Chapter 28

At this time, the county Public Security Bureau had already closed. The robbery case had been solved, and the officers were celebrating at a state-owned restaurant. Others had gone home, leaving only a young girl and two patrol officers on duty in the archives room.

The young girl had just started her job. Her parents worked in the public security system, and after she graduated from secondary school, they arranged for her to join the county Public Security Bureau . She mostly sorted documents and wrote reports in the archives, so her work was quite relaxed.

However, there was one thing: the new officers had to take turns on duty until six o’clock—this was an old rule at the county Public Security Bureau , and no one was exempt.

Due to Lin Daguo’s scandal and the ongoing verbal abuse between Li Aifeng and Lao Bailian in the detention room, the young girl, who came from a harmonious family and had lived in the city, was not used to hearing such vulgar language. She naturally developed a bad impression of Lin Daguo’s family, including Lin Hongna, who was arriving now.

If Lin Daguo’s scandal continued for a few more years, it would likely be publicized and could lead to severe punishment, such as public shaming or being sent to a re-education farm.

Lin Daguo and his daughter were lucky. Since the daughter had been caught in a scandal, the father did not want to be outdone and followed suit. In these times, peach-colored scandals were common. If the matter became too serious, the police station would criticize and educate them, and the family could pay a fine and sign some paperwork to take them home.

The Lin family’s four members were all in trouble: the two elders were in detention, and Lin Hongwu was busy trying to please his future in-laws. With his parents in trouble, he didn’t say a word.

Lin Hongna hated her parents very much, but she had to come forward because Sun Jialiang no longer had much patience with her after what happened before, and the old hag in the Sun family looked down on her in the first place. If the Sun family knew about today’s farce, she would completely lose her support.

In the county Public Security Bureau’s duty room, the whitewashed walls were decorated with a portrait of the Chairman and a red banner sent by the public. The young duty officer sat behind the desk, not even blinking as she heard someone enter.

Lin Hongna, assuming the officer was busy, forced a smile and stretched out a hand, saying, “Comrade, hello, I am a relative of Lin Daguo. I’m here to handle…”

The young officer remained expressionless, responded with a curt “Hmm” from her nose, and pulled out a piece of paper from under a stack of files, interrupting Lin Hongna, “Lin Daguo and Li Aifeng incited trouble, disregarded the law, and damaged social morals. They haven’t committed a crime but are fined eight yuan. Pay the fine here and leave a fingerprint.”

It was just a fight and the fine was eight yuan? Her monthly salary was only fifteen yuan!

Losing more than half of her salary in one go, Lin Hongna was heartbroken.

Despite her distress, nothing compared to the humiliation of being looked down upon.

Lin Hongna withdrew her hand in anger, gritted her teeth, took out eight yuan from her bag, and slammed it on the desk without even counting.

The young officer on duty was even more irritable than Lin Hongna. Frowning, she said bluntly, “Why so many small bills? It’s such a hassle to count them. Can’t you just avoid making trouble if you don’t have money? Have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?”

Lin Hongna was so angry that she almost broke her teeth.

Lao Bailian’s family lived in the county. Her maternal relatives received news and, fearing the scandal would become worse, rushed over to pay the fine and take her away immediately.

Li Aifeng, unable to vent her anger, clawed at the iron bars of the detention room, shouting at Lin Daguo.

As soon as the iron door of the detention room opened, the dishevelled Li Aifeng rushed over like a wild bull, chasing Lin Daguo all the way.

Lin Daguo, covered in scratches, used all his strength to flee.

Li Aifeng, being a woman, couldn’t outrun Lin Daguo. She ended up sitting on the ground, crying and scolding, “Oh! Hongna, you finally came to save me! Your father, that damned son of a bitch, that heartless old beast, he’s out there with that cheap woman, he’s so ungrateful…”

She seemed to think that the police station was a rural backwater where she could throw a tantrum. Lin Hongna couldn’t stop her.

The young officer, who had just cooled off in the break room, came out fuming and scolded, “What’s going on here? This is the Public Security Bureau! Just got out and already caused trouble? Keep it up, and I’ll send you back to the cell!”

Li Aifeng fell silent immediately, like a chicken with its neck grabbed.

Lin Hongna said a few comforting words and quickly helped the unstable Li Aifeng out of the police station.

Once outside, Li Aifeng, who had been playing dead, immediately perked up and asked, “Where’s Hongwu? Why didn’t he come?”

Lin Hongna frowned and took a few steps back, “I couldn’t reach him.”

“Hongwu is busy. He’s a man with a future, destined to do great things. If he doesn’t come, so be it.”

Li Aifeng praised her son, oblivious to her own problems.

Lin Hongna didn’t argue and simply sneered inwardly. Li Hongwu was a useless, ungrateful fool, and only Li Aifeng saw him as a treasure.

Li Aifeng rambled on, ultimately just telling Lin Hongna to work harder to win over Sun Jialiang. She hoped Lin Hongna would bring her family some benefits and support.

Lin Hongna, annoyed and impatient, cut her off, “Alright, Mom, stop nagging. I know my own business!”

With that, she turned and walked away.

Li Aifeng chased after her, “You ungrateful girl, are you annoyed by your own mother? You came out of my womb! If you don’t listen to me, who will you listen to? And why hasn’t your brother’s job been converted to a permanent position…”

*

On an August summer evening, the clouds were vibrant and the setting sun painted the courtyard with a beautiful, picturesque glow, resembling a landscape painting from afar.

On the way back, Lin Yao met Gu Shidong who ran out to look for her, and the two of them went back together.

Gu Shidong truly saw Lin Yao as family. They had similar temperaments, and she was like a playmate to him.

Zhang Cuilan was washing a basket of taro in the courtyard when she saw Lin Yao return and smiled, “Yaoyao, what did you buy that smells so good? Jasmine flowers? That’s nice. They can scent the room or be dried and used to make tea.”

Lin Yao brightened up, eagerly taking a small stool to carefully pick out the fresh jasmine flowers and place them in the sun to dry for tea.

Gu Shidong came over to help.

Before long, Gu Mancang, who had just returned from the canteen, arrived home cheerfully.

The little rascal immediately ran over and asked, “Dad, what’s for dinner at the canteen today?”

Gu Mancang opened the food box, revealing winter melon with eggplant, sweet potato buns, and wild vegetable porridge.

Gu Shidong took one look and complained, “Why is it wild vegetable porridge again? There is no shrimp or meat in the dish! Sister-in-law, Director Ge is lying!”

Wasn’t it said that the commune canteen would have meat and steamed buns every day?

Lin Yao pulled the little rascal over and told him to be quiet so others wouldn’t think he was dissatisfied with the commune canteen.

Gu Shidong muttered quietly, “I’m just speaking the truth. Why can’t I say it?”

Lin Yao rolled her eyes at the naughty kid.

It was because he spoke the truth that he shouldn’t have said it, understood?

The little rascal tried to protest, but Zhang Cuilan was furious, “Little rascal, can’t you be satisfied with what you have? Sweet potato buns and wild vegetable porridge are fine. If you want delicacies, go earn them yourself. The commune doesn’t owe you anything, and it’s wrong to complain!”

The little rascal sulked and ran off.

Zhang Cuilan’s words had some truth to them.

With the floods in the north and the grain being sent there for disaster relief, even though efforts were being made, many commune canteens couldn’t operate properly. People had to fend for themselves.

Yunshui County was still relatively better. The government had done its best to ensure that people were fed.

Gu Shidong thought about making money himself. It would be great not to have to go to school, but…

The little rascal looked at his short stature and short legs and sighed gloomily.

When would he grow up and have fewer worries?

Fortunately, on his way home, Gu Shi’an stopped by a state-owned restaurant and picked up two dishes: one with mixed vegetables and one with lamb soup.

Lamb soup was very affordable at this time, with a large portion in the box, half of which was lamb.

When Deputy Director Gu brought the box home, the entire Gu family’s eyes widened with delight.

Recently, they had been eating sweet potato buns and boiled vegetables. Although it filled their stomachs, it was always tasteless.

Although they had just eaten braised pork earlier, it was only a few pieces, and with the family of four or five, everyone got only one or two pieces each, which wasn’t satisfying.

Unlike lamb soup, which was hearty with both meat and broth, making it much more enjoyable.

The whole family shared small bowls of lamb soup. The soup was slightly hot but tasted fresh and rich with a distinctive fragrance.

Lin Yao puffed her cheeks as she ate the meat, her fair face puffing up like a little hamster sneaking food. Gu Shi’an suppressed a smile, fearing that if he laughed too obviously, the young girl might get embarrassed.

Lin Yao paid no attention to Gu Shi’an’s reaction and focused on eating the meat and drinking the soup.

That night, the Gu family was well-fed.

Lin Yao chatted excitedly with Gu Chunmei about visiting Aunt Dafu’s house to see the rabbits. However, Gu Chunmei was busy and needed to visit Brother Da Tou in Guihua Alley.

Since Chunmei was unavailable, Lin Yao settled for visiting the rabbits with Gu Shi’an.

Aunt Dafu’s rabbits were plump and adorable. Lin Yao watched them longingly, reluctant to leave.

One of the female rabbits was especially fat, indicating that she might be pregnant.

Lin Yao didn’t dare to touch her, so Gu Shi’an reached out and petted the rabbit. “She’s about three to four weeks along, so she should be giving birth soon. Generally, female rabbits give birth in five to six weeks.”

Lin Yao asked, “You’ve raised rabbits before?”

He seemed to know quite a bit.

Gu Shi’an smiled, “When I was a child, I helped my grandmother raise them in the countryside. If you like rabbits, I’ll buy one for you tomorrow.”

Lin Yao was thrilled, her porcelain-white face glowing with anticipation. “Really? I want a female rabbit so we can have baby rabbits later.”

That way, she could enjoy dishes like spicy rabbit meat and steamed rabbit.

Gu Shi’an, who was about to use bamboo strips to make a rabbit cage: “…”

*

In the end, Deputy Director Gu silently finished weaving the rabbit cage.

Gu Shidong was running around making a fuss, fiddling with bamboo strips and clay, his paws were so dirty that it was unbearable to look at.

Lin Yao prepared a basin of warm water and some soap, calling Gu Shi’an over to wash his hands.

Gu Shidong also wanted to join in.

Lin Yao swatted him away, “If you want to wash your hands, go get the water yourself.”

Gu Shidong complained, “Sister-in-law, you’re biased!”

Lin Yao replied, “Yes, I am. What’s wrong with that?”

Afterward, Lin Yao took the basin to pour out the water.

In the past, Gu Shian had always fetched water for her to wash her face and feet. Today, he helped her to weave a rabbit cage, so she felt happy and let the usually lazy little girl become a bit more diligent.

After dinner, Zhang Cuilan sat in the Eight Immortals’ chair, soaking her feet and sighing, “Old man, do you think those rumors outside are true? Will Yunshui County also face disasters?”

Gu Mancang was silent for a moment, “It’s hard to say. In the old days, floods lasted for more than half a year.”

The couple looked at each other in silence, and Gu Mancang went out to pour water for washing feet.

Zhang Cuilan wiped her feet dry and put on cloth slippers to swat at mosquitoes.

In the small side room next door, Gu Shidong shouted at his brother to move the military books left in the room to the east wing.

Zhang Cuilan was stunned for a moment, and then she laughed. Oh my, when did Anzi and Yaoyao start living together?

Zhang Cuilan was excited and, when Gu Mancang returned, the couple whispered and chatted for a while, then both looked at the east wing with a mysterious smile.

The Gu family was about to welcome a new addition.

Lin Yao had no idea what the old couple was thinking. She was just excited about buying a female rabbit the next day. Happy and content, she took a bath, cleaned her clothes, and hummed a tune as she returned to her room.

After Lin Yao finished bathing, Gu Shi’an went to bathe as well.

Lin Yao dried her hair, then hugged her small pillow and lay down on the bed. She looked at the coarse mosquito net above her head and was secretly glad that she could get some rest tonight so that she would have enough energy to get the marriage certificate and buy a rabbit tomorrow.

But unexpectedly, when Gu Shi’an returned, he pulled her into his arms and pressed on top of her.

Lin Yao: “!!!”