Chapter 190: Chapter 186: Don’t Be Jealous, We’ll Get You Some

Lin Lan grabbed a bamboo sieve and went to the main hall. She lifted the lid from a worn-out basket, took out a few handfuls of bean sprouts, and put the lid back on. Returning to the kitchen, she rinsed the sprouts clean and set them on the stove.

She looked at Lin Yuezhen, who was sitting before the stove trimming broad beans, and asked, “Yuezhen, I heard from Xiangyang that Brother Yong is interested in you. What do you think of him?”

Lin Yuezhen froze for a moment. Blushing, she turned her head and signed to Lin Lan, “Brother Yong is a good person. I don’t want to get married again. As long as you all don’t mind having me, I just want to keep living with you.”

Wu Shufen gave her a look of gentle reproach. “You silly girl, why would Little Lan ever mind having you? We all want you to find someone new. You’re still young; you could have a child. That gives a family something to look forward to.”

After hearing this, Lin Yuezhen lowered her head and thought for a moment. “Brother Yong looks younger than me. We’re not a good match.”

Wu Shufen laughed. “He looks younger than you, but that doesn’t mean he is. There’s an old saying: a wife three years older is worth her weight in gold! You listen to Auntie. Give it a try with Brother Yong. If you two get along, you can have your wedding next year.”

Listening to Little Douzi’s cheerful laughter from the courtyard, Lin Yuezhen blushed and nodded.

Wu Shufen turned to Lin Lan with a smile. “Tell Xiangyang to have Brother Yong ask one of his elder relatives to be the matchmaker.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell him after the meal.”

She lifted the steamer from the pot, took out the steamed egg custard, stir-fried some finely minced meat, and scooped it over the custard. Then she stir-fried the green bean sprouts and brought everything to the table.

“This girl, always coming up with new tricks. Pouring minced meat over the egg custard!” Wu Shufen shot Lin Lan a look, then handed her the green onions and cilantro. “Mix up a dipping sauce. I’ll get the bowls and dishes set out. The food gets cold fast when it’s this chilly.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan took them, eager to please. After mixing the dipping sauce, she went out and called to the two in the courtyard with the bike, “Time to eat!”

“Okay!” Little Douzi replied in a clear voice, his little face flushed with excitement as he looked at Lin Lan. “Mama, I rode a dozen laps! I know how to ride now!”

Lin Lan glanced at Li Xiangyang, whose feet were firmly on the ground. “If Uncle Xiangyang isn’t holding on, can you ride off by yourself?”

Little Douzi shook his head in frustration. “No, the bike will fall over! But I’ll get it after a few more tries.”

Li Xiangyang smiled and gave him a pat. “Let’s eat first. When you have a day off, Uncle will help you practice.”

Little Douzi looked up at him and nodded firmly. “Okay! Thanks, Uncle Xiangyang.”

Li Xiangyang saw his own reflection in the boy’s big, dark eyes. He smiled and ruffled his hair. “Go wash your hands and eat.”

By the time the two of them had washed their hands and come to the table, the food was already set out. In the center of the table was a large basin of tender lamb and radish stew, simmered with spices like red goji berries, tangerine peel, and nutmeg to remove any gaminess. It was garnished with vibrant green scallions and looked absolutely appetizing.

Li Xiangyang glanced at the clay pot on the counter and smiled. “Oh, you stewed it in a clay pot?”

“Mhm!” Lin Lan nodded with a smile. “The clay pots from the supply co-op are pretty good. I bought several of them to keep on hand.”

“Xiangyang, care for a drink?” Wu Shufen asked, smiling warmly at him.

Li Xiangyang smiled and shook his head. “Thank you, Auntie, but I have to go to the slaughterhouse this afternoon.”

“We’re all family here, no need for so many thank-yous. Just make yourself at home.” As Wu Shufen spoke, she picked out two pieces of lamb with the skin on for both him and Little Douzi. “Eat up. Lamb will warm you up on a cold day like this.”

Lin Lan looked at Wu Shufen, feigning jealousy. “Mom, you’re playing favorites. You served Little Douzi and Xiangyang, but not me or Yuezhen.”

Wu Shufen gave her a gentle glare. “Shameless. A grown woman like you, still getting jealous.”

Little Douzi and Li Xiangyang each put a piece of lamb in her bowl. “Don’t be jealous. We’ll get some for you.”

“Thanks!” Lin Lan smiled and spooned some of the steamed custard with minced meat into everyone’s bowls. “Have some of the custard.”

By the end of the meal, the most-leftover dish was surprisingly the fragrant, tender lamb with skin. The juicy radishes, however, had been completely eaten.

After bringing Wangcai a full bowl of rice soaked in lamb broth, Little Douzi sat down on a bamboo chair and puffed out his little belly for Li Xiangyang. “The radishes were so good today! Look how full my tummy is.”

Li Xiangyang patted his round, full little belly and laughed. “It’s good for kids to eat a lot. If you don’t like the lamb meat, next time Uncle will bring you some lamb trotters. Trotters stewed with radishes are delicious, too.”

Little Douzi beamed and nodded. “Okay! Mama says I’m a little foodie!”

Li Xiangyang laughed when he heard that. “A little foodie! It’s good to have a healthy appetite!”

After washing the dishes, Lin Lan came out and said to Li Xiangyang, “Yuezhen is willing to give things a try with Brother Yong.”

Li Xiangyang nodded. “Good. I’ll go tell him.”

Lin Lan looked at Little Douzi. “Son, aren’t you going to take an afternoon nap?”

Little Douzi rubbed his belly and shook his head. “I’m too full. I’m going to go dig for earthworms to feed the chickens.” With that, he ran off to a side room to get a shovel.

As the weather grew colder, the chickens weren’t laying as many eggs as before. Some that used to lay one egg a day were now only laying one every two days. She no longer had enough eggs for her pumpkin cakes, so both Yang Meihua and Li Guizhi had started bringing their eggs over to sell to Lin Lan.

“I’m heading to Vegetable Market Street in the south of town,” Li Xiangyang said, getting up.

Lin Lan nodded. “Okay. I’m going to go make the bean rolls.”

As long as she had time, she tried to make her pastries fresh every day to sell. Fresh pastries tasted better and were more hygienic.

Li Xiangyang rode his bike to Vegetable Market Street in the south of town and saw that Zhao Dehai and a few other craftsmen were still hard at work.

“Brother Zhao, has Old Miao been by again?”

“He came by once this morning but hasn’t been back since!” Zhao Dehai put down the shovel in his hand, walked over with a smile, and offered him a cigarette. “Look at this house. It was a wreck when you bought it, but now that it’s fixed up, it looks almost brand new.”

Woodworker Li smiled. “A house is like a person—you have to nurture it. Once people live in it, it has life. Then the things planted in the house and yard will grow well, too.”

Zhao Dehai nodded with a smile. “That’s right. If a house sits empty, it slowly starts to rot and decay.”

“Let’s go inside and take a look!”

As he spoke, Li Xiangyang walked toward the shop. He saw that the rotten beams and rafters on the shop’s roof had been replaced, the collapsed wall in the backyard had been rebuilt, the well had been cleaned out, and the roof over the back of the house was good as new.

The broken, dead branches on the osmanthus tree in the corner of the yard had been trimmed, and its leaves looked a little greener.

Zhao Dehai pointed to a pile of red bricks in the corner. “In a few days, we’ll build the partition walls, then plaster them twice, and we’ll be done.”

“Not bad,” Li Xiangyang praised. “Brother Zhao, you could take these guys and start your own renovation and repair business.”

Zhao Dehai scratched his head, pleased. “Me? I don’t think I’m cut out for that.”

Li Xiangyang looked at the honest and good-natured Zhao Dehai and instructed, “If Old Miao comes looking for trouble again, tell him to find me at my house.”

Zhao Dehai nodded. “Okay!”

After settling things with Zhao Dehai, Li Xiangyang got on his bike and headed toward the clothing factory to give Brother Yong the good news.

****

Lin Lan took the last tray of pumpkin cakes out of the oven. Lin Yuezhen shoveled the remaining embers from the stove, doused them with water, and used a pair of tongs to pick out the unburnt coal briquettes.

Yang Meihua’s voice called out from the courtyard gate, “Lin Lan, are you home?”

“I am!” Lin Lan put down the pumpkin cakes and went outside. “Meihua, come in and sit for a while!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep