Chapter 70: Chapter 68: Looking for a New Source

“Just in time, I’m a little thirsty!” Li Xiangyang didn’t stand on ceremony. He gestured for the two young men who came with him to take the bowls and began drinking in big gulps.

Yang Liying looked at Li Xiangyang and smiled. “Xiangyang, I’m Yang Liying. We haven’t seen each other in years.”

Li Xiangyang glanced at her, recognized her, and smiled. “Sister Liying, it has been a long time.”

He recalled the year he and Yang Dingbang, with Dongzi in tow, had escorted Yang Liying on her wedding day. He smiled, remembering how Dongzi, upon seeing the gentle and elegant Yang Liying, had pestered her, asking if she had any younger sisters.

“Yes! It’s been about a decade in a flash.” Yang Liying turned to Zhao Dehai and said, “Do you remember him? This is Li Xiangyang. He escorted me to our wedding with Ding Bang all those years ago.”

Zhao Dehai looked him over, then smiled and shook his head. “You’ve gotten so much sturdier, I barely recognize you.”

Li Xiangyang laughed. “I was just a teenager back then. Now I’m getting old.”

“You’re still young! We’re the ones who are old,” Yang Liying said with a laugh as she and Zhao Dehai lifted a basket from the pushcart and headed for the woodshed.

Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang also carried a basket toward the woodshed. Li Xiangyang said, “We’ll need two more trips to haul it all.”

Lin Lan said gratefully, “Thank you! Thank you so much.”

“It’s no problem. Just let us know when you run out,” Li Xiangyang said readily.

The three men unloaded the coal, and Zhao Dehai went along with them.

Lin Lan remembered the high-gluten flour the old lady had given her and said to Yang Liying, “Third Sister, I’ll go mix some dough and roll out some noodles to give them something to eat.”

Yang Liying nodded. Thinking that Lin Lan’s chickens weren’t grown yet, she said, “I’ll go back and get a few eggs.”

Lin Lan stopped her. “No need, I bought eggs. They’re at home.”

Yang Liying smiled. “I’m strong. I’ll help you knead the dough.”

Lin Lan nodded, took the high-gluten flour from the cupboard, opened it, and scooped out a bowlful. Yang Liying took the earthenware basin and began mixing the flour.

Lin Lan took out a few stalks of choy sum, washed them, and set them aside.

Over half an hour later, the men returned, pulling the flatbed cart.

Lin Lan said to Li Xiangyang and the two young men, “You must be hungry! I’ve made some food. Come inside and eat before you move the rest.”

“We’re not hungry. It’s late, and we’ll make too much noise. We’ll eat after we’ve hauled everything,” Li Xiangyang said, then picked up a basket and walked toward the woodshed.

Lin Lan thought he had a point and helped one of the young men carry a basket inside.

The four of them made two more trips before all the coal was hauled. Lin Lan and Yang Liying cooked egg noodles, which everyone slurped down.

Li Xiangyang saw the injury on Lin Lan’s neck, glanced at Yang Liying, and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

After the two young men finished eating, he smiled and said, “It’s getting late, so we’ll be heading back.”

Lin Lan quickly said, “Thank you! Let me give you the money.”

Li Xiangyang smiled. “Tomorrow is fine too!”

“I have it!” Lin Lan quickly gave him the money and saw them out. Yang Liying and Zhao Dehai also left with the three men, pulling their pushcart.

Lin Lan closed the courtyard gate, looked at the small mountain of coal briquettes piled in the woodshed, and went back inside, pleased.

With the coal, life would be much more convenient. After she finished cooking the things she needed to sell, she could use the residual heat to cook pig feed.

Little Douzi’s face was still swollen the next day. Lin Lan took him to the hospital, where the doctor prescribed Yunnan Baiyao and a sedative for childhood fright. Lin Lan also asked for some children’s medicine for colds and fevers. After giving him the medicine and rolling a hard-boiled egg over his face, the bruising finally faded completely two or three days later.

After running her stall for a few days, Yang Liying realized that more and more people were selling tofu and douhua in the area.

Her douhua and tofu tasted good, and she could sell out three slabs of tofu and a large bucket of douhua every day.

Zhou Xiaohong’s business at the tunnel entrance was indeed better than Lin Lan’s. Two days later, at her repeated request, Lin Lan had no choice but to double her supply of both orchid beans and kidney bean rolls.

Lin Lan was incredibly busy. Remembering how she had gotten that terrible illness from being too tired and overworked, she did her best to make time for afternoon naps and eat her meals on time.

Another two days passed in a flash. One day, she discovered that many of the rapeseed plants by the roadside of her plot had been snapped in half with a stick.

People in those days cherished their crops; the only reason someone would do something like this was out of spite. Lin Lan figured it must have been the Xiong family’s child.

She couldn’t be bothered to prop up the broken, hanging stalks. ’I’ll deal with it after I catch them,’ she thought.

Early on Monday morning, Zhou Xiaohong arrived just after Lin Lan finished breakfast.

After loading up the goods, Zhou Xiaohong said to Lin Lan, “Little Lin, I heard on the radio that it’s supposed to drizzle tomorrow. I’m thinking of going back to my parents’ house, and while I’m there, I can ask about the beans for you.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Thank you for the trouble, Sister Zhou. I’m running low on beans here too, so it’s a good time for me to visit my parents’ house as well. It’s far from here, so the round trip will take two days. Come back for the next shipment the day after tomorrow.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep