Chapter 52: Fighting for Pride

Yang Liying pulled her to sit down. “I saw how well it was made and was worried she might have just taken it from someone! I wanted to come ask you, but I just haven’t had the time.”

Lin Lan smiled. “You’ve taught Little Yun well. She wouldn’t just take things from others.”

Yang Liying smiled and nodded. “They are very sensible, but I still worry about a little girl’s cravings. After coming back from your place, Little Yun told me she wants to study hard and even go to university. The two sisters are only in elementary school, and the tuition is six yuan a semester. Middle school means boarding, and we’d have to pay for food and living expenses.

“We’re just a couple of farmers. We work hard all year and only make a few dozen yuan. We have to support the elderly and raise the young. We can’t even bear to buy a bar of soap. Where are we supposed to find the money to send them to school?”

After hearing this, Lin Lan told her what Little Yun had said that day. “So what did you tell her? The school is close, so she could just commute instead of boarding.”

Yang Liying sighed. “I told her to study hard. As long as she has the ability to get into a school, her father and I will support her, even if we have to sell everything we own.

“Kids are fickle. Their minds might change in a few days. Besides, she hasn’t even taken the middle school entrance exams yet, and high school is even further away. It’s too early to tell. I can’t just pour cold water on her enthusiasm right now, can I?”

Lin Lan looked at her. “Liying, you’re right! We’re uneducated, and we can’t let our children suffer the same disadvantages. Don’t worry, there will be ways to make money when the time comes.”

Yang Liying thought Lin Lan was talking about paying back the money and quickly said, “I didn’t mean…”

Lin Lan smiled. “I know what you mean, Liying!”

“As long as you understand. It’s not easy for you to raise Little Douzi on your own. You really don’t have to pay that money back,” Yang Liying said sincerely.

Lin Lan smiled and changed the subject. “Liying, the roof at home is leaking. I want to take advantage of the slack farming season before the rains come to buy some tiles and fix it. Could you ask your husband for me how many tiles I might need?”

Yang Liying recalled that the roof hadn’t been fixed since her father was alive. She sighed. “It’s been so many years, it’s bound to leak. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan stood up. “I’ll be heading back then.”

“Wait!” Yang Liying stopped her. “Let me get you the enamel mug. And take some taro and taro stems back with you.”

As she spoke, she picked up a vegetable basket and went to the kitchen. A moment later, she came out with a basket full of taro and a bundle of tender taro stems.

Lin Lan looked at the taro in the basket. “When did you plant these? Are they ready to eat already?”

Yang Liying gave a wry smile. “They’re from last year. I left half a row buried in the vegetable patch and never dug them up. The other day, Little Yun’s grandma dug up a basket for her eldest uncle without even telling me. I was so mad, I went and dug up all the rest.”

Lin Lan comforted her in a gentle voice, “Why get angry with her? It’s not worth making yourself sick over it!”

Yang Liying pouted. “The old woman said her eldest son’s family has four sons to carry on the family line, while I only have two daughters. She said that no matter how much we earn, it will all belong to someone else someday. She still thinks it’s the old society. So what if I have daughters? Worst case, I’ll just find a live-in son-in-law.”

Lin Lan smiled. “That’s the right way to think about it. Daughters can care for their parents in old age just the same. Having more sons doesn’t guarantee a good life.”

’Come to think of it,’ she mused, ’of all the families in the production team with many sons, very few of them seemed to have a comfortable old age. On the contrary, it was the families who raised daughters whose elders lived quite comfortably.’

Yang Liying looked at Lin Lan, recalling her old bossy and unreasonable demeanor, and started to laugh. “Look at you, even you know how to comfort people now. You used to be so harsh with your words, a bull couldn’t trample them flat!”

Lin Lan gave a dry laugh. “Little Douzi is growing up day by day. It’s time for me to make something of myself.”

Yang Liying nodded repeatedly. “Exactly. ’Men fight for their pride, and Buddhas for a stick of incense.’ You can’t let people look down on you your whole life!”

She felt that if Lin Lan could make a success of her life, it would bring honor to all of them, the “sisters,” in their respective in-laws’ families.

“Right! We’ll do our best to make them proud.” After leaving Yang Liying’s house, Lin Lan took her things home, put them away, then slung a basket on her back and headed to the foot of the mountain for work.

When she heard the high-pitched loudspeaker, she finished her work and went home.

She made a special detour past the old woman’s house to ask her to come over for lunch.

Cooking rice over a wood fire was fast. A few handfuls of firewood and the rice in the pot was boiling. She cooked the rice until it was al dente, then scooped it into a bamboo strainer to drain the rice water.

She washed the wok, cut the pork intestines into sections, and stir-fried them with broad bean paste, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili segments. She fried them until the moisture evaporated and the oil rendered out, then added a little sugar and soy sauce and tossed them a few more times before pushing the intestines to the center of the wok with the spatula.

She placed a wooden steamer on top, ladled two scoops of water into the wok, and put the steaming rack inside the steamer. She then poured the half-cooked rice into the steamer. By the time the rice was fully steamed, the intestines would be ready too.

While tending the fire, Lin Lan tore the fibrous strings from the taro stems, washed and cut them into sections, and put them into the other large pot.

Once the taro stems were cooked until tender, she drained them, rinsed them twice with clean water, squeezed out the excess moisture, and placed them on the cutting board. Then she went to the backyard to pick some cilantro and scallions.

She peeled a few cloves of solo garlic and took some pickled peppers and pickled ginger from the pickling jar, mincing them finely. She heated some rapeseed oil in a wok and stir-fried the pickles, garlic, and broad bean paste for a bit before adding the taro stems. Just before taking it off the heat, she tossed in some cilantro and chopped scallions. The spicy and appetizing dish of braised taro stems with pickles was ready.

Only then did Lin Lan pour the slop from the bucket and the pig feed into the large pot, bringing it to a boil before feeding the pigs.

The braised pork intestines simmering under the steamer released waves of their unique, rich aroma. Puffs of white steam began to escape from under the steamer lid. The steam was building, which meant the rice was almost done.

She added two more bundles of firewood to the stove, cleaned the area around the stove’s opening, and went out to call the old woman and Little Douzi for the meal.

When she reached the end of the bridge, she saw the old woman leading Little Douzi by the hand, carrying a basket and walking towards her.

Lin Lan turned back, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping the courtyard. The old woman came in, carried her basket onto the stone steps, and said, “I picked some pea shoots to make a blood curd soup. It’ll help wash the dust from our insides.”

“Great, we’ll make the blood curd soup and then we can eat.” Lin Lan put down the broom, took the pea shoots, and headed for the kitchen.

Little Douzi sniffed the air. “Great-grandma, Mommy is making something delicious.”

“What a little puppy nose!” the old woman said with a loving smile. “It’s braised pork intestines. Your little mouth will be all greasy after you eat.”

“Oh!” Little Douzi nodded with a wide grin. “Mommy’s cooking is delicious.”

The old woman nodded, then turned and walked to the courtyard gate. She glanced at the Xiong family’s house next door. ’Recalling what Li Xiangyang had said, I still can’t figure out how Lin Lan offended them,’ she wondered.

Lin Lan washed the pea shoots, lifted the rice steamer out of the wok, and sprinkled some cilantro and chopped scallions into the braised pork intestines. The intestines from the wok filled a large earthenware bowl to the brim.

She flash-fried some minced ginger in lard, then ladled half a scoop of water into the wok. When the ginger-infused water started to form “shrimp eyes”—tiny bubbles—she cut the blood curd into small cubes and added them to the pot. Once it came to a rolling boil, she added the pea shoots, and as soon as it boiled again, she took it off the heat.

Lin Lan called out, “Time to eat!”

“Coming!” The old woman and the little boy washed their hands and walked into the kitchen.

The old woman looked at the pork intestines on the table with a smile. “It looks like you learned a thing or two while your mother was here.”

Lin Lan nodded with a smile. “I didn’t add too much chili. Have a taste and see if it’s too spicy for you.”

The old woman tried a piece. “Not bad. The seasoning is just right.”

Lin Lan picked up a piece for Little Douzi. “You have some too.”

“Yummy!” After chewing and swallowing, Little Douzi glanced at Dahuang, who was staring at him. “You be a good boy. I’ll give you some rice with greasy broth later.”

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