80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches-Chapter 177 - 173: I Want to Stay By Your Side and Not Leave
Lin Lan saw her out and turned to go to the pigpen. Seeing Li Xiangyang cleaning inside, her eyes crinkled in a smile. "Are you making another delivery to the slaughterhouse today?"
"No, I’ve already delivered my quota of pigs for the year. I still need to buy some more to raise and sell at the end of the year." Li Xiangyang set the manure rake down outside the pen and climbed out. "Do you have to go to work today?"
Lin Lan nodded. As they walked out together, she ladled some water for him to wash up, then thought for a moment and asked, "Are you coming over for lunch? I can make extra, and you can bring some to Old Li."
Li Xiangyang draped the towel over a bamboo pole and turned back to her with a grin. "I’m afraid I can’t make it for lunch. The old man’s blood pressure is a bit high, so he can’t eat animal organs."
Hearing this, Lin Lan figured Old Li might have issues with the "three highs." "These kidney bean rolls will be good for him. You should take some back for him."
"Okay!" Li Xiangyang followed her into the kitchen. As he watched her lower her head to pick up the kidney bean rolls, the sight of her pale, slender nape sent a sudden, irrepressible jolt through him. His nose started to feel itchy, and he quickly tilted his head back, covering it with a handkerchief as he walked out toward the steps.
Lin Lan finished packing the kidney bean rolls. She saw him carrying the washbasin toward the vegetable patch and waited for him to return before handing them to him. "Go take a look over there and see how many fruit trees we can plant in the yard. I asked my dad to keep an eye out for some saplings."
"Alright!" Li Xiangyang took the bag. "Dongzi’s older brother said we should check the salvage yard for old-style sandalwood furniture or other old wood. We could buy it and refurbish it—it’s even better than getting new pieces made. But if you don’t like that idea, we can just have new furniture built."
’In ten or twenty years, the prices of red sandalwood and Huanghuali pear wood would skyrocket.’ Lin Lan recalled a friend who collected old furniture and made a fortune.
"That’s a great idea! Old furniture styles are so beautiful! They have such a classic, antique charm. If we find good pieces, we should buy a few extra to put away."
"I was worried you wouldn’t like the idea! We’ll ask your brother to come with us, and we can buy some extra pieces to store."
Lin Lan nodded. "I trust your judgment on what to buy."
Li Xiangyang looked at her, reluctant to leave. "Every time I come here, time flies by so fast! I just want to stay here with you and never leave."
Lin Lan gave him a playful glare. "You smooth talker."
After Li Xiangyang left, Lin Lan cleaned the stove, put the red beans in a pot, and placed the white beans in a steamer. She then added more charcoal to the fire, shouldered her back basket, and prepared to head out to work.
Just then, the squealing of piglets came from the courtyard gate.
Wangcai, who had been basking in the sun in the courtyard, started barking. Lin Lan hurried out of the woodshed and saw the Lin brothers carrying piglets on a shoulder pole, with Wu Shufen following them into the yard, a large wicker basket on her back.
Recognizing the relatives, Wangcai wagged his tail and circled around them.
Lin Guodong looked at Wangcai, who now stood taller than his knees, and chuckled. "This is a good dog. We should get a couple of dogs like this to guard our pig farm in the future."
Lin Lan looked at them in pleasant surprise. "Mom, brothers, why are you here so early?"
Wu Shufen beamed at her. "We hitched a ride on the commune’s tractor. Your sister-in-law and I finished making the padded jacket and pants for you. Your older sister-in-law even went back to get some silkworm cocoons to make you a silk comforter."
"Why didn’t you keep it for yourselves!" Lin Lan quickly set down her own basket and took the heavy wicker one from her mother’s shoulders. She glanced at the piglets in the crates. "I was thinking of asking you to come over and help for a few days after my brother and the others dropped off the piglets."
Wu Shufen looked around and asked, "Where’s Yuezhen?"
Lin Guoliang and his brother also looked at her curiously. "Where did Yuezhen go?"
"Uncle Chen helped us get in touch with a specialist, so Yuezhen went to the provincial capital to see a doctor," Lin Lan explained. "I’m going to call the city tomorrow to ask how it went."
"Really?" Wu Shufen grabbed Lin Lan’s hand, overjoyed. "You have no idea. When Yuezhen’s parents were still alive, they took her to see doctors in so many places. If she can really be cured, their spirits can finally be at ease and move on."
Lin Guoliang added from the side, "Little Lan, you just bought a house. I imagine Yuezhen’s treatment will cost a lot of money, and you also fronted the money for the family’s house. Do you have enough?"
Lin Lan nodded. "I gave Yuezhen all the money I’ve made since I came back. If it’s not enough, Brother Yong, who went with her, works for Xiangyang and he brought money too!"
"That’s good. We’ll just wait for news, then."
The two Lin brothers caught the constantly squealing piglets, pulled them out of the bamboo crates, and put them in the pigpen.
Lin Guodong looked at the two large, fat pigs and chuckled. "Little Lan, you’ve raised these two pigs really well. I’d guess they’re over two hundred pounds each."
Lin Guoliang watched the four little piglets huddling together. "Once you sell the big ones at the end of the year, you can put these little ones in their own pen."
Lin Lan came in carrying an armful of straw, grinning at her two brothers. "Big Brother, Second Brother, I’m planning to sell one and keep the other for the New Year."
Lin Guodong shot her a look and took the straw from her. "You silly girl. A fat pig over two hundred pounds can sell for more than a hundred yuan. Life is just starting to get a little better, and you’re already being extravagant."
"Guodong is right. Keeping a whole one to eat is too extravagant!" Lin Guoliang thought for a moment. "I think keeping half would be more than enough."
Lin Lan nodded. "Okay! We’ll see after it’s butchered. If it’s too much, I’ll have Xiangyang help me sell half."
"So what’s the story with you and Xiangyang?" her brothers asked in unison.
Wu Shufen walked to the entrance of the pigpen and looked at the three siblings. "Doesn’t it stink talking in the pigpen?" she chided.
Lin Lan went over and linked her arm with Wu Shufen’s. "Alright, we’ll talk outside."
The four of them came out. While the Lin brothers drew water to wash their hands, Lin Lan told the three of them about her and Li Xiangyang.
After hearing the story, Wu Shufen looked at her with relief. "Little Lan, your father and I were always worried that Master Li wouldn’t approve of your relationship. Now we can rest easy."
Lin Guodong, sitting in front of the stove, asked, "Little Lan, did Xiangyang really put the storefront on Vegetable Market Street in the south of the city in your name?"
Lin Lan nodded. "Second Brother, even though Xiangyang and I have made things official, I’m still going to pay him back for the property."
"Exactly!" Lin Guoliang agreed. "We can’t have people thinking we only look for a partner for their money."
Lin Guodong looked at him, annoyed. "Big Brother, I never said Little Lan shouldn’t pay him back. I was just asking if Xiangyang really signed something that valuable over to her without a second thought. If that’s true, then based on that alone, I think he’s truly sincere about her!"
Wu Shufen nodded. "Your second brother has a point. We don’t covet other people’s things, but you also can’t marry a stingy man—one who’s not only unwilling to spend his own money on you, but even tries to control what you do with your own earnings."
She paused for a moment. "You two, go check the fence, the private plot, and the vegetable garden to see if anything needs tidying up. Get it done quickly; you’re heading back tomorrow morning."
Lin Lan quickly said, "Mom, brothers, I have more good news! Over here, we’re implementing the household responsibility system by the end of the year, and they’re going to open up a big market."
