Chapter 98: Feeling sorry for her

Lin Qi sat down at the dining table and ate the breakfast that Lin's mother had specially prepared for her, a bowl of noodles with two poached eggs.

After a bowl of noodles, Lin Qi was only 70% full. Lin's mother and others did not ask Lin Qi to add more noodles for no other reason than that the bowl of noodles in front of Lin Qi was served in an enamel basin that was bigger than Lin Qi's head.

Lin Ma and others never thought that she would not have enough to eat.

Lin Qi rubbed her still somewhat empty stomach, wondering whether she should ask her mother to cook another bowl.

“Are you full? Even if you like the noodles mom cooks, you can’t eat so much.” Mother Lin smiled kindly.

Lin Qi: “….”

Forget it, it wasn’t long until lunch, so she endured it.

Lin Qi didn't get up, and no one touched her things. Lin Miaomiao was curious and wanted to take a look, but she was hit as soon as she reached out her hand, leaving the back of her hand red, and the red mark has not disappeared yet.

At any other time, Lin Miaomiao would have gone out to play long ago, but today, in order to see what Lin Qi brought back, she suppressed her urge to go out and play and stayed at home.

Lin Qi started to unpack from her backpack. She first took out the gifts Xu Hexiao gave to her parents. "Two boxes of tea, two boxes of cigarettes and a bottle of wine are given to you by my friends who went hunting with me."

"You are such a thoughtful friend who even prepared gifts for us during the New Year." Mother Lin said in surprise.

"Maybe he has taken a fancy to your daughter." Lin Miaomiao interrupted, guessing the essence of the matter in a second.

"Is this friend a man?" Mother Lin frowned.

"Who is it? Have you seen him the last time I went there?" Brother Lin recalled the people he had met when he went to the Anliang Brigade. There were a few men, and they all looked okay, but he couldn't tell their character for the time being.

"Are you a team member or an educated youth? Dad doesn't want you to get married in the countryside." Father Lin directly raised the topic to the level of marriage.

Lin Qi was not in a hurry, and her expression did not change at all. She ignored Lin's mother and elder brother, but stared into Lin's father's eyes and said seriously, "Dad, I like farming. Apart from the countryside, other places are not suitable for me. I want to stay in the countryside."

When she said this, everyone present was stunned.

"Qiqi, life in the countryside is so hard, do you plan to stay there forever?" Mother Lin's eyes were red.

"Mom, I don't feel bitter." Lin Qi grabbed Lin's mother's hand, "Look, my hands are still so white and tender, without any calluses."

Mother Lin rubbed her daughter's hands, which were soft, smooth and delicate, and certainly did not look like a pair of hands that had been used for work. It was obvious that her daughter should not have been very tired in the countryside.

However, she was still worried, "But if you marry in the countryside and get bullied in the future, your parents and eldest brother will want to stand up for you——"

Snap!

Lin Qi broke off a piece of her old solid wood table and said, "If anyone dares to bully me, I will beat him up."

Everyone present was silent as they looked at the table which was five centimeters thick.

Perhaps, they should worry about Qiqi's future partner.

"So, the person who gave us the gift is pursuing you, or are you already a couple?" Brother Lin said in a serious tone.

"We're dating." Lin Qi said, "We're still in the observation period. Let's date for four or five years first, and then we'll consider whether to get married."

Lin Qi spoke so calmly that one could tell she was serious and not joking.

"Hehe, being in a relationship for four or five years, isn't this a bit long?" Father Lin said. He didn't want his daughter to get married, but wasn't it not good for his daughter to drag someone along for four or five years like this?

"Five years later, I will only be 22 years old, still young. I plan to get married at 25." Lin Qi said.

Father Lin: “…”

Brother Lin: “….”

Lin Ma and Lin Miaomiao: “….”

They fell silent again, feeling inexplicably sorry for the young man who had given them the gift.

Seeing that they were silent, Lin Qi continued to take things, and next came a large bag of White Rabbit candy and two boxes of pastries. "These are gifts from people who often buy my prey. Five kilograms of White Rabbit candy and six boxes of pastries. I gave some away, so I only have this much left."

"Is that man reliable? He is so generous!" Mother Lin asked worriedly.

"He's reliable. He has excellent character. Even if something happens to him, it won't involve us. We are always cautious, so you can rest assured." Lin Qi said.

"Mom doesn't know much about your affairs, just keep it in mind." Mother Lin must be worried, but her children have grown up, and she can't take care of them forever, so she doesn't interfere.

"Mom, if she gets caught, the crime of speculation will affect our entire family." Lin Miaomiao was anxious.

"Then you can cut off ties with your family." Brother Lin said coldly.

Lin Miaomiao looked at her eldest brother in disbelief, then at her parents, "You three all have formal jobs. If she gets arrested, you'll lose your jobs!"

"If I lose my job, I'll go to Qiqi." said Brother Lin.

Father Lin and Mother Lin looked at each other and said, "Let's go to Qiqi too."

"She's been caught, how can you go to her!" Lin Miaomiao felt that her parents and elder brother were crazy.

"We won't be caught." Lin Qi said firmly.

"Why are you so sure?" Lin Miaomiao retorted.

Lin Qi took her time to break off a piece of the thick wooden table, just like breaking tofu. "I can run so fast that no one can catch up with me. No one can do anything to me unless they catch me red-handed."

Lin Miaomiao was stunned, looking at the solid wooden table, a hint of fear appeared in her eyes.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Lin Qi continued to take things out of her backpack. This time, she took out three thick military coats, "Dad, Mom, and Big Brother, this is my New Year's gift to you."

Thick military coats are rare even in the city.

Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin and elder brother Lin couldn't let it go, especially Mr. Lin and elder brother Lin, the love in their eyes was genuine.

"What about mine?" Lin Miaomiao was extremely jealous.

"No." Lin Qi said calmly, and asked, "Are you worthy of receiving my gift?"

If it was the original owner who was that little fool, Lin Miaomiao sending the original owner to the countryside would be murder.

She didn't kill the man who wanted to murder her sister because of Lin's father and mother, but there was no way she could act out the deep sisterly love with the man.

Lin Miaomiao's face flushed red, and she looked at her mother aggrievedly, "Mom, you see, she doesn't even think of me as a sister."

"You don't treat her as your sister either." Mother Lin said lightly.

Lin Miaomiao choked and closed her mouth angrily.

At this point, only Lin Qi's things were left in the backpack. She put the backpack aside and turned to walk towards the four sacks.

Lin Qi first opened the bag of rice. There was more than 100 kilograms of rice. Each grain was white and round, like white jade, so beautiful that it seemed unreal.

Mother Lin couldn't help but grab a handful and put it to her nose to smell it. "It's actually real rice, with a strong rice aroma. Is this the rice grown by your team?"

Lin Qi hummed vaguely, not intending to tell the truth. She had only been in the countryside for half a year, and she went there in the summer. At that time, it was not reasonable to grow rice.

"Did you take all the rice you were allocated home?" asked Brother Lin.

Lin Qi hummed again, "The rice there is delicious. If I want to eat it, I can buy it myself."

Brother Lin wanted to say something, but Lin Qi had already opened the other bags. "This bag is filled with fresh meat, five pounds of pork, a pheasant, a rabbit, and a wild goat. Brother, go get a basin."

The beautiful pork belly, a pheasant weighing more than ten pounds, a wild rabbit weighing twenty pounds, and a wild goat weighing more than one hundred pounds once again shocked Lin's father, mother, eldest brother Lin, and Lin Miaomiao.

Brother Lin went with a wooden face and brought all the pots, big and small, from their house.

"Are these all wild? They can't be raised this big if they are domesticated." Mother Lin remembered that their family used to raise chickens and ducks, and they were considered big if they weighed six or seven kilograms. Generally speaking, four or five kilograms was considered normal.

"I grow vegetables in the mountains and they come to steal the food, so they grow so big." Lin Qi said.

Mother Lin: “.........”

How should she tell this silly daughter that animals cannot grow so big just by eating vegetables.

Lin Qi opened another bag and first took out more than 40 kilograms of smoked wild boar meat, and then took out two large jars tightly wrapped in vines.

The Lin family was familiar with smoked wild boar meat, but seeing so much smoked meat at this time still made them feel a little dizzy. When they saw Lin Qi take out two jars, they were even more confused. What was this?

Lin Qi was in no hurry to explain. She opened the last sack, which contained persimmon cakes, dried hawthorns, raisins, and two jars.

Persimmon cakes, dried hawthorns and raisins were each packed in a cloth bag. Lin Qi casually put them aside and then went to untie the four jars that were tightly wrapped by vines.

Mother Lin and a few others opened the three cloth bags and saw that they were filled with dried fruits. They couldn't help but taste them.

"Delicious!" Every time Mother Lin tasted something, her eyes brightened.

Dad Lin didn't say anything, but he nodded every time Mom Lin sighed, which showed that he liked it very much.

Brother Lin likes to eat sweet things. Whether it is persimmon cakes or raisins, they are all very sweet. Even dried hawthorns are sour and sweet, without any bitterness. He can't stop eating them once he starts.

While eating, Lin Miaomiao quietly put handfuls of food into her pocket when no one else was paying attention.

After Lin Qi removed all the vines, she placed the four jars together and opened them one by one. The next second, a rich fragrance wafted out, filling the entire room.

"This is wine, made from wild grapes. This is candied fruit made from various wild fruits, slightly watery and sweet and a bit sticky. This is jam, which I made myself. This is jujube honey, my eldest brother once brought back a jar. Each jar can hold about 40 kilograms, you can keep them and eat them slowly." Lin Qi said.

Brother Lin: "Let me try the wine first."

Father Lin: "I want to drink wine first, too."

Mother Lin: “I want to try them all.”

Lin Miaomiao swallowed her saliva hard. Oh my god, just smelling the fragrance made her intoxicated.

What a wonderful life her sister is living in the countryside!

After a whole morning, the Lin family was immersed in various fruity aromas, and even the people themselves were filled with fruity fragrance from the inside out.

"The fruits in the countryside are so fragrant." Mother Lin sighed. She no longer worried about whether her daughter would return to the city. If she returned to the city, she wouldn't be able to eat so much meat, so many fruits, or drink such fragrant wine.

"Mom, please cook lunch with the rice I brought back. I'm hungry." Lin Qi said.

"Lin Miaomiao, you cook lunch today." Mother Lin instructed Lin Miaomiao.

Lin Miaomiao didn't dare to object, and immediately went to get the pot, "Mom, do you want to steam pure rice?"

"Yes, just steam pure rice, no need to add anything else." said Mother Lin.

"What kind of meat do you want to cook?" Lin Miaomiao asked again.

Mother Lin glanced at the meat and thought for a moment, "Let's eat dry pot rabbit meat."

"Okay, I get it." Lin Miaomiao said cheerfully. As long as there was meat to eat, she didn't mind cooking.

Lin Miaomiao went to the kitchen to busy herself, and Lin's father stood up and said, "I'll go buy a new dining table."

"Let me go with you and buy a better one." Brother Lin also stood up.

"Okay, all of you go, and remember to come back on time for dinner." Mother Lin reminded, "If you come back late, we won't wait for you to eat."

Father Lin and Brother Lin quickened their pace and said, "We'll be back soon."

Now, only Lin Ma and Lin Qi were left in the living room.

"Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. In the afternoon, you and your eldest brother should go to your grandmother's house and give her some New Year gifts." Mother Lin said.

Lin Qi hummed, "Okay."

"Can some of these things be shared with your grandma and uncle?" asked Mother Lin.

"I'll take them home. They're yours, mom. You can do whatever you want with them. No need to ask me." Lin Qi was very well-behaved.

Mother Lin was so coaxed by her that her eyes were full of smiles. "Even if it's for Mom, Mom hopes you're willing to give it. If your dad wants to give some to your grandma's house, would you be willing to give it too?"

"I don't want to." Lin Qi shook her head and refused bluntly.

Mother Lin suppressed her laughter, "What if your father asked you?"

Her husband is a traditional filial son. Now that there are so many supplies at home, if he doesn't give some to his old mother, he's afraid he won't be able to spend a peaceful New Year.

Lin Qi hesitated. Her grandmother didn't like her, but she raised her father. Her father would definitely send a New Year gift to her grandmother, but she couldn't bear to see her father queue up in the middle of the night in the cold weather to buy things.

Oh, it’s really difficult.

Seeing Lin Qi frowning, her mother laughed out loud, "You are such a fool."

"Mom deliberately threw the question at me and laughed at me for being stupid?" Lin Qi felt aggrieved.

"You're stupid. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, how could the family not have any preparations? Mom and Dad and your brother and sister have already lined up to buy New Year's goods. Although they couldn't get much after several days of rushing, these things are enough for your grandma's family." Mother Lin said.

"You already have a plan, and you still ask me." Lin Qi curled her lips, "You are so mean."

"Yeah, it's mom's fault." Mother Lin had a doting look on her face. She just couldn't help teasing the little girl because she saw that she always had no expression on her face.

Lin Miaomiao’s cooking skills were average, but the rabbit meat raised by Lin Qi was so fragrant. The kitchen was in the corridor, so when the overbearing aroma came out, everyone in the yard could smell it.

"Who's cooking? It smells so good!"

"It tastes like meat, but today is only the 29th. Are you going to eat it right away?"

The sounds of doors opening were heard one after another, and some curious people ran to the corridor and crowded towards the kitchen.

"Miao Miao, why are you the one cooking today? Where is your mother?"

"My mom is at home with my sister."

"Hey, your sister is coming back, when did it happen?"

"Arrived last night."

"Miao Miao, what's cooking in your pot? It doesn't look like pork, chicken or duck."

"It's rabbit meat. My sister brought it back."

“........”