Chapter 108

As the inspection team escorted Sun Jialiang and his lover back. At this time, Lin Hongna, who was sleeping, suddenly woke up from a nightmare, clutching her stomach.

The autumn night was quiet, and the bedding beside her was still empty—Sun Jialiang hadn’t come home for the night again, which wasn’t unusual. With her pregnancy well advanced, Lin Hongna held her anger in, determined to deal with that little tramp after giving birth to her second child!

Lin Hongna got up to use the toilet. Her pregnancy made her need to get up several times a night. Afterward, she poured herself a glass of cool boiled water and noticed the crows cawing loudly in the courtyard outside.

Lin Hongna frowned. It was the middle of the night, and crows calling in the courtyard wasn’t a good omen. There was an old saying that when crows call at midnight, misfortune is near. Could something bad have happened?

Before she could figure it out, the Sun family’s front door was pounded on, the banging loud and alarming.

“Director Sun, Director Sun, something happened, something happened!”

“Director Sun, are you home?”

After a while, Father and Mother Sun next door were awakened by the sound of someone banging on the door.

“Old Sun, who’s shouting outside?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go out and have a look.”

Father Sun assumed there was a problem with the equipment at the light bulb factory and someone had come to get him. He quickly put on his clothes to open the door, with Mother Sun grumbling behind him, complaining about the workers disturbing them at night and vowing to set them straight in the future.

Father Sun told Mother Sun to calm down, reminding her that every factory director before him had dealt with similar issues. Back in the day, the first factory director even lived in the factory, drawing blueprints by day and fighting off Nationalist spies with a machete at night. It was the hard work of previous generations that made the light bulb factory what it was today.

Mother Sun said impatiently, “Why are you going on about all that ancient history? Just open the door already!”

Father Sun shook his head, threw on a Zhongshan suit, and went out.

As soon as the door opened, two young men in work clothes, panting heavily, rushed in.

“It’s terrible! Sun Jialiang’s in trouble, Director Sun, you need to come quickly!”

“What happened to my son?”

When Mother Sun heard her precious son was in trouble, she immediately rushed over, all the arrogance from earlier gone.

“Sun Jialiang, he…”

“What’s wrong with my son? Are you dumb or haven’t eaten enough? Tell me now! If you don’t, I’ll show you how I’ll deal with you!”

Mother Sun’s tone was harsh.

The two young men exchanged glances. One of them took a deep breath and shouted, “Sun Jialiang was caught fooling around outside! He was caught in a guesthouse, accused of hooliganism by the inspection team, and they said they’re going to send him to a labor camp for reform!”

Mother Sun: “!!!”

It was like a thunderbolt out of the blue, leaving Mother Sun speechless.

Father Sun felt the world spinning around him. Clutching his chest, he nearly collapsed, tears streaming down his face. “A disgrace to the family, a disgrace! How could our Sun family produce such a disgraceful beast!”

Mother Sun, in shock, collapsed to the ground, wailing, “My son!” She couldn’t bear the blow and fainted on the spot.

The two young men, panicking, one holding up the nearly collapsing Father Sun, and the other running outside to get help. Neither of them noticed Lin Hongna, who was pregnant and had a pale face in the room.

“………”

*

The autumn sun hadn’t fully set, and the faint sound of crickets chirping could already be heard on both sides of the alley.

Lin Yao, returning from Guihua Alley, immediately started making hawthorn cakes at home.

The basket of hawthorns sent by Eldest Uncle Zhang was large, red, and plump, weighing about three or four pounds. She washed the hawthorns in batches with salt water, cut off the tops, halved them, and removed the seeds, also taking off the small stems. She cut the hawthorns into small pieces and steamed them until soft.

Once the hawthorns were steamed, she placed them in a large bowl and mashed them into a fine hawthorn paste with a spoon. She added an appropriate amount of glutinous rice flour and sugar, mixing everything thoroughly. Then she placed the hawthorn mixture back into the steamer for ten minutes, turning down the heat to let it simmer for five more minutes until the hawthorn turned a vibrant red. The cake was ready to be served, soft and sweet with a slight tartness.

Lin Yao dug out the canned fruit from the cupboard and sterilized them by boiling them. The three pounds of hawthorn cakes filled one large glass jar. She had just placed it in the basket, ready to take it to Gu Chunmei.

Before she even stepped out, Gu Shidong burst into the house, drenched in sweat, with a string of sparrows tied up with twine in his hand.

As soon as the boy entered, he headed straight for the kitchen looking for something to eat.

It wasn’t mealtime yet, so there was nothing to eat in the kitchen.

Gu Shidong rushed out, shouting, “Sister-in-law, where are the three-flavor buns? Give me one to nibble on.”

Lin Yao stopped her work, wiped her hands on her apron, and took a ladle to scoop out some flour.

“There are no steamed buns left, but I can make you some dough balls.”

“Alright, I’ll eat whatever you make, sister-in-law.”

The boy wasn’t picky about food.

Lin Yao smiled, chopped a fresh green onion, added some meat slices, and used pork fat to sauté. She scooped a small bowl of cornmeal mixed with some white flour and made a pot of dough balls.

The dough balls were fragrant and greasy from the pork fat.

Gu Shidong devoured his bowl of food hungrily, leaving nothing behind, and licked his lips in satisfaction.

“It’s really delicious, sister-in-law. What’s in the basket?”

“It’s some hawthorn cake I made for your second sister. She’s pregnant and can’t eat much, so I thought a bit of hawthorn cake might stimulate her appetite.”

Gu Shidong replied with an “oh,” finished eating, and bounced up from the bench.

“Sister-in-law, you stay busy. I’ll take it to my second sister.”

“Alright, be careful on the way.”

“Hehe, sister-in-law, can I fry the sparrows I caught tonight?”

Lin Yao laughed, realizing that the boy was craving fried sparrows. She waved her hand in agreement.

Gu Shidong then skipped out the door with the basket of hawthorn cake.

The massive pest control campaign continued until October. As the weather grew colder, mosquitoes and flies disappeared, and rats became harder to catch. Only the silly sparrows remained perched on the utility poles.

With the other three pests reduced, sparrows became the primary target for extermination.

During the day, the villagers used homemade guns and nets to catch the sparrows. At night, adults wielded torches and flashlights while the children banged on iron buckets and enamel basins, creating a racket under the trees. Some timid sparrows, startled and disoriented, fell from their nests and died upon impact.

The children would collect the fallen sparrows, tie them up with string, and exchange them at the pest control office for money—two cents per sparrow. The poor sparrows were indeed unfortunate.

In recent days, the weather had turned cooler, and the county militia began their drills again. Lin Yao had twisted her ankle while going down the stairs, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she was temporarily exempt from training.

With some free time at home, Lin Yao experimented with various dishes. Last night’s meal was tomato and egg noodles, featuring fragrant dried tofu, wood ear mushrooms, tomatoes, and eggs. A few drops of sesame oil and aged vinegar, along with a plate of pickled garlic, made the dish particularly delightful.

Gu Shi’an devoured two large bowls of noodles in one go, while Gu Doudou stared wide-eyed at his small bowl, and then at his father’s large bowl. That evening, he quietly expressed his concern to his mother.

“Mommy, Daddy eats such a big bowl of food. Sigh, Grandpa can’t afford to feed Daddy anymore.”

Deputy Director Gu, who had already eaten and was washing dishes in the kitchen, “…”

Before bed, Gu Doudou had a bottle of milk, and Lin Yao, seeing the little chubby boy burp repeatedly, complained to Deputy Director Gu, unsure if he would wet the bed the next day.

The next morning, sure enough, the small bed was wet.

“He really did wet the bed,” Lin Yao sighed.

It seemed she really shouldn’t give the little chubby boy too much water before bed.

Gu Shi’an came out of the room and asked, “Did the little one wet the bed?”

“Yes.”

Lin Yao touched the damp blanket, which was soaked through. Despite this, the little one was still sleeping soundly.

Impressive!

Gu Shi’an went to the kitchen, and brought out a thermos and a basin. The couple took turns, one mixing water while the other held the child, removed the wet pants, and cleaned the little one’s bottom.

Wrapped in a towel, the little one continued to sleep peacefully.

The wet blanket and dirty clothes were soaked in soapberry water, scrubbed clean, wrung out, and hung to dry. Noting that it was almost six o’clock, Lin Yao started preparing breakfast.

This morning, she was in a rush and had no time to make a complex meal, so she decided to prepare a simple breakfast—fried bread slices.

A few days ago, the family had steamed a batch of corn and white flour buns, and there were a few left. Perfect for turning into fried bread slices for breakfast.

The buns were cut into even thin slices, dipped in egg beaten in a bowl, then soaked briefly in lightly salted water to reduce greasiness. The slices were coated in egg wash and then fried in hot pork fat.

The slices were fried until golden and crispy, and she also made a dish of chives and eggs and a pot of savory pork congee.

The whole house smelled delicious, making the neighbor’s child almost cry from the smell.

Just kidding—while the neighbor’s child wasn’t actually crying, her own child was definitely enticed.

After breakfast, Deputy Director Gu took Dongzi to training as usual, while the younger child was still asleep.

Lin Yao stayed home sewing and mending. With Zhang Cuilan’s guidance, she had almost finished disassembling the old quilts, with only a few small quilts left to complete.

Although this was her first time disassembling quilts, and her stitching wasn’t as precise as her sisters-in-law’s, she worked diligently and learned quickly. After a few days of instruction from her mother-in-law, her once uneven stitches had become much neater and more beautiful.

With the final stitch completed, Lin Yao stretched and gently moved her ankle, which had been hurting less—seemingly on the mend.

It had been quite a task. She had spent over a week sewing day and night on these five or six quilts.

The quilts were neatly folded and stored in the cabinet.

They would be ready to use once the weather turned colder.

In a few days, it would be Gu Mancang’s fifty-fifth birthday, followed by Zhang Cuilan’s birthday. So, both their birthdays would be celebrated together.

Last year, due to poor circumstances, the old couple’s birthdays were simply celebrated with a bowl of longevity noodles. That was all.

This year, however, they must have a proper celebration for the two elders.

In the evening, after Gu Shi’an came home from work, he washed his hands and entered the house. Seeing his wife with a worried expression, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“What do you think we should give Mom and Dad as gifts?”

The problem was, there weren’t many good things at home.

Gu Shi’an tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about the parents his wife mentioned, and said with a slight smile, “Dad likes to drink. We still have a bottle of Maotai at home. We could give that to him. As for Mom…” He tapped the table again, “Mom is a woman who loves beauty. I remember you can sew clothes?”

“Yes, yes. We have some Hangzhou silk and navy wool at home. How about making a set of clothes for each of them?”

Lin Yao’s eyes lit up as she smiled at Gu Shi’an. “That’s a great idea!”

Lin Yao eagerly set about making the clothes. At the same time, the verdict for Sun Jialiang was also announced.