Chapter 6

“We should go back, the flashlight is running out of battery. Is there no more battery at home?” Lin Yun tapped the flashlight in her hand and called to Lin Yonggang.

“I don’t know, Mom always buys batteries, we’ve never seen them,” Lin Yonggang’s flashlight was still fairly bright, so he led the way, pointing the light back.

“But the battery has been used for quite a while. Mom probably won’t blame us, and we brought back so many centipedes. We could buy a lot of batteries with that.”

“And sis, I learned a trick from Qiangzi and the others. I’ll show you tomorrow. I guarantee this battery will be as good as new.”

“How long can a flashlight last? And how much does a battery cost?”

“It lasts quite a while, but I don’t remember exactly. I already told you, Mom is the one who buys them. I don’t know how much they cost. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up, so Mom will definitely go to the supply and marketing cooperative. We can ask her to buy some for us then. That way, we won’t need to make two trips.”

By the time they returned home, it was quite late. The house was quiet, with only the occasional distant sounds of dogs barking and frogs croaking.

Lin Yun wasn’t sure what time it was, but she estimated it might be past midnight. Though she used to stay up late until one or two in the morning, she hadn’t stayed up this late since coming here.

Perhaps because she was really tired, Lin Yun was woken up the next day by Lin Yumei. When she woke up, Zhao Lanxiu and Lin Chuntian had already left. During the almost month she’d been here, she had seen her parents only during mealtime. Otherwise, she rarely had any time to meet them.

It seemed that one of them would go farming and the other to the kiln factory every day. Lin Yun used to have some complaints about Zhao Lanxiu, especially about not letting the original body go to school. But now, her thoughts had softened. Although she still felt that Zhao Lanxiu favored boys over girls, she also understood the family’s difficulties. Sometimes, people really had no choice but to lower their heads.

Before, she had overheard Zhao Lanxiu talking to Lin Chuntian: “Er Ya has been making a fuss lately. It seems like she really wants to go to school.”

“I have an idea, but don’t tell the kids yet.” Then Lin Chuntian’s deep voice and the sound of him smoking a dry cigarette could be heard.

“Is it about the kiln factory you mentioned? Is it feasible?” Zhao Lanxiu sounded a bit hesitant.

“It should be fine. The kiln factory has agreed, but we need some capital, though not much,” Lin Chuntian’s voice grew softer after this, and Lin Yun couldn’t hear anymore.

When Lin Yun came out, she saw that the two plastic buckets she and Lin Yonggang had brought back the night before were already cleaned out. The centipedes inside had clearly been processed.

She looked at Lin Yumei, who seemed a bit embarrassed. “I handled them with Gangzi this morning. You’re afraid of these, so I didn’t call you.”

“Thank you, sis. I really wouldn’t have known what to do without you. By the way, do you know where we can sell these centipedes?”

“They’ll be collected soon. We’ll leave them here for now. The ones you brought back are really a lot, and most of them are quite big. There are even a few really huge ones. Er Ya, you’re amazing. You’ve already earned your school fees in one night.”

Lin Yun had already estimated that this batch of centipedes would cover her school fees. But she’d only be in school for one year, and after winter, she wouldn’t be able to earn money this way. So, she planned to make as much money as possible during the summer vacation.

After all, having money meant not worrying.

“Sis, are you going to come with us tonight? You need to save some money too, otherwise, it’ll be inconvenient for everything,” Lin Yun had already decided to take Lin Yumei along since they had confirmed that this method worked.

Recently, Lin Yun had noticed that Lin Yumei seemed to be treated like an invisible person in this family. Lin Yonggang, being a boy, had an easier time because Zhao Lanxiu favored boys over girls.

Lin Yun had seen Lin Yonggang go to the fields with Zhao Lanxiu, but he’d just wander around, not helping with any work. At that time, Lin Yun had gone to cut pig grass and had been furious when she saw him loafing around.

“Lin Yonggang, you’re just going to stand there and watch?”

“I want to help, but Mom won’t let me. Why would I just stand here otherwise?”

Lin Yun looked at Zhao Lanxiu. “Gangzi just causes trouble by being here. Let him stay there, as long as he doesn’t mess around with those bad kids, I’m fine.”

In the month that Lin Yun had been here, she had heard such words countless times. She had become immune to it.

The original body’s better treatment in the family, compared to Lin Yumei, was probably due to her better grades and the fact that she’d been sick as a child, nearly not surviving.

From her observations, Lin Yun saw that Lin Yumei was an honest girl who had no money of her own. In fact, when Lin Yun first crossed over, the original body had at least a few dimes of pocket money.

Despite having no money, Lin Yumei never complained and worked hard for the family every day. Lin Yun’s life wasn’t great either, but now that she had found a way to earn money, she definitely wanted to bring Lin Yumei along.

“I’m not going. If Mom finds out we’re all going out at night, she’ll definitely be furious,” Lin Yumei hesitated but seemed tempted.

“Come on, sis, what are you hesitating for? If we go out like last night, you’ll definitely have dozens of bucks in your hand. Don’t you want to have some money?” Lin Yonggang, having overheard their conversation, burst in, speaking loudly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you with your work tomorrow.”

“You know what to do, right? Just come with me.”

“Clean the floor, cook, wash clothes, cut pig grass, feed the pigs, and herd the sheep. It’s just those things.”

“Right, sis, we’ll help with those things. You just come with us to pick up centipedes tonight.” Lin Yun quickly chimed in.

“Okay, I’ll go with you tonight. Three of us together will definitely catch more than you two.” When Lin Yumei said this, Lin Yun and Lin Yonggang exchanged a glance and laughed.

That night, three of them went out together. However, their family only had two flashlights. The one Lin Yonggang was using had been borrowed from his second aunt.