80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 406 - 404: Choice

Lin Shan said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Uncle Li. My family’s honey isn’t fed with sugar. We only harvest it twice a year at most, and it’s all wildflower honey." He then added, "Grand-uncle has moved to East Market now. Once I’ve gathered the honey, how do I get it to you?"

Li Xiangyang smiled. "Bring the honey to Shiqiao Town. Go to the station and look for the bus to East Market. Find Master Chen and the ticket seller, Li Hongmei, and they’ll bring it back for me. Once I get the honey, I’ll give them the money to bring back to you."

Lin Shan nodded. "I’ll remember that."

When the group arrived home, Lin Lan, Wu Shufen, and the others were in the courtyard, cleaning the mushrooms Granny Lin had given them.

When Wu Shufen saw Lin Shan, she smiled. "Shan, you’re here!"

Lin Shan nodded. "Mhm! Grand-auntie."

Lin Changyou went to Granny Lin’s house to borrow a steelyard scale, and after weighing the honey, he calculated the payment for him. Wild honey was several times more expensive than regular honey. A small bucket of just ten or so jin of wild honey sold for thirty yuan.

After getting the money, Lin Shan happily said to Li Xiangyang, "Uncle Li, I’ll go back now and bring the honey over for you."

Li Xiangyang smiled. "Do you need our help?"

Lin Shan smiled and waved his hand. "No need. We have a wheelbarrow at home. I can just put it on there and push it over." With that, he picked up his wooden bucket and ran off happily.

After Lin Shan left, Lin Changyou looked at Lin Jun and the others and said, "Take a look at that Lin Shan. After school, he goes home, takes care of his mother, helps his father with chores, and looks after his younger brother. I heard he even ranked first in his class this time."

"I believe that as long as you put your heart into it, you can study well anywhere. Didn’t you all say last time that you wanted to come back to Shilian to study? You can think it over now that you’re back. If you want to stay, we’ll get grain, oil, salt, and everything else ready for you, and let you stay in Shilian for school."

Lin Jun, Lin Qing, and the others stared at each other, speechless.

Lin Hong quickly said, "Grandpa, I never said I wanted to come back here for school." ’She had no desire to study in Shilian; the school’s bathrooms weren’t even as good as the ones in East Market.’

Lin Gang also chimed in, "Grandpa, I never said I wanted to come back for school either."

Little Douzi looked at Lin Jun in surprise. "Cousin Jun, are you guys really not going back?"

Lin Jun frowned. "My grandparents and parents never said anything about this when we were coming!"

Seeing Lin Jun and Lin Qing’s conflicted expressions, Lin Lan laughed. "Wouldn’t it be great to be back here? The sky’s the limit, you can run and play wherever you want. You could even go into the mountains with Lin Shan to find wild bees and get wild honey!"

Lin Qing looked at her. "Auntie, we don’t know how to do laundry or cook. What are we supposed to do when we miss Mom, Dad, and our grandparents?" ’Besides, after being back for just half a day, he realized it wasn’t as comfortable as he’d imagined.’

Lin Jun added, "We don’t know how to grow vegetables, and we don’t have money to buy meat..."

Lin Lan looked at the two of them. "Then just learn from Grandma over the next couple of days! No one is born knowing how to do these things. If there’s no one to do it for you, you’ll learn in just a few days."

The two of them looked at Lin Lan, about to say more, but Lin Changyou cut them off. He looked at them sternly. "You have a few more days. Think it over. If you want to stay, tell me before you leave, and I’ll buy you rice, oil, and salt."

Then he turned to Lin Hong and Lin Gang. "For those of you who decide to come back to East Market with us, you must study hard when you get back. If you go back to treating your studies like you’re just doing it for your parents’ sake, I’ll send you straight home to them."

"Got it." The kids nodded listlessly.

Wu Shufen said to them, "There’s hot water in the pot. Go ladle some out to wash up and get to bed early."

They nodded and trudged dejectedly toward the kitchen.

Little Douzi followed them to the kitchen and looked at Lin Jun. "Cousin Jun, if you guys don’t start studying hard, I think Grandpa will really make you stay here!"

Lin Hong nodded. "Brother, even Little Douzi can tell. I don’t think Grandpa is just trying to scare you."

’I’m not an idiot!’ Lin Jun rolled his eyes at her. "Traitors. Didn’t you guys used to say the city was bad and Shilian was good? That you wanted to come back to Shilian?"

The other three fell silent.

After a moment, Lin Hong looked at him. "Brother, do you really want to stay home?" She pointed to the hot water in the large wok. "I don’t want to stay. It’s not even as convenient to take a bath here as it is in the city."

Lin Gang nodded. "Exactly. At home, you just turn on the water heater and you can take a shower. We can go on picnics and have barbecues, too."

Lin Jun scoffed. "You guys are just spoiled."

"Brother, I think you’re just being stubborn," Lin Hong said, pouting at him. "Think about it, Mom, Dad, and our grandparents are all in the city. What will we do when we miss them? Fine, if you want to stay, then stay. I’m going back with Grandpa and Grandma."

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Qing looked at Lin Jun and said, "Brother Jun, I’ve decided. I’m going back with Grandpa and Grandma."

Seeing his chance to back down gracefully, Lin Jun pretended to be unfazed. "It’s no fun for me to be here all by myself anyway. If we’re going back, we’re going back!"

"Time to wash our faces and feet," Lin Gang said, dragging over a large wooden basin.

Lin Hong ladled a few scoops of hot water into it. The kids washed their faces, then brought over small stools and sat in a circle around the basin to start washing their feet.

Lin Hong looked at Little Douzi, who was sitting on a small stool to the side. "Who are you sleeping with tonight?"

Lin Jun joked, "Tonight, we’re putting Little Douzi in a sack and hanging him on the wall!"

Little Douzi looked at him with a straight face. "Brother Jun, Grandpa wouldn’t put me in a sack. If you don’t study hard, it’s more likely he’ll do it to you."

Lin Jun was so struck by his comment that he was momentarily speechless. "You little brat. You’re about to start first grade. You’ll find out soon enough that life isn’t so easy."

Little Douzi looked at him confidently. "I like school and I like to read. I’ll definitely do well."

Lin Gang looked at him with a grin. "Douzi, you’re about to start first grade, and you still sleep with the grown-ups?"

Little Douzi looked at him and said, a little embarrassed, "Grandpa said I’m still little. If I want to sleep by myself, I can, and if I don’t, I can sleep with the grown-ups!"

Lin Hong shot him a look. "Exactly. Little Douzi is only five. You think he’s like you?"

"Right, Douzi’s all by himself. You two are brothers sharing a bed, so of course you’re not scared." Lin Jun thought for a moment, then added, "I remember when I was little, I’d fall asleep in the same bed as my parents, but when I woke up the next morning, I’d be all alone."

Lin Gang nodded repeatedly. "That’s how all grown-ups are. Once you fall asleep, they carry you to your own little bed."

Standing in the doorway, Lin Lan and Wu Shufen overheard them and covered their mouths to stifle their laughter.

Just then, Lin Shan arrived at the courtyard gate. Li Xiangyang and Zhou Shitou helped him carry a large wooden tub full of honey into the yard. Compared to the wild honey, this batch was inferior in both color and taste.

The wooden tub from Lin Shan’s family was a pot-bellied type, and it came with a lid. When the lid was screwed on tight, not a single drop of honey could leak out.

Lin Shan said to Li Xiangyang, "Uncle Li, my dad said this tub is exactly eighty-five jin of honey. Do you want to go to the village brigade office to borrow a steelyard scale and weigh it?"

’Her family had a similar wooden tub,’ Lin Lan remembered, ’one that held a full eighty-five jin.’