Chapter 85: Chapter 82: The Man Yelling Curses

Lin Lan shot him a glare and told them to sit and rest while she went to make some dough drop soup. She also invited Yang Liying and her husband to stay and eat.

Yang Liying shook her head. “No, we can’t. Little Yun and Little Li are at home waiting for their dad and me.” With that, she hastily picked up her basket and headed out.

Zhao Dehai exchanged a glance with Lin Guoliang and his brother, nodded, and followed her out.

Lin Guoqiang followed Lin Lan into the kitchen. “Sis, where’s Little Douzi? Did you buy more chicks?”

“Little Douzi is at his grandmother’s place. I bought the chicks from her, too.”

Lin Lan took out the bag of high-quality flour and scooped one ladleful into the pot. After a moment’s thought, she added two more scoops into a ceramic bowl. She also set some mushrooms to soak, planning to buy pork belly in the afternoon to make pork-filled buns.

Kneading the dough in the large pot was a quick job. Seeing that they weren’t much help, Lin Guoliang and his brother went to the woodshed, grabbed a couple of hoes, and headed to the vegetable patch to pull weeds.

Lin Lan washed a few stalks of choy sum, chopped up some pickled radish greens, fried two eggs, and rolled out the dough into flat pieces. Once everything was cooked, she ladled the soup into three large bowls and brought them to the table.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she saw the two brothers weeding and called out with a smile, “Big Bro, Guoqiang, Yuezhen, come in and eat!”

Lin Yuezhen followed Lin Lan into the kitchen. She stared at the white flour and eggs in the large bowl, and her eyes welled up with tears. She thought of how her own brother despised her, yet her uncle’s family, out of their old affection, was running around taking care of everything for her.

Lin Lan’s heart softened at the sight. She patted Yuezhen’s shoulder. “Yuezhen, eat first. Rest up and get well. I’m still waiting for you to help me out, you know!”

Lin Yuezhen looked at her, nodded, and wiped away her tears. She sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.

Lin Guoliang and his brother put down their hoes, washed their hands, and came inside. Seeing the refined white flour in the bowls, Lin Guoliang gave her a disapproving look. “Little Lan, why did you buy such expensive flour?”

Lin Lan knew they felt it was too extravagant to eat such good flour. “Big Bro,” she said with a smile, “the old Mrs. sent it over. I heard it was distributed by her youngest son’s work unit.”

“Oh!” Lin Guoliang relaxed upon hearing that. “Don’t spend your money recklessly,” he advised. “Little Douzi has school, and in the future, he’ll need a wife and a house to be built. Everything costs money.”

“I know!”

Lin Guoqiang said with envy, “Working for the state is great. They even give out such good flour.”

Lin Guoliang smiled. “Little Douzi’s youngest uncle also got his post after leaving the army. When you join the troops at the end of the year, work hard. Earn plenty of merits and try to get promoted to an officer. When you come back, you’ll be a state employee, too.”

“I know, Big Bro.” Lin Guoqiang took a bite and was pleasantly surprised. He turned to Lin Lan. “Sis, when did you learn to make dough drop soup? While you were making it, I was worried it would be inedible. I didn’t expect this sour and spicy flavor to be so good.”

Lin Lan, who was kneading dough for the buns, looked up at him. “Of course! I’ve been eating Mom’s cooking for more than a decade. I learned just by watching!”

Lin Guoqiang nodded. “I get it now! All that terrible food you used to make at home… you were just being lazy on purpose!”

Lin Lan shot him a glare. “You little fool, is that any way to talk to your own sister?”

Lin Guoliang laughed and chimed in, “I think so too!”

“Hahaha…” The two brothers burst out laughing before he’d even finished speaking.

Yuezhen watched the siblings with envy. ’Their bond is so wonderful,’ she thought.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Lan said to him, “Guoqiang, when you’re in the army, you need to earn merits and strive for a promotion, but you also have to study hard. You’ll only have good prospects when you transfer out if you have an education. Without one, you’ll just come back here to farm with the production team.”

’I remember,’ she thought, ’in the first few years after the country opened up, any demobilized soldier with an education was assigned a job. The ones with a good education who had been promoted to officer got assigned to really good work units when they came back.’

Lin Guoqiang nodded. “Don’t worry! Our third brother sent some books back, and I’ve been reading them.” Like Lin Lan, his education had stopped in junior high because of “those years” when schools weren’t holding proper classes, and their studies were interrupted.

Lin Lan gave him a thumbs-up. “Good. A man should have aspirations.”

Lin Guoqiang puffed out his chest. “Don’t worry,” he said to Lin Lan and Yuezhen. “I’ll work hard. In the future, I’ll have your backs so that no one will dare bully either of you.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting for that day.”

Yuezhen nodded as well, her eyes rimmed with red.

Lin Lan finished kneading the dough. She ladled some hot water into the large pot and set the ceramic bowl on top to let the dough rise. She smiled at the others. “We’re making steamed buns for dinner tonight.”

Lin Guoliang nodded with a smile. “Great! Steam a few extra so I can take them back to Mom and Dad.”

Lin Lan nodded. “I’ll steam a fresh batch for you right before you leave.”

“We still have some business to take care of for the production team,” Lin Guoliang said. “If we’re quick, we’ll head back tomorrow. If not, it might take an extra day or two.”

Lin Lan nodded. She went inside, grabbed a quilt, and went to make the bed in the east wing-room.

Lin Guoqiang drained the last of the soup from his bowl, stretched out his legs, and slumped back onto his stool. “Ahhh! I’m stuffed!”

Lin Yuezhen laughed at the sight of him. She gestured that she was also full, then took the bowl from his hands to wash it.

After making the bed, Lin Lan came over and said, “Yuezhen, why don’t you go rest inside for a while?”

Lin Yuezhen shook her head, gesturing that she wanted to help.

“Alright, then you can help me trim the fava beans.”

Lin Lan brought out a bucket of soaking fava beans, poured them into a large wooden basin, and showed Lin Yuezhen how to trim them.

Lin Yuezhen learned quickly and worked with deft, efficient movements.

Once she saw that Yuezhen had the hang of it, Lin Lan poured some peas into another basin. She scooped out the pods, put them in a basket, and took them to the ditch to rinse them clean.

When she returned, she put some red beans and large white beans in the pot to steam. Then, she went out to the courtyard, moved the basket covering the chicks into the shade, and picked two lettuce leaves and a handful of tender green ramie leaves to feed them. With that done, she headed out toward the old Mrs.’s house.

Little Douzi and another child were playing with mud by the back door. As soon as he saw Lin Lan, he dropped the lump in his hands and ran over happily. “Mom, you’re here!”

Lin Lan brushed the dirt from his clothes. “Yes! Your big uncle and your little uncle are visiting, so I came to take you home.”

The old Mrs. came out of her kitchen. “His uncles came?”

“They’re here!” Lin Lan walked over with a smile and told her about Lin Yuezhen.

The old Mrs. sighed. “Oh, the poor child! Your parents are doing a good deed. It’s accumulating good karma for you all.”

Lin Lan nodded with a smile. “I have dough rising for buns tonight. You should bring Dandan and come over to eat with us.”

“Wonderful!” the old Mrs. replied with a cheerful nod. “Little Douzi hasn’t had his afternoon nap yet. Make sure he gets some sleep when you get back!”

“I will!”

When mother and son arrived home, Little Douzi saw his two uncles weeding in the vegetable patch and ran happily toward them.

The uncles and their nephew greeted each other warmly for a while. Eventually, Little Douzi tired himself out from playing and went down for his nap.

Lin Guoliang went back to the bamboo grove to cut more bamboo, helping Lin Lan make scrub brushes and weave draining baskets.

Lin Guoqiang didn’t know how to do that, so he helped reinforce the fence separating the bamboo grove from the rapeseed field.

When he saw the rapeseed plants, which had already grown buds, snapped in half at the stalk, he roared in fury, “What kind of vicious, son-of-a-bitch bastard dares to ruin crops like this? If I get my hands on you, I’ll chop them right off!”

“You blind piece of shit! Don’t think you can bully my sister just because she’s alone! I’m telling you right now, if anyone dares to bully my sister or my nephew again, my brothers and I will come and break every bone in your body!”

“Come on out, you mutt! You’ve got the balls to do something this despicable, but not the balls to admit it, huh?”

In the next yard, Xiong Weicheng, who had been rolling an iron hoop, was so frightened he ran into his kitchen. “Mom! Mom! The vixen’s family—they know I’m the one who ruined her plants!”

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