Chapter 58, Advice
It's hard to start a fire when you're alone, but it's much easier when there are two people.
In the afternoon, Lin Qingqing went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a piece of pork belly, two bunches of greens, and a bag of peas. Since there were only two of them eating, and she wanted to cook a few more dishes, the portions of the vegetables were not large.
When I returned from buying the groceries, Yang Li happened to be in the yard. Seeing the meat in her hands, I asked, "Are we having meat today?"
Although the two hadn't spoken much since their last chat, they hadn't argued, so Yang Li's attitude towards Lin Qingqing was still quite good. Lin Qingqing, while wanting to distance herself from Yang Li, knew that living in the same courtyard and a strained relationship wouldn't be good. As the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face, so she politely nodded and went to the door to unlock it.
But before the door was even opened, Lin Qingqing heard Yang Li muttering, "Sister-in-law, let me tell you, this won't work."
Lin Qingqing found her words puzzling, unlocked the door, pushed it open, and turned to ask, "How am I?"
"You spend money so extravagantly!" Yang Li said matter-of-factly.
Yang Li doesn't have a job. Every day, besides visiting her neighbors, she stays at home taking care of her child. She has been watching Lin Qingqing's spending lately.
Not only did she buy things for home one by one, but she also ate at the cafeteria every day. Although she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Yu Xiuhong had told her that Lin Qingqing ordered only refined rice and grains at the cafeteria, and always ordered meat dishes when they were available. Although she didn't eat much, the meat dishes cost a lot of money!
Lin Qingqing used to stay at the supply and marketing cooperative, where a night's stay cost several yuan. But when she came to the army, she would stay for several days at a time, and Yang Li felt sorry for her because of the expenses.
Yang Li hadn't had a chance to say it before, but now that she saw Lin Qingqing bring back a piece of meat, she couldn't hold back any longer.
“Although Commander Xie’s salary is high, you have to be careful with your money. If you eat rice and fine grains every day and occasionally buy a piece of meat to treat yourself, even a high salary won’t be enough to feed you. And if the neighbors know that you eat so well at home every day, they will definitely say that you are greedy and gluttonous.”
Although Lin Qingqing felt that she and Yang Li had incompatible values, she always believed that harmonious neighborly relations were important, so she simply kept her distance. However, she didn't expect that ignoring Yang Li wasn't enough; Yang Li would also seize every opportunity to lecture her on how to live her life. Lin Qingqing was so angry she laughed, asking with a half-smile, "Then, Sister Yang, tell me, how am I supposed to live my life?"
"In my family, only my son is young and can't digest coarse grains well, so he usually eats refined grains. I usually eat bean rice, and I pick vegetables from the garden in my yard." Yang Li is most proud of her yard.
Although she doesn't have a job, she knows how to manage her finances. Growing so many vegetables in the yard saves her a lot of money every month!
Lin Qingqing originally wanted to retort, but after hearing Yang Li's last sentence, she changed her mind and nodded, saying, "Sister Yang, I think what you said makes sense. Growing vegetables in the yard is great; it's convenient and saves money."
“That’s right.” Yang Li nodded in agreement. “Don’t follow Sister Xiu Hong’s example. What’s the use of earning a lot of money at work if you’re just spending it all on eating at the cafeteria every day?”
Yang Li knew very well what Yu Xiuhong had said about her to others, and she was very dissatisfied. She always felt that Yu Xiuhong's job was useless; she worked herself to the bone for such a small salary, and all of it went to food. Unlike her, she ate vegetables she grew herself, which were clean and affordable.
So I decided—
Yang Li looked pleased, thinking that Lin Qingqing was someone who would listen to advice, which was better than Yu Xiuhong.
But the next second, Yang Li's relieved expression cracked, because Lin Qingqing said, "I'm going to take back the vegetable garden in front of the door."
Yang Li glanced at the vegetable garden in front of the Xie family's house, then at Lin Qingqing, who was still carrying the vegetables she had bought. Her smile was gentle as she asked, "So, Sister Yang, are you going to pull up the vegetables from my garden yourself, or will all the vegetables in my garden belong to me from now on?"
Lin Qingqing turned around and looked at the bamboo poles erected in the vegetable garden in front of the door. The vines of cowpeas were wrapped around the bamboo poles and connected together to form a net. Long, plump, and emerald green cowpeas hung down from the vines.
"Tsk tsk, these cowpeas are growing so well!" Lin Qingqing said, holding up the greens tied with straw rope in her hand. "Why didn't you say so earlier? If I had known you were thinking this way, I wouldn't have bought these two bunches of greens and would have just picked the cowpeas from the yard."
Yang Li's smile faded: "Those are all vegetables I grew."
"I know you planted these vegetables, but isn't this land mine?" Lin Qingqing asked innocently. "Besides, didn't I give you two options? If you don't want me to pick them, then just pull them up."
Seeing Yang Li's face turn pale with anger, Lin Qingqing said understandingly, "Don't worry, we're neighbors. I'm easy to talk to in this regard. We can discuss things together."
Yang Li had worked so hard to grow so many vegetables; how could she bear to just pull them up? Besides, if she pulled them up, what would she eat in the future? Feeling extremely unwilling, she argued, "This is all military land; how can you say it's yours? And you hadn't even moved in yet when I was planting vegetables there!"
Lin Qingqing's smile faded: "Sister Yang, do you mean you want to go with me to the army to argue with the leaders?"
Upon hearing that she was going to confront the leaders, Yang Li immediately backed down. She said that was true, but she knew in her heart that the houses were allocated with yards attached. Wasn't the land in front of the Xie family's house hers, Lin Qingqing?
But that was her life's work!
Just then, her son, whom she was holding, started crying. Yang Li quickly picked up the child and tried to comfort him, but before she could go inside, Lin Qingqing wouldn't let her get away. Before she went inside, she said, "I'm not a heartless person. Here's what I'll do: I'll give you two days. If you don't pull up the vegetables from the garden, I'll just pick them and eat them."
When Yu Xiuhong returned home from get off work with dinner, she overheard Lin Qingqing's words. Seeing Yang Li enter the room, she casually asked, "What happened?"
"It's nothing serious."
If it's nothing serious... then something must have happened. Yu Xiuhong immediately stopped and asked, "What is it? I heard there's land and vegetables involved." As she spoke, Yu Xiuhong glanced at the vegetable garden in front of the Xie family's house, and she already had a guess in her mind.
Lin Qingqing didn't try to cover for Yang Li. She held up the vegetables in her hand and said, "I'm cooking now, aren't I? Xie Wei is coming back today, and I thought it would be his first time eating at home, so I chopped half a pound of meat and thought I'd make braised pork so he could try my cooking."
Yu Xiuhong watched Lin Qingqing chop the meat and was quite tempted at the time.
Although she works at the vegetable market, she can only bring back leftover vegetable leaves. Meat is never left over, and even if it were, she wouldn't get a chance to take it. So her family only eats meat twice a month, at the beginning and end, and it's been several days since she last ate meat.
After recalling the meat-chopping incident that afternoon, Yu Xiuhong nodded and asked, "And then?"
"As soon as I got back, she asked me if I was having meat today. I nodded and said yes. She then told me that I couldn't live like this, that I was too extravagant and wouldn't be able to make a good living. She also said that if I were to have a job, I would spend all my salary on food, even if I had a job, I would be eating in the cafeteria every day."
Yu Xiuhong couldn't hold back any longer: "So what if I spend all my salary on food?"
“Yes, I was also wondering at the time, if this way of living is not good, then how can we live?” Lin Qingqing nodded and said, “Then she said that living like this, feeding her son refined grains, eating bean rice herself, growing her own vegetables and eating them herself, and being frugal is what it means to live a good life.”
"Pah! She calls that living frugally all the time? If I lived like her, I wouldn't be able to survive!" Yu Xiuhong's face flushed with anger, then she remembered and asked, "Then what do you say?"
"I say she's right."
Yu Xiuhong's face fell; she realized she had misjudged Lin Qingqing, she hadn't expected...
She actually had the same idea as Yang Li!
“I told her that I also wanted to grow vegetables in the garden in the yard.”
Yu Xiuhong paused before she could finish her sentence. She looked at the vegetable garden in front of the Xie family's house, then at Lin Qingqing, who was smiling as she said, "I told her that either she pulls up all the vegetables she planted in front of my house within two days, or I'll just pick the cowpeas she grows and eat them from now on. After all, that's the only way to live a good life, isn't it?"
"Pfft!"
Yu Xiuhong felt relieved and laughed heartily, saying, "Well done! She should have pulled up all the vegetables!"
While Lin Qingqing and Yu Xiuhong were talking, Xie Wei returned. Seeing them talking about land and vegetables, he asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Yu Xiuhong had previously assumed that Xie Wei and her husband weren't in the same regiment, and although Xie Wei was of a higher rank, how well she got along with him wouldn't affect her husband's future. So she went around badmouthing Xie Wei to everyone. But after her argument with her husband yesterday, she was the one who got a lecture, told to be more polite to Xie Wei and his wife, since Xie Wei was, after all, her superior, and that Xie Wei was also familiar with their regimental commander.
Previously, Yu Xiuhong didn't care whether her husband got a promotion or not, since even if her husband was demobilized, he could still become a leader in the commune.
But after Xie Wei and his wife moved in, she changed.
So after being lectured, Yu Xiuhong thought about it all night and decided to improve her relationship with Xie Wei and his wife. Otherwise, after being scolded by her husband yesterday, she wouldn't have been able to remain so calm and collected when facing Lin Qingqing today.
Not only was she much more attentive to Lin Qingqing, but she was also much more attentive to Xie Wei. When he asked what was going on, she quickly embellished what Lin Qingqing had just said and told Xie Wei the rest of the story. Then she said, "If you ask me, she's being too polite. If it were me, I would have pulled up all the vegetables in the yard right now!"
Xie Wei's face darkened upon hearing this, and he did indeed want to pull up the vegetables in the yard, but Lin Qingqing tugged at his sleeve, gently shook her head at him, and then said to Yu Xiuhong, "Since Xie Wei is back, then Sister Yu, I'll go back and cook."
"Hey, go ahead! Eating is the priority!" Yu Xiuhong said quickly.
Lin Qingqing smiled and nodded, then pulled Xie Wei into the house.
Author's Note: Second update
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