Chapter 12 First Signs of Good Fortune 05 No time to play your part here...
The Lin brothers decided to go back after staying there for three days. In their eyes, Yu Xingzhou was beyond reproach. He cooked all three meals a day, washed their clothes, and taught classes at school during the day. He was not idle at all. This made the two men, who had been eating in the cafeteria and having their housekeeper cook for them for years, reflect on their actions.
The two got up as soon as it was light, took turns washing up, and then went to start a fire to make breakfast.
The young couple decided to make some egg pancakes so they could easily take them on the road. They also had some peach shortbread they had bought before, which they would pack together with the pancakes.
Yu Xingzhou was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen, while Lin Tingyue took two eggs to the brigade leader's house to borrow a bicycle.
Lu Zhenhai was a little confused. "Didn't you buy bicycles?"
"My brother and the others left today. Xingzhou and I took them to the county to catch the bus, so we can each ride a bike back." Lin Tingyue also took a day off. Since they were going to the county, they would definitely need to buy some food and drinks.
"Okay, if you come back early and start work, I won't count this day off for you." Lu Zhenhai was in charge of keeping track of the scores, and he wanted to curry favor with them.
"Thank you, Captain. I'll head back now."
When Lin Tingyue rode her bicycle home, breakfast had already been laid out at home—pork and scallion dumplings that had been prepared in advance the night before.
The Lin brothers were surprised that they hadn't had to suffer any hardship in the countryside, and they became even more satisfied with their brother-in-law.
Moreover, Yu Xingzhou is currently eating breakfast and making egg pancakes in the kitchen.
"That's about enough, they won't go hungry." Lin Tingyue packed the egg pancakes separately in oil paper, and also packed a few peach shortbreads that Yu Xingzhou had made himself.
As the first rays of dawn appeared, the group of four set off for the county town.
In those days, transportation wasn't as developed, and there were no convenient communication devices. Lin Tingyue didn't know when they would meet again. Watching her two older brothers board the long-distance bus, she found it hard to move on.
The two men, who had just settled in and put their things down, looked out the window at their sister, their expressions turning tense and surprised, but the car had already started moving.
Yu Xingzhou quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her face, "Don't cry, didn't your older brother say that we can go back for the New Year, and then we'll see each other again."
She then realized that she was crying, which she figured was due to the influence of this body.
Lin Tingyue calmly wiped away her tears and said, "Let's go, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things."
This time there were two cars, so they could bring more things back. Plus, it had been a long time since Lin Tingyue had had time to come to the county town, so she wanted to buy everything she saw.
When the two returned to the village, Xu Xingyi saw the large and small bags on the front and seat of the car. He immediately thought of the hundred yuan he had been forced to return and was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
When Xu's parents said they would cut off the money, they really did. Xu Xingyi clutched the last five yuan he had left and drank corn porridge for three days straight. He didn't know if he would be able to afford to buy meat together at the educated youth settlement next time.
Xu Xingyi became increasingly restless, so he grabbed an axe, slung a basket over his shoulder, and pretended to go to the back mountain to chop firewood.
He suddenly remembered Lin Tingyue's trap on the mountain. What if there were prey that accidentally fell into it?
With his hazy memory, he actually found the trap. He lifted the branches and leaves covering it and found several grayish-brown things moving inside.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that a nest of wild rabbits was hidden there, and besides wild grass, there were also many corn kernels at the bottom of the pit, indicating that someone was feeding them.
Xu Xingyi was just worried about not finding a pretext to make things difficult for Lin Tingyue, so he covered the hole with the tree branches again and hurriedly went down the mountain to the Yu family.
Before lunchtime, smoke began to rise from the brick house. Xu Xingyi, smelling the aroma of stewed meat, pounded on the door with tremendous force.
Seeing that the door remained closed, Xu Xingyi was about to continue smashing it when he threw a punch but missed, nearly falling to the ground due to the inertia.
The woman who opened the door already looked displeased, but her face instantly turned cold when she saw who it was. She looked at him unfriendly but patiently asked, "Is there something urgent?"
Lin Tingyue rushed out to open the door because of the knocking sound, and came out wearing only a sleeveless vest. Xu Xingyi looked at the woman in front of him, who had fair skin, a beautiful face, and a curvaceous figure. His anger was interrupted by her beauty, and the words he had prepared were stuck in his throat.
Unlike Song Xue's sweet appearance, Lin Tingyue's striking features naturally have a somewhat aggressive quality. Coupled with her originally fiery and domineering personality, Xu Xingyi used to only find her noisy, but now it seems that her temperament is different from before, and her temperament has become much colder.
It's strange, yet so beautiful that you can't take your eyes off it.
While inwardly despising himself for being bewitched by her beauty, Xu Xingyi couldn't help but ogle her figure, and didn't forget to threaten her, "I've found out you were secretly raising rabbits in the back mountain. You know what to do, right?"
"What do you know?" Lin Tingyue was baffled. She just occasionally took some corn to the mountain to feed them. Who wouldn't want to touch something furry? "Even if I have a breeding relationship with that litter of rabbits, I haven't broken the law. Isn't it a bit much to threaten me with this?"
"Each household has a quota for raising livestock, didn't you know that?"
Lin Tingyue was speechless and decided to let Xu Xingyi do as he pleased. "If you're so bored, go to school and give a couple more lectures. I don't have time to play your student here."
After saying that, he closed the door, almost giving him a hard time.
Xu Xingyi's stubborn temper flared up again, and he ran to the brigade leader's office to report Lin Tingyue for secretly raising rabbits.
After pondering for a while, Lu Zhenhai decided to go up with Xu Xingyi to take a look.
In fact, many families in the village secretly raise extra animals, and usually it's just a matter of turning a blind eye, because they want to get more food. But when someone reports it to him, he has no choice but to take action.
Lu Zhenhai followed him up the mountain, winding his way to the place. Upon opening the lid, he found only a mother rabbit and four baby rabbits. "That's all?"
Xu Xingyi argued confidently, "Rabbits reproduce quickly, and if she raises them like this, they can have another litter this year."
“There must be a male rabbit. Did the female rabbit fall into the trap?” Lu Zhenhai shook his head, relieved that he had made a wasted trip, otherwise it would have been troublesome to deal with. “Didn’t you ask Lin Zhiqing if this was her pet? Maybe she’s a kind-hearted girl who didn’t want to catch it to eat, and you found out.”
"Of course I asked, but she denied it."
"That settles it then! If they really want to raise it, they can take it home. Why keep it on the mountain? Wild animals might come and eat it." Lu Zhenhai patted the dirt off his clothes and pointed at Xu Xingyi. "Xiao Xu, although you two have a bit of a grudge, there are some things you can't say carelessly. Aren't you just getting people into trouble?"
Xu Xingyi hadn't expected the brigade leader to be so biased, and knew that it would be difficult to cause trouble for Lin Tingyue in the village.
A month later, he finally had another chance.
The incident began when Lin Tingyue came to give the female educated youth handmade soaps she had made herself.
After waiting a month for the handmade soap to mature, Lin Tingyue couldn't wait to try it out. She thought the effect was pretty good, but she was afraid that consumers in this era wouldn't buy it if she took it directly to the black market. She still had to ask people around her for their real opinions first.
She took out four pieces: one goat milk soap and one mugwort soap were cut into small trial packs, and the other two were wrapped separately.
Yu Xingzhou saw that she was already cutting handmade soap and assumed that she was going to the black market that night.
"No, I'm going to the educated youth settlement to deliver some to Sister Mingxia, but it wouldn't be right to only give it to Sister Mingxia, so I'll give some to all the female educated youth as well, and see how they react." If the response is good, these educated youth might become her first customers.
It was already late outside, and Yu Xingzhou was a little worried. "Then I'll go with you."
"OK."
Recently, due to the busy farming season, these educated youths have been quite exhausted, and they have all gotten a shade darker from the sun. Xu Xingyi has also become much darker and looks haggard. After all, without the original owner of this body, who is obsessed with love, to do the work for him, he has to do everything himself.
Lin Tingyue also got a bit tanned, but she insisted on wearing a hat, long sleeves and pants, and even had Yu Xingzhou sew a mask for her, so at least she didn't get sunburned.
Some of the educated youth had previously thought she was pretentious, vain, and had the airs of a capitalist's daughter. But without comparison, there's no harm done, especially since Yu Xingzhou hadn't worked in the fields for the past two months, spending his time either at school or doing housework, and being well-fed and cared for. Although he was still a bit thin, he looked much better than before. Moreover, he was handsome to begin with, and for a moment, even the male educated youth passing by couldn't help but linger their gazes on him.
"These are the handmade soaps we made recently. I cut two pieces, so everyone can try them out. One is goat milk soap, which can be used to wash your face, hands, and hair. It leaves your skin quite moisturized. This mugwort soap can also be used to wash your hands, and then to wash clothes..." Lin Tingyue introduced the soaps while washing them in a basin of water. After washing, she even let the female educated youth touch her hands.
"I'll give it a try too." One of the female educated youths couldn't resist trying it herself, so Lin Tingyue took the opportunity to step back and took out the two pieces from the cloth bag and handed them to Luo Mingxia.
"I'll give you both of these. Give me your feedback on how they work after you've used them."
"No, no, I'll pay you the market price. You need to buy materials to make these handmade soaps, and it takes time." Luo Mingxia didn't want to take them for free. If the educated youth at the settlement all asked Lin Tingyue for free, even if they didn't realize it was just one soap, it would add up to a lot of money. She even whispered to Lin Tingyue to tell her the price now.
Lin Tingyue had no choice but to go along with it, saying, "At the supply and marketing cooperative, a bar of soap costs 50 cents and you need a coupon. These two bars would cost a dollar. Can't you save them to buy eggs?"
"One thing at a time, even sisters should keep clear accounts." Luo Mingxia actually took out a dollar and gave it to her.
Coincidentally, the female educated youths over there all went into the water to try it out, and after using it, they found that it was really better than the one sold by the supply and marketing cooperative, not to mention that it also contained goat milk.
"Tingyue, I'd like to buy your handmade soap too, do you have any left?"
"I want one too, but it's a bit expensive..."
"Yeah, make it cheaper! It was all ordered by the same educated youth."
Lin Tingyue didn't want to do business so ostentatiously at the moment, so she explained, "I can't lower the price, but you can trade me for something of equal value, like grain, eggs, or meat. I'm only making what I need myself, so I haven't made too much. I'd have to wait another month to make new ones."
Time is also a cost, and some impatient people can't wait, so they don't care about the money. "Okay, then I'll take a bar of goat milk soap!"
"I want some too! I want some too!"
The female educated youth were the ones most interested in handmade soap, while the male educated youth were not very interested at the moment. For them, having something to use was enough, and some even didn't want to spend their own money to buy it and would borrow other people's soaps instead.
Lin Tingyue noted down who wanted to buy and what kind of items they wanted, promised to deliver them to them after work the next day, and then went home.
Xu Xingyi, who had been feeding mosquitoes in the shadows for a long time, was finally able to return to his room. He had heard every word the female educated youth had said in her room.
A note from the author:
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