Chapter 196: Chapter 192: A Rapeseed’s Fate

Wu Shufen smiled. “What family would be willing to give up their only son to be a live-in son-in-law? I heard from my old man that the family planning policies are going to get even stricter. You two should hurry up and have your wedding. While the rules in the countryside are still lax, you can have a couple of kids.”

Brother Yong and Lin Yuezhen both blushed.

Lin Lan laughed. ’Having kids isn’t like laying eggs,’ she thought. ’Even if they got married tomorrow, it’s not like they could have two more right away.’

Li Xiangyang smiled. “New Year’s Day is an auspicious date. There’s still time to hold the wedding then.”

“That’s too rushed,” Brother Yong said seriously. “You know I used to live over by the black market. The little house I bought hasn’t even been painted, and it’s completely empty inside. I need to get it fixed up properly first, then we’ll pick a date.”

Wu Shufen nodded again and again. “Yuezhen’s parents are gone. You should find some time to take her back home to meet your family!”

“My parents are gone, and I don’t have much contact with my two older brothers.” Brother Yong looked at Wu Shufen. “Auntie, Yuezhen and I will make the decisions about our wedding ourselves. When the time comes, we’d like to ask you and Uncle Lin to preside.”

Wu Shufen beamed. “Alright. As long as you’ll have us, this old couple will be there.”

“We don’t mind, we don’t mind at all!” Brother Yong said in a rush.

Lin Lan glanced at Lin Yuezhen, who was blushing so hard she’d frozen mid-chop, cleaver in hand. ’I remember the elders in the family always used to say a woman is born twice in her lifetime,’ she thought. ’The first birth is decided by fate.’

’The second is marriage. Like seeds scattered on fertile soil, she will thrive.’

’If a woman finds a good family and a good man, she will have a good life.’

’But if those seeds are cast on barren ground, they won’t grow well. And if a woman marries poorly, her life will be hard.’

’Some say that since you have no choice in your birth—good or bad, it’s all up to fate—you must do everything in your power to make a good choice when you marry!’

Lin Lan thought marriage was more like two people going into business together. ’If you find a good venture and both partners are considerate and work together, the business will succeed and last a long time. Otherwise, you just lose money and the partnership dissolves!’

Li Xiangyang pushed the strained bean paste over to Lin Lan. “It’s all strained! Are you going to roll all of it out?”

“Whatever I roll now is for tomorrow morning’s delivery,” Lin Lan said, scooping some of the paste onto a damp cloth and starting to knead. She remembered that Old Li was probably waiting for Li Xiangyang to get home and turned to him. “Xiangyang, it’s after nine. You and Brother Yong should head back now.”

Li Xiangyang glanced at his watch and nodded. “Alright, we’ll get going then.”

“It’s dark out, take the flashlight!” Wu Shufen grabbed a flashlight and handed it to Li Xiangyang. “Little Lan, Yuezhen, walk them out.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Hang on, let me finish this bean curd roll. Xiangyang can take it back for Uncle Li.”

Lin Yuezhen went to the cupboard, retrieved an enamel mug, and handed it to her.

Lin Lan cut up the bean curd roll, placed it in the enamel mug, and added a few pea cakes. She handed it to Li Xiangyang. “You two ride your bikes back!”

“Okay,” Li Xiangyang said, taking the mug. They all left the kitchen to get the bicycles.

Wangcai wagged his tail, darting around Li Xiangyang’s feet and following them all the way to the courtyard gate.

Lin Lan called out a reminder, “Xiangyang, tell Uncle Li to come over for fish tomorrow!”

“Okay!” Li Xiangyang swung his leg over his bicycle, smiling and waving. “We’re off! You two get some rest!”

“We will!” Lin Lan nodded. She and Lin Yuezhen went back inside and closed the courtyard gate, only to turn and see Wu Shufen coming out with a satchel. “Little Lan, Xiangyang forgot his bag!”

Lin Lan looked at the bag in her hands and said, a bit sheepishly, “It has the things he bought in it.”

Wu Shufen smiled. “For you?”

“Mhm,” Lin Lan nodded.

Lin Yuezhen smiled, motioning for her to open it.

“Okay!” Lin Lan opened the satchel. The first thing she saw was an alarm clock, which she took out and set on the table. Next were several boxes of snake oil balm. The last item was a watch. She saw it was a Rado, which she figured must be an imported brand.

“Little Lan, we have the same one.” Lin Yuezhen took the watch off her wrist and showed it to Lin Lan and Wu Shufen.

Wu Shufen took a look, then gazed at the two girls, her expression a mix of happiness and concern. “This watch is beautiful, but it must have been very expensive. It’s not easy for Xiangyang and Ah Yong to earn money. You should give these back and have them get cheaper ones!”

Lin Lan’s heart warmed at her concern. “Xiangyang said he got it from a friend who deals in private goods. I’ll talk to him tomorrow and see if he can exchange it for something cheaper.”

“Good.” Wu Shufen looked at the two sisters, gratified. “As long as you two have good lives ahead of you, we can rest easy.”

Lin Lan linked her arm through Wu Shufen’s and leaned against her, smiling. “Don’t you worry. You and Dad can just sit back and wait for us to spoil you.”

“Me too!” Lin Yuezhen said, looking at Wu Shufen with tears in her eyes.

Wu Shufen took one of their hands in each of her own, a wide smile on her face. “Yes, yes, of course! We’ll be waiting for you to spoil us.”

Early the next morning, Lin Lan finished baking the pumpkin cakes. Remembering the pumpkin seeds she had, she scooped out a ladleful, spread them on a baking sheet, and put them in the oven to roast.

After the morning deliveries were sent out, Li Guizhi and Zhang Rongqing arrived at the gate, each carrying a shoulder pole laden with mature pumpkins. “Lin Lan, is your Wangcai tied up?”

“He is!” Lin Lan ran to the gate and pulled it open. “Come on in!”

“I went to my family’s village and collected a few hundred pounds of pumpkins.” Li Guizhi set down her baskets, smiling and wiping sweat from her brow. “I’ve already bought up all the mature pumpkins from our production team. Everyone’s thrilled. They said they never imagined the pumpkins that were worthless in past years would fetch such a good price this year.”

Lin Lan smiled. “I mentioned it to Meihua and told her to check in her own family’s village. Next year, everyone can plant more.”

Li Guizhi nodded with a smile. “Yep! Pumpkin vines can grow just about anywhere. We’ll plant a lot more next year and bring them all to you.”

They could earn about twenty yuan from this trip alone. Thanks to Lin Lan, her family was much better off this year.

Lin Yuezhen brought out the new large scale Lin Lan had bought. After weighing the pumpkins and recording the total, she began moving them into storage baskets. Li Guizhi and her husband went back to fetch the rest.

The couple had to make several trips to deliver all the pumpkins. Lin Lan paid them what they were owed and gave them some of the freshly roasted pumpkin seeds.

Li Guizhi accepted them happily. “Little Lin, they’re harvesting the fish pond today. I saw people heading to the foot of Niu Bei Mountain to wait. Are you going?”

It had been a long time since Lin Lan had seen a fish harvest. She smiled and nodded. “Yes. I’ll head over once we’re done cleaning up here.”

“Great. I have to go home and feed the pigs, but I’ll come get you in a bit so we can go together,” Li Guizhi said before bustling off.

Once Lin Lan and the others had finished cleaning up, they got the old lady and started walking toward the fish pond.

Li Guizhi whispered to the group, “They usually don’t harvest the pond until the last month of the lunar year. I heard that Liu Guozhi is having it done early so his son, Liu Jinbao, can have fish for his New Year’s Day wedding banquet!”

The old lady chuckled. “Who cares what his reason is! As long as he’s harvesting the pond out in the open like this, we’ll get a share of the fish. It’s better than some other team leaders who secretly clean out the pond and none of the villagers are the wiser.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep