After lunch, Zhao Shiyun saw some firewood that had not been chopped in the yard, so he picked up an axe and started working, letting Yan Ge'er and Amoduo chat in private.
Zhou Chunlan pulled Lin Yan into the room and took out two pairs of shoes from the box. "Brother Yan, take them and see if you like them."
She pulled Lin Yan to sit down beside the bed. "Mo took the time to make a pair of shoes for you and Shi Yun recently, but they weren't ready when you got married, so I didn't give them to you. They're thick and perfect for winter."
Lin Yan touched the dense stitching of the shoes and felt really happy: "Thank you, Amo."
He thought of something and asked, "Mo, are you going to town to sell vegetables in a couple of days? I see a lot of dried vegetables drying in the yard. There's also quite a lot of pickled cabbage and pickled beans."
"Go ahead. I'll take less with me and be back in the morning." Zhou Chunlan knew her brother was worried about her being alone. "I can also go to town with my aunt in the village, so I can look after her."
Lin Yan hesitated and said, "I'll go with Ah Mo..."
"How can this be possible? You are married now, and everything should be based on your husband's family," Zhou Chunlan advised.
"Ah~" Lin Yan was unhappy, "I'm just worried about you..."
"Silly boy, I'm doing this for your own good," Zhou Chunlan patted his hands and said earnestly, "Although you're married close by, if you come back often, the villagers will gossip about you."
Lin Yan pouted: "I'm not afraid..."
Zhou Chunlan sighed, "How can one not care about what others think of one in this life? Now that you're married, you should serve your husband and your parents-in-law well, and stop thinking about Ah Mo all the time."
Lin Yan bit his lip, feeling conflicted. However, he also knew that Ah Mo was doing this for his own good, but he was truly worried about her.
*
After leaving Lin's house, Zhao Shiyun asked Lin Yan if he wanted to go to the neighboring village to buy fish. Lin Yan had never been there, so he immediately said yes.
They went home first to put their things away. At the bottom of the backpack were two cans of pickled cabbage and pickled beans given by their mom, and on top were the shoes made by their mom. They held a bowl in their hands with seven or eight stuffed tofu in it. Zhou Chunlan had specially made more for Lin Yan to take back.
When Yu Geer heard they were going to the neighboring village, he was very excited to follow them. The three of them picked up two buckets and set off.
Arriving at the neighboring village, the fish pond water had cleared, and many men from the neighboring village were now catching fish. It was quite lively. After watching the hustle and bustle, Lin Yan and his friends decided to buy some fish to take home. It was quite cold out there, so it was better to go home and warm up by the fire.
After picking out a few crucian carp and grass carp, Zhao Shiyun asked the man selling fish, "Do you have silver carp?"
"Yes, yes, here, how many do you want?"
"Let's have three." Zhao Shiyun replied. He would leave two at home and give one to Zhou Chunlan. There was plenty of tofu at home, so stewing a fish head would be so delicious.
After paying the money, the three of them went back. When they got home, Zhao Shiyun took a small bucket and filled it with a silver carp, a crucian carp and a grass carp, intending to send it to Zhou Chunlan.
Lin Yan watched from the side, "How many? That's too many. My mom can't finish them all."
"If you can't finish it, just keep it. It's not a big deal."
Zhao Shiyun mentioned the fish: "Brother Yan, I can go by myself. It won't take much time. It's cold, you don't have to go."
Lin Yan nodded, and then he decided not to go with them because he was going to make dinner.
Li Yuemei was in the kitchen preparing to cook. When she heard this, she called out, "Get another bowl of tofu and take it with you."
"Oh, I see." Zhao Shiyun responded loudly.
*
Lying in bed at night, Lin Yan tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Zhao Shiyun noticed his strangeness and asked softly, "Brother Yan, are you worried about something?"
Lin Yan hesitated for a moment and did not tell the truth. Instead, he asked, "Shi Yun, you...why don't our family go to the town to sell tofu? This village is not far from the town."
Zhao Shiyun was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to tell Lin Yan about these old stories, but since Brother Yan asked, there was nothing to hide.
"That happened when I was a kid..."
It turns out that the skill of making tofu was passed down from the ancestors of the Zhao family. When it was passed to Zhao Shiyun's grandfather, his grandfather had two children, both boys.
One is Zhao Shiyun's father Zhao Qiming, and the other is Zhao Shiyun's uncle, Zhao Qide, Zhao Qiming's younger brother. Zhao Qide has been lazy and unmotivated since childhood, and Grandpa Zhao has broken countless canes on him, but he still refuses to change.
When they reached marriageable age, Zhao Qiming married Li Yuemei from Lijia Village, and they lived a harmonious and happy life. Zhao Qide, who was idle, spent his days wandering around town, where he met the daughter of the Liu family, who ran a tea shop there.
Liu was not a good person. She was jealous and liked to gossip, but she was good-looking. Zhao Qide fell in love with her at first sight and spent 20 taels of betrothal money to marry her.
Living together as a family after marriage inevitably led to some disagreements. Li Yuemei, with her good nature, often tolerated Liu's sarcasm. Zhao Qiming was diligent and studious, so Grandpa Zhao planned to leave the tofu shop to him.
Zhao Qide knew that he was not cut out for it and didn't want to fight for it. However, under the instigation of Liu, he felt that Grandpa Zhao was biased. The tofu shop was making so much money, why should the eldest son inherit it? So he made a fuss about dividing the family business.
Grandpa Zhao regretted not raising him well. He had originally planned for the eldest son to inherit the tofu shop and the second son to inherit the land. Now that things had gotten out of hand, Zhao Qide bluntly declared that this was unfair and that the tofu shop and land should be divided equally. Even if he knew Grandpa Zhao wanted him to inherit the land, he wouldn't be grateful. After all, in his eyes, he simply didn't want to be a peasant farming.
Grandpa Zhao didn't do what he wanted, because he knew that if he got involved in the tofu shop, it would gradually decline. He couldn't let this legacy passed down by his ancestors fall into his hands. So he forcefully divided it among the eldest brother. However, he gave the lion's share of the land and silver to Zhao Qide.
Zhao Qide was still not satisfied and held a grudge in his heart. He sold the land he had been allocated and went to live in his mother's town with Liu. With the help of his father-in-law, he opened a tofu shop in the town, but it closed down soon because of his poor craftsmanship.
Zhao Shiyun sighed, "Actually, we went to the town to sell tofu later. This uncle lived in the town. One day, he happened to see me and my mom selling tofu, and without saying a word, he smashed our stall..."
After that, whenever Zhao Qide went to the town to sell tofu, he would cause trouble. Zhao Qiming felt that he owed his brother and just wanted to keep things quiet. He stopped going and only sold tofu in the village. This greatly reduced his income, but it was enough to support his family, so the family was content.
Lin Yan sighed and asked, "So what is my uncle doing now?"
"His father-in-law passed away two years ago. He and his aunt run the tea shop, but business isn't very good..." Zhao Shiyun turned over and continued, "We haven't been to town to sell tofu for several years. Actually, I'm grown up now and I'm not afraid of him. I'm just used to it."
Later, Zhao Shiyun also thought about continuing to sell tofu in the town, hoping to save enough money to get married soon, but his father did not agree, so he had to give up.
Lin Yan held Zhao Shiyun's hand and patted it to comfort him. "When we got married, I saw several relatives. I remember you said they were cousins?"
"Those are my two cousins from my uncle's family. They are a few years older than me and are both married."
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