80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches-Chapter 33: The More You Help, the Worse It Gets
"Come on, the busy farming season is over. Let’s all have a good drink!" Lin Guoliang said with a smile as he poured everyone some liquor.
Lin Lan saw the label on the bottle: Quanxing Daqu. A bottle of Daqu liquor like this only cost about a kuai. She thought liquor was really cheap these days.
The kind everyone thought was good was only eight or nine mao a bottle, and even Maotai seemed to be just a few kuai per bottle.
’She thought about how in the future, a bottle of Maotai would easily cost over a thousand. If she had the money now, buying a few dozen cases of Maotai and Wuliangye to store away would be worth a fortune later. It’s a land of gold, but I don’t have a cent.’
He Xianghua raised his glass and said with a smile, "This is good liquor!"
Wu Shufen watched him, her eyes crinkling in a smile. "My old man at home loves a drink or two. He says this one is good."
"My old man loves it too," Zhao Dehai chuckled.
Yang Meihua picked up a piece of numb-and-spicy chicken and ate it. "Delicious! The numbing and spicy flavor is just right, and it tastes fresher than when we make it." She turned to Wu Shufen as she spoke. "Mother-in-law, how come your cold-tossed numb-and-spicy chicken is so much fresher than ours?"
Wu Shufen smiled. "It’s probably because I added chicken broth and a little white sugar. You can also add a bit of white sugar to vegetable dishes to bring out the flavor."
Yang Meihua nodded repeatedly. "Next time I make a cold-tossed dish, I’ll add some white sugar too."
He Xianghua shot her a look. "You should learn properly from our mother-in-law. Stop making those jumbled-up, random stews all the time."
Yang Meihua rolled her eyes at him. "You’re lucky anyone cooks for you at all."
The old woman chuckled. "Exactly. He’s so picky. From now on, just let him drink the dishwater."
The women burst out laughing. "That’s right! Behave and you get good food. Misbehave and you get dishwater."
He Xianghua sighed. "You can’t mess with women these days!"
"You got that right!" Zhao Dehai said, speaking from experience.
Lin Guodong laughed. "That’s right! In the past, they weren’t even allowed at the main table, but now they’re the masters of the house."
The old woman and Wu Shufen ate slowly, watching them with beaming smiles.
The women took a small sip of liquor and then started eating their meal.
A few glasses of liquor were enough to get the men comfortable with each other, and they started chatting and boasting about everything under the sun.
Yang Meihua’s and Yang Liying’s children were all very well-behaved. At the small square table, the three older girls took good care of the two younger ones.
The old woman and Wu Shufen sat in their chairs, chatting with smiles on their faces.
Yang Liying and Yang Meihua went to the pigsty to look at the two little pigs, then went to the bamboo grove out back to see the chicks.
Yang Meihua repeatedly praised how supportive Lin Lan’s family was, willing to even give her piglets.
Lin Lan gave a self-deprecating laugh. "It’s because I’m a disappointment. My parents raised me all these years, and now Little Douzi is already four, but I’ve never once done anything for them. Instead, I just make them worry."
Yang Meihua smiled and nodded. "My mom always says that raising children is like paying off a debt from a past life. Few come to repay kindness; most come to collect debts. She said that preparing dowries for me and my sister used up all of their coffin money."
Yang Liying looked at them with envy. "My mother-in-law isn’t like that. All she cares about is her youngest son. When my two sisters and I got married, our entire dowries were just paid for with our own bride prices. The three of us resented our parents for it, feeling they favored boys over girls and were completely unfair.
"After I got married and compared my situation to some of the other women in the production team, I realized my parents were still much better than those who practically sell their daughters to help their sons."
Yang Meihua nodded. "Yeah! Just look at Zhang Yazhen next door. Not only did she not get a dowry, but not a single cent of her bride price was returned. When her mother-in-law was still alive, she used to say that she was bought and paid for by the Zhang family."
Lin Lan smiled. "As the old saying goes, ’worse than those above, but better than those below.’ If you only compare yourself to those who have it better, life becomes impossible."
Yang Liying nodded. "You’re right!"
Yang Meihua looked at her with a wide grin. "Lin Lan, seeing you now, I finally understand what ’after a three-day separation, one should be seen with new eyes’ means."
Lin Lan smiled and linked arms with her. "Sister Meihua, are you praising me or putting me down?"
"Praising you, praising you!" Yang Meihua giggled.
Yang Liying laughed as well. "I think so too."
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the two families took their leave. The old woman and He Xianghua’s family went home as well.
Lin Lan and her mother cleaned up, and the Lin brothers carried the table back to the old woman’s house.
Lin Lan went to scoop some broad beans and fava beans to soak in a basin. The wooden basins had also been brought over by the Lin brothers.
That night, Wu Shufen gave Lin Lan a few more words of advice before the mother and daughter finally went to sleep.
The next morning, Lin Lan got up early and fried some "orchid beans," which she packed into a kraft paper bag.
When Wu Shufen got up and saw them, she chided her with a smile, "I told you not to fry those! It would have been much better to save them and sell them for money!"
Lin Lan just smiled. "You can never earn all the money in the world. Take these back for Dad to have with his liquor, and for my nephew and niece to eat."
Wu Shufen looked at her daughter with relief and happiness, pleased as she packed the orchid beans into her carrying basket.
The mother and daughter cooked a meal, and everyone ate it with last night’s leftovers. They fed the pigs and herded the chicks into the bamboo grove.
Wu Shufen and the Lin brothers got ready to head back, pushing a wheelbarrow.
Lin Lan and Little Douzi walked them to the mouth of the alley. Little Douzi clung to his uncles and grandmother, unwilling to let go.
Wu Shufen lovingly stroked his head. "Good grandson, Grandma’s leaving now. You be a good boy at home!"
Little Douzi nodded reluctantly. "Mhm! After you go back and rest for a few days, you’ll come back, okay?"
Lin Guoliang smiled and nodded. "Your big uncle will make you a wooden gun next time."
"And your second uncle will make you a slingshot," said Lin Guodong.
Little Douzi nodded. "Thank you, Big Uncle, Second Uncle."
"Second Uncle will give our Douzi a horsey ride!" Lin Guodong took him and lifted him onto his shoulders. Little Douzi giggled.
Lin Lan watched the three of them, also reluctant to see them go. "Mom, Big Brother, Second Brother, I’ll bring Little Douzi home for the Dragon Boat Festival."
The three of them nodded. Wu Shufen reminded her, "Lock the door before bed, go to sleep early, and stay alert."
Lin Lan nodded repeatedly. "I know."
Lin Guodong lifted Little Douzi down and handed him to Lin Lan. The three of them then turned and left.
"Grandma! Big Uncle! Second Uncle..." Watching the three of them walk away, Little Douzi burst into tears with a WAH.
Lin Lan soothed him in a gentle voice, "Be good, Little Douzi. Mommy will take you to see Grandpa and Grandma for the Dragon Boat Festival."
Little Douzi stopped crying and sniffled. "Mommy, is the Dragon Boat Festival still a long time away?"
Lin Lan smiled. "It’s not long after Children’s Day on June 1st."
Little Douzi then asked, "And is Children’s Day a long time away?"
Lin Lan ruffled his hair. "We’ll know when we go back and look at the calendar."
"Oh! Let’s go back and look at the calendar."
"Mommy will carry you." Lin Lan carried Little Douzi, whose little nose was red from crying, on her back. She took him home and showed him the calendar. The Dragon Boat Festival was still over a month away.
When Little Douzi heard it was still more than a month away, he didn’t fuss. He just took Dahuang out to the courtyard to play.
Lin Lan changed into her work clothes and saw ten kuai under her pillow—the exact money she had given Wu Shufen for groceries and liquor.
Her eyes reddened. She thought about how her mother hadn’t been idle for a single moment during her stay. The bed in the east wing was piled high with new clothes and shoes for Little Douzi, a new pair of shoes for her, and all the paper bags her mother had folded.
’That’s just how parents are,’ she thought. ’They always help whichever child seems weaker. But they don’t realize this can foster laziness in that child. When you can always count on your parents for help, someone who is already lazy will have even less motivation to strive for themselves. It becomes what people call ’the more you help, the worse they get.’’
