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

Chapter 377 - 374: Celebrating the Festival

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "Mhm! Just tell me what you want to eat, and your auntie will make it for you."

Lin Jun said, "We want to have a picnic by the river during the break."

Zhang Xiuqing shot him a look, then smiled at Lin Lan and said, "Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t study properly, his grades are terrible, and all he thinks about is food."

Lin Lan looked at Lin Jun and the other kids in surprise. "Are your grades really that bad? What did you guys score on your unit test?"

Lin Jun blushed and said dejectedly, "Not good. I only moved up one spot from last time." ’I get yelled at if I improve, and I get yelled at if I don’t. This place is the worst. I should have just stayed in Shilian for school.’

Lin Lan smiled and comforted him, "Progress is progress. Take it slow, like climbing stairs, one step at a time." She understood the pain of being a poor student—that truly depressing feeling of never being able to catch up, no matter how hard you tried.

Lin Jun nodded listlessly. "I know."

Lin Changyou glanced at him and said, "Little Lan, don’t worry about them. When it’s time to plant the rice seedlings, we’ll make them work in the fields for a few days. Then they’ll know that studying is easier than manual labor."

After Shi Song’s two kids came to East Market, they couldn’t even get into a school. It was only after asking He Xianghua for help a few days ago that a school agreed to let them try out after the summer break. These boys, on the other hand, got into the city’s best school right away, yet they didn’t appreciate such a great opportunity at all.

Hearing their grandfather’s declaration, Lin Jun and the other boys knew there was no escaping planting rice seedlings in the fields this year. They looked at the table full of delicious food and instantly lost their appetites.

Zhang Xiuqing glanced at the wilted children and said to Little Douzi, "Douzi, hurry up and eat. Your cousins will eat when they’re hungry."

Little Douzi nodded obediently. "Okay, Auntie."

Zhao Xiaohui pulled Lin Lan back to her seat at the large round table. After Li Xiangyang toasted his father-in-law and brothers-in-law, his brothers-in-law made him drink two more glasses as a penalty for being late.

Lin Guoliang put down his cup and chuckled. "Xiangyang, you were gone in Yangcheng City for quite a while this time!"

"Uncle Da is planning to get into less-than-truckload shipping, so we took our time looking into it on the way back. That’s what caused the delay."

Seeing that Lin Changyou and the others didn’t understand, Li Xiangyang explained it again and shared some of the things he had seen on his journey—the parts that were safe to talk about.

Lin Guoliang and the others were amazed. They couldn’t believe thieves were so bold as to climb onto a moving truck to steal things. Weren’t they afraid of falling to their deaths?

Lin Changyou said that some people would do anything, no matter how wicked, for money. He then advised Li Xiangyang to avoid getting into fights or trying to one-up people when he was away from home, so he wouldn’t end up on the losing end.

Li Xiangyang agreed to everything.

Wu Shufen felt that Li Xiangyang had lost a lot of weight on this trip. Feeling sorry for him, she said, "You old man, stop nagging him. Let them eat in peace."

Hearing this, Lin Changyou quickly ladled a bowl of old duck soup for Li Xiangyang. "Try the old duck your mom stewed with pickled radish. It’s quite appetizing."

Li Xiangyang quickly stood up and took the bowl with both hands. "Thank you, Dad."

Lin Guozhu looked at his two older brothers with mock sadness. "Big Brother, Second Brother, look at this. The old man is so biased! He only dotes on his son-in-law, not his sons."

Lin Changyou laughed. "You brat. Come on, bring your bowl here. I’ll ladle some for you."

"I’m just kidding! How could I dare let you serve me?"

As everyone slowly ate and drank, Lin Guozhu lowered his voice and said to Li Xiangyang, "Xiangyang, from what I know, the road from Yangcheng City to the provincial capital is a lot more chaotic than you’re letting on. Some stretches are downright dangerous."

"I’m a man too, and I know men are naturally competitive and like to take on challenges. But we have to think about the responsibilities on our shoulders. Before you do something dangerous, you need to think about Uncle Li and about Little Lan and your son."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "I think you’re already living better than most people. It’s more important for your family to be together, safe and sound."

Li Xiangyang said gratefully, "Third Brother, you’re right. A safe and sound family is the most important thing. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything dangerous."

Lin Guozhu smiled and nodded. "Good. As long as you know what you’re doing."

Lin Guodong, holding the liquor bottle, looked at the two of them. "Xiangyang, Third Brother, both of your glasses are still full."

Li Xiangyang raised his glass. "Second Brother, let me toast you!"

Lin Guodong raised his glass and laughed. "Drink slowly, or Little Lan’s heart will ache for you."

Everyone burst into laughter.

After the meal, the children were much more subdued. They obediently went to the backyard to do their homework.

The men gathered around the table to chat, while the women cleaned up in the backyard.

Lin Lan wanted to help but was shooed away by Zhang Xiuqing to go sit down. She had been busy for several days straight, and sitting down after a meal made her a little drowsy.

Seeing Lin Lan dozing off in her seat, Wu Shufen thought about how Li Xiangyang had just gotten back and how she had been busy for days. Her heart went out to her, and she gently woke her. "You must be tired. Go home and get some proper sleep."

Lin Lan opened her eyes and yawned. "I’m fine. It’s easy to get sleepy in the afternoon."

Wu Shufen remembered the festival gifts they had brought and chided her gently, "You silly girl. You already brought over two ducks the other day. Why did you buy so much more to bring today?"

Lin Lan smiled. "I didn’t buy them. My father-in-law prepared them for us."

"Your father-in-law is too kind." Wu Shufen patted Lin Lan’s hand. "Be sure to be a good, filial daughter-in-law to him."

Lin Lan nodded firmly. "I will."

"We’re all in East Market, so we can see each other every day. You and Xiangyang should go home and get some rest."

Wu Shufen placed a cleaned young duck into a mesh bag, along with some konjac and the matsutake mushrooms she had bought today. Then she added a straw hat and a fan—these two items were the return gifts for her new son-in-law for the Dragon Boat Festival.

"I’ve already cleaned the young duck and the matsutake mushrooms. You can use the mushrooms for soup or stir-fry them with cured pork belly. I made the konjac tofu last night. Take it home and cook it with the duck."

"Thanks, Mom. We’ll head back now." Lin Lan said goodbye to Zhang Xiuqing and the others, then followed Wu Shufen outside.

"Old man," Wu Shufen said, "Xiangyang didn’t get back until the middle of the night. Let them go home and get some proper rest."

Lin Changyou nodded and looked at Li Xiangyang. "You two head back first. Get a good rest for a couple of days, then we can talk."

"Okay." Li Xiangyang stood up. "Then we’ll be heading back."

The two of them called for Little Douzi, who was playing Chinese checkers with Shi Song’s two children, said their goodbyes to everyone, and rode their bikes home.

When they got back to Yucai Road, Little Douzi went to Dandan’s house to play, while Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang washed their faces and went to sleep.

When Lin Lan woke up, she saw Li Xiangyang was still snoring away. She quietly got out of bed, put on a cardigan, and went downstairs.

She saw Little Douzi and Dandan sitting in the yard playing with paper cards. "You two didn’t take a nap?"

Dandan looked up at her. "We already had a nap. Great-grandma woke us up."

Little Douzi nodded. "Yeah! We’ve been up for a while. Mom and Uncle Xiangyang are still sleeping."

"You little rascal, isn’t Mommy up now?" Lin Lan laughed and ruffled both of their heads. "Grandma gave us a young duck and some konjac. Mommy will make you braised duck with konjac. Let’s invite Great-grandma over to eat with us too."

Little Douzi nodded eagerly. "Okay! Dandan, let’s go get Great-grandma."

"Mhm!" Dandan and Little Douzi headed across the way.