Chapter 74: Chapter 71: The Lin Family

The steam whistle blew, the motor chugged, and the ferry, puffing black smoke, slowly pulled away…

Lin Lan watched the spray kicked up by the side of the boat. In the original owner’s memories, Shilian Team was built in Half Mountain Village. To the team’s northeast stretched tens of miles of rolling, low hills, to the west was the Min River, and to the south lay a plain.

Shilian Team was a scenic place, its only drawback being the inconvenient transportation. To get to the town or the city, one had to walk for more than half an hour on a mountain path. After descending the mountain, it was another hour-long walk along the river levee to reach the pier and take the ferry across.

Wu Shufen often said that during the great famine, the families in the mountains never went hungry. Even her own family, who had once looked down on her, came to curry favor. A sack of sweet potatoes, a sack of potatoes, or some corn could be traded for a wife from the plains.

The ferry slowly drew up to the pier. Once the boat was steady, Lin Lan shouldered her pack, held Little Douzi, and walked across the pontoon bridge, heading up onto the river levee.

As Lin Lan worried about not getting her supplies, Wu Shufen was also worrying on her behalf. After breakfast, Wu Shufen did some mental math and realized it had been quite a few days since they had returned.

She went out to the main hall and glanced at the large baskets filled with fava beans and broad beans. She saw that there was only half a basket of fava beans, a little over half a basket of broad beans, and half a pail of rapeseed oil.

The thought that Lin Lan needed four to five pounds of fava beans every day made her anxious. She worried that her daughter’s supply wouldn’t hold out.

Wu Shufen went outside and said to her husband, Lin Changyou, who was sitting on a chair smoking his pipe, “When you have a moment, go over to the neighboring Zhongxin Team and ask our in-laws if their team has any fava beans or broad beans left.”

Their eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Xiuqing, was the eldest daughter of Accountant Zhang from the Zhongxin Team. Lin Changyou and Accountant Zhang were also cousins. That’s how it was in the countryside; if you traced family lines back far enough, you’d find everyone was related through some winding connection.

Accountant Zhang was well-known in the area as a filial son. His elderly mother had been unable to walk properly for over a decade, and he carried her on his back every day so she could get out and about.

His wife also treated the old mother very well. The old woman was paralyzed and bedridden, but his wife cleaned her and handled her bedpan. When the old lady finally passed away, she didn’t have a single bedsore on her body.

This was precisely what Lin Changyou had valued in them, and it was why he had agreed to a marriage with the Zhang family. His eldest daughter-in-law had certainly turned out well.

Lin Changyou lowered his pipe and glanced up at her. “Go get some money. And while you’re at it, grab two packs of those Daqianmen cigarettes our third son sent me.”

“Alright!” Wu Shufen replied cheerfully and went into the room. She opened a chest, propping the heavy lid up with her shoulder. From a corner, she took out a paper-wrapped bundle and the carton of Daqianmen cigarettes. She unwrapped the oil paper and pulled out two packs.

She stroked the carton of cigarettes and muttered to herself, ’Little Lan, you have to make your father proud. Don’t let the people in the team laugh at him.’ With that, she wrapped the two packs in a piece of coarse paper and took them out to her husband.

Lin Changyou took the cigarettes. He silently finished the last puff from his pipe, then tapped the foot-long stem twice against the side of his shoe, knocking the ash from the bowl. He slowly stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out.

Seeing him leave, Wu Shufen went back inside to get her sewing, then sat down on the steps under the eaves and began to work.

Her youngest son, Lin Guoqiang, entered the courtyard with his pant legs rolled up high. He carried a fishing net in one hand and a fish basket in the other. “Mom, I’m back!”

Lin Guoqiang was also handsome, with thick brows and large eyes. He had a slender build and skin tanned a deep, dark brown from the sun.

Wu Shufen looked up and shot him a glare. “Always running off to the river. Hurry up and go eat!”

“I’m going!” Lin Guoqiang grinned and stepped forward, holding out the fish basket for her to see. “Look, I netted two river catfish about a foot long, a few snakeheads, and half a basket of gobies and yellow catfish.”

Wu Shufen glanced inside and smiled. “Your sister loves river catfish. Next time you catch some, send them her way.”

“Hmph!” Lin Guoqiang grumbled. “I can’t be bothered with her.”

’Other families dote on their sons, but our family treats our daughter like a treasure. She’s not just lazy and greedy, she even brought shame upon us all.’

Wu Shufen gave him a light swat. “After you eat, take some of these over to your eldest and second brothers’ families.”

It was a Lin family tradition for sons to move out and establish their own households two months after marrying. Lin Guoliang and Lin Guodong had done the same; their houses were built right next to the old family home.

Since Lin Guocai and Lin Guoqiang were not yet married, they still lived with their parents.

“You got it!” Lin Guoqiang agreed. He took a couple of steps, then turned back to his mother. “Mom, since your throat’s been bothering you, and Eldest Sister-in-law is a great cook with fish, why don’t we just have them all come eat here?”

Wu Shufen thought of her second daughter-in-law’s petty nature and said, “Go to the pig farm in a little while and tell your second sister-in-law as well. Have them all come over for lunch.”

The Lin family’s pig farm was operated on a share system. There were five shares in total: the parents had put up the capital and held three shares, while the eldest son, Lin Guoliang, and the second son, Lin Guodong, provided the labor, each holding one share.

At present, the farm had three sows, over thirty growing pigs, and more than ten large hogs that were almost ready for market.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Xiuqing, and the second daughter-in-law, Zhao Xiaohui, were responsible for feeding the pigs and cleaning the sty, while Wu Shufen cooked the pig feed. After school, the children would help by cutting fodder for the pigs.

“Okay!” Lin Guoqiang put down the fish basket and bolted.

Wu Shufen hurriedly called after him, “You haven’t had breakfast yet!”

Without looking back, Lin Guoqiang shouted, “Lin Jun and I already ate! We roasted some fish and sweet potatoes by the river.”

“Such a grown boy, yet still so reckless.” Wu Shufen smiled and shook her head. She poured the fish from the basket into a water basin, her gaze lingering on the river catfish as she sighed again and again.

Lin Guoqiang went next door to his eldest brother’s house first. He found Zhang Xiuqing, a woman with a round face and a somewhat sturdy build. “Eldest Sister-in-law, I went out fishing on the boat this morning. Mom’s coughing a bit, so she asked me to tell you to come over early for lunch to cook the fish.”

Zhang Xiuqing grinned at her young brother-in-law. “You went fishing in the river again? Dad’s going to scold you if he finds out.”

When Lin Guoqiang was about ten years old, he had secretly taken the family’s small wooden boat out to fish. His technique was poor, and he capsized it. Luckily, some other fishermen rescued him. From that day on, Lin Changyou forbade him from taking the boat out by himself.

Recalling the old embarrassing incident, Lin Guoqiang scratched his head and grinned. “It’s fine, that was just kid stuff. I’m going to go get Second Sister-in-law.”

Zhang Xiuqing smiled and waved him off. “Go on, then!”

Just as Lin Guoqiang rounded the corner toward the pig farm out back, he saw the brothers Lin Guoliang and Lin Guodong walking over from the farm, carrying buckets of liquid manure on shoulder poles.

They were taking the liquid manure to the production team to exchange for work points. Ever since the Lin family had started their pig farm, the manure from their cesspool had become a source for a significant number of work points.

He grinned at the pair. “Eldest Brother, Second Brother! I netted some fish, and Mom says you should all come over to eat.”

Lin Guoliang flicked him on the forehead. “No wonder we couldn’t find you. So, what’s it going to be? Are you cleaning the pigsty, or are you going up the mountain to cut paper mulberry leaves?”

Lin Guoqiang said hurriedly, “I’ll carry the manure!” ’He definitely didn’t want to go up the mountain to cut leaves,’ he thought. ’This time of year, the mountain was crawling with stinging caterpillars, as numerous as ants.’

“Second Brother, give him the shoulder pole,” Lin Guoliang said.

Lin Guodong set down the manure buckets and grinned. “Here you go!”

Lin Guoqiang obediently took the shoulder pole from Lin Guodong and followed his eldest brother toward the production team’s manure pit.

Back at the house, Wu Shufen picked up her sewing but couldn’t quiet her mind. She kept thinking about her husband going to buy the beans. Finally, she put down her needlework, slid the courtyard gate shut, and headed for the pig farm.

****

Lin Lan carried the sleeping Little Douzi down from the levee. Panting, she leaned against a large rock. ’Oh, man! Using my own two feet is exhausting. The first thing I’m doing when I get some money is buying a bicycle.’

Little Douzi’s eyes fluttered open. He looked at Lin Lan and said, “Mama, I can walk myself.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan set him down, rubbing her aching arms. She took his hand and said, “Off we go! If we’re any later, we’ll miss lunch.”

At the bottom of the levee was a steep slope. With the pack on her back, Lin Lan held Little Douzi’s hand as they struggled their way up.

After a short while, Little Douzi decided that Lin Lan holding his hand was just getting in the way. He shook her hand off. “I’ll walk myself!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep