80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 401 - 399: Wanna Go Mushroom Picking?

Lin Lan asked Wu Shufen, "Mom, have you and Dad talked it over?"

Wu Shufen replied happily, "Your third brother said he can take all his leave for the past few months at once, letting your dad and I go back with you. Your dad agreed. He said he’ll go back to keep Old Li company—go boating and fishing by the river and just have some fun."

Everyone in the Lin family could see how well Old Li treated Little Douzi and Lin Lan. Lin Changyou had already planned on going back to keep Old Li company and travel around with him, so with his third son willing to take leave and watch the store, it was even better.

Upon hearing this, Little Douzi joyfully tugged on Wu Shufen’s sleeve. "That’s great, Grandma! Let’s bring the fishing net back so we can go fishing."

Wu Shufen patted him lovingly. "Okay, we’ll bring the fishing net."

Tong Xinglan looked at Wu Shufang. "Auntie, you’re here to see Qiaohui again. My mom only came once for our cousin’s wedding banquet. She didn’t even visit me for the Dragon Boat Festival."

Wu Shufang laughed. "Silly girl, there’s so much work for the production team in the first half of the year. Your riverbank area has to plant tobacco, sow peanuts, cut sugarcane, and transplant rice seedlings. It’s much busier than in the mountains or the flatlands."

Tong Xinglan smiled and nodded. "Yeah! You go talk with Qiaohui."

Qiaohui pulled Wu Shufang into the break room and said happily, "Mom, did something good happen at home? You’re looking so much healthier."

Wu Shufang took her hand and said with a wide smile, "We’ve been eating well at home this year, so naturally I’ve put on some weight. Your dad’s health has improved a lot too."

After Qiaohui came to East Market, her family had an income. They could afford to buy grain, and if anyone got sick, they had money for the clinic and medicine. They no longer had to just suffer through it.

With the lives of her eldest and second child both improving, she had no worries weighing on her mind. She and her husband could finally sleep at night, so their health naturally improved.

Qiaohui was very happy to hear this. She pulled her mother close and whispered, "I’ll give you my last two months’ wages in a bit."

Wu Shufang shook her head. "No need. Give it to your cousin. Let her save it up for you to buy a dowry later."

Qiaohui insisted, "Mom, listen to me. I lent a month’s wages to my second brother to buy a plot of land. You take the rest back home and fix up the house."

"My cousin told me the other day, once her husband gets back from Yangcheng City with the oven, she’s going to open the shop next to the department store and put me in charge. She’s even giving me a share! With the dividends on top of my salary, I’ll be making even more money!"

Hearing this, Wu Shufang’s face crinkled into a smile. "I heard from your second aunt that your cousin Yuezhen got a share too. For your cousin to give you a share as well, does that mean your skills are as good as Yuezhen’s now?"

"Mhm! After my cousin Yuezhen got pregnant, her energy hasn’t been as good. Xinglan and I have been making a lot of the new products. My cousin said that with a little more practice, I’ll be able to catch up to her."

"Good, good. In that case, you have to work hard. Don’t be lazy or try to cut corners, and don’t you dare do anything to let your cousin down! Without your cousin and your second aunt, you’d still be a poor girl from the mountains with nothing to your name. And your second brother would still be suffering with the Li family..."

Qiaohui nodded. "I know. I’ll work hard."

Wu Shufang said with relief, "You’ve been sensible since you were little, and you’ve sent a lot of money home these past few months. Listen to Mom. Your eldest brother will find the money to fix his house himself. You should save your money and have your cousin help you buy a few nice things for your dowry. Your dad and I will gather some good wood from the mountains and save it to build your furniture when you get married."

Qiaohui thought for a moment. "How about this? You take the money I’ve saved so far back with you for you and Dad to use. I’ll save up all the money I make from now on."

"Alright," Wu Shufang agreed, figuring it was just the same if she held onto the money for her.

Wu Shufang enjoyed herself in East Market for two days and went to the Eucalyptus Forest to see the plot of land Zhou Shisong had bought.

Seeing that her second child had only been here a few months and, with the help of his cousins, already owned his own land, she was moved to tears. She told him to save his money diligently and build his house, so he would finally have a home of his own in East Market.

Zhou Shisong and Li Xiaofeng readily agreed. Li Xiaofeng also urged her and Zhou Shitou not to tell anyone when they returned home, to prevent her own family from finding out and causing trouble.

Mother and son understood her concern. They reassured her, explaining that on their last trip home, they had already said that the two of them hadn’t found work in East Market and were relying entirely on his aunt’s family for support.

After closing the shop in the afternoon, Lin Lan went home with the mushrooms Wu Shufang had given her. She saw that they were all top-quality: boletus, lion’s mane, and more.

She took out the mushrooms she had bought and dried over the past while, mixed them with the new ones, and divided the lot into three bags. She planned to mail one to Old Chen, give one to the old lady, and the last to Xiuyun.

Lin Lan put two bags in a basket and went to the old lady’s house across the way first.

The old lady was sitting in her living room watching TV. When she saw Lin Lan arrive, she smiled and said, "Did the pumpkin seedlings take root?"

"I haven’t had a chance to check yet! I’ll find some time to look tomorrow." As Lin Lan spoke, she handed her a bag of mushrooms. "My aunt brought these. For you to make soup with."

"Thank you so much!" The old lady accepted it with a smile. "After I came back from the wedding banquet the other day, I went to check on my two fields. The seedlings have all turned green again. Looks like this year’s harvest won’t be bad."

"Ours have turned green again too. My dad even had my brother spread a round of recovery fertilizer."

"It’s so much faster when you farm your own plot. It was never this fast during the time of the big collectives." The old lady sighed. "The people in the production team shouldn’t go hungry this year."

"Mhm. After handing over the public grain quota, every family should have more grain left over than back in the days of the collective."

The old lady smiled and nodded. The two chatted for a while before Lin Lan excused herself and headed to Yao Xiuyun’s house. She found her in the backyard vegetable garden. "Officer Yao, I’ve brought you something tasty."

Yao Xiuyun put down her water ladle and looked at her with a grin. "What tasty thing? Quick, let me see."

Lin Lan smiled and pointed to the bag in her basket. "Delicacies from the mountains!" Then she added, "We’re planning to go to Shilian for a few days, starting the day after tomorrow. Do you have any time off? If you do, come with us. We can go up the mountain to pick mushrooms and look for fruit."

Yao Xiuyun laughed and shook her head. "Taking last-minute leave isn’t that easy. You think we’re like you, working for yourself and leaving whenever you want?"

Lin Lan shrugged. "This is about the only freedom we self-employed folks have."

Yao Xiuyun sprinkled the last ladleful of water and the two of them walked toward the front yard. Lin Lan looked at her. "You really can’t take time off? Going to Shilian now would be so nice; it’s not too hot or too cold!"

"Sigh." Yao Xiuyun sighed. "Last year it was still possible to ask for leave or swap shifts. This year, everyone has more work than they can handle. Look at Little Man—her morning sickness is so bad, but she only took one day off. Today is the first time since the holiday that I’ve gotten off work this early."

"At our last station meeting, they even said public order is getting worse and worse. Gang fights in the middle of the night, petty thieves and con artists at the train and bus stations... all sorts of riffraff. It’s like they’ve all crawled out of the woodwork at once."

Lin Lan patted her on the shoulder. "That’s tough. When you can finally get some time off, I’ll go out with you and have some fun."

Yao Xiuyun smiled and nodded. "Okay! Pick lots of mushrooms for me while you’re there."