Chapter 99: Is she being kept?

Mother Lin in the house heard the sound and quickly poured some persimmon cakes, dried hawthorns and raisins into the basket. Then she picked up the basket, grabbed Lin Qi's hand, and walked out quickly.

Before those people entered the house, Mother Lin slammed the door shut.

"Hey, good afternoon everyone, have you had lunch?" Mother Lin said with a friendly smile.

Everyone looked at the closed door with regret, then at Lin Ma's basket, and then at Lin Qi. After seeing this, everyone was stunned.

"This is really Qiqi. I haven't seen her for half a year. She has grown so tall!"

"Not only has she grown taller, she's also gained weight and become prettier!"

"Your children are so good-looking, each one is prettier than the other!"

"Don't people in the countryside have to work every day, exposed to the wind, sun and rain? How come Qiqi is still so fair? I sit in the factory every day, and I am far behind her."

"Yes, Qiqi, why are you still so white?"

The women were more concerned about beauty than food. They looked at Lin Qi eagerly, curious about whether she had taken good care of herself.

"Maybe it's because I don't get tanned and my mom gave birth to me well." Lin Qi said seriously.

Well--

Everyone was stunned. How should they continue this topic?

"Huh? Qiqi, you're not stuttering anymore?" Someone noticed something unusual about Lin Qi.

Others also responded, "Yeah, you don't stutter anymore?"

"My stuttering problem improved after I went to the countryside and gradually got better," Lin Qi replied.

"It's amazing that stuttering can be cured."

"So the countryside is still a good place to grow people. Not only has he stopped stuttering, his face has become more vibrant, and he's grown taller!"

"She has become more spiritual. Qiqi was always slow and unresponsive at first, but now she is completely normal. It's really cause for celebration."

"Look at Qiqi, she has sent many things home in the past few months, which shows that she is a filial person. Qiqi's mother, you have finally come to the end of your hardship, and you can only wait to enjoy the blessing of your children in the future."

Listening to the people around her praising her daughter, the wrinkles around the corners of Lin's mother's eyes smoothed out. She quickly distributed persimmon cakes and dried fruits to these people, "These are wild fruits that Qiqi picked in the mountains. Please don't despise them."

"I don't mind, I don't mind. It's good enough to have something to eat. What's there to mind?"

"This persimmon cake has a beautiful color and thick flesh. It looks good."

"The flesh of hawthorn and raisins is also very thick. Are they really wild fruits from the mountains? They look better than those grown artificially."

"Mmm, delicious, very sweet, as sweet as honey."

"This is really a wild fruit from the mountains. How come it tastes better than the preserved fruits sold in department stores?"

“.......”

Mother Lin took Lin Qi for a walk in the yard and distributed all the persimmon cakes and dried fruits in the basket. Coincidentally, lunch was ready at that time.

Mother Lin took Lin Qi to say goodbye to everyone and returned home.

Everyone watched the mother and daughter walk away and started talking in low voices.

"This Lin Qi actually recovered, it's amazing, is this really how people are raised in the countryside?"

"Not necessarily. The daughter of the old Zhang family who went to the countryside with us came back the day before yesterday. She was dark and thin, and she looked out of shape. She looked more than five years older."

"It's not just the Zhang family. Several other families' sons and daughters are the same. They are all dark and thin, with rough skin and calluses on their hands. It's clear that life in the countryside is very hard."

"Then what's going on with this Lin Qi?"

"Could it be that someone is supporting her?"

"You mean she's being kept?"

"With her looks, there's probably no one else like her in the entire Zhou City. It's normal for her to be kept by someone."

"If she was being kept, then everything makes sense. Otherwise, how could a little girl be so successful in the countryside, not only supporting herself, but also mailing so many things to her family?"

"I said she didn't look like she was doing farm work. Did you notice her hands? They were so white and tender. I've never seen such beautiful hands in my life."

"Alas, I don't know if Li Mei knows that her daughter is being kept."

"How could they not know? They are pretending to be ignorant. How could parents not understand their daughter's abilities?"

"If you ask me, it may not be a sponsorship. Maybe she is in a serious relationship. With Lin Qi's current appearance, there are many people who want to date her."

"No matter what, it's her good fortune that a fool is in her current situation."

"Who says it's not?"

“.......”

These people thought their voices were very quiet, but they didn't know that Lin Qi heard their conversation clearly. After listening, Lin Qi was surprisingly calm, without a trace of anger.

No matter what outsiders speculate, she doesn't care as long as it doesn't interfere with her and her family.

She was far away in the Anliang Brigade, and those people could only guess, not even make groundless accusations, nor could they put the accusation of having promiscuous relationships on her head.

On the contrary, now that she has the reputation of relying on men, no one will suspect that she is engaging in speculation.

This smoke screen has both advantages and disadvantages, but at the moment the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Lin Miaomiao was busy for more than an hour and prepared four dishes: a garlic chive smoked pork, a dry pot rabbit meat, a seaweed egg drop soup, and a stir-fried cabbage. Each dish was quite filling. She even steamed more than two kilograms of rice, and the lid of the pot could hardly be closed.

Gulu——

Lin Miaomiao swallowed her saliva desperately. God knew how painful it was for her. She had to resist the aroma of the food while cooking. She ate secretly a few times in the middle, but the more she ate, the more she couldn't stop.

It smells so good!

It was better than any meal she had ever eaten. Even the most delicious royal banquets were probably no more delicious than this.

When she thought about her silly sister eating such food every day, Lin Miaomiao was so jealous that her heart ached. She even couldn't help but think that if she was the one who went to the countryside -

No, she can't go to the countryside.

Lin Miaomiao recalled the miserable conditions of her friends who went to the countryside. She didn't dare to gamble. She might not have the same opportunities as her silly sister!

During this lunch, the Lin family ate without even raising their heads or saying a word. The whole pot of dry-pot rabbit meat was completely gone. The smoked pork with garlic moss was also eaten up, and there was no rice left. However, there was a lot of leftover stir-fried cabbage and seaweed egg drop soup.

Cough~

Dad Lin burped, touched his bloated stomach, and sat in his chair without moving.

"Dad, you didn't upset your stomach, did you?" Mother Lin asked worriedly.

Father Lin's face turned red and he stammered, "Probably not." He wasn't very sure either.

Mother Lin glared at him, "Is there anything you don't know?"

"I am very full, but not uncomfortable." Father Lin said honestly, "My body is warm and feels very comfortable. I am a little sleepy, so I will go back to my room and take a nap first."

"Go to your son's bed." Mother Lin said to him.

"Why?" Dad Lin was puzzled. After being married for so many years, she now dislikes him?

"I want to sleep with my sweet daughter in my arms these days. I don't need an old man like you." Mother Lin said as a matter of course.

After hearing the explanation, Father Lin sighed helplessly, "Okay, I'm indeed not as fragrant as my daughter."

Dad Lin is going to bed and Lin Miaomiao is going out to play.

Mother Lin continued to organize the things Lin Qi brought back. She cut off a lamb leg, took out a jar of jujube honey, more than 20 persimmon cakes, four or five pounds of dried fruits, a bottle of wine, and ten pounds of rice. Then she called Lin Mo, "Take these New Year gifts, take your sister, and go to your grandmother's house. Now that your sister is back and in good health, it's time for your grandmother to take a good look at her. When she first found out that your sister was mentally retarded, your grandmother cried a lot."

Lin Mo agreed, put the things into the backpack, and then covered it with a piece of cloth, "Are you going to grandma's house?"

"No. Your dad can go by himself." Lin's mother's attitude became much colder.

Lin Mo nodded, "Okay, I understand."

He carried the backpack and called Lin Qi to go out. When he got to the door, he turned back and asked, "If grandma wants to invite us to dinner--"

"Then you guys stay." Mother Lin said indifferently.

Lin Qi had only been to her grandmother's house once and had only met her family once. Compared to her grandmother's dislike and disgust for her, her grandmother was full of pity and love for her.

However, my grandmother and my uncle's family didn't have a good life either, so even though they were having a hard time, Mother Lin rarely took them back to my grandmother's house to beg for money.

"What's with the watch on your hand? Did you buy it or was it given to you by someone?" Lin Mo looked at his sister's watch. Although he didn't know much about watches, his sister's watch looked special. His intuition told him that this watch should be very expensive.

"Someone else gave it to me." Lin Qi thought of Xu Hexiao, her eyes softening.

"What kind of person is he?" Lin Mo felt jealous that someone could make his silly sister look like this.

Lin Qi shook her head. "It's hard to say what kind of person he is. He is probably careful and thoughtful, and he always considers me."

"Is it really that good?" Lin Mo expressed his doubt.

"Not that good. A little, um, a little weak. Not as strong as me, not as fast as me." Lin Qi said seriously.

Lin Mo: “….”

No one except his sister could break a piece of wood from a solid wood table effortlessly.

Besides strength and speed, what other shortcomings are there?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qi fell into deep thought. Is this Xu Hexiao's shortcoming?

After thinking for a long time, she shook her head and said, "At present, he has no shortcomings. He can sew, make clothes, sew backpacks, cook, farm, herd cattle, do accounts, write well, and draw."

Lin Mo had a complicated expression, "He's a man, but he knows so many things?"

"Yes, everything. The cotton coat and trousers my mother gave me were too short, so he helped me sew them together. The bag I carried yesterday was made by him by stitching together cloth pockets. When the weather is cold, he doesn't let me touch cold water, and he is the one who cooks most of the meals." Lin Qi said.

Lin Mo frowned, "Is he from the Youth League?"

"No. Brother, I now have my own house in Anliang Brigade and no longer live in the educated youth site." Lin Qi said.

Lin Mo's eyes widened, "You have your own house!"

"Yes, my own house. I went hunting and used the prey to ask the people in the brigade to help me build a mud house. There is a hall and four rooms, not including the kitchen and bathroom. His house is not far from mine, so we visit each other more frequently." In fact, it was not frequent, but they met almost every day and often had three meals a day together.

Lin Mo was still immersed in the fact that her sister owned a house. Their family of five was still squeezed into two rooms, and her sister owned a big house?

Even in the countryside, such things are rare.