"I...I've lost all my money!"

Lin Li ran out in a panic, her eyes red and filled with tears, her expression sorrowful.

"I don't have a single penny left! What am I going to do? How am I going to survive!"

Lin Li sat on the ground, slapping her legs with her hands, her face covered in tears...

Hearing Lin Li's words and seeing her heartbroken expression, the village chief trembled with rage. "You are all beasts! You stole all of Aunt Lin's money, and you still won't hand it over."

The Lin family's ungrateful bastards lying on the ground, look at each other, who took it? Why aren't you handing it over?

Seeing the indifferent 'ungrateful wretches' on the ground, Lin Li cried even more miserably.

"Search them!"

At the village chief's command, the villagers around him immediately stepped forward and began to pat the men on the body.

When Lin Lao Er saw it, he was so frightened that his body went limp. He had hidden his secret stash of money in his shoe, containing several hundred dollars.

"Who took the money? Hand it over now! Little Lin, was it you?"

"Second brother, don't wrong me, I didn't find any money."

Lin Xiaodi was also struggling desperately; he also had his own money.

"Is that my little sister?"

"It wasn't me!"

Lin Xiaomei clutched her chest, dodging the woman's body search.

"Big brother, take it out quickly! Stop being stubborn!"

"I didn't take it, don't accuse me wrongly."

Lin Laoda looked completely at ease and let the villagers search him, as he didn't have a single penny on him.

Before long, the villagers had searched them and found all the money on their bodies.

The village chief took it and counted it; good heavens, it added up to almost 1,500 yuan.

"You still say you didn't steal any money? What is this then?"

"Village chief, this is my own money! I really couldn't find the old woman's money!"

"Me too!"

"Village chief, I've been wronged!"

The 'ungrateful wretches' collectively cried out that they were wronged!

The village chief was even angrier when he heard them still have the nerve to cry foul.

These strong, healthy young men, each with so much money of their own, still had the nerve to come to their elderly mother's house and take away all her remaining money and belongings.

The village chief looked at the things they had placed in the corner, things they were preparing to take with them. They even took the quilt. Were they afraid that Aunt Lin would freeze to death at night?

"Call the police!"

Lin Li was helped up by two women and slowly walked to the village chief. She wiped away her tears and spoke to the crowd in a firm tone.

"Let the police handle this, so they don't say we wronged them!"

After listening to Lin Li's words, the village chief nodded and called over a villager to tell him to go and call the police. Suddenly, Lin Lao Er stood up and grabbed the hand of the villager who was about to call the police.

"Don't call the police! Don't call the police! We admit our mistake! We were wrong!"

Lin Lao Er was terrified. If he called the police and got a criminal record, his life would be over.

The rest of the Lin family members were also terrified and turned pale. This time, they shouted in unison, "Don't call the police! We were wrong! This is the old woman's money. We'll compensate her!"

"Do not call the police."

After hearing this, the village chief and villagers felt even more disgusted with them...

Bah! You beast.

Lin Li wiped away her tears, suppressing her excitement as she accepted the money from the village chief, repeatedly expressing her gratitude to him and the villagers.

He took out 100 yuan and handed it to the village chief, asking him to help him arrange to buy some things to thank the villagers who came to help.

Everyone: Aunt Lin is just too kind...

The ungrateful bastards: ...That's really our money!!!

“Go back and write a letter of repentance and submit it to the village committee. If I see you causing trouble at Aunt Lin’s house again, I will definitely call the police.”

"right!"

The villagers echoed in unison.

Lin Li was so excited/moved that her eyes were filled with tears!

As the villagers dragged the ungrateful Lin family member away, they gently comforted her, "Aunt Lin, don't be angry. It's not worth ruining your health by getting angry at these beasts. We need to live our lives properly."

"Yes!" Lin Li nodded vigorously, determined to make the most of this time.

After watching everyone leave, Lin Li closed the courtyard gate with red eyes, her lips curving upwards into a wide, unrestrained smile.

Great, I've made another 1400 yuan. These beasts are really rich, much richer than Old Lady Lin. She searched through Old Lady Lin's secret stash and didn't even find 1000 yuan.

Humming a song, he put the things those beasts had taken out back in their original places, then took out the handcart he had bought at the market that day and began to modify it.

She went to sell boxed lunches at the factory gate; with her current skills, the house shouldn't collapse.

She painted the tin handcart body in the most fashionable peacock blue of the time, painted the edges with gold cloud patterns imitating the packaging of Shanghai brand toilet water, and covered the sides of the cart with celebrity posters from "Popular Cinema".

Ten insulated tin boxes were placed on the upper part of the vehicle, with red slogans such as "Saving food is glorious" affixed to the lids.

Inside the insulated box, aluminum lunch boxes were stacked neatly, each covered with cellophane printed with peony patterns.

On the lower left side of the folding wooden table, there are bamboo chopsticks stuck in an enamel mug, and next to it is a tissue box with a "Family Planning is Good" propaganda poster, all of which are secondhand items that were found online.

The handlebars were wrapped in faded polyester floral fabric, leftover scraps from making shirts back then.

The canopy was made of discarded green military uniform canvas, with copper bells tied to the four corners from the supply and marketing cooperative.

Lin Li had recorded her shouts of "Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, large portions and all you can eat" on the old tape recorder speaker hanging at the back of the car, and played it on a loop.

After all this was done, it was already getting dark.

She checked the time; Lin Laosan should be home soon. She quickly went to the kitchen.

Wisps of white smoke rose from the honeycomb briquette stove in the kitchen. Lin Li had already tied on a blue apron and began to work on the greasy cutting board.

Steam was bubbling away in the steamer. In six rough porcelain basins, glistening braised pork was neatly arranged, the skin gleaming with a caramel-colored sheen, and the trembling fat almost melting in the sauce.

The braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens is a perfect balance of lean and fatty meat. The tender pork belly absorbs the salty aroma of the preserved mustard greens, and when the lid is lifted, the steam carrying the fragrance of soy sauce wafts out.

Fried ribbonfish pieces coated in golden batter, sprinkled with salt and pepper, make a satisfying "crunch" when you bite into them; the bright red, savory duck pieces have crispy skin and tender meat, with the broth soaking into every crevice of the bone.

Kung Pao Chicken is coated in thick red oil, and the peanuts crackle between your teeth; there's also Braised Lion's Head Meatballs, fist-sized meatballs stewed until they melt in your mouth, and the broth is so good you could eat two big bowls of rice with it.

Vegetarian dishes can also whet your appetite.

The vibrant green water spinach with garlic sauce is sizzling with the aroma of a wok, its stems crisp and leaves tender; the hot and sour shredded potatoes are cut into translucent, thin strips that remain white even when soaked in water; the stir-fried chives and bean sprouts are refreshing and delicious, the pungent aroma of the chives mingling with the crispness of the bean sprouts; the tiger-skin chili peppers are pan-fried until their skin wrinkles, then drizzled with garlic sauce, making them savory and perfect with rice.

After steaming another large bucket of white rice and setting aside food for the mother and son for tonight, the rest was stored away in the space.

Keep it fresh in the air, and when you take it out tomorrow, it will still be steaming hot.