Chapter 41: Returning Home

“But, if you’re going to do business, you’ll need a lot of duck innards, won’t you?” Xie’s father thought, “Do you have enough meat tickets to buy all of this?”

“We don’t need meat tickets to buy these duck innards today,” Lin Xiangyi said. She wasn’t sure if they didn’t need tickets for all innards or just for today, but it didn’t matter:

“I took a look today, and duck innards are a slow seller, meaning not many people are willing to buy them. If we really intend to start a braised food business, maybe we can talk to the people at the state-owned meat shop? Ask them to sell the innards to us.”

“Can we really go talk to the state-owned meat shop? Will they really sell them to us?” Xie’s mother asked anxiously.

If the state-owned meat shop sold so many innards to a private individual, it would prove that the current market was indeed suitable for doing business, and she wouldn’t have to worry about them going out to do business and encountering the same problems they had before.

“We can definitely talk to them, but I don’t know if they’ll agree,” Lin Xiangyi said.

Hearing this, Xie’s father and mother looked a little disappointed: “What if they don’t sell them? Will the braised food business be impossible then?”

Xie Qingxiao: “What kind of business can we do without ingredients?”

Xie’s father and mother: “…”

Lin Xiangyi pondered for a moment. She thought of someone, her father…

Xie Qingxiao didn’t know what Lin Xiangyi was thinking. He thought she was also worried, so he said, “I’ll go talk to them tomorrow. If we can work something out, then we’ll sell this. If not, we’ll think of other ways. There are plenty of businesses that make money, no need to dwell on this.”

He said, “Hurry up and eat. It’s getting late. Finish up and go to bed early!”

“Maybe we shouldn’t eat it,” Xie’s mother said, “Save it for you to take out and sell.”

Such delicious food, taken out, would definitely make money. It would be a waste to eat it themselves.

Lin Xiangyi came back to her senses and quickly said, “Don’t do that, Mom. We made this today just to taste it, not to sell. And this stuff doesn’t last long, especially now that the weather is so hot. It’ll probably go bad tomorrow. If you like it, eat more now.”

After processing those offal, the innards had lost a lot of weight, but there was still a lot left.

“It goes bad so easily?” Xie’s mother, unwilling to waste it, went with Xie’s father to scoop another bowl to eat.

Lin Xiangyi and Xie Qingxiao also ate.

As Lin Xiangyi tasted this food again, she was moved. It was a taste that spanned generations.

“Xiangyi, you’re going back to your parents’ home tomorrow. Should we save some for your father to try?” Xie’s mother remembered and said, “Even though it’s hot now, we can put it in the water tank. It shouldn’t go bad.”

“Sure,” Lin Xiangyi readily agreed. She had something to ask her father tomorrow. If there was something delicious, she would bring him some.

Hearing this, Xie Qingxiao said, “I’ll get a plate.”

…The four of them did have dinner after all. They didn’t finish all the braised food, so they put the rest in the water tank.

The four of them, full and satisfied, went back to their rooms to sleep.

Lin Xiangyi had been tired all day. She went to bed as soon as she got back to her room.

Xie Qingxiao did the same. He didn’t bother Lin Xiangyi.

While Lin Xiangyi was half-asleep, she was still thinking that draining his energy was still very useful.

The next day was Lin Xiangyi’s day to return to her parents’ home.

Xie’s mother got up early to prepare a gift for Lin Xiangyi. She tied up a chicken, along with two jars of rice wine and two pounds of candy.

“You can take the wine, but forget the chicken and candy,” Lin Xiangyi said. Her father didn’t like candy, and she didn’t want to give Chen Fengmei any advantage. She didn’t want to give Chen Fengmei any advantage at all.

Xie’s mother was surprised: “Taking so little, that’s not good, is it?”

Taking so little as a return gift, not to mention whether their family would be criticized for being stingy,

Even Lin Xiangyi herself might be considered unimportant, which wouldn’t be good for her reputation.

Moreover, today, Lin Huihui and Lu Dingyuan were also returning to their parents’ home on the Lu side. Even though Xie Qingxiao didn’t have a job and wasn’t as impressive as Lu Dingyuan,

Xie’s mother didn’t want her son and daughter-in-law to lose to the Lu family couple in terms of return gifts.

So, in addition to the gifts she had already prepared, she had also prepared twenty yuan, intending to give it to Xie Qingxiao and Lin Xiangyi. When they got to the county town, they could buy some cigarettes or other gifts to take back together…

“It’s okay,” Lin Xiangyi said, “We have those braised foods we made yesterday.”

Xie’s mother: “…”

“If you really think it’s too little, then… do we still have any dried vegetables?” Lin Xiangyi remembered, “Take some for me? They don’t have this in the county town, and my father should like it!”

The main thing is that it’s cheap.

Xie’s mother: “…”

Although Xie’s mother tried her best to stop her, she eventually let Lin Xiangyi have her way.

However, she still gave Lin Xiangyi twenty yuan, letting her decide whether to buy more gifts in the county town. If she didn’t, she could keep the money for herself.

Of course, Lin Xiangyi wouldn’t buy anything.

So, she and Xie Qingxiao took two jars of rice wine, about a pound of braised food, and a large bag of dried vegetables back to the Lin family.

They didn’t know that Lin Huihui, eager to leave the Lu family and return to the county town, had dragged Lu Dingyuan back to the county town early in the morning and had already returned to the Lin family.

Lu’s mother, of course, wasn’t as thoughtful as Xie’s mother, giving Lin Huihui so many return gifts. Perhaps it was because of the grudge over the dowry incident, Lu’s mother only gave Lin Huihui a pound of candy to take back.

However, Lin Huihui had the same idea as Xie’s mother. She didn’t want to lose to Lin Xiangyi in terms of return gifts, so when they got to the county town, they went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Both she and Lu Dingyuan had salaries and weren’t short of money. They bought a lot of cigarettes, wine, candy, biscuits, milk powder, and other things, making sure that Lin Xiangyi’s gifts would definitely not surpass theirs, before carrying their large bags back to the Lin family.

When Xie Qingxiao and Lin Xiangyi arrived, they were sitting in the main room, chatting happily—that’s how Lin Xiangyi saw it.

“Dad!” Lin Xiangyi called out loudly, breaking the happy atmosphere in the main room and preventing Chen Fengmei and the others from pretending not to know they had arrived.

“You’re here. Why are you shouting so loud? You scared me,” Lin Shan really didn’t see them come back. He hurried out when he heard Lin Xiangyi’s voice.

“Xiangyi is back?” Chen Fengmei also came out, but her tone was no longer as affectionate as it had been in front of Lin Shan. It was lukewarm.

Seeing this, Lin Xiangyi raised an eyebrow. It seemed that her father’s relationship with Chen Fengmei hadn’t returned to normal in the few days she had been away?

Good!

Lin Xiangyi handed the two jars of rice wine to her father and said with a smile, “Dad, this is for you.”

Lin Shan took the rice wine, his face couldn’t hide his happiness. He snorted, pretending to be indifferent, “You still have a conscience. You know I like this!”

“Sister, brother-in-law, you’re back? What did you bring back? Oh? Is that dried vegetables?” Lin Huihui exclaimed in surprise.