grandma gets here.”

“Okay!” Little Douzi saw the potatoes in the main room. “You dug up potatoes today! I’ll go pick up the small ones later to boil and eat!”

“We already picked up all the small potatoes. For our meal, we’re having potato pancakes and potato and chicken stew.”

Little Douzi was so happy he practically jumped to the moon. “Oh, oh! I love potato pancakes and stewed potatoes!”

“Douzi, I’m back!” Dandan shouted, holding onto the bicycle’s handlebars.

“Brother Dandan!” Little Douzi saw Li Xiangyang giving the old lady and Dandan a ride and ran to meet them. “Uncle Xiangyang, how come you went to pick up Great-Grandma and Dandan to bring them to our house?”

“Uncle Xiangyang is eating at your house today, too. Are you happy to have me?” Li Xiangyang smiled, stopping the bike and lifting Dandan off.

Little Douzi nodded. “Yes! My mom made yummy food today!”

“Thank you!” Li Xiangyang chuckled, ruffling his fluffy hair.

“My mom’s cooking is super yummy…”

The old lady watched Li Xiangyang and Little Douzi with a broad smile. ’If those two get together,’ she thought, ’then I won’t have to worry about Lin Lan finding some man of poor character who would be bad for Little Douzi.’

Lin Lan walked to the kitchen doorway and smiled. “Grand-aunt, the food’s on the table. Time to eat.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep