Chapter 59: Chapter 57: Disgusting Just to Look At

Lin Lan immediately spotted Sun Xiuhua diligently bagging eggs for a customer.

Sun Xiuhua turned and saw Lin Lan, giving her an awkward smile. “Little Lin, I came too. Now you can rest easy!” ’An egg here sells for two cents more than at the cooperative; you’d have to be a fool not to come!’

Lin Lan couldn’t be bothered with her and pulled Zhou Xiaohong away.

Zhou Xiaohong glanced at Sun Xiuhua, linked arms with her, and whispered, “Little Lin, when you were giving those things to Xiangyang, that woman and another one with a round face and big nostrils were sneakily staring at you two. The moment you left, they went to the joint defense team to report us. Good thing we ran and hid.”

Lin Lan said guiltily, “I’m sorry, I dragged you all into this. That woman is from my production team. We had an argument and even got into a fight. The one with the big nostrils is my next-door neighbor. I never did anything to her, she just started hating me for no reason.”

Zhou Xiaohong rolled her eyes at her. “Hah! What’s there to be sorry about? Women like that are just asking to be taught a lesson. Let me tell you, the year I first started my stall, the one who reported me was my husband’s own dear sister-in-law.

Not only did I get my things confiscated, but I was also fined twenty yuan. I was forced to sweep the streets for over half a month, with people pointing and whispering about me all day.

After I finished sweeping the streets, I holed up at home for two days. I thought it over and over, ’I’m just setting up a stall to earn some hard-earned money. I’m not stealing or robbing anyone, so what’s there to be ashamed of!’ After stewing for two days, I grit my teeth, went back to my parents’ home to borrow some startup money, and went back into business.

It’s a good thing I went into business and saved some money. When my husband hurt his back at work, I had the money to pay for his treatment. Without that money, the grass on his grave would be ten feet tall by now. Now he can’t do heavy labor, so he helps with the cooking and housework at home.”

Lin Lan sighed. “You’re right. Thank goodness for you. In my case, since my husband passed, it’s just my son and me. Firewood, rice, oil, salt—everything costs money. If I don’t go out and earn, who’s going to support us? And who can you rely on for a lifetime?”

“Heh!” Zhou Xiaohong scoffed. “I’ve really figured it out these past few years. We women can’t ever think about relying on anyone. Relying on anyone is less dependable than having money in your own pocket!”

Lin Lan looked at her and gave her a thumbs-up. “Sister Zhou, from now on, you’re my role model. I want to follow your example and learn from you.”

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaohong playfully smacked her. “It should be me learning from you! If only I had a pair of skilled hands like yours!”

Lin Lan smiled and pointed to the sunset glow on the horizon. “What’s so great about skilled hands? Look at the weather, it’s getting hotter by the day. It’s unbearable standing by the stove during the dog days of summer!”

With no fans or air conditioning, the thought of those days was unbearable.

Zhou Xiaohong laughed. “When is earning money ever easy? In the summer, you’ve got the sun, the rain, and mosquito bites. In the winter, you’ve got the snow and the freezing wind. At night, when everyone else is tucked into bed, we’re still rushing to prepare our goods.”

Lin Lan nodded. “My mom always said that earning money is like digging up earth with a needle, while spending it is like sand washed away by water. When I was little, I didn’t get it and thought my parents were just stingy. Once I started my own family, I understood how hard it is to earn money.”

Zhou Xiaohong thought of the money they spent when her husband was in the hospital and sighed. “Little Lin, food and clothing don’t cost that much. Let me tell you, the moment you step through a hospital’s doors, that’s when you see money really pour out!”

Lin Lan nodded. “That’s right. We’ve earned this money, so we should spend it on what we need to eat and use. We can’t let our health collapse, only to spend all our money at the hospital in the end.”

“You’ve got a point there!”

Chatting idly, the two of them arrived at Lin Lan’s house before they knew it. The old lady and Little Douzi were out and about and hadn’t returned yet.

Lin Lan took out her key and opened the courtyard gate. Dahuang rushed over, baring his teeth at Zhou Xiaohong. After being scolded by Lin Lan, he tucked his tail between his legs and ran to the entrance to lie down.

Zhou Xiaohong looked at her large courtyard with envy. “Little Lin, look at this big courtyard, it’s so spacious! It’s much more comfortable living in a standalone house in the countryside. My family shares a courtyard with my husband’s older brother. To put it bluntly, if you fart, the people next door can hear it crystal clear.”

Lin Lan smiled. “Once you’ve earned enough money, you can just buy a courtyard house and move out!”

Zhou Xiaohong nodded and said in a low voice, “Since we’re sisters, I won’t hide it from you. I’ve been looking at a few courtyard houses. Once I save a little more money, I’ll go check them out again. I want to buy one that faces the street and has a storefront. You should save up and buy one too. If the political winds change, we won’t have to work so hard like this.”

Lin Lan gave her a thumbs-up. “Sister Zhou, that’s a brilliant decision! If you find a suitable one, let me know. I’ll go take a look too.” ’I need to save up money too,’ she thought. ’While there are still courtyard houses for sale on the street these next couple of years, I should buy a few with storefronts.

Once the economy opens up, I’ll have my own shops to do business in. I won’t be like when I first started, with landlords maliciously raising the rent or taking back the shop on a whim.’

“Alright, leave it to me!” Zhou Xiaohong said, looking at her cheerfully. “I’m heading back. They’re waiting for me at home for dinner.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “I won’t keep you then. See you tomorrow morning!” ’She was really starting to like this straightforward and decisive woman.’

“You got it!” Zhou Xiaohong waved and left, her satchel on her back.

After seeing Zhou Xiaohong off, Lin Lan hurried back inside. She ladled out some fava beans and lima beans, put them in a bucket, and added a few scoops of hot water to soak them. Then, she changed the water for the beans she had put to soak the day before.

She took out the large bones Li Xiangyang had given her, washed them, blanched them, and set them to simmer for a soup. She checked the leftover rice from lunch, then washed a bowl of fresh rice and placed it on the steaming rack. She washed and chopped a few radishes, placing them in a bamboo basket. After adding two pieces of firewood to the stove, she grabbed a sickle and a hoe and went out to the vegetable patch.

She dug furrows in the remaining empty patch of land, making a shallow hole with each strike of the hoe. Then she dug up some composted soil, mixed it with plant ash, and put a handful in each shallow hole.

She pried up the tomato, cabbage, bok choy, green onion, and radish seedlings, roots and all. The spinach and carrots were left in the nursery bed. Then, she began transplanting the seedlings.

****

Yang Liying returned home to find Zhao Dehai was already there. “Is the roof all fixed?”

“Yeah. Lin Lan wants you to go over when you have a minute. She has something to tell you.” Seeing her long face, Zhao Dehai asked, “Who made you unhappy? Did your second sister say something you didn’t want to hear?”

“Don’t even talk about it, I’m furious.” Yang Liying plopped down on a bamboo chair, glaring angrily at Zhao Dehai. “Our cousin-aunt went to Second Sister’s house and told her she wants Lin Lan to marry that old bachelor son of hers.

That money-grubbing Second Sister must have taken some benefit from her. She eagerly called me and Eldest Sister over to discuss how to break the news to Lin Lan.”

Zhao Dehai looked at her in surprise. “The cousin-aunt who lives on Construction Street?”

Yang Liying curled her lip in disgust. “That’s the one. I can’t stand how she’s always going on about ’you country folk’ and ’us city folk.’ Ptooey! Only my second sister likes to suck up to her!”

Zhao Dehai thought about her son, Tian Jianshe, who was always saying, “My mom said…” or “My mom won’t let me…” Though he was decades old, he acted like he was three. A chill ran down Zhao Dehai’s spine. “That son of hers is a grown man and still hasn’t been weaned. She wants Lin Lan to marry Tian Jianshe? It’d be a miracle if Lin Lan gave him a second glance!”

He felt that Tian Jianshe was just like Yang Laoyao—both were spoiled rotten by their parents. But at least Yang Laoyao still acted like a man. Tian Jianshe was so effeminate, it was disgusting just to look at him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep