This year, when the fabric ration tickets were distributed, Fang Dihua made sure to remind everyone not to take the men’s and children’s fabric tickets to their parents’ homes unless it was for a wedding, and even then, the tickets had to be returned later. Otherwise, it wasn’t allowed.

“If everyone else in the family is living well, but your husband and kids are dressed in rags, isn’t that embarrassing? If you don’t mind, I, as their mother and grandmother, certainly do.”

Lu Er then asked Fang Dihua if she could ride the bicycle back home and return on the same day.

She considered riding the bike back home and telling her mother that her mother-in-law insisted she return the bike the same day, so she couldn’t stay overnight.

Fang Dihua immediately imagined that Lu Er’s family would seize the bicycle, whether to show off in the village or for her younger sister-in-law to flaunt back at her family.

In any case, the bike would likely meet some misfortune.

She wouldn’t allow it!

“How about this: let your eldest sister-in-law take you home and then come back to get you.” Fang Dihua trusted her eldest daughter-in-law very much and would rather have the bike kept in her care.

When Lin Shu went back to her parents’ home, Lu Da would take her and pick her up later, and there was never any issue.

Lu Er asked, “Can’t Cui Cui’s dad just ride it? He can bring it back in the evening.”

But Fang Dihua remained firm. “Who can Lin Erge refuse?”

Once her mother-in-law asked, the foolish second son wouldn’t even be able to say no.

Lu Er felt deeply aggrieved—why could the wives of the eldest and third sons ride the bike, but not her?

Fang Dihua didn’t care whether she was angry; she was in charge, so her word was final.

She wasn’t afraid of people accusing her of favoritism; she openly admitted to it.

After all, she was planning to live with her third son’s family in the future, so why not be biased?

If the daughters-in-law could go back to their own families, then naturally her daughter could come home too.

Fang Dihua also had Lu Ping fetch both the eldest and youngest daughters.

However, neither daughter returned.

The eldest said she had a bike and lived nearby, so she could visit anytime without needing to stay and burden her parents.

The youngest said she had to work, so she wouldn’t observe the same formalities as her sisters-in-law.

Fang Dihua didn’t press them; it was just to maintain appearances for the in-laws, after all.

Lin Shu returned to her parents’ home to deliver New Year’s gifts, catch up on recent events, ask if there were any issues with the Sun family, have a meal, and then head back home by evening.

Once she returned, she focused on making clothes for others.

Worried about her overworking, Fang Dihua took the initiative to cook and even asked Lu Er, Lu Ping, and Lu Cui Cui to help Lin Shu.

They assisted with tasks like edging the clothes, sewing on buttons, and ironing, which Lu Ping did meticulously.

Before they knew it, it was the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

From the tenth day onwards, the Lu Family Village had been busy sending pigs to the collection station in the commune.

Lin Shu’s piglet was caught last autumn, and by this winter month, it was already up to standard for sale.

In these times, food was scarce, and there was no pig feed to fatten them quickly.

Every household relied on sweet potato vines, rotten vegetable leaves, pig grass, and, if fortunate, dried sweet potato bits to feed their pigs.

If a pig could be raised to a hundred pounds in a year, it was considered good.

Most pigs weighed seventy to eighty pounds and didn’t meet the market standard.

Many families had to raise their pigs for a year and a half to two years to reach the required 120 pounds to sell at the collection station.

Lin Shu’s pig had been well-fed with household vegetables like pumpkins, squash, and gourds.

If any food went bad, Lin Shu would simply toss it to the pigs.

Additionally, when the family made meat dishes, the water used to wash the pots would be mixed with crushed sweet potato vines and a small amount of boiled sweet potato chunks to help fatten the pigs.

Most families in the village had piglets they raised from last year, and only now were they just about ready to meet the weight requirements for market.

Over the past few days, many people were gathering to send their pigs to the commune’s pig station to fulfill their quotas.

In the past, people would haphazardly deliver their pigs, often resulting in the pigs being unfairly graded by the pig station staff.

If the pigs lost a few ounces during the trip or defecated along the way, they might not meet the weight requirement and would be rejected.

This year, Lin Shu suggested to her older brother, Lu Dage, that he should go to the pig station early to establish some rapport.

It didn’t require bribery, just a few packs of cigarettes or some homemade pickles to get acquainted with the staff.

Then, when the villagers from their brigade came to deliver their pigs, he could be there to offer a helping hand.

With someone they knew vouching for them, the staff would be less likely to give the pigs a lower grade or reject them for being slightly underweight.

It’s similar to delivering grain—if you had to take it back home to dry out, it would be a hassle.

The same goes for the pigs. Once you’ve tied them up and delivered them to the commune, having to take them back home to fatten them up again is a major inconvenience.

The pigs, after being transported back and forth, could become stressed and might refuse to eat or develop diarrhea, leading to weight loss instead of gain.

You’d have to feed them extra grain to get them back to the required weight.

But in these times, there wasn’t enough grain to feed even the people, let alone the pigs.

So what seemed like a small issue actually had significant consequences.

In the past, the brigade leaders didn’t see this problem, and no one cared to address it.

But this year, Lin Shu’s older brother followed her advice, and it worked out well.

As a result, the brigade had a smooth time delivering their quota pigs over the past few days.

For those pigs that were a few ounces underweight, instead of asking the staff to overlook it, Lu Dage would suggest feeding them some cooked pumpkin, cabbage stems, or sweet potato vines to make up the difference.

With Lu Dage and Lu Erge helping out like this, the villagers noticed their efforts, and even the brigade secretary and leader praised them.

“Lu Dage and Lu Erge are truly looking out for the villagers!”

“Accountant Lu Dage is really thinking more about us. We made the right choice by electing him!”

Lin Shu quickly finished making two sets of clothes, both for families in the neighboring hamlet.

One set was for Lin Aidi’s husband.

Lin Aidi had agreed to pick up the clothes the day before, but she hadn’t shown up, so Lin Shu decided to deliver them herself.

She planned to take the opportunity to stop by the Xu family’s house to check on Xiaoyou and perhaps annoy Mrs. Xu a bit in the process.

Since Mrs. Xu and Xu Shihua already regarded Lin Shu and Fang Dihua as troublesome relatives, Lin Shu didn’t worry about being a nuisance.

She let the two children playing in the street know she was leaving, then grabbed the clothes and headed to the neighboring hamlet.

On the way, she encountered a slightly deranged woman who stared intently at Lin Shu, muttering something under her breath.

“You are my daughter. You are Shui Lian.”

Lin Shu had heard from Lin Aidi about a woman in the back village who had gone a little mad three years ago after her only daughter, Shui Lian, ran away with a man.

The woman only missed her daughter, and whenever she saw a pretty girl, she thought it was her.

She meant no harm.

Lin Shu wasn’t afraid of her.

…..

In the forest to the north of the back village, a jeep was weaving through the trees.

Chen Yanming said, “Brother Lu, are you lost?”

Lu Shaotang’s handsome face was reflected in the car window as his slender fingers deftly turned the steering wheel. “Lost in my own backyard? Are you kidding?”

Chen Yanming teased, “I told you to take the highway, but you insisted this way was faster. How is this faster?”

He glanced at his watch. “It took three minutes longer than last time.”

Lu Shaotang spun the wheel, maneuvered around a tree, and onto a small path, hitting the gas to merge onto a main road.

Ahead, there was a village.

Chen Yanming exclaimed, “Brother Lu, you’re amazing. Like a living map!”

Lu Shaotang pulled over to the roadside. “Pick me up in a few days.”

Chen Yanming asked, “How many days?”

Lu Shaotang replied, “Whenever the case has a breakthrough, come get me.”

Zhou Qiaofeng, a suspect from the Zhou family, had already been detained, but she was refusing to cooperate.

She was a tough one, not even fearing death, so they had no choice but to wait her out.

Lu Shaotang decided to take this opportunity to give himself a break and enjoy some time at home with his wife and kids.

Chen Yanming protested, “Hey, don’t stop. I was planning to visit Auntie and my sister-in-law to wish them a Happy New Year and grab a meal.”

Lu Shaotang parked, grabbed his backpack, got out in one swift motion, and waved Chen Yanming off, urging him to leave.

He would let him come over when he stopped talking so much.

Lu Shaotang’s wife was shy, and Chen Yanming’s chatter could easily offend her, so he had no intention of letting him upset his wife.

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, Lu Shaotang strode towards the back village.

Meanwhile, Lin Shu, carrying a fabric bag, went to deliver clothes to a family before heading to Lin Aidi’s house.

At this time, many families were busy herding pigs to the commune’s pig collection station, making the village noisy with human voices and pig squeals.

Several households on this side had their doors locked, and there were piles of pig manure along the road, indicating they had already left.

The faint cries of pigs in the distance added to the quiet stillness around her.

Suddenly, she heard a faint, strange noise.

It sounded like a small animal struggling and pleading for help in its final moments.

She stopped in her tracks and looked towards the south.

There were no homes to the south, only two houses…

In the middle of the yard, there was an open space with a few haystacks and some miscellaneous trees, where vines grew thickly.

Near the roadside, next to the haystacks, was a small vegetable patch about the size of a palm.

A strange noise seemed to come from within the area.

Lin Shu walked closer to the haystacks, listening carefully.

All she could hear was the wind rustling through, making it seem as if the faint noise she heard was just a figment of her imagination.

Nothing was there.

She continued walking forward, but after a few more steps, she suddenly stopped.

She then moved back, sticking close to the back of a neighbor’s house to the south, slowly retracing her steps.

Hiding in the corner by the wall, she waited a moment and heard the rustling noise again.

This time, it was followed by a brief, sharp scream, but the scream was quickly muffled.

Lin Shu’s scalp prickled with fear, and it felt as if her hair was about to stand on end!

She immediately pulled out a sturdy, two-meter-long stick from the haystack next to the wall of a nearby house.

She also picked up a few stones from the ground outside the wall.

Keeping to the north side, she suddenly flung a stone towards the haystack to the south.

The stone landed with a “thud,” making a loud noise in the hay.

The faint noise ceased again, as if it had never existed.

But Lin Shu was convinced it wasn’t her imagination!

She threw another stone into the stack!

After hurling five stones, a hoarse, angry male voice suddenly shouted from within, “Who’s there? Are you looking for death? Get lost!”

Terrified, Lin Shu turned and ran, shouting as she went, “Fire! Fire!”