Her Husband heard her say that but pretended not to, as he didn’t want to get involved in such matters.

The children also remained silent.

They understood their mother’s personality and had grown accustomed to it.

After everyone finished dinner, Ning Shu left.

Hai Cai, due to his habits from the family compound, began to help Qi Aifen wash the dishes.

“You don’t need to do this. Go play,” Qi Aifen said.

Hai Cai replied, “I want to help. In the army, Uncle would lead us in washing dishes together.

The teacher said that children should be diligent and help adults.

Children should do what they can do themselves. That’s what a good child does. The kids in our class can all wash dishes and plant vegetables.”

Lin’s mother, who was helping Qi Aifen, nodded in understanding when she heard her grandson’s words. “Then you go ahead and help, take your time. Your teacher is right. Children should do what they can do themselves.”

Lin’s mother had a relatively open-minded mindset.

She could accept her beloved youngest son doing the laundry for her unreliable daughter-in-law, so naturally, she could accept her grandson washing dishes.

She said to Qi Aifen, “Parents didn’t have children just to burden them. It’s a good thing if the children behave well. You can handle him washing the dishes. You don’t have to do everything yourself.” She wouldn’t actively ask her son to do something, but if he was willing, she wouldn’t refuse.

After living for so many years, one should live wisely.

Qi Aifen agreed, “Mother is right.”

After everything was cleaned up, Lin’s father called Hai Cai over. “Hai Cai, show Grandpa how you write your name.” At his age, he liked to see his grandson’s cleverness.

A clever grandson made him happier than a clever son.

“Okay.” Hai Cai fetched his notebook and pen from his school bag, carefully opened it, and meticulously wrote the characters “Lin Si.”

“Grandpa, this is my name.”

“Let me see…”

Lin’s mother, Qi Aifen, Lin Guodong, and Lin’s grandfather gathered around to take a look.

Although Lin’s grandfather hadn’t been to school, he could recognize a few characters. “Isn’t this just two characters? Is this really your name? Why are there only two characters?”

Qi Aifen and Lin’s mother, though illiterate, could still count the characters. “Lin Haicai has three characters, but there are only two here.”

“Did you forget to write one?” Qi Aifen asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Hai Cai replied.

Lin Guofeng’s mouth twitched.

Even with only a primary school education, he knew that these two characters read “Lin Si,” not “Lin Haicai.”

“Hai Cai, this is Lin Si, not Lin Haicai. Who taught you that this is your name?” It couldn’t have been his younger brother or sister, as they were intellectuals.

So where did his son learn this from?

Unexpectedly, Hai Cai, upon hearing his father’s words, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, this is Lin Si, not Lin Haicai. I changed my name. From now on, I’ll be called Lin Si, not Lin Haicai.”

Spitting out his water, Lin Haiwen choked on it upon hearing his brother’s words.

The Lin family members were stunned by Hai Cai’s statement.

Lin Haiwu burst into laughter. “Why did you change your name? You changed your name to Lin Si? You’re really funny.” He wanted to say “silly,” but since it was his little brother, he decided to save him some face.

Lin Guofeng also regained his senses. “Who allowed you to change your name?”

He didn’t know what else to say.

His son had done something unexpected—changing his name.

Thankfully, he didn’t go to the authorities to change it; otherwise, it would have been troublesome to revert.

Seeing their reactions, Hai Cai explained logically, “Because ‘Lin Haicai’ is difficult to write, while ‘Lin Si’ is easier. Besides, Yi Bao, Yi Bao, and San Bao have also changed their names. Yi Bao said that ‘Lin Haizhi,’ ‘Lin Hairui,’ and ‘Lin Haiyang’ are even harder to write, so they’re now called Lin Yi, Lin Er, and Lin San. As for me, I’m called Lin Si, so when you hear our names, you’ll know we’re brothers.”

The crowd remained speechless.

“Just as I thought, Hai Cai doesn’t seem like the type to keep quiet about things.

Whoever came up with this name change, it’s probably Er Bao. Only that clever rascal Er Bao would do something like this. Yi Bao is steady, and San Bao is still young. Besides Er Bao, who else could it be?”

Meanwhile, in the military family compound, Er bao is continuously sneezing.

“Achoo… Achoo, Achoo…”

He sneezes several times in a row.

“What’s with all the sneezing? Are you feeling unwell?” Lin Guodong asks upon hearing his son sneezing, showing concern.

Erbao replies, “No, it’s probably because Mom and Hai Cai are thinking of me. Mom says that sneezing means someone is thinking of you.”

Lin Guodong hadn’t heard Ning Shu say it like this before, but he wasn’t surprised that she might say something like that.

“That’s not what Mom said,” San Bao immediately corrects him, “Mom said one sneeze means someone is thinking of you, two sneezes means someone is cursing at you, and three or more sneezes means you’re sick and need to see a doctor.”

Of course, Yibao knew that’s how his mom said it. If San Bao could remember it, why couldn’t he?

But Lin Erbao is naturally rebellious.

He just refuses to acknowledge that’s how his mom said it.

According to him, Mom said sneezing means someone is thinking of him.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the clinic to check your temperature and see what’s going on,” Lin Guodong decides.

Children are still young and may not pay attention to their own health, so he has to be vigilant.

If Ning Shu comes back and finds out the child caught a cold, she’ll surely blame him for not taking good care of the child.

Erbao pouts and doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t want to go.

“You need to take medicine early if you’re sick. If you don’t, and it gets worse, you’ll need to get a shot,” Yibao advises.

As soon as he heard about getting a shot, Lin Erbao’s eyes flickered.

Comrade Lin Erbao, who was naturally rebellious, had a slight fear of injections.

Do you know when he had a fever and needed a shot? He hid under the doctor’s desk and refused to come out.

Later, Ning Shu and the doctor had to pull him out together.

“Well, then.” To avoid getting a shot, Erbao decided to go to the clinic tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu was at Lin Xiaoshan’s house.

She looked at the dried bamboo shoots stored at Lin Xiaoshan’s house.

There were so many that she stared blankly for a while.

This was too much, at least several hundred kilograms.

But thinking about it, considering the quantity from the year before, last year, and this year, it should amount to this much.

Seeing Ning Shu stunned, Lin Xiaoshan’s mother asked with some concern, “Is it too much? If it’s too much, we can keep some for ourselves to eat.”

Ning Shu hurriedly said, “No, it’s fine. We need all of it. I’ll send some to friends and relatives later, and the rest will be useful.”

As for what they would be useful for, Lin Xiaoshan’s mother wouldn’t ask.

She wasn’t stupid.

Ning Shu storing so many dried bamboo shoots definitely meant they were for resale.

Such things were understood without being said.

Anyway, they had all benefited.

“Actually, Sister-in-law, with so many dried bamboo shoots, I can only give you money.”

“Oh, money is fine then,” Lin Xiaoshan also wanted money.

Their family’s current food supply, from their own land plus exchanged goods, was enough for the three of them.

Although Xiaoshi was young and had a small appetite, and although Lin Xiaoshan’s work points were not many, he could still earn some.

Throughout the year, they couldn’t save any money at home; it was all used to exchange for food. But it was enough for them to eat.

“Then tonight, move the dried bamboo shoots to my house. It’s too noisy to move them now,” Ning Shu said.

Lin Xiaoshan’s mother naturally understood.

At night, when everyone was asleep, Lin Xiaoshan’s mother and Lin Xiaoshan moved all the dried bamboo shoots to Ning Shu’s house.

They carried them with shoulder poles; Lin Xiaoshan’s mother could carry sixty to seventy catties in one go, and Lin Xiaoshan could carry thirty to forty catties.

People who worked hard all year had great strength.

They only needed to make four or five trips.

Ning Shu didn’t have a scale at home. She asked Lin Xiaoshan’s mother, “Sister-in-law, have you weighed these dried bamboo shoots? Let me know the weight, and I’ll check it tomorrow. If there are no issues, I’ll bring you the money tomorrow afternoon.”

“We’ve weighed them. It’s a total of 520 catties,” Lin Xiaoshan’s mother said. “Ning Zhiqing, you can double-check tomorrow to make sure we didn’t make a mistake.”

Actually, she had weighed them to be 526 catties, but she reported a round number.

Ning Shu said, “Alright.”

Lin Xiaoshan’s mother said, “Then, Ning Zhiqing, we’ll head back.”

Ning Shu saw them off to the door, then turned back into the house, taking out her phone to go online and sell these dried bamboo shoots!