Chapter 78: Chapter 75: I’ll Just Pick a Flower, Got a Problem?

As soon as Wu Shufen heard her mention a nephew from her family, her temper flared. With a loud THWACK, she threw the broom on the ground and stared at the woman. “I said it’s none of your business! Do you not understand plain language?”

’A bachelor in his forties who not only has sticky fingers but also got one of his legs crippled in a fight. Her Lin Lan would rather be a widow her entire life than marry someone like that.’

“Well, well!” Aunt Lin rolled her eyes at Wu Shufen. “What’s with that look? My nephew might be a little older, but he’s still an unmarried man. Is he not good enough for your Little Lan, or what? A widow thinks she can still pick a prize flower!”

Wu Shufen shot her a sidelong glare and smiled coldly. “Even as a widow, my Little Lan is going to be picky. And yes, she is going to pick a prize flower. Got a problem with that?”

Aunt Lin sneered, “As long as I’m alive, I’ll be here to watch that shameless hussy of yours pick another good-for-nothing, short-lived bum to bring home.”

Aunt Lin’s words struck a raw nerve. Remembering how this woman had spread gossip about Lin Lan all over the village, Wu Shufen’s anger boiled over. She snatched up the broom and swung it at her. “Get the hell out!”

After getting whacked on the backside, Aunt Lin ran to the courtyard gate and started hollering at the top of her lungs, “You’re a real tyrant, Wu! Your Little Lan was capable of doing such things, but you won’t let anyone talk about it!”

Wu Shufen grabbed her broom and chased after her. Aunt Lin squared up, ready for a fight, but then she turned her head and saw Lin Changyou approaching with his hands behind his back. She immediately dropped her stance and scurried away.

Lin Changyou walked over to his wife, whose eyes were rimmed with red, and comforted her with a smile. “Don’t be angry. Just think of her as a dung beetle farting—she’s just spouting shit.”

Wu Shufen gave him a mock glare. “Easy for you to say.”

Lin Changyou chuckled. “What’s the alternative? If you two get into a brawl, you’re just giving everyone a free show. Is it worth it?”

Wu Shufen rolled her eyes at him, took her broom back into the courtyard, and went inside to check on Little Douzi, who was taking his afternoon nap.

****

When Lin Lan, Zhang Xiuqing, and Zhao Xiaohui got to the mountain, they found it covered in gardenias, and the air was thick with their fragrance.

She happily pointed to a spot where the petals had fallen off and said to Zhang Xiuqing, “Sister-in-law, once the gardenia fruits ripen and turn yellow, could you help me pick a bunch and sun-dry them? I’ll have a use for them when I’m making things.”

Zhang Xiuqing nodded and smiled. “Do you need some now? I have some at home.”

“I do, I do!” Lin Lan exclaimed, happily linking her arm through Zhang Xiuqing’s. “Sister-in-law, when did you gather them?”

Zhang Xiuqing smiled and said, “My mother can weave, so every year she has me gather some for her to boil into a dye for her cloth.”

Watching the two of them act so close, Zhao Xiaohui felt a pang of jealousy.

The Lin family had sown ramie seeds on the mountain, and the plants were growing lush and green. In no time, the three of them—Lin Lan and her sisters-in-law—had filled their back-baskets with forage and were heading back down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, they came across a gaunt woman who was smiling warmly at Lin Lan.

Zhang Xiuqing whispered to Lin Lan, “That’s Yuezhen. Do you remember her? Her husband despised her for being mute and barren, so he sent her back home. Her mother passed away before the New Year, and now her younger brother’s wife works her like a pack animal and doesn’t even feed her properly.

“Mom felt sorry for her and would occasionally invite her over for a full meal, but her sister-in-law would make veiled insults, saying our family was just pretending to be saints and asking why we didn’t just take her in ourselves. After that, Yuezhen stopped coming over even when Mom asked, terrified that her sister-in-law would throw a fit.”

Zhao Xiaohui said with a look of disgust, “That sister-in-law of hers is like one of those black-hearted landladies from the old days. I doubt Yuezhen can survive in that household for many more years.”

After a moment’s thought, Lin Lan remembered. Yuezhen was a distant paternal cousin. Her mother and Wu Shufen had both married into the Lin family from the same village and had been very close.

Yuezhen had fallen gravely ill when she was around ten years old, and after recovering, she was no longer able to speak.

At that moment, Yuezhen reached the group. Looking at Lin Lan, she gestured, asking when she had come back.

Lin Lan smiled. “Yuezhen, I got back at noon. Are you going up the mountain to gather forage?”

Yuezhen smiled and nodded, then gestured for Lin Lan to live a good life.

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “I will. You take care too, Yuezhen.”

Yuezhen nodded, then shouldered her back-basket and headed up the mountain.

When Lin Lan and her two sisters-in-law returned home, they saw a dozen or so burlap sacks filled with beans, along with several tubs of rapeseed oil, stacked in the main room.

The moment Zhao Xiaohui saw all those sacks, her face clouded over. She made an excuse and left for home.

Lin Lan saw her leave with a dark expression and knew she had misunderstood, assuming the family had paid for everything. ’I’ll wait for Guodong to come home,’ she thought. ’I’ll have him explain it to her properly, to prevent any discord from growing between us.’

Before dark, the three Lin brothers returned, hauling several more burlap sacks of beans and another tub of rapeseed oil.

Lin Guoliang happily explained that the members of the Zhongxin Team had heard that his father-in-law’s family was exchanging beans and rapeseed oil for cash at black market prices. After coming over to ask and seeing the price was the same as what they’d get in town—without the hassle of having to haul it there themselves—they all started bringing their goods over to sell.

By the time the three brothers arrived at their in-laws’ house, Accountant Zhang had already collected several sacks of beans and stacked them on the front steps. More team members were steadily arriving, carrying beans and rapeseed oil to exchange for cash.

In a single afternoon, all the money Lin Lan had brought with her was converted into fava beans, peas, and rapeseed oil. Lin Changyou even fronted some of his own money for her, promising to continue helping Yang Liying collect beans the next day.

Lin Lan also had Zhang Xiuqing help her buy a large quantity of dried mushrooms, and she took several hand-baskets from Zhang Xiuqing’s home, preparing to give them away as gifts.

People in the mountains didn’t consider these items to be anything special, but city folk loved them. Lin Lan planned to give them as gifts to the old lady, Li Xiangyang, and Li Hongmei and Master Chen from the bus station.

When Lin Guodong got home, he scolded Zhao Xiaohui, telling her that Lin Lan was able to earn her own money now and had bought all those beans with her own funds.

He added that even if she couldn’t, Lin Lan was his sister and he would always look out for her, so she’d better put away her petty thoughts.

Zhao Xiaohui nodded eagerly and went over to her in-laws’ side with a grin, offering to help. ’As long as my sister-in-law isn’t coming home to drain the old folks’ pockets,’ she thought, ’our share of the money will be bigger.’

Wu Shufen watched this and shook her head repeatedly. ’My second son’s wife isn’t just petty,’ she thought, ’she’s a complete moron.’

After dinner, the family gathered around the large, square “Eight Immortals” table, chatting casually until around ten o’clock before they all retired for the night.

「The next morning」

After breakfast, Lin Lan prepared to head home.

When Lin Changyou heard that Lin Lan had already arranged with the regular bus driver to help transport her goods, he told his three sons to take her and Little Douzi to the town.

He took Little Douzi inside, fished a ten-yuan bill out of a trunk by the bed, pulled another two yuan from his own pocket, wrapped the money in red paper, and put it into Little Douzi’s pocket.

He ruffled the boy’s hair, beaming at him. “There you go, my good grandson. Keep that safe and don’t lose it. When you get home, give it to your mama to buy picture books for you.”

Little Douzi pressed a hand against his pocket and grinned back at his grandfather. “This is money! I won’t throw it away!”

Lin Changyou chuckled happily and nodded. “You little smarty!”

Outside, a reluctant Wu Shufen was giving Lin Lan some last-minute instructions. “You’re all by yourself, and Little Douzi is still so young. You have to look after your health and not get too exhausted. As soon as that dozen or so fat pigs in the pen are ready for market, I’ll come to Lexing to help you out.”

Lin Lan looked at her and nodded repeatedly. “You and Dad don’t work too hard, either. Don’t worry about me.”

Wu Shufen nodded, gazing at her daughter with relief. She felt as if the heavy stone weighing on her heart had gotten a little lighter.

Zhang Xiuqing and Zhao Xiaohui each caught a hen for her, saying with a grin, “Sister-in-law, these are young hens that have just started laying. Between the two of them, you’ll get a couple of eggs a day, so you won’t have to buy any.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep