80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 248 - 245: Guilty Conscience

Lin Lan felt a little dazed as she followed Li Xiangyang out of the warehouse. Touching her scorching-hot cheeks, she turned and saw the slight smile on his lips. She reached out and pinched his waist.

Li Xiangyang turned and saw her face was as red as a cooked shrimp. He laughed, pulled her scarf up to wrap around her head and face, and led her out the door.

When they reached the Eucalyptus Forest, Yang Liying had already packed up her stall and was waiting. Seeing them approach, she said, "Let’s get going! It’s so cold!"

Lin Lan looked at Yang Liying, who was stamping her feet from the cold, and felt a little guilty. "Yeah, it’s getting colder. It looks like it might snow."

"Put your things on the pushcart. Lin Lan can give you a ride on her bike," Li Xiangyang said as he lifted Yang Liying’s tofu-carrying pole and the wooden bucket of tofu pudding onto the cart. The three of them then left the Eucalyptus Forest together.

When they arrived at Lin Lan’s gate, Yang Liying got off the bike and took her tofu pole and bucket. "I’m heading home now."

"Alright." Lin Lan pushed her bicycle into the courtyard.

When Little Douzi saw them return, he happily rushed forward. "Mama, Uncle Xiangyang, you’re really back!"

Looking at her son, who seemed to have grown taller in just the two days she had been gone, Lin Lan smiled and picked him up. "Oh my! My darling boy, Mama can barely lift you anymore."

Little Douzi stood in front of Li Xiangyang and measured himself against him. "I want to be as tall as Uncle Xiangyang."

Li Xiangyang ruffled his hair. "Alright. Uncle Xiangyang brought some pork spine and marrow bones. If you drink lots of bone broth, you’ll grow even taller than me."

Lin Yuezhen watched Little Douzi with a beaming smile, her heart full of hopeful anticipation.

After tidying up the pushcart, Lin Lan said to Li Xiangyang, "You haven’t spent time with your father in a few days, so I won’t keep you for dinner tonight. I had Yuezhen make some dumplings with celery and chive fillings. You should go home and have them with him."

Li Xiangyang’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he looked at her and nodded. "Mix up a bowl of dipping sauce for me to take, too. The kind I make is never as good as yours."

"Lazybones." Lin Lan gave him a playful glare and went to the kitchen. She packed the dumplings into a carrying basket, mixed a bowl of dipping sauce to go with them, and handed it to Li Xiangyang.

Little Douzi and Lin Lan walked him to the gate. They watched him pedal away before turning and walking back into the courtyard hand in hand.

Li Xiangyang was carrying the dumplings and hadn’t even reached the end of the alley when he saw Old Li walking toward him with a bucket. He hurried forward. "Old man, where are you going with that bucket?"

Old Li set the bucket down and pointed at the crucian carp inside. "I’m taking these fish to Lin Lan."

Li Xiangyang held up the basket. "Lin Lan said I haven’t eaten with you in a few days, so she packed these dumplings for me to bring back and have with you."

Hearing this, the wrinkles around Old Li’s eyes crinkled like a blooming flower. "Good. I’ll go home and cook the dumplings. You take the fish to Lin Lan."

"Alright." Li Xiangyang handed the basket to Old Li, picked up the bucket, and pedaled his bicycle back to Lin Lan’s house. "The crucian carp have arrived!"

Lin Lan came out when she heard him and took the bucket he offered. "Where did you get these fish?"

"The old man caught them. He wanted me to bring them to you."

"Then you should hurry back!"

"Mhm!"

Lin Lan waved goodbye to Li Xiangyang, then carried the fish into the kitchen. "If we don’t eat them today, will they be dead by morning?"

"They will be!" Qiaohui said with certainty.

Little Douzi also came over for a look. "Mama, let’s keep the small one in the well."

Lin Lan shook her head. "We can’t. We drink the water from the well."

"Oh." Little Douzi lost interest and went back to playing with his wooden gun.

Lin Lan thought for a moment. "Qiaohui, go to the garden and pick some cilantro and green onions. We’ll make crucian carp soup and Agastache crucian carp."

"You got it!" Qiaohui headed to the vegetable plot.

Lin Yuezhen grabbed a pair of scissors and a cleaver and went to the well in the backyard to help prepare the fish.

Lin Lan brought the cleaned crucian carp back to the stove. She added a little oil to the pot and placed the fish inside, pan-frying them over low heat until both sides were golden brown. She then set the fish aside, added boiling water to the pot, and returned the fish. After adding a pinch of salt and some slices of green onion and ginger, she let it simmer until the broth turned a milky white. The crucian carp soup was ready.

Lin Lan transferred the steamed dumplings from the steamer to a plate and brought it to the table. She also got a small dish of pickled long beans and another of mixed pickled radish.

Little Douzi took a few sips of the crucian carp soup. "This is delicious! The fish soup is so savory!"

"Drink it slowly and be careful of the bones," Lin Lan reminded him with a smile.

Little Douzi nodded, picked up a steamed dumpling, and began to eat with big bites.

The group enjoyed the delicious crucian carp soup and finished every last one of the steamed dumplings.

After preparing her goods for the next day’s morning market, Lin Lan recalled the decor of a clothing store from her past. She drew up a few sketches, then tucked them under her pillow and went to sleep.

The north wind blew all night, and the temperature had dropped again by the next morning. Wang Zhixue and his brother came by and gave Lin Lan the list of spices Yang Liqun needed. They asked her to weigh them out so they could pick them up at noon.

Lin Lan took the list and handed the two brothers their goods. She went back inside and saw that Little Douzi was awake.

"Son, it’s very cold today. Mama’s going to put an extra thick sweater on you, and you need to wear your thick wool pants too."

"Okay," Little Douzi replied, rubbing his eyes.

Lin Lan took out a wool hat that Lin Yuezhen had knitted from a mix of maroon and black yarn, along with a matching thick wool sweater and pants. She put them on him over his long-sleeved shirt and pants, then added a small padded jacket and the hat.

Little Douzi wriggled a bit. "It’s too thick, I can’t even move! Can I take one layer off?"

Lin Lan looked at her puffy, round-looking son and gave him a kiss. "No, you can’t. If you catch a cold, you’ll have to get a shot."

Little Douzi was afraid of shots, so he nodded. "Mama, my teacher said winter vacation starts at the end of the month."

Lin Lan watched Little Douzi squat down to put on his shoes. "Do you want to go visit Grandma’s house during winter vacation?"

Little Douzi thought for a moment. "Just for a few days, then we come back."

"Okay. Go wash your face, brush your teeth, and eat breakfast."

"Okay!" Little Douzi went to the kitchen.

Lin Yuezhen poured some hot water for him. She watched him take his bamboo cup to the backyard to brush his teeth, then prepared his milk and began to set the table for breakfast.

There was sweet potato congee, boiled eggs, preserved vegetables stir-fried with pork cracklings, and a dish of stir-fried bean sprouts.

After washing his face, Little Douzi picked up his milk and drank it down, GLUG, GLUG. He wiped his mouth and sat down at the small square table.

After they finished eating, Little Douzi left for school with Little Kai, and Zhou Xiaohong also came by to pick up her goods.

Just as she finished handing out the deliveries, Woodworker Li and his brother arrived. Lin Lan settled the bill with him for the labor and materials for the sundries shop in the east of town. "Thank you for your trouble, Master Li. The shelving you built over there is excellent. I’m very satisfied."

"As long as you’re satisfied, that’s all that matters." Woodworker Li accepted the money gratefully and took out the drawing Li Xiangyang had given him. "Little Lin, we’ve looked at the drawing Little Li brought over the other day. We can build the kind of counters you’ve drawn. When are you planning to start?"

The brothers liked working for Lin Lan. Unlike other employers, she didn’t haggle over every last cent or withhold their wages.

Lin Lan smiled. "We can start today. First, calculate the materials you’ll need. I’ll have Xiangyang go with you to buy the glass."

Woodworker Li nodded cheerfully. "I’ve already calculated them. How about this? Since Little Li isn’t here yet, we’ll go get our tools first, and you can take us to the shop. Then this afternoon, we can go with Little Li to buy the lumber and glass."

Lin Lan said, "Alright. Go get your tools. I’ll wait for you here at the house."

’In this day and age, you even needed a permit to buy lumber. Without one, your only option was to find someone on the black market.’