Chapter 224 Mid-Autumn Festival

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Yue prepared a lot of festive items early in the morning, ready to have a good reunion dinner together in the evening.

She was now skilled at killing chickens and fish, and it was effortless to clean them up. Lingling surrounded Lin Yue and kept making suggestions: "Mom, I want to eat mutton hotpot, can we have hotpot today?"

"I'm going to the farm to buy milk. Can you make milk tea for us?"

"Mom, I don't want to eat the ugly mooncakes made by Wanli. Please make me a little rabbit mooncake, like the one made last year."

Wanli covered his mouth and nose with a piece of cloth, took the chicken out of the boiling hot water, put it in cool water, and plucked the chicken feathers one by one. He rolled his eyes, reached out to pull Lingling's clothes, and squeezed, "Why do you ask for so much? If you really have nothing to do, can you just help me clean the fish?"

Ling Ling screamed and dodged, shouting: "Your hands are so dirty, don't touch my clothes, these are newly sewed by my mother, and I am wearing them for the first time today!"

Wanli snorted, turned his head and whispered, "There are so many things to do!"

Ling Ling said angrily: "Don't think I can't hear you. Who are you talking about who has more troubles?"

"I'm talking about you. You have so many things to do and you love to be lazy! Last time I saw you asking Sisi to fold your quilt for you!"

"I was teaching her how to fold the quilt!"

The older these two kids get, the more they like to quarrel. Lin Yue simply separated them: "Lingling, go to the vegetable garden and cut some chives!"

Ling Ling glared at Wan Li, but before she could respond, she heard Auntie Hua's voice coming from outside the door: "Xiao Lin, is your Zhang Tuan at home? My family has applied for a transport truck, and we are going to bring the cabbages back today. Do you want to come?"

This year's winter came a little early. It's only the beginning of October, but the temperature has already shown a sharp downward trend. The weather has been good in recent days, and both the soldiers and their family members in the army are rushing to harvest cabbages.

Lin Yue ran out quickly and welcomed the person in. "Auntie, are you going to pick cabbages now? Wait for me for a while, I will clean it up!"

Auntie Hua actually wanted to form a partnership with the two companies, finish one first, and then work together to help the other. Lin Yue said a little embarrassedly: "Auntie, Yuandong went out early in the morning, and it's just me and a few children. The two older ones are relatively decent, but the younger ones are not so good. If you don't mind, let's go now."

Aunt Hua poked her head into the house and looked around. "Is Captain Zhang not at home today? It's okay. I have a big family and can get things done quickly!"

What else is there to say? Before Lin Yue could say something to express his gratitude, he heard the sound of a car engine. Aunt Hua went out to look around and said, "I'll go see if the transport truck is coming!"

She looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was indeed a truck driving over, but it was not heading towards her house, but was coming straight here. From time to time, one or two children would run out on the street. The truck honked all the way and slowly drove to the front of Lin Yue's house.

The car door opened, and a young and energetic guy jumped out of the car. He greeted Aunt Hua politely and walked straight into Lin Yue's house.

Lin Yue's surprised voice came from the yard: "Liu Fang, why did you come without telling me in advance!"

The young man laughed heartily and said, "Brother Zhang is here to prepare the betrothal gifts for you, so he asked me to come here to work as a laborer!"

Lin Yue said with a "Pah" sound, "What nonsense! We have been married for a long time, why are we still preparing a betrothal gift?!"

The young man laughed and urged, "Sister-in-law, no more jokes, go to the house and tidy up. Brother Zhang bought you a big one, see where to put it!"

Outside the hospital, Zhang Yuandong and the driver got out of the car and carefully lifted a sewing machine from the car.

This sewing machine is different from the ones sold in department stores. It has an off-white body and a larger workbench than the ones for home use. It also does not have as many patterns. Aunt Hua recognized it immediately. It is a sewing machine specially used in garment factories. Neither the quality nor the functions are comparable to those of home sewing machines.

Auntie Hua followed Zhang Yuandong and the driver into the house with envy, watching them put the sewing machine next to the large writing table. She went over and touched the sewing machine again and again, and her fingers touched a few words on the workbench. She pulled Lin Yue in surprise, "Hey, this, this, is this the name of Xiaoxia's garment factory?"

Once, a garment factory needed to embroider the name of the factory on a batch of clothes. Because of the lack of skills, it could only be embroidered manually. There were not so many red beans in the factory, so she simply outsourced it to Aunt Hua. She could not recognize a few words, and simply embroidered those words as patterns. After doing a batch of work, she at least remembered the name of the garment factory, so she recognized it immediately.

Lin Yue was also completely confused. Zhang Yuandong didn't tell her anything at all. She was now even more confused than Aunt Hua.

Zhang Yuandong caught her gaze, touched his nose, and replied, "Yes, this was discarded by Sister Xia's unit. It's not new."

He was somewhat embarrassed. He had wanted to give his wife a surprise, but he didn't expect Aunt Hua to be there too. This made him feel quite awkward.

A group of adults blocked their view. Sisi and Little Mushroom climbed onto the kang and jumped around, trying to see what it was. However, when Little Mushroom exerted force, a muffled sound came from the kang. The two children froze in place and looked at the adults in horror.

The voices of several people stopped talking, and Lin Yue's face turned black.

Liu Fang quickly went over and picked up the two children, saying with a smile: "Our little Mushroom is really strong. Let's have an arm wrestling competition with uncle to see who is stronger, okay?" He was afraid that Lin Yue would scold them, so he wanted to walk out of the house while holding them.

The little mushroom was happy and shouted loudly: "Good!"

He hugged Liu Fang's neck and secretly observed his parents' expressions, his little eyes shining brightly.

With Liu Fang standing in front of them, Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong didn't say anything. Aunt Hua smiled and said, "Oh, the kang collapsed, didn't it? Don't worry, my little Si'er is the best at fixing kang boards, let him help you fix it when the time comes, it will definitely not delay your winter!"

In the few years since coming to this world, Lin Yue had already learned this skill, but she still thanked Aunt Hua. Aunt Hua waved her hands and buried her head in studying the sewing machine.

"This sewing machine is said to be old, but it is not at all out of service. I think it is no different from a new one. My family also wants to buy one. We have been saving up industrial coupons for two years, but we just can't afford it! I wonder if Xiaoxia's company has a suitable one. I will also ask her to buy one for me!"

Zhang Yuandong felt uneasy. Captain Zhu already had a sewing machine at home and didn't need this quota, so he got it at a bargain price. The other employees were all locals with many relatives and friends at home, so it would be difficult for there to be any vacancies left.

He didn't say anything. He wanted to buy a bicycle for Lin Yue a few years ago and saved a lot of industrial coupons. In the end, he didn't buy a bicycle and had to go through the trouble of exchanging new ones with others every year. He thought that if Aunt Hua couldn't buy a bicycle from Sister Xia, he could still exchange the industrial coupons in his hand for her.

The driver heard the horn of a truck outside the door and rushed out to check. Before he reached the door, he saw Ma Fangdong coming in and shouted, "Who applied for this car? It's just right for me to pick up some cabbages!"

Zhang Yuandong asked: "Are we going to harvest cabbages today?"

Lin Yue nodded, "Auntie Hua came here to talk about this. We were just about to leave."

Ma Fangdong had already entered the house with the driver. He said bluntly, "Sister-in-law, there are many children at home, so you should just not go. Stay at home with my mother, make a simple lunch, and wait for us to come back!" He patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Liu, do you have anything to do today? Let's go do some work together. I'll treat you to a drink at noon!"

He arranged it in a few words, and no one objected. The driver Xiao Liu also smiled and agreed, "Then the wine at noon cannot be bad!"

Liu Fang also expressed his opinion: "I'll go too if they're harvesting cabbages. It'll be quicker with more people!"

Ma Fangdong asked curiously: "Who is this brother?"

Zhang Yuandong introduced him, "This is a friend of mine. He currently works at the Municipal Public Security Bureau. He came here today to help me deliver something."

Ma Fangdong laughed and said, "So you are a brother from the public security system. I have to have a couple of drinks with you this afternoon!"

Liu Fang was also a man who knew how to take advantage of others. After just a few words, he became friends with the man and walked out arm in arm.

Zhang Yuandong seemed to have thought of something and asked Ma Fangdong, "Has Lao Lu been on a mission recently?"

Ma Fangdong nodded. "I haven't seen him for a while. He must be on a mission."

"Then call our neighbor, Mrs. Zhou. You've also applied for a car, so we can go together."

Seeing that they were about to go out, Lingling and Wanli became anxious. The two siblings shouted into the house: "Mom, we want to pick cabbages too!"

When Lin Yue chased out, the two children had already run to Liu Fang's side, surrounding him from left and right, calling him "Uncle, Uncle" non-stop.

They were both grown-up kids, so there was no need to worry about them causing trouble. Lin Yue gave them a few loud instructions and let them go.

Winters in the black market are cold and long, and cabbage is one of the important winter reserves. Almost every household will plant a few acres of cabbage, so when it comes to harvesting cabbage, it is still very spectacular.

After everyone left, Lin Yue and Aunt Hua decided to have lunch together at noon. Aunt Hua brought the ingredients to Lin Yue's house and cooked lunch with her.

It was almost noon and lunch was ready when the sound of a car roared outside.

Lin Yue and Aunt Hua went out to see that the family compound was particularly lively today. There were not only transport vehicles but also horse-drawn carriages. The horses snorted and wagged their tails as they slowly pulled carts of cabbages on the road.

Zhang Yuandong and his men also came back in two trucks. The two trucks were loaded with at least five or six thousand cabbages. The wasteland east of Lin Yue's home had been developed into a drying field. The cabbages needed to be dried before they could be stored. Lin Yue and Aunt Hua went there together and unloaded the cabbages on the drying field with everyone else.

After everything was done, Lin Yue invited everyone to go into the house to eat. Zhou Aixiang and Dongkai stood there without moving, saying embarrassedly: "We are so grateful for your help today, otherwise all these cabbages would have rotted on the ground!"

She had actually started harvesting cabbages two days ago, but unfortunately she didn't apply for a vehicle, so she couldn't bring the cabbages back. If these two families hadn't helped her today, she would have had to apply for a soldier from the camp to help her bring the cabbages back.

Lin Yue smiled and said, "Why are you being so polite? We have prepared dinner at home. You and the children can come over and eat together!"

Zhou Aixiang was about to refuse, but Sun Xilai pushed her in annoyance, "Why are you being so polite today? If you really feel embarrassed, make some tofu for us in a few days. I can never make it as good as you do!"

Zhou Aixiang nodded quickly, "That's a small matter, I will definitely teach you a lesson next time!"

Everyone went into the house, chatting and laughing. There were already two large dining tables in the house. There was another table on the kang in the main room, which was for the children.

After everyone was seated, Ma Fangdong hurried in. He held up two bottles of wine in his hands and laughed, "This is my treasure I brought from my hometown. I wanted to drink it tonight. You guys got it for free!"

"You brought so much, aren't you afraid that we will drink it all?"

Sun Xilai took the wine and poured it for everyone, saying with a smile: "Hey, please be kind and help him finish it quickly, so that he won't worry about it every day!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

A group of little kids on the kang were all crowded against the wall near the door, leaning their heads out and looking eagerly out.

Dabao swallowed his saliva and asked, "Have you ever drunk alcohol? My father drinks almost every day. I want to try it, but he won't let me. My mother says it's not good and never allows me to touch it. But I see my father enjoying himself when he drinks, so I think it must taste good!"

Among the group of children in the room, he and Dongkai were the oldest. The other children looked at each other and shook their heads.

Dong Kai puffed up his chest with pride, "I have drunk it before. When I was in kindergarten, my grandfather dipped his chopsticks in it and gave it to me. Last year during the Chinese New Year, I even toasted with my dad!"

All the children looked at him, their eyes full of envy and admiration. Lingling asked in a low voice: "Brother Dongkai, is the wine good?"

Erbao replied: "It must taste good, otherwise why would so many adults like this stuff!"

"Is that better than the milk tea my mom makes?"

This puzzled the group of children. Except for their brothers and sisters, the other children had never drunk milk tea and had no idea what it tasted like.

Lingling was delighted. She vowed, "After dinner, I will go to the farm to get some milk. Then I will ask my mother to make some milk tea for each of you to try!"

Lin Yue noticed the children's movements and slapped his forehead, "I forgot about their drinks."

She brought two thermoses to the children and said with a smile, "Here, this is for you, but don't drink too much, one cup each, don't delay your meal!"

Ling Ling walked over, opened the lid of the thermos and looked inside, and said happily: "Mom, it's milk tea! Did you go buy milk?"

Lin Yue nodded. "You guys worked hard to harvest cabbages this morning. This is a reward."

A group of children cheered happily, ran back to their seats, holding their bowls and waiting obediently for Lin Yue to distribute food to them.

On the other side, they were already drinking in a lively atmosphere. They had just worked together for the whole morning, so they were familiar with each other. After three rounds of drinks, they started talking more. The men were talking about all sorts of things. Fortunately, Ma Fangdong and his men remembered the military regulations and did not bring up the things in the army. But Liu Fang was in trouble. Several people surrounded him and wanted to hear him talk about the cases he had handled before.

Liu Fang had no one to help him, so he could only pick out some unimportant or closed cases and tell them to everyone.

The men were chatting animatedly, but the women were not interested in these things and just started gossiping about all sorts of things.

Zhou Aixiang sighed and said, "I'm lucky you guys helped me today. I was originally thinking about collecting things with Zhang Yulan's family, but she's pregnant now, and she doesn't want to go out anymore. I can't work with Instructor Li, or else there will be rumors."

Lin Yue asked curiously, "Isn't her sister still at her house? You two can do it together. You are not alone, so what are you afraid of?"

"Hey, stop talking. I don't know what happened to her sister. She has a lot of bumps on her body. Now she stays in the house all day. She looks more like a pregnant woman than Zhang Yulan!"

"What kind of lump is so serious? Didn't you go to the hospital?"

Zhou Aixiang also had only a vague understanding of this. "She said she went to see a doctor and was told it was rubella or something. She said she couldn't be exposed to the wind or cold. So she stayed at home and didn't dare to go out!"

Lin Yue thought for a moment and asked, "Is it urticaria or something like that?" Lin Yue was very suspicious of this "Zhang Yuhui" at first, but since she had been here for so long and had always been well-behaved, and had never caused any trouble, Lin Yue slowly put his suspicions aside.

She is probably not Zhang Yulan's real sister, but it probably has nothing to do with the identity she thinks.

"How could I remember that? Anyway, I was itching all over and couldn't go out."

A few people just sighed a few times and changed the subject to talk about other things. No one noticed Liu Fang's ambiguous gaze.

Sun Xilai sighed, "Her health may have been damaged when she was at her husband's house. She can't even have children!"

Xiao Liu listened and asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, are you talking about Instructor Li's cousin? I heard that she was also bullied by her husband's family, but fortunately Sister-in-law Zhang helped her and saved her from the fire."

Zhou Aixiang responded repeatedly: "That's right! She has lived here for a while. Maybe she was tortured too hard in the past, so her health has not improved."

"She is actually lucky. There was a woman in my hometown who was also tortured by her husband's family. She lost her child and her health deteriorated. Her husband's family saw that she was useless and drove her away. That woman is really pitiful!"

Aunt Hua couldn't bear to hear this and asked hurriedly, "Oh, what a sin! What happened to her later?"

Xiao Liu's eyes flickered. "Later... Hey, they couldn't find her anymore! I heard that her family went to look for her, but she was gone by then. They just threatened the family a few times and didn't do anything about it. They never went back."

The two people's experiences are so similar, but unfortunately their subsequent circumstances are different, and everyone sighs.

Liu Fang suddenly asked, "Brother, where are you from? Judging from your accent, it shouldn't be far from here, right?"

Xiao Liu smiled and said, "Of course, my home is very close to here, in the next city!"

Liu Fang seemed to be thinking about something. He asked him a few more questions and then said no more.

After dinner, when everyone had gone home, Liu Fang slowly told them everything they had found out in the past few days. Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong were both shocked when they heard it.