Chapter 25

Last night, there had been a thunderstorm, and the rain had knocked down a lot of begonia petals, leaving a pink carpet outside.

Next door, Aunt Dafu was sweeping the rainwater and grumbling about how the begonia tree was a nuisance and that someone should come to chop it down.

Lin Yao came over with a small broom to help. “Auntie, begonia flowers have many uses. If we can avoid cutting them down, we should.”

“What use are flowers, other than looking pretty?” Aunt Dafu wondered.

Lin Yao smiled and explained, “Generally, begonia flowers aren’t edible. They can be used to make tea or used in fabric pouches to extract juice for dyeing nails. Our compound’s begonia flowers are called apple begonia flowers. They taste like hawthorn and can be sweetened into preserves. Begonia roots and fruits can be used in traditional medicine to treat thirst, indigestion, and even hemorrhoids.”

Begonia fruit can treat hemorrhoids?

Aunt Dafu’s eyes lit up.

Oh, is that true? When her husband was young, he ate a lot of chili peppers and drank alcohol every day. As he got older, he developed hemorrhoids, which are very painful. Medications only provide temporary relief, and the clinic said surgery was needed.

But her husband is stubborn and would rather endure the pain than go to the clinic for surgery!

Aunt Dafu was heartbroken and helpless, searching for remedies for her husband.

Hearing Lin Yao, Aunt Dafu immediately decided not to cut down the begonia tree. The flowers looked so vibrant and beautiful—red and pink, giving a festive feeling!

After praising the begonia tree, Aunt Dafu turned to praise Lin Yao.

“Yaoyao is such a sincere girl. It’s good for young women to go to school. The more you read, the more you understand. Yaoyao graduated from high school, right? Even if it was only up to the second year, that’s still real education. I’ve never had the chance to go to school in my life. I couldn’t even read. Back then, it was so hard. I wanted to go to school but couldn’t. Now, it’s great that even the little kids can go to school. Time flies. In the blink of an eye, I’m an old woman over fifty. What? You think I’m only in my forties? No way, this girl…”

Aunt Dafu was so pleased with the news she received that her face beamed with happiness, as if it had blossomed into a chrysanthemum.

Whatever she said, Lin Yao listened attentively and obediently. The young girl’s smile was genuinely charming.

When Aunt Dafu went back into her house, she couldn’t stop smiling.

Lin Yao placed the small broom against the wall, then slowly washed her face in the bright sunlight after the rain. She wondered why Dongzi hadn’t returned from fetching water from the front yard yet. That little rascal must not have sneaked off to play around again, right?

This wasn’t the first time Dongzi had done something like this. Previously, Uncle Mancang had called him to fetch water, but after a while, there was still no sign of him.

Uncle Mancang, puzzled, went to look for him and found no trace of Dongzi anywhere in the entire courtyard, just a lonely iron water bucket quietly sitting by the water tank.

That evening, the mischievous boy, as expected, faced a severe punishment and had to eat a meal of stir-fried bamboo strips.

Lin Yao took a sip of water from a porcelain cup, the water sweetened with sugar. On a hot day, it was quite refreshing, though perhaps a bit too sweet.

Just as she put the cup down, Gu Shidong came rushing back with a water bucket, excitedly announcing to Lin Yao that Lin Daguo was having a fight with Li Aifeng in the old street!

Lin Yao was puzzled. “Why would Lin Daguo come to the city to fight? And with Li Aifeng? Where is this happening?”

“At the entrance of the grain and oil store on the Old Street!” Gu Shidong said.

“You were supposed to fetch water, how do you know about this?”

“My classmate, Huzi, told me.”

Huzi was from Linjia Village, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew about it.

Lin Yao thought that these two troublemakers must be up to some mischief again.

“When did this fight start?”

“No idea! Are you coming or not? If not, I’m not waiting for you!” Gu Shidong urged, bouncing around in the courtyard.

Exciting events wait for no one. What if the two troublemakers finished their fight and left before they arrived?

Lin Yao decided to go. If an opportunity for a good show was presented, she wasn’t going to miss it!

She quickly got up, took out a small key from her pocket, and leisurely locked the door of the storeroom, before hurrying out with Gu Shidong.

The two of them raced through the streets at top speed and finally arrived at the Old Street. They saw that the entrance of the grain and oil store was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Some older women who couldn’t get in climbed onto the low wall next door, munching on sunflower seeds while watching the commotion.

There were also more elderly women hurrying over, their small feet moving quickly.

Lin Yao and Gu Shidong exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, and plunged into the crowd to get a better view of the drama.

Lin Yao forged ahead, squeezing through the crowd with determination, and finally reached the front line of the spectators, with Gu Shidong closely following her.

In the open space in front of the grain and oil store, dust was flying as the fierce battle between Li Aifeng and Lin Daguo unfolded.

To be precise, it was more of a one-sided assault by Li Aifeng on Lin Daguo and his… little concubine?

“Lin Daguo, you shameless scoundrel! I’ve been married to you for twenty years, toiling away to bear and raise your children, acting as both father and mother. You couldn’t even help when the soy sauce bottle fell, and now you’re washing this old hag’s underwear! Aren’t you afraid of getting dirty? Even Hongwu hasn’t married yet, and you’re out fooling around. You’re an old man chasing after loose women! What? A misunderstanding? To hell with you! Tell me, have you and this old hag been secretly involved for a long time?”

Li Aifeng was as fierce as ever, grabbing the old hag by the hair with one hand and viciously pinching Lin Daguo’s flesh with the other.

Lin Daguo rolled on the ground in pain, continuously pleading, “Aifeng, it’s all a misunderstanding. I’m just good friends with Taohong. Let go, it hurts…”

The old hag, meanwhile, struggled but was ruthlessly subdued by Li Aifeng, receiving a resounding slap across the face. “Stop your filthy lies! Do you think I’m a three-year-old fool? I’ve caught you two together, and you’re still pretending to be innocent! Bah! Look at the wrinkles on that old hag’s face, she could squish flies! How can you even touch her? Why don’t you go eat the dirt outside?”

Li Aifeng continued her relentless verbal assault, delivering slap after slap, leaving Lin Daguo and his old hag dazed.

Lin Yao, at the front of the crowd, thought, “Wow, today’s drama is truly intense.”

To make the spectacle even more enjoyable, Lin Yao took out some sunflower seeds she had prepared earlier from her small bag and shared them with Gu Shidong.

“Don’t litter the seed shells. Put them in the trash bin later.”

“Got it.”

The two of them snacked on sunflower seeds, thoroughly enjoying the show.

Gu Shidong, pretending not to understand, handed a small handful of seeds to the neighboring elderly woman and quietly asked, “Auntie, what’s going on here?”

The elderly woman immediately opened up, “Here’s what happened…”

After the elderly woman’s detailed explanation, Lin Yao and Gu Shidong finally understood the situation.

In summary, Lin Daguo made the kind of mistake men often make—he believed that the flowers outside were more alluring than the ones at home. He had a fling with an old hag and they occasionally met up.

Li Aifeng had long suspected this but lacked solid evidence, so she had kept it under wraps until now.

Today, she caught Lin Daguo and the old hag meeting on Old Street, and her fury led to the dramatic scene that unfolded.

The incident stirred up such a commotion that the head of the county grain and oil store, fearing trouble, quickly sent someone to report it to the police.

The county police, upon receiving the report, dispatched officers immediately.

By a stroke of luck, the officers included Gu Shi’an.

When Deputy Director Gu and several police officers arrived, the crowd of onlookers quickly scattered, with some fleeing. The rest remained, still eager to watch the drama unfold.

Gu Shi’an, dressed in a crisp police uniform, had a stern look on his face. With broad shoulders and long legs, his imposing presence stood out in the crowd. The onlookers instinctively parted to make way for him.

As Gu Shi’an was about to ask the staff present for details, he lifted his gaze and immediately spotted a familiar, charming young face on the opposite side of the crowd. There was Lin Yao, happily munching on sunflower seeds.

Next to her was Gu Shidong, equally cheerful as he snacked on sunflower seeds.

“Old Gu, what are you doing standing around here?” Xu Xiangqian jumped out of the jeep, sweating profusely in the sweltering heat. He took off his large hat and fanned himself, grumbling about the shabby police jeep, “This broken jeep of our Public Security Bureau should have been eliminated long ago. It was acquired from Americans back in the 1950s. It looks nice, but the old tires make it bump around. Old Gu, next time, tell the old chief to get us a new one…”

While Xu Xiangqian continued his complaints, he took a look around and was stunned.

“Old Gu, am I seeing things? Aren’t those Shidong and Yaoyao?”

In the end, Lin Yao, who had been thoroughly enjoying the scene, was taken home by Deputy Director Gu.

As for Gu Shidong, he was taken away by Xu Xiangqian, who said he needed to give the mischievous boy a good talking-to.

The Lin family trio was taken away by the police officers for some mediation.

Lin Yao never expected that her simple plan to enjoy the spectacle would result in her being caught by Gu Shi’an.

And it happened right on the spot.

But at that moment, she wasn’t afraid of Gu Shi’an at all!

As long as she had a thick skin, the embarrassment was all on him!

Back at home, Gu Shi’an went to change clothes while Lin Yao sat with her legs crossed, enjoying braised pork.

The braised pork was something Gu Shi’an had bought from a state-owned restaurant on the way back. Today was lucky; he managed to get it without any wait. The pork was covered in a glossy caramel color, beautifully red, fatty but not greasy, tender and aromatic, making it incredibly tempting.

Lin Yao savored two pieces of braised pork, her satisfaction evident as she licked her lips.

When Gu Shi’an emerged, she greeted him, “Hey, this braised pork is really delicious. Would you like a piece?”

Lin Yao’s lips were a rosy red, and as Gu Shi’an walked over with a stern expression, he lifted her up in his arms.