novelraw Chapter 330 - 327: Little Wine Jar
Chapter 330 - 327: Little Wine Jar
Lin Lan estimated it weighed at least twenty pounds. "This is so much! How much glutinous rice did it take to make all this sweet rice wine?"
Li Xiangyang chuckled and teased her, "My little wine pot, I see everyone in your family knows you love sweet rice wine."
Lin Lan rolled her eyes at him. "That was a long time ago."
Li Xiangyang carried the jar inside and grabbed an enamel mug. He poured it more than half full with sweet rice wine, then fetched two small cups before taking the mug back outside and placing it on the table.
He beamed at Lin Lan. "You’ve got nothing to do this afternoon. Have a drink and take a nice nap."
Lin Lan picked up a tender romaine lettuce leaf, wrapped a piece of pork belly inside, and offered it to Li Xiangyang. "Try it like this."
Li Xiangyang opened his mouth, but Lin Lan snatched her hand back and popped the wrap into her own. "Hero Li, turnabout is fair play."
Li Xiangyang watched her, cheeks puffed out and a radiant smile on her face. His throat tightened. He swung his leg over and sat down beside her, planting a quick kiss on her lips. "You little temptress!"
Lin Lan gave him a smug look. "Serves you right for tricking me!"
Li Xiangyang leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. He gazed at his reflection in her eyes and asked in a husky voice, "What would you like me to grill for you?"
Lin Lan gave him a peck. "Let’s finish the grilled meat and fish on the table before you make more."
"You’re such a handful!" Li Xiangyang cupped the back of her head and captured her lips with his.
His eyes fluttered closed as the kiss deepened, then softened. His hands gently cradled her head, the kiss tender and full of affection.
In that instant, Lin Lan felt like she was the apple of his eye.
Lin Lan couldn’t help but close her eyes, savoring how much he cherished her. But just then, the small bamboo stool suddenly tilted to the left, sending her toppling over with it.
Li Xiangyang quickly reached out and caught her, pulling her into his arms. He looked at the collapsed bamboo stool and couldn’t help but laugh.
Lin Lan looked down at the pile of broken bamboo on the ground, utterly mortified. Her face flushed red as she pinched his arm. "Put me down!"
Li Xiangyang chuckled and held her tight. "We’re an old married couple. What’s there to be shy about? I’ll buy a few new ones tomorrow."
"The meat’s burning," Lin Lan said, patting him. "We can’t waste food."
Li Xiangyang nodded good-naturedly. "Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you. We can’t waste food."
He released Lin Lan and nudged the meat to the edge of the grill. Lin Lan grabbed a damp towel that was drying on a bamboo pole and wiped her scorching face.
After moving the meat aside, Li Xiangyang took the broken stool to the stove and brought a proper chair out for Lin Lan. "Please have a seat, my lady. Your humble servant is at your service."
Lin Lan shot him a mock-reproachful glare. "Don’t you dare say I was the one who broke the stool!"
"As you wish." Li Xiangyang grinned and poured her a cup of sweet rice wine. "My mom used to love this stuff too. She always said it’s great for a woman’s health—good for your qi and blood, digestion, and circulation."
Lin Lan took a sip. "I snuck a taste of my dad’s baijiu when I was a kid. The alcohol taste was way too strong and harsh; it really upset my stomach. This sweet rice wine is so pleasant and easy to drink."
Li Xiangyang used his chopsticks to place a piece of fish belly on her plate. "Have some fish. Zhigang did a pretty good job with the marinade."
After a couple of bites, Lin Lan remembered that Li Xiangyang was leaving for Yangcheng City in two days to stock up. "When you go to Yangcheng City this time, don’t get anything too thick. You should stock up on woolen overcoats, trench coats, and sweaters."
"Also, see if you can find any misprinted or flawed fabrics for sale. Buy a bunch and we can give some to the folks at Shishanling and in the Jin family’s area."
Li Xiangyang nodded. "Okay. You rest at home this afternoon. I’m going to head over to Woodworker Li’s place and have him and his guys start renovating the shop next to our clothing store, so I can have the shoes shipped over."
"Also, Dongzi told me his colleague on duty at the business bureau said a lot more people came in yesterday to apply for private business licenses. Most were for selling food or clothes; very few were for shoes."
Lin Lan wasn’t worried at all. ’Right now, the market is all brick-and-mortar. It’s not like the future, where you have to compete with other stores *and* fight for market share against e-commerce.’
"The market has only just opened up; there’s no way it’s saturated yet. As long as our products are good, we won’t have to worry about business. And don’t rush yourself in Yangcheng City. Take your time. It doesn’t matter if our own shop opens a day sooner or a day later."
Li Xiangyang nodded, then leaned in and whispered, "My dad says we should convert our earnings into gold and hold onto it. What do you think?"
Lin Lan thought for a moment. "Buying gold is an option, but I think it would be even better to buy a couple of houses in big cities like the Capital City or Shanghai and just let them sit. Real estate in major cities appreciates much faster than it does around here."
Li Xiangyang gave her a thumbs-up and held another pork belly wrap to her lips.
"My wife is so smart. When I was visiting Uncle Da for the New Year, he said that Yangcheng City and the mainland are like two different worlds. He’s planning to buy property there himself."
Seeing Li Xiangyang’s pleased expression, Lin Lan took the meat-filled wrap and ate it. "Yangcheng City is a good idea too. The best thing would be to buy up old housing from the state-run work units, or old factory buildings."
"Alright. I’ll stay a couple of extra days this time and go look around with Uncle Da." Li Xiangyang sighed. "I just wish you could use a bank passbook to withdraw money in Yangcheng City. Carrying all this cash is so inconvenient."
Lin Lan found herself missing the convenient payment methods of the future. "Times are changing," she said. "I’m sure it will be possible someday."
Li Xiangyang nodded. "Uncle Da still has a TV for us. He said to just go and get it whenever you want."
"My brother said we should hold off. We can talk about it after you get back from Yangcheng City."
Li Xiangyang kept feeding her, and Lin Lan started to feel stuffed. The sweet rice wine was also making her head spin. She waved her hand. "No more, I’m full."
Seeing her flushed cheeks and how she was leaning back in her chair with her eyes half-closed, Li Xiangyang handed her a glass of honey water. "Honey, why don’t you go walk a few laps around the courtyard? I’ll finish up here."
Lin Lan nodded, took a few sips of the honey water, and got up to walk around the courtyard.
Wangcai followed her, wagging his tail. Lin Lan unclipped the leash from his collar and patted his neck. "Go on, go get some grilled fish."
"WOOF WOOF!" Wangcai ran toward Li Xiangyang, tail wagging excitedly.
Li Xiangyang placed half a fish on the ground and watched as Wangcai used its paws to tear at the meat.
After a couple of laps, Lin Lan felt sleepy and went inside for a nap.
Li Xiangyang cleaned up the barbecue table, then went inside and held her tenderly for a while before leaving with his bicycle.
When Lin Lan woke up, Little Douzi and Qiaohui were already back.
Yang Zhigang said to Lin Lan, "Sister-in-law, guess who we ran into at the movies?"
Lin Lan glanced at him and smiled. "Yuezhen and Brother Yong?"
Yang Zhigang shook his head. "No, it was that woman from the other day—the one who claimed our bean curd rolls were poisoned and made her sick."
An image of a pretty face came to Lin Lan’s mind. "Oh? What about her?"
Zhigang grinned. "She was on the arm of this short guy, and they went into the theater right ahead of us. The man was dressed really stylishly, but he had a weird accent, like he couldn’t get his words out straight."
Lin Lan thought of the accents from the coastal regions and smiled. "He’s probably from the coast. People from over there talk differently than we do."