Chapter 80: Chapter 77: Someone’s Here to Cause Trouble

After seeing Yang Liying off, Lin Lan scooped two ladles of peas into a basin to soak. Then she picked up the mushrooms and took Little Douzi to Grandma’s house.

When they arrived at Grandma’s house, they found both the front and back doors closed. The woman next door told them that Grandma had gone to help Yang Dingbang with a matchmaking meeting.

Back home, Lin Lan saw the sun was high in the sky, so she boiled some water, and both she and her son took a bath. While Little Douzi napped, Lin Lan washed the clothes and then started boiling bean paste and preparing the broad beans.

Grandma still hadn’t returned by the afternoon. Yang Liying went home and brought Little Li over to Lin Lan’s house to play with Little Douzi.

The two women put on their back baskets, carried their buckets, and headed for the Eucalyptus Forest.

Lin Lan gave the mushrooms and beans she had brought with her to Zhou Xiaohong. “My family gave these to me. I brought them for you to make soup.”

“Thanks!” Zhou Xiaohong accepted them happily, but then her brow furrowed. “Little Lin, I asked around for you. The production team has peas and broad beans, but no large white beans.”

She had looked around and noticed that everyone’s private plots and vegetable gardens were planted with potatoes and sweet potatoes—high-yield crops that could fill a stomach. Very few people grew large white beans.

Lin Lan smiled. “It’s okay. I bought a lot of beans when I visited my family. They’ll last until the new harvest comes to market.”

Zhou Xiaohong let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I was worried about what we’d do without any beans.”

Lin Lan looked at her with a smile. “I’ll have a new item tomorrow. Do you want any?”

Zhou Xiaohong’s eyes lit up as she looked at Lin Lan. “Yes! As long as you’re the one making it, I’ll take it.”

Lin Lan nodded with a smile. “I can only give you fifty.”

’I’ll make two boxes’ worth, give fifty to Zhou Xiaohong, and sell the rest myself.’

“My dear sister!” Zhou Xiaohong said, tugging at Lin Lan’s arm like a rascal. “How about fifty more to make it an even hundred? Come on, dear sister, just fifty more!”

Lin Lan looked at her, exasperated. “Fine, fine! I’ll make it an even hundred for you.”

“Thank you, Sister Lin!” Zhou Xiaohong laughed, giving Lin Lan’s cheek a pinch before turning and bolting.

“You little rascal!” Lin Lan laughed and gave her a light tap on the back, shaking her head with a smile as she watched her run off.

Yang Liying laughed as she watched. The crowd started to grow, and the two women got busy.

A fat man and a thin man, cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths, swaggered up to Lin Lan’s stall. They looked like total delinquents. “Hey, little lady, give your big brothers two packs.”

Lin Lan glanced up at them and took out a pack of fried broad beans. “Fifteen cents a pack.” ’These two are looking for trouble,’ she thought.

“Let me see just how heavy this pack is. Is it really worth over ten cents?” the skinny one sneered, reaching for the bag in Lin Lan’s hand, but aiming for her hand instead.

Lin Lan sidestepped his grab and stared at them coldly. “Each bag weighs three liang. It’s fifteen cents a bag, an honest price for all.”

The fat one snatched the bag from her. “Gimme that! It’s not like I can’t afford it.”

The skinny one slapped him on the back with a grin. “Monkey, don’t scare the pretty lady.”

Lin Lan stared at them coldly. “If you’re here to buy something, then buy it. Otherwise, show some respect!” As she spoke, she lifted the basket off her back carrier and set it aside.

The fat one leered at Lin Lan. “Hey now, little lady, don’t be so feisty. It’s ’try before you buy,’ so you don’t feel cheated, you know? Your big brother here will just have a little taste. If it’s good, I’ll buy your whole stock.” He made a move to rip open the bag.

Lin Lan had dealt with plenty of people like this before. ’It’s better to avoid trouble,’ she thought, suppressing her rage. She held out the container of fried broad beans meant for samples. “These are for customers to try. If you taste them and don’t like them, you don’t have to buy anything.”

The fat one looked at Lin Lan belligerently. “I’m gonna try the one in the bag,” he declared, raising his hand to rip it open.

Lin Lan snatched up the wooden rod she kept next to her back basket, smacked his hand with it, and grabbed the bag of beans back. She glared at them fiercely. “You’re not here to buy anything. You’re here looking for a fight!”

The fat one rubbed his stinging hand and roared, “You bitch! I gave you some attention and you don’t know how to appreciate it! You’re ungrateful! I’m going to teach you a lesson today!” Before the words were even out of his mouth, he aimed a kick at her back basket.

Lin Lan had anticipated his move. She yanked the basket behind her and pointed her wooden rod at the two of them fiercely. “Come on, you little punks. Let’s see who teaches who a lesson.”

The skinny one was stunned for a second by Lin Lan’s ferocity. The fat one, however, swung his fist at her with a vicious look on his face. “You bitch, you’re asking for it!”

“Bring it on! I’ll take you on today!” Lin Lan roared, brandishing the wooden rod in her hands.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Yang Liying noticed the commotion at Lin Lan’s stall, grabbed an enamel bowl, and rushed over. She waved it threateningly as she yelled, “You sons of bitches! Have you no shame? Grown men picking on a woman!”

The fat man and the skinny man were dumbfounded. ’Are all the women from the countryside this fierce?’

“Xiangyang, some delinquents are making trouble over by Lin Lan!” Zhou Xiaohong shouted when she saw what was happening.

Xue Gui, Li Wu, and Hou Bing ran over, along with the other vendors, all coming to help.

Li Xiangyang sprinted over, sent the skinny one flying with a kick, then grabbed the fat one and pinned him to the ground. “You little brats, you dare cause trouble in the Eucalyptus Forest?”

“Ow, ow…” The fat one grimaced at him. “Brother Xiangyang, I didn’t do anything to her! I just thought she was pretty and wanted to tease her a bit. Who knew she was a regular Sun Erniang, even fiercer than me!”

Li Xiangyang turned to Lin Lan. “Did they break any of your things?”

Lin Lan shook her head. “No.” ’So they really were just a couple of small-time punks,’ she thought. ’I was worried Liu Jinbao had sent them to cause trouble.’

The fat one turned his head to look at Lin Lan. “Thanks, Big Sister, for being fair!”

Seeing that Lin Lan was alright, Hou Bing and the others went back to their own stalls.

Lin Lan thanked them profusely. “Thank you to all you brothers and sisters for stepping in to help.”

Li Wu and the others looked back with a smile. “Don’t mention it. You didn’t really need our help anyway.”

Li Xiangyang let go of the fat one and stood up. He looked at the skinny one, who was playing dead, and walked over to give him a kick. “Wang Xiaopang! Sun Houzi! Apologize to Sister Lin!”

The two scrambled to their feet and limped over to Lin Lan. They bowed respectfully with clasped fists. “Sister Lin, we’re sorry.”

Lin Lan looked at them and said, “Forget it. Just be civil next time you want to buy something.”

“We will!” they said. They turned back to Li Xiangyang. “Brother Xiangyang, we’ll be going now.”

Li Xiangyang waved them off, and the two limped away.

Yang Liying watched them go and started to laugh. “The skinny one is named Little Fatty, and the fat one is named Monkey. Isn’t that all backward?”

Li Xiangyang chuckled. “Those two live near my place. They don’t have jobs and spend all day messing around with a bad crowd. Little Fatty and Monkey were their childhood nicknames. Who would’ve guessed that when they grew up, the skinny kid would get fat and the fat kid would get skinny.”

Yang Liying finally understood. She smiled at Li Xiangyang. “Xiangyang, thank you for helping us run them off.”

Lin Lan also smiled at the group. “Thank you for your help, Master Li.”

“Don’t mention it,” Li Xiangyang replied, turning to walk away.

Hou Bing watched him go and laughed. “Xiangyang, that flying kick of yours looked just like something a guerrilla captain would do!”

“Yeah, you’ve definitely practiced that move before!”

As he spoke, Li Wu tried to imitate Li Xiangyang’s move, leaping up to kick a nearby eucalyptus tree. But he lost his balance when he landed and fell flat on his butt. A shower of eucalyptus blossoms rained down on his head, and everyone roared with laughter.

When it was time to pack up her stall, Lin Lan gave the mushrooms and large white beans she’d brought to Li Xiangyang with a smile. “My brother and his friends picked these in the mountains. Please give them to Uncle Li to make some soup.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep