Chapter 176: Chapter 172: Helping Out

Around ten o’clock, Zhao Dehai came to pick up Yang Liying with a flashlight. Lin Lan packed some green bean cakes and pea cakes for Yang Liying and the Wang Zhixue brothers to take home and eat.

Wang Zhixue took a few steps, then turned back and said to Lin Lan, “Auntie, we’ve tidied up and repainted the house. My mom said to invite Yuru and the others over to see it on the eighth day of the eleventh lunar month.”

Lin Lan thought for a moment and said, “Okay. In a couple of days, my brother and his family are coming to deliver some piglets. I’ll have them pass on the message so you can prepare. On that day, you can go pick them up.”

Wang Zhixue blushed and nodded. “Okay! We’ll come help you make pumpkin pies tomorrow morning.”

After seeing them off, Lin Lan turned to find Li Xiangyang standing at the courtyard gate, smiling at her. “You’ve had a long day, and you have to be at the slaughterhouse early tomorrow. You should go home and get some rest too.”

Li Xiangyang thought of the bean paste and red bean filling she had just made, now sitting in large basins. He knew she would have to make everything by herself in the morning. His heart ached for her as he looked at her. “With all this to do, how can you possibly manage it all on your own?”

Lin Lan smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

Li Xiangyang looked at her, wanting to tell her that she didn’t have to work so hard. He was capable of supporting her and Little Douzi, of giving them a comfortable life.

’I’ll slowly get her used to relying on me,’ he thought, ’so she won’t have to push herself so hard!’

Seeing him just staring at her without a word, Lin Lan blushed and tugged on his sleeve. “You should hurry back. Uncle Li is still waiting for you!”

Li Xiangyang took Lin Lan’s hand. “Little Lan, get some rest!”

Lin Lan nodded. “I will!”

“I’m heading back. I’ll come help as soon as I’m done tomorrow morning.” As Li Xiangyang spoke, he glanced around, quickly pecked Lin Lan on the cheek, then hopped on his bike and sped off.

Lin Lan watched him go, his flashlight beam wobbling as he pedaled his bicycle like it was on fire wheels. She touched her cheek and smiled.

「The next day」

Lin Lan was up right at five o’clock. She first prepared the dough needed for the pumpkin pies and, while it was rising, began rolling the kidney bean rolls. Just then, there was a knock at the courtyard gate, followed by Yang Liqun’s voice.

Lin Lan opened the gate and saw Yang Liqun and her two sons standing at the entrance with a flashlight. Gratefully, she said, “Big Sister, I really can manage on my own.”

Yang Liqun smiled and chided her gently, “With so much to do, how could you possibly manage on your own? It’ll be much faster if we help.”

“Thank you.” Lin Lan smiled, ushered them into the courtyard, and closed the gate.

The Wang Zhixue brothers had helped bake mooncakes before, so they knew how to manage the furnace fire. One brother started the fire while the other helped Yang Liqun knead the dough and shape the pumpkin pies.

Lin Lan focused on rolling the kidney bean rolls. Yang Liqun thought that making these rolls was truly delicate work. If the cloth was too dry, the rolls weren’t smooth; if it was too wet, they came out rough and didn’t look good.

With the help of the mother and her two sons, all the pumpkin pies and bean rolls were finished just after seven o’clock.

Lin Lan prepared some more dough, made a soup with flat noodles, and woke up Little Douzi. She had the mother and her sons stay and eat breakfast with them.

The Wang Zhixue brothers carried the goods away on a shoulder pole to set up their stall, and Yang Liqun also hurried back to set up hers.

Just after she saw off Zhou Xiaohong, who had come to pick up her order, Li Xiangyang arrived.

Lin Lan smiled and asked him, “Have you had breakfast yet?”

Li Xiangyang smiled and nodded. “I have. I brought some pork stomach, pork intestines, and large bones.”

Lin Lan saw that there was still a lot of meat on the bones and knew he had deliberately left it there. He always did this. He would claim the bones were hard to sell and tell her to take them home to make soup for Little Douzi, but he always left extra meat on them. ’As if meaty bones would ever be hard to sell!’

She’d heard that when she couldn’t find baking sheets and metal plates for the oven she was building, he had eagerly sought them out and delivered them. She’d also heard from Xiuyun that he was the one who had beaten up Liu Jinbao. This man had been quietly protecting her and Little Douzi in his own way.

Little Douzi came back from shutting the chickens in the bamboo grove in the backyard. Seeing Li Xiangyang, he said happily, “Uncle Xiangyang, are you here to help?”

“Yeah! But I’m too late, everything’s already done.” Li Xiangyang swept him up in a hug. “Uncle Xiangyang will give you a ride to school on my bike.”

Little Douzi shook his head. “No, thanks. I want to wait for Brother Kai and Sister Little Yun to come so we can go together.”

Li Xiangyang felt like he was always hearing the name Little Kai from him. “Is this Brother Kai a classmate or one of your buddies?”

Little Douzi grinned at him. “Me, Brother Dandan, Brother Kai, and Little Ming—we’re all good brothers, just like you, Uncle Yao, and Uncle Dongzi!”

Li Xiangyang laughed too. “Oh, so that’s how it is!”

Just then, Little Kai and Little Yun arrived at the courtyard gate. Little Douzi took the schoolbag Lin Lan handed him. “Mom, Uncle Xiangyang, I’m off to school.”

Lin Lan walked him to the gate and said to the three children, “Don’t play in the water, and come straight home after school.”

“We know,” Little Kai and Little Yun replied. They glanced at Li Xiangyang, took Little Douzi’s hand, and waved to Lin Lan.

After they had walked a little way, Little Kai said to Little Douzi, “I recognize that man at your house. He’s friends with our cousin-uncle, Ding Bang. Is he the one who’s going to be your new dad?”

Little Douzi said in a low voice, “Yeah! He said that if I don’t like calling him ’Dad,’ I can just keep calling him Uncle Xiangyang.”

“Really?” Little Kai thought for a moment. “But even if you call him Uncle Xiangyang, he’s still your new dad!”

Little Yun smacked her brother lightly. “Little Kai, don’t just say whatever you want when you don’t know anything. Think about it. Our cousin-uncle, Ding Bang, is a police officer. A police officer wouldn’t be friends with a bad person, so Little Douzi’s Uncle Xiangyang must be a good person too.”

Little Kai considered this and thought Little Yun might be right.

Little Douzi nodded. “Brother Kai, Sister Little Yun, Uncle Xiangyang is very nice.”

Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan stood at the courtyard gate, watching the three little ones walk toward the school, muttering to each other the whole way.

Lin Lan smiled and turned her head to look at him. “I’m going to feed the pigs. There’s a chair on the steps, you can sit for a bit.”

Li Xiangyang smiled and shook his head. “I have to go check on the place over on Yucai Road. Dongzi said the house renovations are almost done.” As he spoke, he secretly squeezed her hand.

Lin Lan glanced around and saw Li Guizhi carrying a basket, watching them with a wide smile. Blushing, she shot him a glare, then turned her head to greet the woman. “Sister Li, are you busy?”

Li Xiangyang nodded at Li Guizhi and turned to go back into the courtyard.

Li Guizhi laughed. “Not at all! I wanted to ask if you need any mallow and cauliflower seedlings. I have extra.”

She glanced at Li Xiangyang. ’Lin Lan’s new man is really quite a catch,’ she thought. ’No wonder so many people in the production team are jealous and saying sour things about her.’

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Oh, yes! I have plenty of garlic cloves here. Take some back with you.”

The two chatted and laughed as they went into the house. Li Guizhi placed the seedlings by the edge of the vegetable patch and waited for Lin Lan to get the garlic cloves for her.

Lin Lan scooped out half a ladleful of garlic cloves into Li Guizhi’s basket and said with a smile, “There’s some red-skinned garlic and some single-clove garlic. You should plant them separately.”

Li Guizhi smiled and nodded. “Okay. You have a guest, so I’ll head back now.” ’I can tell Li Xiangyang is truly sincere with Lin Lan,’ she thought. ’It’s not at all like what those people are saying! Zhang Yazhen is just green with envy that Lin Lan could find such a good man after everything.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep