Cheng Yulian’s house was always repaired by Cheng Decai, and sometimes there was a wait.

But no matter how many times he fixed it, one leak would be fixed and another would appear elsewhere. Cheng Yulian naturally became dissatisfied.

This year, their group, led by Cheng Ruhai, also took away her brother’s job as production team leader.

Cheng Yulian was even more upset with them, so she actively recommended people to find Jiang Lin to fix their roofs instead.

“Of course! Didn’t you see how capable Jiang Zhiqing was on the roof? Not afraid of heights or hesitant at all, she gets things done. I can tell, choosing her won’t be wrong. Women being able to hold up half the sky isn’t just talk—it’s true!” As the women’s director, she was always focused on her work.

Some women went to try Jiang Lin’s services.

After all, not having to provide a meal and just giving a few eggs or some grain was much cheaper than hiring Cheng Decai and his team.

When Jiang Lin returned home, Yan Runzhi had just finished cooking with Xiaobao.

Xiaobao was enjoying his millet porridge.

When he saw Jiang Lin return, he quickly finished it and licked the bowl, clearly wanting more.

Jiang Lin thought, “…What’s going on?”

Cheng Xiaobao proudly winked at Cheng Dabao, who knew that Xiaobao had added sugar to his porridge while Jiang Lin wasn’t home.

For three days straight, Xiaobao hadn’t had sugar cubes and had been eyeing the sugar jar at home, wanting to add a spoonful to his water and porridge.

Cheng Dabao furrowed his brows and gestured to Xiaobao to not upset Mom.

Xiaobao immediately took Cheng Dabao’s hand and led him away, chatting warmly.

Jiang Lin washed her hands and helped Yan Runzhi set the table.

Yan Runzhi had already understood and didn’t cook extra dishes this time.

Previously, Yan Runzhi often cooked delicious meals for Jiang Lin and the children, while she herself ate dried sweet potatoes and other coarse grains.

Now Jiang Lin naturally objected and asked Yan Runzhi to mix coarse grains with fine grains so they could all eat together.

Sharing hardship as a family was only natural; understanding difficulties helped them move forward.

Today, Yan Runzhi mixed wheat flour and cornmeal for the pancakes.

Although the mixed dough pancakes weren’t as big and thin as pure wheat flour ones, they weren’t as tough for children to chew either.

Rolled with eggs or cucumber strips, pickled vegetable strips, shredded green onions, and soybean paste, they were crispy and delicious.

Jiang Lin especially liked the long, sweet white onions here.

A foot long, they were not spicy at all, simply irresistible.

As she ate the pancake rolls, she imagined them with roast duck; if she had such onions and pancakes, she could eat ten!

Seeing Jiang Lin enjoying her food, the two children happy, Yan Runzhi felt even happier herself.

While they were eating, people came asking for Jiang Zhiqing’s help to repair their roofs.

Some had tiled roofs, others didn’t, but after hearing Cheng Yulian’s recommendation, they wanted to give it a try.

Maybe with a different person, their roof would finally be fixed!

Jiang Lin naturally agreed to help them all, accepting eggs or grain as payment.

For two consecutive days, Jiang Lin took Cheng Dabao and Xiaobao to repair people’s roofs, earning extra income to improve their lives, keeping herself happily busy.

This made some people quite jealous.

Cheng Decai didn’t care much though; what was a roof repair worth? It wasn’t like he was getting many eggs out of it.

His mother, Ma Kaihua, on the other hand, was furious.

She twisted her mouth and badmouthed Jiang Lin in the streets, albeit without directly naming her for fear of Cheng Rushan’s reprisal.

Furthermore, Cheng Fugui personally warned Cheng Fuwan and Cheng Ruhai not to play any tricks on Yan Runzhi’s family.

Moreover, Jiang Lin was still considered a “educated youth” protected under government policy and could directly report to the county.

Therefore, the men kept quiet and avoided approaching Yan Runzhi and Jiang Lin, lest they provoke their nemesis.

When Liu Honghua heard Ma Kaihua cursing in the streets, she also joined in, saying, “She’s truly a despicable person under the heavens, enjoying everything… and still bullying others! Why hasn’t anyone taught her a lesson?”

Ma Kaihua replied, “Dealing with her isn’t difficult, but the key is… if Cheng Rushan comes back, won’t we have to settle scores?”

Cursing was just to vent frustration.

Who would dare to really confront Jiang Lin?

Liu Honghua added, “I heard she’s afraid of dogs.” Once, she had seen Jiang Lin frightened by two dogs fighting, her face pale as she hurriedly tried to hide.

In the countryside where dogs roamed freely, it was unusual for anyone to be scared.

At most, one would avoid them.

How could someone be so frightened?

At that moment, Wei Qiongfang came over to find Ma Kaihua. “Auntie, what are you all talking about?”

Ma Kaihua angrily said, “Decai’s decent livelihood has been ruined by someone else. Isn’t that infuriating?”

Wei Qiongfang certainly knew.

Although the educated youth commune was a bit far from the brigade headquarters, news spread quickly in the countryside.

Besides, she had been keeping an eye on things.

She glanced at Liu Honghua and said to Ma Kaihua, “Auntie, I have something to discuss at home. Let’s talk.”

Ma Kaihua thought she might be arranging to return to the city. “Have you sorted out the receiving unit?”

Previously, Wei Qiongfang had lived with Ma Kaihua.

Later, it became inconvenient when her son got married, so Wei Qiongfang moved to the educated youth commune.

Although Wei Qiongfang had some minor connections, returning to the city wasn’t so simple, especially without an organization willing to accept her.

Wei Qiongfeng shook her head and pulled Ma Kaihua away. “Auntie, what’s the use of cursing like this? I heard…,” she began, mentioning the rumor about Jiang Lin selling children.

Ma Kaihua was skeptical. “Selling children? That’s not believable; people talk nonsense.”

Although Liu Honghua had previously spread rumors about Jiang Lin selling children when she went out, most people didn’t believe it.

Who would go and buy someone else’s child when they could barely afford to raise their own?

Seeing Ma Kaihua’s disbelief, Wei Qiongfeng became urgent. “Auntie, what I’m saying is true. There are buyers.”

Ma Kaihua suddenly became excited. “Really? Who’s interested?”

“I heard it’s from the other village, the Zhao family. It’s true.”

Ma Kaihua clapped her hands together. “If it’s true, that little wretch will get what’s coming to her. Liu Honghua should handle this; I’ll back her up.”

Meanwhile, Liu Honghua was contemplating how to scare Jiang Lin with a dog so she’d never dare to leave her home again.

That would serve her right.

Passing by Jiang Lin’s house on her way home, Liu Honghua noticed many women queuing up to see Jiang Lin.

They had previously gone to Cheng Decai’s and her house for roof repairs but were now fawning over Jiang Lin.

Liu Honghua felt jealous and regretful, as if she had missed out on a thousand eggs.

“Jiang Zhiqing, what’s our number? Our house has a big leak. Can you patch it up for us first? If it rains again, we’re done for.”

“Jiang Zhiqing…”

The women chattered like a bustling marketplace, eager to get Jiang Lin’s attention.

Jiang Lin waved her hand. “Please don’t worry, everyone. I’ll take you one by one. But you’ll need to get some tiles.”

“We’d like to buy, but we can’t afford it.”

“It’s also hard to queue up.”

Jiang Lin said, “Everyone, let’s buy the tiles together. We can get a whole cart and split them up when we get back. At least we can fix the roof. Many leaks are because the roof ridge is not properly sealed, and fixing other parts won’t help much if the ridge isn’t fixed.”

Even though she planned to buy the tiles herself, she didn’t forget to suggest, “We should share the transportation costs.”

They started discussing who could buy how many tiles for their homes.

Finally, Widow Huang said, “Jiang Zhiqing, here’s the plan: you’re educated and know people, so you help us buy them.”

Other women quickly agreed for Jiang Lin to help.

Jiang Lin said, “If I’m going to help, you all need to decide how many tiles you need, including transportation costs. Everyone needs to pay in advance so I can arrange it with the commune.” She made it clear she needed the money upfront, without any embarrassment.

As she asked for money, the women found her more trustworthy.

Nowadays, the tile prices are clear: one and a half cents per tile for regular tiles, and two and a half cents per tile for ridge tiles because of their saddle shape.

Since small tile factories can’t meet the demand, many people can’t buy them even if they have the money, and they need connections.

The larger brick tile factory is too far away, so buying from there requires transport.

Without their own carts, they rely on collective or public transport teams, which is more expensive than the tiles themselves and not worth it.

Jiang Lin was willing to help, and naturally, they were happy to let her take the lead. With someone taking charge, everyone sharing the cost was better than trying alone.

Jiang Lin asked them to go to the brigade cadres and say she was leading the effort, and to get a recommendation letter so she could negotiate.

With Cheng Yulian leading the way, things quickly fell into place, and Jiang Lin got the letter of recommendation.

The brigade cadres were all amazed.

Jiang Zhiqing used to complain a lot, but now she had changed her attitude.

It was like she wasn’t a man at all!

The educated youths who knew Jiang Lin couldn’t believe it either.

Especially Meng Yiyi deliberately avoided Jiang Lin for a few days, hoping to teach her a lesson and get an apology.

But Jiang Lin completely ignored her, as if she had forgotten about her, which made Meng Yiyi so frustrated she felt like she would explode.

At lunch that day, Jiang Lin said to Yan Runzhi, “Grandma, I’m going to the commune later.”

Yan Runzhi never expected her daughter-in-law to be able to organize things that even the men couldn’t manage.

She was worried that her daughter-in-law might get tired, but she didn’t stop her, just saying, “Go ahead, do what you can. Don’t overexert yourself. Your health is more important than any amount of money.”

She thought to herself, maybe she’s already pregnant with a granddaughter!

Jiang Lin smiled and replied, “Alright.”

Cheng Dabao chimed in, “I’m going too!”

Whenever his mother went out, Cheng Dabao would get nervous, fearing something like when they visited Zhao’s house might happen again, with some guy coming and saying, ” Linlin, let’s forget about these brats and go back to the city.”

Jiang Lin didn’t know his concerns and laughed, “Mom’s going to handle official business, not to play around.”

Cheng Dabao insisted, “I’m a man. Dad isn’t home, so I’ll accompany you.”

After all, there needs to be a man in the house.

Seeing his determined little face, Jiang Lin couldn’t resist his insistence.

She smiled, “Alright, let’s go. The commune isn’t far anyway.”

Cheng Xiaobao immediately grinned to himself, his eyes darting towards the house. “Linlin’s gone, I can sneak some candy now.”

Jiang Lin glanced at him and chuckled, thinking, “I see you sneaking around!”