Chapter 205: Chapter 201: Different Environments, Different Experiences

When the old woman arrived at Lin Lan’s house, she saw Wu Shufen and Wang Zhixue walking out of the kitchen with wicker baskets on their backs. “Are you heading back?”

Wu Shufen smiled and nodded. “I am! I’ve been here for the better part of a month, so it’s about time I went back.”

“Well, at least you’ll have Zhixue for company on the road!” the old woman said, turning to Wang Zhixue. “Now that your girlfriend is here, you should bring her over for me to meet.”

Wang Zhixue nodded cheerfully. “Will do!”

Holding Little Douzi’s hand, Lin Lan walked Wu Shufen to the gate, hating to see her go. “Once we’ve butchered the pig for the New Year, you, Dad, and my sister-in-law should all come for the feast!”

Wu Shufen nodded happily. “Alright! I’ll bring your sister-in-law and the others.”

Little Douzi quickly added, “Grandma, bring Cousin Jun and everyone else, too!”

“My sweet grandson!” Wu Shufen gently stroked his cheek. “Grandma made you a hat, gloves, and a scarf and put them in the chest. When it gets cold, tell your mom to get them out for you to wear!”

Little Douzi nodded reluctantly. “Come back soon, Grandma.”

“I will!” Wu Shufen agreed, then left with Wang Zhixue.

After watching them disappear into the distance, Lin Lan and the others went back into the courtyard. They headed to the kitchen to prepare pastries for the stall, while Little Douzi went to the chicken coop to gather eggs.

“Grand-aunt, have you found anyone to farm your land yet?”

The old woman laughed. “When your uncle’s wife heard I was planning to lease out the land, she asked me to lease it to her family. We’ve settled on the annual amount of grain and rapeseed, and they’ll be responsible for paying the agricultural taxes and other levies.”

Seeing her look so content, Lin Lan said, “Now that the land has been divided and leased, I suppose it’s time to plan Ding Bang’s wedding reception, right?”

“That girl, Little Man, she’s really won me over. And I’ve seen that Dandan has taken a real liking to her, too. I want to talk it over with Ding Bang and arrange their wedding as soon as possible,” the old woman said, her face beaming.

Little Douzi entered the kitchen carrying several eggs. “Mama, I found six eggs! I’m going to put them in the basket.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Alright.”

Li Xiangyang rode his bike into the courtyard. Seeing the old woman was also inside, he smiled. “Grandma, are you settling into the new house okay?”

The old woman chuckled. “I am. The house is so bright inside. Ding Bang was worried I wouldn’t be used to burning coal briquettes, so he even built a stove for me in the backyard. Honestly, it’s better than my old home.”

But what pleased her most was the outhouse; it had a seat. She no longer had to worry about her legs getting sore or about falling in.

After putting the eggs away, Little Douzi came back out. The moment he saw Li Xiangyang, he chirped, “Uncle Xiangyang, my grandma went home! She’s coming back when we butcher our pig for the New Year. When are you going to butcher your pig?”

“Your grandma headed home?” Li Xiangyang thought for a second. “We’ll be butchering ours in another three weeks!”

Little Douzi nodded. “Yep, she went home. My teacher said we only have three more weeks until break, so then I can watch you butcher the pig.”

Just then, Liu Guozhi’s bell-like voice boomed from the loudspeaker on the tractor path: “Land allocation is beginning! Starting with lot number one! The first thirty commune members on the list, please assemble at the brigade headquarters!”

Li Xiangyang asked, “Lin Lan, what’s your lot number? And Grandma Yang’s?”

“Grand-aunt is third from last, and I’m number nine.” Lin Lan looked at the old woman. “Grand-aunt, they definitely won’t finish the allocation this afternoon. As long as you know where your plot is, your uncle’s wife and the others will take care of the rest.”

The old woman agreed. “Xiang Hua already showed me. It’s right by the grain-sunning ground. You go to the allocation meeting. I’m going home first.”

Li Xiangyang looked at Lin Lan. “Alright, I’ll take Grandma home first, then come back to get you for your stall.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Okay!”

Li Xiangyang left with the old woman on his bike. Lin Lan finished packing the kidney bean rolls and said to Lin Yuezhen, “Sis, I’m heading to the brigade headquarters. Can you give the pastries I packed to Zhilin?”

Lin Yuezhen nodded, telling her to hurry.

Little Douzi came out wearing his schoolbag. “Mama, I’m going with you!”

Lin Lan smiled and took his schoolbag. “Go get Little Kai. I’ll give you two a ride to school on the bike.”

“Okay!” Little Douzi spun around and ran off. He had just reached the gate when he saw Little Kai approaching the stone bridge with Yang Meihua. “Brother Kai, my mom said she’s giving us a ride to school on her bike!”

“Awesome!” Little Kai delightedly pulled away from Yang Meihua and ran up to Little Douzi. Grabbing a handful of puffed corn from his pocket, he held it out. “It’s puffed corn. My grandma gave it to me.”

Little Douzi took it. “How come the popcorn man hasn’t come around here? If he does, we have corn kernels at home. We can get ours popped too!”

Yang Meihua laughed when she heard him. “Douzi, is your family really short on snacks?”

“Hehe!” Little Douzi grinned, shaking his head.

Little Kai looked at her. “Mom! You don’t get it. We just like to watch them make it. It makes a ’BANG!’ just like a bomb in a movie.”

“Oh, so you’re the expert?” Yang Meihua gave him a swat on the behind. “If you mess up your next exam, I’ll make sure you find out that pots are made of iron!”

“Pbbbt!” Little Kai stuck his tongue out at her. “Pots are made of iron anyway!”

Watching the mother and son, Lin Lan laughed. “Your Little Kai is a real character, just like a little clown.”

Yang Meihua sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. “This one of mine is just so cheeky!”

“Brother Kai, get on!” Little Douzi pulled Little Kai over to Lin Lan’s bike. One scrambled onto the crossbar and the other got on the rear seat. “Mama, let’s go! You still have to go to the land allocation.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Meihua, I’m going to take them to school first!”

Yang Meihua waved. “Go ahead!”

Ten minutes later, Lin Lan pulled up to the large field outside the school. After letting the two boys down, she said, “Don’t play around out here. Go right through the school gate.”

Little Douzi took his schoolbag back. “We know!”

“Bye, Auntie!” Little Kai waved before grabbing Little Douzi and running toward the school gate.

After seeing them enter the school gates, Lin Lan turned her bicycle around and started to head back. Along the way, she saw Wang Yong and Liu Fang walking toward her.

Wang Yong did a double take when he saw Lin Lan, then smiled. “Well, if it isn’t my old classmate. Taking your son to school?”

“Yeah,” Lin Lan acknowledged, then pedaled off.

Liu Fang watched Lin Lan pedal away before turning to Wang Yong. “How is she a classmate of yours?”

Wang Yong chuckled. “Lin Lan and I were classmates in junior high. I only found out she’d married someone from around here after I came to work here.” ’He had originally intended to wait a while and then have someone act as a matchmaker between him and Lin Lan. Who knew she had already found someone—a pig butcher, no less. Just before New Year’s Day, a colleague at the school had introduced him to Liu Fang. After meeting her a few times, he’d decided her prospects were quite good; she just wasn’t as beautiful as Lin Lan.’

Liu Fang shot him a look. “Her reputation used to be terrible. Lots of people in the brigade have been gossiping about her these past six months. And the other day, I heard someone say she bought a Western-style house on Yucai Road.”

Wang Yong glanced over his shoulder at Lin Lan’s retreating back. “If that’s true, their little business must be making good money!”

Liu Fang pursed her lips. “What’s the use of making money from a business? No matter how much you earn, people will always look down on you.”

’Her father always said that no job was as good as one in the commune or a government office. Those people with ’iron rice bowls’ were a cut above the rest. Not only did they have social standing, but they’d never starve, no matter the circumstances. He’d also said that even though Mr. Wang came from the countryside, he was already the dean of students at such a young age and had a very bright future ahead of him.’

Wang Yong said nothing. ’He knew Liu Fang’s family was well-off; she had never known hardship. She could never understand what it felt like for a family to have no money, to owe tuition every year, to not even have the few cents to get your lunchbox heated at school, and to have no choice but to hide in a corner and eat a cold meal!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep