Chapter 30

Lin Hongna had started working at the local lightbulb factory. She had worked six consecutive days, enduring temperatures of thirty-five to thirty-six degrees Celsius, standing for eight or nine hours a day. By the end of the day, her legs felt like they had been filled with lead, aching and barely able to move.

That wasn’t even the worst part. The female workers in the factory dormitory were loud and rowdy. Their fights were as crude as country women, and they snored and ground their teeth at night. Some even ate in bed, spilling food everywhere, making the place filthy.

Lin Hongna had had enough. She began pestering Sun Jialiang to let her move into his family’s house.

The Sun family has a small house in the town, and those who live there are all the prominent people in the town. It would be so prestigious for her to live there!

But when Lin Hongna brought it up, Sun Jialiang became irritated. “You want to go to my house? Don’t you know how my mother feels about you? She got sick because of you before! She’s only just recovered, and now you’re causing trouble again! Stay put in the factory dormitory. If you can’t behave, don’t blame me for being heartless!”

Sun Jialiang’s attitude was clear—if she caused any more trouble, she’d be out.

Lin Hongna’s face twitched in frustration. She cursed the old hag in Sun’s family silently. Sun Jialiang was a mama’s boy. His mother’s word carried more weight than a hundred of hers.

In her previous life, the old lady of the Sun family had taken a liking to Lin Yao because of her meekness and lack of opinion, which meant she didn’t compete for her son’s attention. That’s how she got into the Sun family.

That fox Lin Yao was nothing special, just a pretty face. The old woman’s brain must have been a little crazy!

It seemed like the only way to secure a place in the Sun family was to get pregnant with a son.

Lin Hongna gently coaxed Sun Jialiang, secretly drugging him. They spent the night together, and only after Sun Jialiang had left did she return to her hometown, feeling satisfied.

Tomorrow was her day off, and she didn’t have much of the “magical powder” left. She needed to go home and get more.

Whenever Lin Hongna returned home, Li Aifeng would rummage through her handbag for money or anything useful.

This time, Lin Hongna was clever. She came home with an empty bag.

When she entered, Li Aifeng was boiling water in the kitchen. She heard the sound of Lin Hongna’s arrival and rushed out, her sharp triangular eyes scanning Lin Hongna up and down. Seeing there was nothing to take, she shot her a look of disdain and muttered, “How can you be so thoughtless? You only come home once a week, and you don’t even think to buy some meat for your parents. You’re eating well, but your mom is living on wild vegetable dumplings. When will you get your salary? Why don’t you bring it home when you get it? Your brother needs dozens of yuan to marry a wife! The family’s poor, and you can’t help out? When your brother gets married and you have some nephews, then you’ll know what it’s like to suffer and have someone to support you. It’s only when your family has someone to back you that you can stand firm!”

Li Aifeng’s incessant chatter was getting annoying, and Lin Hongna, unable to bear it any longer, tossed two yuan bills at her.

Li Aifeng eagerly grabbed them and tucked them into her waistband, finally cracking a smile.

“These are from my daughter. I’ll accept them with gratitude.”

Lin Hongna didn’t even look back. She returned to her own room and lay down.

After sitting on the tractor for most of the day, her bones felt like they were about to fall apart.

Lin Hongna was truly exhausted and soon fell into a deep sleep. In her hazy dreams, she had an incredibly long and wonderful dream.

In the dream, she married Sun Jialiang as she had always wished, moved to Hong Kong with the Sun family, and became the envy of everyone as a wealthy socialite. She flew around in a private jet, ate steak, salad, and caviar, and drank French wine. Meanwhile, Lin Yao had ended up marrying into a shabby courtyard, crushed under her feet, living a life of poverty and hardship.

One time, when Lin Hongna was out, wearing high-end leather shoes, she encountered Lin Yao, who was selling vegetables on the street, her hair messy and clothes dirty.

Lin Hongna generously gave her a few US dollar bills. Lin Yao bowed and thanked her, and the scene was so delightful that Lin Hongna couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Li Aifeng, in the courtyard, was raking pigweed. She suddenly exclaimed, “The pigs have all been sent to the collective farm. Who’s that old sow calling out so loudly? It sounds terrible!”

“………”

*

Yunshui County People’s Commune office, a young woman at the office slammed the marriage certificate down with a loud “pa” and stamped it with a bright red seal, smiling as she handed it over. “Congratulations!”

Lin Yao took it with her delicate little hand, feeling a sense of surreal disbelief. Was she really married now?

And to a rigid, old-fashioned man from the 1950s!

She glanced at Gu Shi’an, whose usual cold and indifferent expression was now softening with a smile that he couldn’t suppress, his sharp features relaxing like winter snow melting.

Gu Shi’an noticed Lin Yao’s gaze and looked at her with a questioning expression, “Yao Yao?”

Lin Yao’s face flushed. Why was he calling her so intimately in broad daylight?

These days, young couples usually celebrated after getting their marriage certificates, but Lin Yao was an exception.

She carefully folded the marriage certificate, placing it in her small handbag, then jumped onto her bike. She patted Gu Shi’an’s back, “Let’s go, Old Gu, to the farmers’ market!”

She was buying a female rabbit to raise and eat meat!

The world is vast, but eating meat is the greatest joy!

To eat meat openly, Lin Yao was willing to go to great lengths.

Gu Shi’an, now turned from Deputy Director to Old Gu: “……”

In Yunshui County, it was still hot by two or three in the afternoon.

The farmers’ market was across from Antique Street. The county’s large cafeterias and state-owned restaurants sourced most of their vegetables from the farmers’ market.

The vegetable vendors in the market also sold small chickens, ducks, and rabbits, which they brought in from the countryside.

After all, many people living in crowded courtyards in the city wanted to raise chickens and rabbits in their yards for fresh food.

Lin Yao wanted to buy a pair of rabbits, one male and one female.

There were plenty of rabbit vendors at the market. Lin Yao walked around, her eyes overwhelmed by the sight of all the plump, fluffy little rabbits. She wanted to buy every one of them.

In the end, Gu Shi’an suggested she pick a pair of gray rabbits. A single rabbit cost three mao, and a pair was six mao. Lin Yao bargained down to five mao and gave the old man selling the rabbits two pieces of candy in exchange, also buying a small bamboo cage.

The old man, in a good mood, happily stuffed the milk candies into his pocket, muttering about giving them to his little grandson, as he placed the wriggling rabbits into the cage.

Lin Yao, like a curious child, asked the old man all sorts of questions, such as what rabbits ate, whether they could get stuffed if they ate too much, how big they would grow in a day, and when they could be sold.

The old man answered patiently. Back then, rabbits were easy to raise. They ate carrots, cabbage leaves, corn stalks, and wild vegetables.

Lin Yao cheered in excitement and turned to Gu Shi’an. “When our rabbits run out of food, we can go to the countryside and dig up some wild vegetables for them!”

Gu Shi’an nodded in agreement.

Naturally, it was Deputy Director Gu who dug the wild vegetables, while Lin Yao was just being lazy on the side.

However, the old man selling the rabbits didn’t know that. He smiled and said, “You two really get along well. When will you have a baby?”

Lin Yao played dumb, teasing the little rabbit. Gu Shi’an smiled faintly. “Soon.”

The old man was about to ask how many kids they wanted, but Lin Yao quickly grabbed Gu Shi’an’s hand and left.

Having children was still a long way off.

On their way home, the air was cool and refreshing, and Lin Yao felt in a good mood, as if they would be home in no time.

At the Gu household, only Gu Shidong was home, lying in boredom and sleeping.

Lin Yao chattered away with Gu Shi’an, and Gu Shidong, hearing something about “little rabbits, making nests,” jumped out of bed and ran to the courtyard.

“Sister-in-law, brother! You bought rabbits!”

The little brat hopped over, eager to touch the long ears of the rabbits.

Lin Yao shielded the rabbits behind her, frowning at Gu Shidong. “What are you doing? Pull your hands back! If you scare the rabbits, there’ll be no meat to eat!”

Don’t scare my spicy little rabbits!

Gu Shidong sulked, pulling his hand back, sighing. Why was it so hard to get meat?

Lin Yao ignored him and called Gu Shi’an over to make a stone nest for the rabbits.

She had just learned that rabbits liked to dig holes and chew on their nests. Even bamboo cages could get chewed through, which was why Aunt Dafu used iron cages for her rabbits.

The Gu family didn’t have an iron cage, but that was fine!

They had Gu Shi’an at home—nothing was impossible for their Deputy Director!

Gu Shi’an smiled helplessly. He didn’t know how to make a rabbit nest, but for his little girl, he would learn.

Gu Shi’an figured it out himself, while the brat, Gu Shidong, ran around the courtyard, showing off to everyone, saying, “We have rabbits now! Hehe, my sister-in-law bought them!”

Aunt Dafu deliberately teased him, “What does it have to do with you that your sister-in-law bought it?”

The brat was serious. “Of course, it matters. My sister-in-law is family, even closer than my brother! If my brother tells me to eat crap, I won’t do it, but if my sister-in-law tells me to, I’ll do it!”

Aunt Dafu: “……..”

Anyway, the brat was showing off in a way that made people want to hide their eyes.

Lin Yao asked him to tone it down.

Gu Shidong nodded. He shouldn’t be too loud. What if Zheng Haozi from the front yard hears? What if his little rabbit gets stolen!

He had tried to keep it quiet, but it was too late. Zheng Haozi in the front yard had already heard Gu Shidong’s shouting. It was like a cat scratching at his heart, itching uncontrollably.

The Gu family was raising rabbits. He had to find a chance to steal one and roast it!

Zheng Haozi sneakily hid behind a tree, trying to get a good look at where the old Gu family kept the rabbits so he could strike at night.

He would have been fine if he hadn’t looked, but the moment he did, he accidentally stepped on a twig. Gu Shi’an, who was quick to react, heard it and shot a sharp, dark look at him. Zheng Haozi, terrified, lost his balance and fell flat on his face, smashing his mouth against the stairs. He cried out, running home in a panic.

Lin Yao was in the house eating watermelon when she heard the commotion and came out. “Which child is crying?”

Gu Shi’an wiped the watermelon juice from the corner of her mouth, his gaze full of tenderness. “It’s nothing. You must have heard wrong.”

Lin Yao obediently said “oh,” and went back to continue working.

Gu Shidong was hiding nearby, slapping his thigh and laughing heartily. “Zheng Haozi, you’re having a rough day. Trying to steal chickens and losing rice, serves you right!”

In the afternoon, Da Tou Brother, drenched in sweat, came to the courtyard and said that the police station had an urgent matter. Hearing this, the two of them left in a hurry.

That evening, Zheng Dacheng’s wife came home and found her son’s mouth swollen, bruised with bumps. She chased after Zheng Haozi, demanding to know what happened. Zheng Haozi, unable to tell the truth, sniffled and said that the eldest son of Wang Shengcai’s family had bullied him.

Well, that certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. Zheng Dacheng’s wife started yelling and cursing in the courtyard, her words pointedly aimed at the Wang family.

Just as Wang Shengcai’s wife returned from work, she was immediately grabbed by Zheng Dacheng’s wife by the hair and thrown to the ground.