Everyone in Ning'an Village knows that the Lin family has been on a roll lately, and they can eat meat every few days.
Even though they eat in their own homes, they can't see it. Don't they have noses?
When the rich aroma of meat wafted out, everyone swallowed their saliva and looked in the direction of Old Lin's house. Some were envious, some were jealous, and everyone had different thoughts.
Taking advantage of the quiet surroundings, Lin Weiming stealthily took half a bag of mung beans and soybeans to the field to plant. These were given to him by Lin Wanyue, who said that land that had been used to grow beans was more effective than fertilizer for planting other things.
Lin Weiming was skeptical, but his wife Xuefu was completely convinced and forced him to plant the beans first.
Xuefu glared at her: "Otherwise, you won't be drinking any mung bean soup today!"
In the sweltering heat of summer, a bowl of cooled mung bean soup would be perfect! It was cooked until it was slightly mushy, and he even added white sugar that he had bought from the county town. Even without drinking it, he could taste its sweetness.
The mung bean soup was bubbling away in the pot, and the family sat around the table eating the fruit they had picked from the "mountain".
"Where did you find these fruits? I've never seen such good ones before when I go up the mountain," Lin Zheyun asked curiously as he ate.
"It was all found by my sister! We two weren't that lucky. My sister is our family's little lucky star." The two brothers, Lin Zihan and Lin Ziqiu, had completely agreed with their grandmother's theory.
Bang bang bang—
There was a knock on the door outside the courtyard. Liu Junlan looked up and saw Zhang Cuihong peeking inside on tiptoe.
"Cuihong, what's wrong?" Liu Junlan asked curiously as she walked out.
Recently, since the family has enough food, Liu Junlan hasn't gone out to pick wild vegetables with Zhang Cuihong much. She just picks a handful on her way back from work, which is enough to cook.
Zhang Cuihong turned her gaze, grabbed Liu Junlan's sleeve, and pulled him aside.
His mysterious and evasive movements made Liu Junlan wary.
“Sister Liu, we’re not strangers anymore. Look what this is.” Zhang Cuihong took out a small handful of plump, emerald-green mung beans from her bosom.
During this severe drought, no one in the village could grow mung beans this big.
"Oh." Liu Junlan glanced at her. "It's just a few mung beans. What's the big deal?"
"Sister Liu, you're hiding this from everyone else, including me? I saw these mung beans fall from your girl's body right before my eyes!" Zhang Cuihong said in a low voice, her tone resolute.
"Is that so? So what?" Liu Junlan remained unmoved.
Her mind was already racing with countless thoughts. She had long been aware that Lin Wanyue was different from other children. From initially burying her head in the sand and pretending not to know, she had now come to accept it.
Wanwan is different from other children, but she never thought of harming others and only wanted to help people. Just because of this kindness, Liu Junlan knew that her Wanwan was a good child.
“Sister Liu, I’ve come to see you for no other reason than to know where your girl picked up these things? I don’t need to trouble you; I can pick them up myself.” Zhang Cuihong smiled and smoothed a strand of hair at her temple.
Liu Junlan's face darkened, and she said in a harsh tone, "I don't know. Go find it yourself wherever you think you found it."
"Sister Liu! Do you intend to eat all the food by yourself?" Zhang Cuihong became anxious when she saw that Liu was unyielding.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I really don't know... If you don't have anything else, I'll go back first. There's still chores waiting for me at home." Liu Junlan ignored Zhang Cuihong, who was jumping up and down in a hurry, and turned to leave.
"Fine, fine, Liu Junlan!"
It's obvious they just can't bear to say it!
...
Lin Weiming planted the beans, and when he returned, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up a large bowl of mung bean soup, and poured it into his mouth. The cool and sweet taste made people sigh.
"This mung bean soup is really delicious. I hope I can have it again tomorrow." Lin Weiming wiped his mouth.
"Mmm!" The four mischievous boys nodded in agreement. They had drunk quite a bit today, and their bellies were bulging.
"How many beans will that take?" Xuefu said with a smile as she cleared the dishes. "I heard that the price of brown rice in the city has risen to seven coins a pound. Beans must be even more expensive. We're only able to eat this because of Wanwan."
Lin Wanyue pinched a premium blueberry and put it in her mouth. Since her grandmother, parents, and brother all liked mung bean soup, she thought she would bring some more next time.
Lin Weiming muttered to himself, "Our family has some money now, right? It should be enough to buy some mung bean soup..."
But he quickly shut his mouth before he could finish speaking.
His mother, Liu Junlan, glared at him fiercely, her eyebrows raised: "Is that money yours? It was all earned thanks to Wanwan. I'm warning you, don't be like some people in the village and try to take advantage of Wanwan. Putting everything else aside, she's your daughter. You're a grown man who can't earn money, but you buy new clothes for your daughter and build a new house for your son, and you're eyeing your daughter instead! You good-for-nothing."
Lin Weiming was subjected to a barrage of insults, which left him feeling extremely wronged and bewildered.
All he wanted was some mung bean soup.
Why does it seem like we've broken some kind of cardinal rule?
Seeing that Liu Junlan looked unhappy, Lin Weiming had no choice but to quickly beg for forgiveness, afraid of upsetting his mother.
"Mother, I was just saying." Lin Weiming quickly tried to make amends: "I just saw that the weather has been nice these past two days, and the fields are almost done. I was planning to go up the mountain to take a look. I heard that wild boars have been appearing on the mountain recently. If I can kill one, I can sell it for some money to buy you some pastries."
You can drink as much mung bean soup as you want!
Liu Junlan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much better. She nodded in satisfaction and said, "That's more like it. If you're going, Mom will make you pancakes tomorrow and add an egg."
"Alright!" Lin Weiming readily agreed, even eager to set off right away.
The other children's bellies were still full, but when they heard that they could eat pancakes and eggs tomorrow, they started swallowing their saliva involuntarily.
"Dad, take me with you! I'm strong, I can help you hunt wild boars." Lin Zheyun said excitedly, and to prove his point, he rolled up his sleeves to show off his arm muscles.
But he's too young and doesn't have much muscle to speak of.
"Dad, take me with you too, I'll catch rabbits for my sister to eat!" Lin Zihan wasn't as strong as his second brother, so he could only try to please his father by massaging his back.
Lin Ziqiu followed suit, punching his father's leg and saying eagerly, "Dad, I want to go with you too! Please take me with you, I've never seen you shoot an arrow before."
Lin Weiming enjoyed himself immensely, then unceremoniously refused his sons' invitations.
"No, it's too dangerous up in the mountains."
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