Chapter 46

Lin Hongna was like a mute eating bitter gourd—she ended up harming herself rather than achieving anything.

Having grown up in the Lin family, she was well aware of Lin Daguo and his wife’s bad character. For them, face and reputation were worthless. Can a good face be eaten or drunk?

Compared with hunger, the money in your hand is real, everything else is fake, and face is nothing compared with real gold and silver!

Lin Hongna didn’t have real gold or silver, but she did have some money.

Facing her aggressive parents, Lin Hongna could only take a deep breath and try to remain calm. It wasn’t the time to fall out with her family. She forced a smile and said, “Dad, Mom, you must be hungry. Let’s not talk about anything else for now. Let’s go to the state-run restaurant and have a good meal. A person is iron, and rice is steel—an empty stomach isn’t good.”

Lin Daguo and his wife, who had been causing a ruckus, now felt their hunger pangs intensify at the mention of food. Naturally, they nodded in agreement.

Lin Daguo snorted with his nose in the air, “After all these years of raising you, this is the first time I’ve heard you say something sensible.”

Lin Hongna: “……”

There were few people in the world as shameless and unprincipled as her father.

The town was not like Yunshui County. It only had a small establishment that could barely be called a state-run restaurant.

The small restaurant had few customers. The family of three chose a table by the window. Lin Daguo and Li Aifeng had no money at all, though they had plenty of demands.

They refused to eat coarse grains, complaining about their throat. They insisted on white buns and rice, and demanded meat in their dishes—no vegetables for them.

Good grief, a meal with meat and fine grains would cost at least one or two yuan, plus a few pieces of meat tickets.

Fortunately, Lin Hongna still had a bit of money left—money that Lin Hongwu had deducted from his wages before. There was only 120 yuan in total, which she had intended to use to buy food on the black market to survive the famine.

Lin Hongna gritted her teeth and had no choice but to use it. She ordered a portion of vinegar-fried shredded potatoes, a serving of braised pork, a portion of braised eggplant, and five white buns.

The white buns cost three cents each, totaling fifteen cents for five buns. With the meat tickets, the braised pork was eighty cents a plate, and the two vegetable dishes cost sixty cents. Altogether, the total was two yuan and fifty-five cents, plus three liang of meat tickets.

Lin Daguo and his wife had not had a good meal in several days. To save money in Yunshui County, they had been subsisting on millet flour and vegetable soup, leaving their stomachs completely empty.

As the dishes were served one after another, the couple grabbed a white bun each and dug in with gusto, slurping and smacking their lips. Lin Hongna felt nauseated watching them.

Unable to endure the disdainful and peculiar gazes of the people around, and unable to persuade her parents otherwise, the restaurant’s staff asked them to be quieter. Li Aifeng, with a righteous air, retorted, “We’re country people, we’ve eaten like this since we were born. What’s wrong with smacking our lips? It makes the food taste better! What’s it to you?”

Her words almost sparked public outrage. In this era, state-run restaurant staff were notoriously strict, and the restaurant had a prominently displayed red sign: “No unreasonable beating of customers allowed.”

State-run restaurant staff generally didn’t hit people, except for those who brought it upon themselves…

In a few minutes, Li Aifeng found herself thrown out of the restaurant by two burly kitchen staff.

Li Aifeng landed hard, shouting in pain, but continued to curse uncontrollably.

One of the burly men, with a scowl and rolled-up sleeves, came over to hit her again.

Li Aifeng quickly scrambled to her feet and ran off in a hurry.

Lin Daguo continued to feast in the restaurant, completely indifferent to his wife being beaten. He didn’t even lift his eyelids.

Lin Hongna, too, remained detached, looking away as if nothing had happened.

A mother like this—so embarrassing—might as well not exist.

*

In mid-October, the autumn wind began to blow.

The streets of Yunshui County were covered in fallen leaves. With Gu Chunmei’s wedding approaching, the new red couplets were already pasted on the newly painted wooden door of the Xu family’s house on Osmanthus Alley.

With the daughter getting married next Monday, Zhang Cuilan took a day off on Sunday to prepare red silk wrappings, wedding candies, melon seeds, and peanuts for the bride.

Although large weddings were no longer permitted, the small details were still numerous.

The house had to be clean, with every corner swept and the Eight Immortals table dusted. The doors and windows of each room were decorated with bright red wedding symbols, and festive red lanterns hung under the eaves of the courtyard.

The firecrackers were also ready. The camphorwood chest that Gu Chunmei brought as a dowry was decorated with big red flowers and contained a complete set of wedding quilts, bed sheets, towels, pillowcases, nylon stockings, and fabric.

Other dowry items, such as a warm water kettle, an enamel basin, and a “descendants bucket,” were sent to the Xu family’s new home according to tradition. Most of the dowry items from the maternal family were in pairs to symbolize good fortune and a happy life for the newlyweds.

Lin Yao had a weekend off and helped with the preparations at home for half a day. Exhausted and with aching back and waist, she finally took a break and lay down, feeling as if her waist might sprout wings and fly away.

When Gu Shi’an came home in the evening, he found the young girl lying motionless on the bed and thought that it must be because of something that Dongzi, the little rascal, had done to upset her again.

But as he approached, he realized that she had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Gu Shi’an tiptoed, folded his clothes neatly, and went to the bathhouse to shower.

With the weather still mild, he could use the bathhouse for now, but as the temperature dropped, he would have to switch to the public bathhouse.

Twenty minutes later, Gu Shi’an, enveloped in the pleasant scent of soap, returned to the room. He dried his hair with a towel, turned off the light, and climbed into bed, gently pulling Lin Yao into his embrace.

He was slightly damp, which made Lin Yao uncomfortable. She groaned and bit his arm.

Gu Shi’an had to get up again and dry himself thoroughly.

This time, Lin Yao seemed content in her sleep, automatically curling up in his arms and finding a comfortable position to drift into deep slumber.

The next morning, the firecrackers from the neighboring Guihua Alley woke Lin Yao from her sleep. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only 5:30.

Could Da Tou Brother not hold back already?

Lin Yao slowly got up, yawning.

Gu Shi’an, who had clearly just woken up, was standing in front of the wardrobe changing into his clothes for the wedding.

As the big brother, he naturally had to send his sister off.

Gu Shi’an had just taken off his vest, revealing his well-toned and attractive waist. Lin Yao stole several glances and thought, “Wow, our Deputy Director Gu still has a great figure.”

Unlike her, who had become lazy at home and had developed a small belly.

Lin Yao touched her own belly and took a deep breath, trying to suck in her little belly.

Despite several attempts, her little belly remained stubbornly in place.

Lin Yao sighed and lay back on the bed, deciding to just let it be.

Gu Shi’an, watching the whole scene, had a smile in his eyes.

Lin Yao glared at him. “What’s so funny?”

*

On the other hand, Gu Chunmei was up early in the morning.

There wasn’t much to do early in the morning except for Aunt Dafu from next door, who helped her with her makeup. She applied rouge and powder, styled her hair into a bridal updo, and adorned it with a big red velvet flower. The military green new outfit made Gu Chunmei look more radiant than ever, and her face was flushed with a pink glow.

Gu Chunmei also carried a red silk bundle, which felt stiff. Besides the dowry money from her family, it contained peanuts, red dates, and other items.

The Zhang family, including her uncle and aunt, came to send off their niece, and the old director of the Public Security Bureau and the leaders of the steel mill also attended the wedding.

This caused quite a stir among the neighbors in the large courtyard.

Zheng Dacheng, who fancied himself a master craftsman at the factory, walked around with his head held high, looking down on others. Seeing Gu Mancang, who was dressed in a Zhongshan suit and shaking hands with the county’s big leaders, made him green with envy.

Damn it, Gu Mancang, this bumpkin, managed to raise a successful son, and now his daughter is marrying into the family of the Public Security Bureau’s squad leader. It seems everyone in the family is prospering.

The Gu family’s status has risen so high. Will they still regard him, a mere cafeteria chef, with any respect?

Liu Laidi, Zheng Dacheng’s wife, knew her husband’s feelings well. She was determined to make things difficult for the Gu family and make their daughter’s wedding day less smooth.

Otherwise, the Gu family might think the Zheng family is easy to bully!

Since Gu Chunmei, the new bride, couldn’t leave the house, Gu Shi’an and his parents were busy hosting relatives and leaders. Lin Yao and Gu Shidong, one as the “head of the family” sister-in-law and the other as the newly minted brother-in-law, each held a tray filled with egg cakes, peanuts, and candy.

Lin Yao was all smiles, handing out treats with a grin and giving extra candy to the kids attending the wedding, making them ecstatic. The kids practically bounced with joy.

The elder guests were pleased, thinking the Gu family was truly generous. The aunts helping out in the house were even more diligent in their tasks.

Guests came and went, offering their congratulations.

“Congratulations, Mancang! With your daughter getting married this year, you’ll have a grandson next year.”

“Yes, Cuilan, maybe next year will bring double happiness, with a big grandson and a big granddaughter.”

“Oh, what a joyous occasion! Cuilan must be so happy she’s smiling all the way to her ears.”

The crowd of aunts joked and laughed, making Zhang Cuilan’s eyes well up with tears of joy.

The young men from the Public Security Bureau, however, remained respectfully seated and did not join in the banter.

In the courtyard, Hutou and several little kids scampered around like little loaches, Hutuo being Gu Shidong’s good buddy, and the two children got along famously.

Lin Yao paid special attention to the little ones, filling their pockets with peanuts, seeds, and candy from her tray.

Hutou and the other kids adored Lin Yao and followed her around like little tailors.

Gu Shidong, the little rascal, wanted to join in too.

Zhang Cuilan quickly pulled her son back, saying, “What are you doing, you rascal? Your sister is getting married today. Go hand out the candy.”

The little rascal mumbled and ran off after a pat on the head.

After Lin Yao finished distributing the treats, she turned to rest but caught sight of Liu Laidi sneaking around in the crowd with shifty eyes.

Lin Yao frowned. Liu Laidi’s sneaky, furtive behavior seemed more like she was here to cause trouble than to offer congratulations.

She suspected that Liu Laidi might be up to something.