After Lin Musheng woke up, Old Master Lin and the rest of the Lin family breathed a sigh of relief and were able to think about other things.
On this day, Master Lin remembered that his second son was injured and that the family must not have prepared enough firewood for the winter. So he immediately took his eldest son and grandson to the mountains to cut firewood, so that the second son's family could have enough firewood for the whole winter.
Lin Momo also focused her attention on storing supplies for the winter.
Looking at the thin clothes and shoes she and Sanya were wearing, she thought about buying them two sets of clothes in town, but then she felt uneasy about spending borrowed money. She thought it would be better to earn some money herself and then buy them, so that she could feel more at ease spending her own money.
So she dragged her brother Lin Zhiqiang, that lazy good-for-nothing, and went into the mountains with Uncle Lin and his son.
Uncle Lin and his son helped their family chop firewood, and her family couldn't very well not contribute. After all, Lin Zhiqiang did nothing at home except to please his sweetheart's parents, so they needed to use labor to reform him and purify his soul.
Because of the long distance, the group set off in mule carts in the middle of the night, so that they could reach the foot of the mountain before dawn and have a whole day to stay in the mountains before heading back down when it got dark.
In order to gather more firewood and collect more mountain produce, this is how the villagers have always done it.
If you find going into the mountains for several days in a row too tiring, then go into the mountains every other day. After resting for a while, you won't feel tired and you can do more work.
Having only been at this place for a few days, Lin Momo had to once again struggle to get up in the middle of the night and travel under the stars and moon.
Although she left home late at night, she found that this trip was different from the one to the county town.
I am neither afraid nor feel lonely.
On the way to Nanshan, the Lin family wasn't the only one with a mule cart. There were people driving oxcarts or mule carts, and others pulling wooden carts. Even people from villages further away than Linjiazhuang set off earlier than the Lin family.
It was dark, but the road was crowded with people who were brave enough to walk it.
Moreover, the bells tied around the necks of the mules and oxen jingled incessantly along the way, and people who knew each other would greet each other warmly and chat for a few minutes.
Uncle Lin and his son had been coming in to chop firewood almost every day for the past few days, and they had also met many people from other villages along the way. At this moment, someone recognized the Lin family's mule cart by the bright moonlight and greeted Uncle Lin and his son warmly.
"Hey, Gensheng, I heard you've been going up the mountain every day to haul firewood back. Isn't that enough for the whole winter?" The middle-aged man driving the oxcart tilted his head back and chatted happily with Uncle Lin who caught up with him.
Hearing the approaching bell, he looked back and immediately recognized it as the Lin family's mule cart. Mules were rare in the countryside, and even rarer were those that were so plump and strong. Moreover, he had only ever seen the red tassel on the mule's head before, on the heads of the Lin family's mules.
Uncle Lin, perched on the cart shaft, flicked his whip in the air, urging the mule to catch up a bit. He sighed, “Ah, this is my second brother. He injured his leg while doing corvée labor and was unconscious for quite some time. Now that he’s finally awake, he’ll have to stay in bed for months. His wife is heavily pregnant and doesn’t care about anything. My nephew is useless too, and as for my two nieces, we can’t count on them at all. They haven’t prepared any firewood or anything for the winter. Winter is almost here, and if I, as the eldest brother, don’t help him out, who else can his whole family rely on?”
Sitting at the back of the car, Lin Momo rolled her eyes. If you want to show off your virtue in front of others, go ahead, but there's no need to elevate yourself by belittling their family. Even if each branch of the family has its own flaws, as a member of the Lin family, don't you know what it means to keep family scandals private?
I advise you to have some basic moral principles, okay?
"You've truly been a benevolent elder brother!" The man gave a thumbs-up and praised him wholeheartedly.
"Hehe, aren't we all family? As elder brothers, how could we bear to see our brothers' families suffer from the cold because there's no firewood in winter..."
"Father, Father, please stop talking." Sitting behind Lin Gensheng, Lin Zhiyong, his face flushed, tugged at his father's clothes and whispered his advice.
Lin Momo glanced at her cousin and thought he was a decent person, more shameful than her father.
She glanced over and saw her brother, Lin Zhiqiang, dozing off against the side panel of the mule cart. His head was drooping and bobbing up and down like a chicken pecking at rice. It was a good thing he was able to fall asleep on such a bumpy road.
Lin Momo shook her head. The second branch of the Lin family still had a future in this guy's hands. She hoped that Xu Shi would give birth to a baby boy as she wished.
Since your main account is ruined, it's better to cut your losses and start a new account.
Having another boy in the family would diminish Lin Zhiqiang's halo, create a sense of crisis for him, and put some pressure on him. Perhaps then there's a 30% chance he'll change.
As for the girl, Lin Momo felt it was best not to entrust her life to this family. She would only suffer if she came here, and it would be better to find a good family that would love her daughter.
As soon as the sky began to lighten, Lin Momo realized that they had already reached the foot of the mountain.
Standing before the towering mountains, she felt her own insignificance, like a speck of dust—a feeling she hadn't experienced when gazing into the distance from Linjiazhuang.
The mountain roads are narrow and winding, making it impossible for cars to go up. As a result, a business of parking vehicles at the mountain pass came into being. Those who make a living from this business are all villagers from the nearby foot of the mountain. Two copper coins can be used to park the vehicles for a whole day, and even the livestock will be fed.
This was something I did easily.
Looking around, all you see is wasteland overgrown with weeds and low shrubs. You can simply unload the cart and lead the livestock to graze nearby. Even without special feeding, the animals will simply lower their heads and graze on their own.
In the early morning light, wisps of smoke were still rising, and some people had even built simple stoves with stones nearby, cooking something in earthenware pots.
Lin Momo jumped off the carriage and, driven by curiosity, went over to ask her uncle about the mule cart he had left at the store.
Before she even got close, the woman who was squatting and tending the fire quickly stood up and greeted her warmly: "Girl, it's chilly at night. You must have been traveling all night. Come here and have a bowl of hot soup to warm yourself up so you'll have the energy to go into the mountains and gather wild produce."
It turned out they were selling soup. Lin Momo was indeed feeling a bit cold, despite being dressed so lightly.
It's amazing how thoughtful this woman was to set up a hot water stall here; she's definitely got business acumen.
People going into the mountains might bring some steamed buns or flatbreads, or even water in earthenware pots, but there's no hot soup or hot water to be had.
Lin Momo smiled slightly and asked casually, "Auntie, which village are you from? What brings you here selling soup?"
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