Chapter 17

When Aunt Yang heard Lin Yun’s blunt words, she stood up and walked off immediately, grumbling as she went, “Such a rude little girl. Who would want her in the future? I’d like to see what kind of person she ends up becoming.”

Lin Yun pretended not to hear her. These women already had fixed mindsets, and trying to change them wasn’t easy. Lin Yun had never intended to change their way of thinking—she just wanted to live her own life well.

“I told her earlier to go out at night. Do you think we won’t be able to make money from collecting centipedes anymore?” Lin Yumei said with concern. Actually, the centipedes they had visible at home were only part of their stash. Since no one had ever thought to go out at night to collect them, their nightly outings always yielded plenty—they’d never come back empty-handed.

They just hadn’t sold any since the Dragon Boat Festival because everyone at home now had a bit of money.

Lin Yumei was still worried about losing this fast way of making money.

“It’s fine. This kind of thing can’t stay hidden forever. Haven’t you noticed there are more people out at night recently? Others have probably already started going out too—they just haven’t said anything yet.”

Lin Yun never intended to keep the centipede-collecting at night a secret anyway. They were simply making money based on a time advantage.

“I’ve been reading up on some new ideas. Let’s try something out tomorrow night. If it works, we won’t need to go out at night anymore—unless it rains. We can use the extra time to study instead.”

Lin Yun had a clear view of things. Although they’d earned a decent sum from the centipedes, their main goal was still to get into college and leave this place.

Go to college. Leave here.

“Alright, I’ll do whatever you say. But what’s this new method?”

“I’ll explain once Gangzi gets back. It’s better if the three of us each try in different spots. If it works, we should really focus on studying during the evenings.”

Recently, Lin Yumei had started going over the second-semester textbooks for eighth grade with Lin Yun. Since she had left school for years, she’d forgotten a lot and needed to relearn the basics.

Their ideal plan was for Lin Yumei to catch up to ninth-grade content during the summer break, so that she wouldn’t fall too far behind when starting high school.

Lin Yun even thought to herself that in this era, she was probably the first rural student giving summer tutoring like this.

When Lin Yonggang got home during dinner, Lin Yumei teased that he must’ve smelled the food and come back.

They were still eating sweet potato rice, but it was much better than before—at least there was more rice mixed in now. It wasn’t fine rice, but compared to plain sweet potatoes, Lin Yun was content.

The rice was brought back by Lin Chuntian, who had been leaving early and returning late recently. In fact, Lin Yun hadn’t seen him for over ten days. According to Lin Yonggang, he had taken the clay jars to sell. The ones previously drying under the eaves were now gone, but he had replaced them with new ones. They never ran out.

When it was time for their usual centipede-collecting outing, Lin Yun called over Lin Yonggang and explained what had happened earlier in the day. She also mentioned how more people were now going out at night, and she and Lin Yumei wanted to spend more time studying, so they might not be going out at night much anymore.

Lin Yonggang didn’t mind. Although he used to think girls didn’t need that much education, he had changed his view. If his sister hadn’t studied, they wouldn’t have made so much money. Plus, when they went to town—such a crowded place—she wasn’t afraid at all. That alone earned his respect. He had been so nervous his legs were trembling and couldn’t even talk to anyone.

“Sis, I support you. Whatever you want to do, I’ll help.”

Lin Yun handed him a hoe. The three of them headed to a shady spot near the mountain, and Lin Yun guided him to dig a pit following her drawing. It had rained a lot recently, so digging wasn’t too hard. Lin Yun and Lin Yumei also helped. Together, they quickly dug a long, cross-shaped trench. Lin Yun wasn’t sure about the exact length or depth—it was just based on instinct. Then she and Lin Yumei filled it with decaying matter, weeds, and the like, covering it with branches and tiles to make it look as natural as possible.

“This one’s enough for today. Gangzi, come check it tomorrow. If it works, we can dig more. If you see any old pots lying around, you can try burying them the same way—just add some rotting leaves, bugs, or worms inside. As long as you don’t forget where you buried them.”

“Also, you can tell your friends about collecting centipedes at night. It’s a good way to make pocket money. And if their families know it was you who shared the tip, even better.”

“Sure thing, Sis. Don’t worry—I’ll make sure everyone in the team knows we were the ones who told them.”

“Er Ya, are you worried Aunt Yang might stir up trouble when she gets home?”

“Yeah, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Lin Yun didn’t really care herself, but Lin Chuntian and Zhao Lanxiu still had to live here long-term. In this era, people cared a lot about their reputation among neighbors. It wasn’t worth stirring up trouble over something so trivial.

“Oh, and Gangzi—when you dig more pits later, make sure to choose shady, damp places like today. Don’t bother digging where the sun shines directly—it’ll just waste your effort.”

“Got it, Sis. Don’t worry. If this really works, it’ll make things so much easier later.”

After finishing the centipede lure pit, the three of them went out to collect centipedes as usual.

The next evening, Lin Yun and Lin Yumei stayed home and sent Lin Yonggang to check the pit they dug yesterday.

When he returned, he was super excited: “Sis, you’re amazing! How did you even know that would work? There were more than ten centipedes in there today! If we dig dozens of those pits, it’d be like making money in our sleep!” Talking about money got Lin Yonggang all fired up. He loved earning money—and that moment when he got paid was his favorite. Ever since he discovered this way of making money by collecting centipedes, he had stopped going out at night with his friends.

Now, with this new method, things would get much easier for the three of them, aside from the bit of hard work in the beginning.