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Lin Lixuan smiled and blinked, looking back at Zhao Liniang, who had doubt in her eyes. With a smile, he asked, “Where did what come from?”
Zhao Liniang reprimanded him, “What else are you hiding from me? I’m asking where you got the 40 taels of silver?”
Lin Lixuan pretended to be surprised, “Ger Yan didn’t tell you?”
Zhao Liniang stretched her neck forward. Her eyes widened. Ger Yan was in on this too?
Ger Yan also helped him hide this from her. She guessed this was probably private money the young couple had hid. As a mother, her child had grown up, gotten married, and became more estranged from her. He was even hiding money from her now. When Zhao Liniang learned of this, there was some anger, but she was mostly sad.
Looking at the other party’s resentful expression, Lin Lixuan smiled as he spoke. He wanted to use this chance to clear up this money’s history. They hadn’t told Zhao Liniang about the money they made from selling manuscripts to Songyun Bookstore. During this time, the books had become even more popular, and he, as the author, had received even more dividends. Plus, Mr. Shen was the intermediary in asking him to sell his method, so Mr. Shen felt that he owed him and gave him more benefits.
“Mother, do you remember some time ago, I stayed home and wrote…?”
“I remember,” Zhao Liniang said quietly, her eyelids drooping listlessly. “I thought you were earnestly reviewing your bookwork and studying.” Who knew that at the beginning of spring, her son wouldn’t want to study anymore. He just wanted to stay at home and be a landlord.
“I wrote some stories, and the owner of Songyun Bookstore thought my stories were well written and had my manuscript printed into a book. I didn’t expect my book to sell so well, so I earned dozens of taels of silver from it.” Lin Lixuan thought that after selling this, Zhao Liniang would care more about the fact that he could earn dozens of taels of silver from writing, but Zhao Liniang didn’t care about the money at all.
To Zhao Liniang, no amount of money could compare to the fact that her son had written a book! The forehead lines of her forehead were squeezed into three lines. It was really unbelievable. She wasn’t a reader and didn’t know how to read, but she knew that only talented people could write a book…
Her son had hid such a big thing from her!!!
This was more serious than hiding private money!!!
Zhao Liniang stretched out a hand. “Where’s the book?”
“We don’t have one at home,” Lin Lixuan truthfully said. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give it to her, but they really didn’t have one.
“How could we not have one?” Her son must be lying to her. The child in front of her was really becoming more and more uncaring. She had to beg Ger Yan to give her a grandchild soon. It didn’t matter if it was a grandson, granddaughter, or Shuang’er.
“We only have the sample the bookstore sent over. It’s at the store. If you want, I can buy a copy?”
“One book isn’t enough! You need to buy three, no, four, five!”
“…” Lin Lixuan choked. “Why so many? Mother, you can’t even read.”
“So what if I can’t read? I might not be able to read, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind. Buy a few copies back. I’ll burn a copy for your father.” Not to his father, but his grandmother and grandfather as well…1
“Mother, books aren’t cheap. Do you really want to do this? His father might prefer it if they burned paper money for him.
“What’s the matter? You squander all our family money, but your mother can’t buy anything?”
“No. As long as you’re happy.”
Let’s spend money reasonably!!
After the incident of buying the deed of sale, Ger Yu officially moved into their house. It was naturally impossible for him to sleep with Zhao Liniang like before, so he was given a small room in the side hall. Ger Yu was careful but not overly. His hands and feet were nimble, and his movements were neat. He took over most of Zhao Liniang’s cultivating work as soon as he arrived.
The Lin family now had a cow, two donkeys, four pigs, three litters of ducks, six cages of chickens, and three small milk dogs. As soon as Ger Yu woke up in the morning, he would prepare the pig’s food with the sound of roosters crowing accompanying him. The three little milk dogs would rub against his legs one by one, waiting to be fed.
The three dogs in the Lin family were common pastoral dogs in the countryside. They were three milk dogs. The brown one was the oldest. The white one with black spots was the second child. And the yellow one, yes, this yellow puppy was the most special. It barked very loud, sounding super fierce. It had the posture of a very vicious dog, but this dog was the youngest of the three. This was the so-called “sounding different from how you looked.” The dog looked very sweet, but it barked very fiercely. But according to Lin Lixuan…it looked very stupid.
There was an inexplicable sense of joy, which made people laugh when they looked at that face.
“Little Third, don’t scream. I’ll feed you later.” Ger Yu touched its head and soothed it. The dog, Little Third closed its eyes comfortably.
Ger Yu’s mother and father came to see him. When they saw he was living well, they went back with a peace of mind. His mother left with red eyes as she watched him. Li Yue’e was busy and had to return to the Ji residence to take care of matters. Spring plowing was approaching, and her daughter-in-law’s belly was getting bigger. And adding on this matter, the parents were resigned. It was already good enough that it ended like this.
Knowing that it was Lin Lixuan’s money, Eldest Ji and his wife had no face to show him.
Ger Yu originally thought he would miss his mother and father while staying at the Lin residence, but no. He stayed with the Lin family with ease. His brother and brother-in-law, and Zhao Liniang didn’t scold him for no reason, nor did they find fault with him. They also didn’t whisper in his ear constantly: A Shuang’er was a waste of food and space.
In addition to helping feed the chickens and pigs, Ger Yu also helped the store make food. Like his own brother, Ger Yu was skilled with his hands. The snacks he made looked good. He also helped out at the store. His arithmetic was getting better, and he never miscounted the number of copper plates.
Ger Yu always kept in mind the fact that he owed his brother-in-law 30 taels of silver. He had to pay it back. When he took care of the store, watching the flow of people coming and going, his little head turned with thinking about how to make money as a little Shuang’er who wasn’t even ten years old yet. After thinking about it, he really came up with a way.
And that was to make lanterns. When he was five or six, Ger Yu once saw an old grandfather in the village make lanterns. He’d squatted beside him and watched attentively. The old man was kind and gentle. Seeing that Ger Yu liked this, he taught him how to make lanterns. The grandfather later passed away, and Ger Yu had also forgotten about this later. He wasn’t able to make lanterns at the Ji residence, but now…
Ger Yu found bamboo strips, thin threads and white paper. The curved bamboo strips were tied tightly by the thin threads, glued together, and the lantern gradually took shape. The skeleton of the lantern was set up. Like a fat watermelon, the white paper was pasted on the skeleton, and after a while, a delicate white lantern was ready. Ger Yu made several in one sitting. He was anxious to take them to the county town to sell. The business area was bustling with activity. Ger Yu’s shouts were crisp and delicate, and the delicate lanterns were placed by his feet. Ger Yu was right to be anxious. Not a single passing person stopped to look at the lanterns. The cold wind blew, and the white lanterns were like snow scattered on the ground. It looked very desolate.
Ger Yu was very sad. It turned out he couldn’t make money selling lanterns…
He waited until the afternoon, but the lanterns still didn’t sell. He was disheartened, and when he was about to head back, someone asked him about them.
“How much for one lantern?” An old woman dressed in gray and blue came to ask.
Ger Yu, who’d been dejected, immediately raised his head. His eyes seemed to shine. “…Three…three wen for one.” He wanted to say five wen each, but…it was better to make it less. What if this auntie thought it was too expensive and didn’t buy it?
“Okay. I’ll buy them all.” There were a total of 6 lanterns, so 18 wen in total.
The woman carried the lantern away, muttering. “These white lanterns are so good…His grandmother passed away. Sigh… We’ll hang these white lanterns up for the funeral…”
“…” Ger Yu took the 18 copper coins in his hands. The expression on his little face appeared both happy and sad. Although the lantern had sold in the end, it didn’t seem to be the same as he’d imagined.
- From my understanding from what my family has told me, Chinese people believe you “live” again in the afterlife and still need material items. And the living can give the deceased items by burning it for them. That’s why it’s common to light incense, so the dead can enjoy the food place by the incense. During Qingming, you might also burn paper versions of literally anything (money, cars, house, clothes) for them as well. So she wants to burn the book so the father can have it in the afterlife. ↩︎
