Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Scouting the Location

Wu Shufen patted her shoulder, gratified. “Your father and I don’t need you to provide for us. As long as you’re living well, we can rest easy.”

She remembered how, in the past, no matter what they said, the girl was as stubborn as an ox and would never admit she was wrong or promise to change. Even her third aunt-in-law had said she’d changed, and it seemed she really had.

The mother and daughter chatted softly for a while longer before lying down to sleep.

The next day, as soon as the high-pitched loudspeaker sounded, Lin Lan and Wu Shufen finished making sweet potato congee. They finely chopped some salt-cured vegetables and stir-fried them with last night’s twice-cooked pork.

After the two brothers of the Lin family finished eating, they were in a hurry to leave.

Lin Lan walked them to the mouth of the alley. The brothers quietly reminded her to be careful with her business and said they would find a puppy for her when they got back. Only then did they shoulder their bamboo baskets and leave.

When Lin Lan returned home, she saw that Wu Shufen had already washed the pots and bowls, fed the pigs, and let the chicks out into the newly dug vegetable patch in the backyard to eat insects.

Little Douzi was standing to the side with a wooden stick, prying earthworms from the soil, saying he wanted to feed the chicks.

Lin Lan picked up her back basket and a freshly sharpened sickle. “Mom, I’m heading out to work.”

“Alright,” Wu Shufen said, coming out of the house with a mosquito net in her arms. “I’ll stay home and watch Little Douzi. Don’t rush, just take your time cutting.”

Seeing that her mother couldn’t stay idle for a moment, Lin Lan went over and took the mosquito net from her hands. She pressed a few yuan into her palm, “You rarely get to visit. Go chat with Third Aunt-in-law and walk around town. Leave that, I’ll wash it when I get back.”

Wu Shufen smiled and pushed the money back into her hand. “I don’t need it now. You can give it to me when you’ve made your fortune.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Okay! You go have a look around town. I’m off to work.”

“Go on!”

Wu Shufen saw her to the courtyard gate before turning back to heat up some water and soak the mosquito net with soap.

Remembering that they didn’t even have a thermos in the house, she called Little Douzi to go to the old lady’s house, and the three of them went into town together.

Lin Lan, carrying her back basket, arrived at the edge of the fishpond and saw Old Chen standing on the ridge between the fields, scattering grass to feed the fish.

As they passed each other, Old Chen said in a low voice, “Little Lin, if it’s convenient, could you bring me a jar of that congee from the other day? I’ll pay you for it!”

The grain the team had distributed to him this time—who knows where they got it from—was more chaff than rice. It upset his stomach every time he ate it.

“I’ll bring it to you tomorrow morning,” Lin Lan agreed quietly, heading straight for the foot of the mountain.

Zou Zhonggui was hiding in a bamboo grove at a bend on Niu Bei Mountain. Watching Lin Lan walk to the foot of the mountain, his eyes were fixed on her. He muttered, ’No wonder Liu Jinbao is so obsessed. That unlucky bastard Yang Lao Yao sure had no good fortune!’

Lin Lan set down her back basket, sensing a malicious gaze on her. She snapped her head up and saw someone walking away near the bamboo grove.

Clutching her sickle tightly, Lin Lan chased after them toward the bamboo grove, only to see a tall man in gray clothes hurrying off in the direction of the second team’s area.

Lin Lan turned and went back to the fishpond. “Uncle Chen, did you see a tall man in gray clothes come this way?”

“No, I didn’t see anyone when I was cutting fish grass this morning,” Old Chen said, looking at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Lan shook her head. “It’s nothing. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”

She returned to the foot of the mountain and began cutting grass, but a sense of unease lingered in her heart.

She remembered what that hooligan Liu Jinbao had said the other day: “I don’t believe you carry a knife with you all the time.” ’I should get a knife to carry with me, just in case,’ she thought.

Suddenly, she remembered seeing what looked like a switchblade in the storage chest when she was looking for blankets the other day. She decided to go back and find it to carry with her.

*****

Zou Zhonggui took a stroll around the Lexing Second Team’s area, then headed to the Lexing Team’s storeroom. Just as he reached the entrance, he saw Liu Jinbao using a pair of fire tongs to poke around in an enamel basin.

Liu Jinbao looked up and saw Zou Zhonggui, then chuckled. “Old Zhao from the storeroom went to a banquet. I just finished roasting some peanuts and sweet potatoes, and here you are!”

Zou Zhonggui smiled and walked in. “Liu San, you’re living the good life, aren’t you!”

“Guarding the storeroom means plenty to eat!” Liu Jinbao pushed some peanuts toward him. “Did you go to Niu Bei Mountain to check out that bitch?”

Zou Zhonggui nodded. “I can do it, but you have to give me half the money first. I can’t very well show up for a first visit empty-handed, can I?”

Liu Jinbao thought for a moment. “I’ll give you half first, and the rest after the job is done.”

Zou Zhonggui nodded readily. “Deal!”

Liu Jinbao watched him with a sly grin. “I’ll come to your place tonight and give it to you.”

“Alright. Where does Yang Lao Yao’s family live? I’ll go take a look.”

“From the storeroom, cross the ditch and turn left. It’s the house directly facing the second Shiqiao Bridge.”

Zou Zhonggui nodded, grabbed a handful of peanuts to stuff in his pocket, took a roasted sweet potato, and left the storeroom, heading toward Lin Lan’s house.

He crossed the ditch, walked to the second Shiqiao Bridge, and glanced at the courtyard facing it. After memorizing the location, he walked straight on.

****

Lin Lan delivered the cattle fodder to the cowshed, then went back to pack the mugwort and paper mulberry leaves into her back basket before finishing work and heading home.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, she saw the mosquito net and some clothes drying in the yard.

When Little Douzi saw her return, he ran over happily. “Grandma, Mommy’s back!”

Lin Lan took his little hand. “Has Little Douzi been a good boy today?”

Little Douzi nodded. “Mommy, squat down.”

“Why?” Lin Lan asked, squatting down.

Little Douzi pulled a peppermint candy from his pocket and, beaming, placed it in her mouth. “Great-grandma, Grandma, and I went to the department store together.”

Lin Lan ruffled his hair. “Was the department store fun?”

Little Douzi took Lin Lan’s hand and nodded happily. “It was fun! Grandma bought lots of things.”

Lin Lan went inside and saw Wu Shufen, wearing an apron, busy at the stove. She hurried forward. “Mom, you should rest for a bit. Let me do it.”

Wu Shufen smiled. “The food is all ready. Go wash your face and let’s eat.”

“Okay!” ’Having a mom around is really different,’ Lin Lan thought. Coming home was no longer to a cold stove and an empty kitchen; there was food to eat and hot water to wash her face. “Mom, was the department store lively?”

Wu Shufen smiled and nodded. “It was. Much livelier than the one in our town. There was so much stuff on the shelves, my eyes couldn’t take it all in.”

“There were lots of people shopping, too. Some were even buying those televisions that play shows, and boxes that hold ice. They said you just plug them in and you can store meat and vegetables in them, and they won’t spoil no matter how long you leave them.”

Lin Lan figured the “box that holds ice” must be a refrigerator. “The city’s department store can’t compare to the one in our town. When we’ve earned enough money, we’ll buy a television that plays shows and a box that holds ice, too.”

Wu Shufen chuckled and shook her head. “With the money for that stuff, it would be better to build a few big, tile-roofed rooms. Besides, we don’t have the ration coupons. We couldn’t buy them even if we had the money.”

Lin Lan smiled. “Who knows, by the time we earn enough money, we might be able to buy them without coupons.”

Wu Shufen nodded, then shook her head again. “Whether it needs coupons or not, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them even if we had the money.”

Lin Lan helped carry the dished-up food to the table. “We don’t have the money now, so there’s no need to think about it. You can decide whether to buy them or not when we’re rich.”

The three of them sat down around the small wooden table. Wu Shufen spooned some steamed egg custard into Little Douzi’s bowl. “My dear grandson, eat lots of egg custard so you’ll grow up tall and strong.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep