Chapter 22

Lin Yun first looked around, then walked up to the shop assistant with her ration coupons in hand.
“Comrade, hello, I’d like six feet of cloth, one bar of soap, one bar of laundry soap, half a pound of tobacco…”
She listed out quite a few items all in one breath.

The shop assistant had been watching the three of them ever since they walked in. Not many people had been coming to the cooperative lately, and seeing how the three looked so ragged, he initially thought they probably couldn’t afford much. But to his surprise, the smallest and thinnest woman among them suddenly requested such a large list of items.

Looking at the various coupons laid out before him, the shop assistant hesitantly asked, “Comrade, are you sure you want to buy all of this?”

Actually, Lin Yun had already mentally prepared herself to be mocked the moment she entered. After all, being a shop assistant in this era was a highly coveted job, and it was normal for them to act arrogantly. What she hadn’t expected, though, was that the staff here seemed fairly polite.

Lin Yun smiled slightly.
“Yes, we’re buying all this, but it’s not all for me. Folks in the village are busy right now, and since we happened to be coming to town, we’re buying things on their behalf too.”

Hearing this, the shop assistant let out a breath of relief. “Alright, wait a moment, Comrade, I’ll go get your items.” Not long after, he returned with everything Lin Yun had asked for — surprisingly, the store had it all.

Lin Yun handed over the coupons and money, then called Lin Yonggang and Lin Yumei to help pack everything into their back baskets. At first, Lin Yumei wanted to comment on how Lin Yun was spending money too freely, but after seeing all the items packed into her own basket, she went silent, almost numb.

There was no way to reason with this headstrong little sister of hers — she’d let their mom deal with her later.

Though she was thinking that, Lin Yumei had to admit — shopping like this really did feel satisfying. She couldn’t figure out where this girl had learned all this from. Lin Yun was obviously younger than her, but ever since they’d arrived in town, Lin Yumei didn’t even dare look around too much, let alone talk confidently with the cooperative staff.

But this girl? She seemed to really enjoy the whole experience, moving around so freely and comfortably.

Once the three of them had packed up their purchases, they didn’t stay any longer — they’d already been out for quite some time and it was time to head back.

On the way home, the three chatted and laughed. Even though they were carrying more than before, the journey didn’t feel long at all.

They passed quite a few people who had come out at night to collect centipedes. Some even recognized them and exchanged greetings, but since it was already dark, they didn’t talk much before parting ways.

“Jie,” Yonggang said, “Do you think we’re not going to make much more money from catching centipedes? The season’s almost over, and there are so many people out collecting now — I think they’re getting fewer. Do you think there’s another way we could make money?”

Lin Yun knew he’d gotten a taste of what it was like to earn and didn’t want to stop.
“You think this is easy money, huh?” she asked.

“Of course! Jie, isn’t it? But I also know we can’t be too greedy,” Yonggang said, clearly stunned that his sister might be implying otherwise. “If I can make this kind of money every year during this season, I could buy whatever I want. I’d eat a different ice pop every day!”

Lin Yun almost blurted out, “So that’s your ambition?” but then remembered the context of the times and swallowed the words.

“If you spend your whole life in this place,” she said calmly, “then the most money you’ll ever make is probably just this much — maybe even less over time. But if you can get out of here, and then one day look back, you might realize that the way you see things now is incredibly narrow. This isn’t much money at all.”

Yonggang didn’t really believe her, but he couldn’t come up with any arguments. After all, recent events had proven his sister right again and again.

“Then tell me what I should do, Jie. I’ll listen to you.”

“I want you to focus on studying right now — that’s how you leave this place. Look at the difference between our village and the town. And that’s just a town — imagine what it’s like in a big city. I read in a book once that in the cities, you can look up at buildings so tall your straw hat will fall off your head just from staring.”

Yonggang got excited.
“Seriously? Is it really that amazing? Jie, you’re not lying to me, right?”

“What good would it do me to lie to you?” Lin Yun smiled. “I’m not saying you have to get into the best university or anything. I just mean the more you learn, the easier life will be if you ever live in a big city.”

She didn’t say anything more after that.

The three of them kept chatting as they walked, and before long, they were home. Luckily, they didn’t run into any villagers gossiping outside — they had probably all gone off to catch centipedes too.

Once home, Lin Yun took out all the items they’d bought. The three of them sorted through them, then cut off a particularly fatty section from the pound of pork they had bought. Lin Yun didn’t bother weighing it — she just cut it based on what looked fair. She threaded the piece of meat onto a straw and, in the dark, the three of them headed off to their third uncle’s house.

Lin Yun didn’t know the way, and was surprised when they arrived — it turned out their uncle lived quite close. You could even see his house from the Lin family’s grain-drying yard. But strangely, she’d hardly ever heard anyone talk about him.

Yonggang knocked on the door. It was opened by their third aunt, who greeted them cheerfully:
“Oh! Yonggang, what are you doing here? You didn’t trip in the dark, did you? Why not come during the day?”

Lin Yun, hearing her warm voice, thought she sounded quite enthusiastic. But the woman never stepped aside to invite them in. She stayed in the doorway, blocking it. Seeing that, Lin Yun really wanted to turn around and leave, but she forced herself to stay — they needed the ox cart.

She stepped forward to stand in front of Yonggang.
“Auntie, is Uncle home?”

“Oh, your uncle? He was delivering grain today, got back late, and he’s worn out. He’s already asleep.”

“Did you finish delivering your grain then?” Lin Yun asked.

“Yes, why?” her aunt replied. “Have you delivered yours?”

“No, my dad hurt his shoulder during the double harvest, so he can’t carry heavy loads anymore. We came to ask if we could borrow your ox and cart tomorrow. We want to use it to help my dad deliver the grain.”

The moment Lin Yun said this, she saw the woman’s expression change. The cheerful smile vanished. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but Lin Yun cut in first.

“We know how valuable cattle are now, and we’ll take good care of it. You’ve worked hard raising it, so we brought a little something for you.”
She raised the piece of fatty meat in her hand.

The woman stared at the meat, her eyes fixed on it. It was a nice, fatty cut.
Was the Lin family changing their ways? They were actually being so generous?