novelraw Chapter 352 - 349: Forced Marriage
Chapter 352 - 349: Forced Marriage
"I got the message you sent and rushed over as soon as I took time off work," Gou Haiyan said gratefully. "Thank you so much, Little Lan. If it weren’t for your help, I don’t know when I would’ve ever been able to buy one."
"As it happens, an acquaintance had one, so I went ahead and got it for you." Lin Lan set down her vegetable basket. "Can you carry it by yourself? I’ll take you to Limin Street to pick it up."
Gou Haiyan nodded eagerly. "I can manage. I brought a carrying frame. I’ll just tie it on, head to the station, and take the bus home. It’s not too far."
"That’s a good plan. There’s a bus from Limin Street to the station. You’ll just need to ask someone to help you carry it for a short distance." As she spoke, Lin Lan grabbed her bike keys. "Come on, I’ll take you there."
Gou Haiyan took a cured chicken and a piece of cured pork from her carrying frame and said with a smile, "A belated Happy New Year! May your business prosper!"
"Thank you, you’re too kind." Lin Lan had no choice but to accept. She then got two bags of nougat candies, some sachima, and some pumpkin cakes to give in return.
Gou Haiyan grinned. "Yuezhen already had me try some of your pastries. I had no idea your skills were this good."
She had assumed Lin Lan was just like the street vendors in Dashiqiao, selling simple snacks from a small stove. But when she followed the address and found the shop, she realized she had completely underestimated her.
"Well, you know I’ve always loved to eat. Since I moved here, I’ve had a lot of free time, so I’ve just been experimenting with food."
"Little Lan, there’s one more thing. Is your third brother seeing anyone?"
"Not yet! He says he’s too busy with work and will think about it once things settle down."
"There’s a teacher at our school—she’s a good person and very nice-looking. Why don’t you mention it to your brother? Maybe he could go meet her when he has some free time?"
"Okay, I’ll mention it to him." Lin Lan led her outside, and they rode her bicycle to Limin Road.
Gou Haiyan stared at the general store in surprise, then turned her head to look at Lin Lan. "Little Lan, does your family own this shop, too?"
Lin Lan nodded. "Yes. My future father-in-law works here."
The two of them entered the shop, where Old Li told Lin Lan that Li Xiangyang had gone out to the pig farm in the countryside.
Lin Lan had Gou Haiyan sit for a moment while she and Old Li went to the storeroom to carry out the television set. "Haiyan, should I unbox it and let you take a look?"
"Yes, please! I don’t even know how to use it yet," Gou Haiyan said with a laugh.
Old Li brought over a pair of scissors, opened the packaging, and plugged the set in to show her it was working. After that, he explained how to connect the antenna and helped her tie the television securely to her carrying frame.
Gou Haiyan gave the money and ration coupons to Lin Lan. "Thank you for all your trouble, Little Lan. I took time off to come here and I have classes this afternoon, so I should get going."
"Alright, I’ll walk you to the bus stop." Lin Lan handed the money and coupons to Old Li, walked Gou Haiyan to the bus stop, then checked in on the shoe store and the clothing store before returning to the pastry shop.
By the time Lin Lan finished wrapping the dumplings, Old Li and Yang Zhigang had returned. Li Xiangyang, however, was still not back from the countryside.
Worried the pigs at the farm had caught swine fever, Old Li ate a quick bite and then headed to the countryside with Yang Zhigang.
When they arrived, they learned that five or six pigs had started suffering from diarrhea, and the medicine Li Xiangyang had given them had failed to stop it.
Old Li remembered a folk remedy he hadn’t used in ages. He led Li Xiangyang and Yang Zhigang up the mountain, where they gathered a basket of fish mint herb. They then boiled it in water and let the mixture cool.
Next, they found a basket of corncobs. They split the cobs open with a knife, extracted the white pith from the center, and burned it to ash. They then added the ash in a specific ratio to the cooled fish mint concoction.
The men carried the buckets into the pigpen and force-fed the mixture to the pigs. After two consecutive days of this treatment, the pigs’ diarrhea was finally cured.
Li Xiangyang, Old He, and a few others cleaned and disinfected the pigpen before putting the pigs back inside.
Old Li said to Li Xiangyang, "Giving them modern medicine isn’t always the best option. Sometimes, a traditional remedy can cure a major illness."
Li Xiangyang grinned and put his arm around Old Li. "This is why they say, ’An elder in the home is a treasure to be cherished.’"
Old Li shot him a look. "I’m not immortal. I won’t be around to look after you forever. You’d better find a notebook and write these remedies down."
Li Xiangyang ran to get a notebook and sat down attentively before him. "Go on, I’m ready to write."
After the father and son finished writing down the remedies, they returned to East Market. Lin Lan was finally able to relax when she saw them come back.
In the afternoon, she went to Wu Shufen’s shop and learned that Lin Guodong and Lin Guoliang were helping a family in the city build a house, working under Woodworker Li and his brother. Together, the two of them could earn about ten yuan a day.
Lin Lan felt they would be better off taking some of her pastries on consignment to sell in the countryside. When they heard this, both Zhang Xiuqing and Zhao Xiaohui agreed it was a great idea.
Wu Shufen agreed they should give it a try when they returned.
Just as they were chatting happily, Lin Guozhu walked in with a bundle of sugarcane over his shoulder. "Oh, you’re all here!"
Wu Shufen said, "Guozhu, where did this sugarcane come from?"
"My work unit was handing them out," Lin Guozhu said, leaning the bundle against the wall.
Zhao Xiaohui laughed. "It really pays to have an ’iron rice bowl’! My husband turns in so much grain for the tax, and we don’t even get a single needle back from the state."
Zhang Xiuqing smiled. "Our generation has missed that boat, but we can make sure Little Jun and Xiao Qing study hard so they can land ’iron rice bowl’ jobs in the future."
Wu Shufen nodded. "Exactly. Raising them to be successful is what’s most important." With that, she went to the back kitchen to get a knife for the sugarcane.
Watching him, Lin Lan suddenly remembered what Gou Haiyan had said about the female teacher. She pulled Lin Guozhu to the side.
"Third Brother, when Haiyan came to get the TV the other day, she mentioned there’s a nice teacher at Dashiqiao Primary School. What do you think about going to meet her?"
Lin Guozhu shot her a glare. "Don’t you try to drag me into your schemes!"
"A primary school teacher? That sounds wonderful!" Wu Shufen had materialized behind them at some point. "Guozhu, why don’t you go see her on Sunday?"
"You little brat, this is all your fault! You just had to bring up the one topic I wanted to avoid!" Lin Guozhu said, annoyed, and gave Lin Lan’s hair a light tug.
Lin Lan clutched her head. "Mom, look! Third Brother pulled my hair."
"You’re a man of almost thirty! Your sister is just worried about you, and you hit her?" Wu Shufen grabbed a feather duster and gave him a few swats.
Lin Guozhu dodged back and forth, yelling, "Mom! Mom! I just pulled it gently! It didn’t hurt!"
Watching Lin Guozhu fail to dodge a few of the swats, Lin Lan, Zhang Xiuqing, and Zhao Xiaohui all burst into gleeful, unsympathetic laughter.
"Guozhu, come in here." Lin Changyou emerged from the storeroom and called him into another room. "Your youngest aunt mentioned a young woman before the New Year. Why don’t you go meet her this Sunday?"
Lin Guozhu looked at his matchmaking father and sighed. "Dad, I’m so busy with work. How could I possibly have time for blind dates?"
"I don’t give a damn! It’s not like the state has a rule against working people going on blind dates!"
Lin Changyou took two drags from his pipe before knocking the loose tobacco from its bowl. "The days just fly by. A year passes in the blink of an eye. In two more years, you’ll be thirty. Your mother and I are up all night with worry, do you have any idea?"
Wu Shufen came into the room as well. "Little Lan and Xiangyang are having their wedding banquet in April, and here you are, the older brother, without even a partner to your name."
Lin Guozhu looked at his parents, speechless. "Mom, our situations are completely different! What are you two panicking for?"
"SOB... SOB..." Wu Shufen covered her face and began to cry. "I only let you join the army so it would be easier for you to find a wife when you got back! But you were gone for all those years, and now you’re almost thirty and still not even looking! Men your age already have several children!"
Lin Guozhu hastily pulled out a handkerchief, took Wu Shufen’s hand, and began to wipe away her tears. "Mom, please, stop crying. It’s not that I’m refusing to look."
Wu Shufen looked at him, her eyes red. "Then you’ll go on that blind date on Sunday!"