Chapter 51: Chapter 49: I’ll Give You a Ride

“I can’t. I don’t have time,” Lin Lan refused flatly, already walking away.

The man in the flat cap watched Lin Lan walk away quickly, muttering at her back, “Damn it, I’m not going to hurt you. What are you running so fast for?!”

Lin Lan walked through the alley, the various smells of cooking from the homes on both sides making her feel even more anxious.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, adjusted the strap on her back, and broke into a jog.

By the time she reached the secluded alley, the sky had already darkened. Lin Lan gripped the dagger in her pocket, warily watching for any movement in front of or behind her.

When she reached the middle of the alley, she heard the ringing of a bicycle bell up ahead.

She moved to the base of the wall and continued forward with her head down. After just a few steps, a bicycle braked sharply in front of her.

“Lin Lan!” a clear voice called out.

Lin Lan froze for a moment. Looking up, she saw Li Xiangyang with one foot on the ground, a wide smile in his eyes as he looked at her. “Lin Lan, get on. I’ll give you a ride.”

Lin Lan looked at him gratefully. “It’s okay, I can manage on my own. I don’t want to trouble you.”

Li Xiangyang smiled. “Grandma Yang was worried, so she specifically asked me to come get you.” He patted the back seat. “Come on, get on! She’s waiting for you to get back and clean the offal!”

“Thank you!” Lin Lan sat on the back seat, primly gripping the bike rack. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Let’s go!” Li Xiangyang pushed off. “I brought some offal for you and Grandma Yang. I didn’t get a chance to tell you before I ran into those two women, so I just took it over to Grandma Yang’s.”

Hearing this, Lin Lan said guiltily, “I’m so sorry. I’ve caused you so much trouble, getting chased by the joint defense team every other day.”

Li Xiangyang smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry about it! You should go back to setting up your stall in the Eucalyptus Forest tomorrow. It’s too far to come all the way out here, and this alley isn’t very safe.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Mhm! I’ll see.”

The bicycle was indeed much faster. A trip that would have taken about an hour was covered in less than half an hour, bringing them to the alley by the vehicle factory.

Li Xiangyang was taken aback for a second, feeling that time had passed too quickly.

Worried that being seen with her would be bad for Li Xiangyang, Lin Lan said, “Master Li, thank you for the trouble. I can get off here.”

“I’ll take you past the Eucalyptus Forest,” Li Xiangyang replied in a low voice.

Lin Lan could only nod. “Okay.”

Soon they were past the Eucalyptus Forest. Li Xiangyang braked, planting one foot on the ground.

Lin Lan jumped off the bike and thanked him sincerely. “Thank you, Master Li. I’ll head back now.”

Li Xiangyang hesitated. ’Can you stop calling me Master Li?’ he thought. Instead, he just smiled and nodded. “You should hurry back. Grandma Yang must be getting anxious.”

“Goodbye!” Lin Lan waved to him and walked off quickly.

“Goodbye!” Li Xiangyang sat on his bike, one foot on the ground, watching her until she was far in the distance before slowly pedaling away.

It was already dark by the time Lin Lan ran home. She opened the courtyard gate, put her things down by the entrance, and turned to walk toward Grandma Yang’s house.

Grandma Yang was sitting by the back door, while Little Douzi was in the yard with Little Kai, looking at a picture book.

“Grandma Yang, I’m back.”

The old lady stood up with a smile. “You must be hungry! I saved some food for you.”

Lin Lan nodded with a smile. “Mhm! All that running made me starving.”

When Little Douzi heard Lin Lan’s voice, he put down the picture book and ran over to take her hand. “Mama, why are you so late?”

Lin Lan stroked his head. “Mama went to sell things at that courtyard we visited this morning.”

Little Douzi nodded. “Oh! That place is really far.”

The old lady brought the food to the table and said to Little Douzi, “Mama’s tired. Go play with your big brother.”

“Okay!” The two children huddled together and went back to looking at the picture book.

After Lin Lan finished eating, the old lady came out with a basket. “Xiangyang brought the pig’s blood, liver, and intestines. My eyesight isn’t good, so I was afraid I wouldn’t clean them properly and didn’t touch them.

“I’ve cut off some of the blood and liver for you to take back. Clean the intestines and take some over to Liying, too.”

Lin Lan lifted the heavy basket. ’He must have put the pig’s entire large intestine in here,’ she thought. “Okay, I’ll take it home, clean it, and bring it to her tomorrow morning. This is so much, half will be more than enough for us.”

Grandma Yang nodded. “Go on, then. I’ve already fed the chickens for you and put them in the coop.”

“Okay. Douzi, let’s go home,” Lin Lan agreed with a smile, taking Little Douzi’s hand as they walked home.

As soon as she opened the courtyard gate, Dahuang pounced on them. Little Douzi picked him up. “Mama, Dahuang is hungry.”

Lin Lan picked up the carrying basket she’d left by the door. “Mama will get him something to eat in a minute.”

“Okay!” Little Douzi closed the gate and ran into the kitchen with Dahuang.

The two little pigs in the sty heard Lin Lan’s voice and started squealing.

Lin Lan took the pig’s liver and blood out of the basket. She placed the pig’s blood cake into a basin and ladled some water over it to soak. She hung the liver on a hook in front of the stove’s firebox.

She lifted the intestines out of the basket and put them in another basin. After untying the straw rope, the basin was instantly filled to the brim.

Lin Lan lit both stoves. She heated up some leftover rice and had Little Douzi feed it to Dahuang.

On one stove, she heated up pig swill. On the other, she boiled a full pot of water. After feeding the pigs until they were full, she went inside, grabbed a flashlight, and told Douzi to play at home.

She grabbed a large bamboo sieve, picked up the basin, and went to the edge of the drainage ditch.

By the ditch, she turned the intestines inside out and washed them once. She then carried them back home, cut some scallion leaves, and grabbed some alkaline powder to put in the basin. After scrubbing them several times, she poured all the dirty water down the drain.

The water from washing pork and offal, no matter how rich, could not be used as pig swill. If the pig it came from had been sick, her own pigs could catch a plague and that would be a disaster.

She washed the intestines inside and out several times with hot water, then blanched them twice, until she felt that the unique, funky smell of the large intestine was finally gone.

She remembered an old neighbor who liked the gamy taste, saying it wasn’t real pork intestine without it. Every time his family cooked intestines, you could smell it for miles downwind.

After the intestines were clean, Lin Lan ladled some cool water into an earthenware bowl to soak the blood curd. She poured a little soy sauce, chili, and ginger slices into a pot and briefly braised the liver to keep it from spoiling by the next day.

Little Douzi was slumped over the small table. “Mama, I wanna sweepy.”

“Okay! Time for sleep.”

Lin Lan got him his toothbrush and toothpaste. After mother and son washed up, they locked the door and went to lie down in the side room.

The next morning, Lin Lan’s eyes opened to the sound of loudspeakers outside. She rubbed her face, kneaded her sore legs, then got up, dressed, and started making breakfast and doing chores.

After breakfast, she dropped Little Douzi off at Grandma Yang’s and gave her a portion of the intestines. She then returned home, packed the rest of the intestines and the liver into a basket, and headed for Yang Liying’s place.

When she arrived, she saw her in the courtyard hanging up laundry. “Hey, Liying! Busy as ever!”

Yang Liying looked up, saw Lin Lan, and stood up with a smile. “Come on in!”

Lin Lan smiled and placed the basket on the stone steps. “An acquaintance of Grandma Yang’s gave us some intestines and liver, and she asked me to bring some over for you.”

“Thank Grandma Yang for me!” Yang Liying said with a smile as she lifted the taro leaf covering the food. Seeing the intestines and liver underneath, she exclaimed, “This is so much! And you’ve already cleaned it. And here I am with nothing to give the dear old woman in return!”

Lin Lan laughed. “I’m troubling her year-round and haven’t given her anything either!”

“That’s true! Little Douzi has been so lucky to have Grandma Yang these past two years!” Yang Liying brought out a basin and transferred the intestines into it. “Were those bean rolls Little Yun brought back the other day really made by you?”

Lin Lan nodded. “They were! I was just trying my hand at making some.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep