Chapter 360: Chapter 357: Instructing a Daughter
Remembering the price war at the butcher stall in the south of town, Lin Changyou asked, "Xiangyang, how’s business at the stall?"
Li Xiangyang gestured to Lin Lan. "Little Lan had us put a cutting board on the stall to help customers mince meat and chop ribs. We’ve also started cleaning the pig trotters with rosin before selling them. Thanks to that, we haven’t lost many of our regular customers."
"After expenses, we can still make six or seven yuan a day. Don’t worry. If I can’t sell fresh pork, I can still make and sell ham and cured meat."
Lin Changyou smiled and nodded. "Let them stir up trouble. We’ll just focus on our own sales. Tell Zhigang not to get emotional and pick a fight."
"Understood." Li Xiangyang poured a glass of wine for Lin Changyou, Lin Guozhu, and Zhou Shitou. "Dad, Big Brother, Cousin, let me toast you all."
Lin Changyou raised his glass. "Good. You two live your lives well. If Little Lan throws a tantrum, you tell me, and I’ll deal with her."
Li Xiangyang smiled and glanced at Lin Lan. "Little Lan is wonderful. She never throws tantrums."
Lin Guozhu shook his head again and again. "Xiangyang, that’s no way to be!"
Li Xiangyang said earnestly, "I really don’t think she throws tantrums." ’She’s so sensible,’ he thought. ’Sometimes she doesn’t seem like she’s only in her twenties.’
Lin Changyou watched them, gratified. "Good. From now on, you two must communicate and make decisions together. And respect your elders. Remember, a harmonious family prospers!"
They both nodded. "We’ll remember."
Wu Shufen also reminded her not to be consumed by the business all day, but to make sure she was on top of Little Douzi’s schooling and taking good care of Li Xiangyang and Old Li.
Lin Lan agreed to it all.
The family ate and chatted cheerfully. Afterward, they played cards and shot the breeze, and in the blink of an eye, the afternoon had arrived.
Wu Shufen took out the return gifts she had prepared and packed them in their satchels. While Li Xiangyang was talking with Lin Changyou and the others, she pulled Lin Lan aside and urged her not to get too tired. She reminded her that Xiangyang wasn’t getting any younger, and that it was time to give the Li family a child.
Zhao Xiaohui patted Wu Shufen’s arm. "Ma, not a daughter. We have the family planning policy now, and Xiangyang is an only son. It’s best to have a boy."
Zhang Xiuqing and Wu Shufang nodded in agreement. "Exactly. It’s not like the old days. You can only have one child now. You and Xiangyang are earning so much; you’d better have a son. And Little Douzi would have a playmate."
Lin Lan gave them a wry smile. "Auntie, Sisters-in-law, whether it’s a boy or a girl is a matter of fate."
"Just have the first one and see," Zhao Xiaohui said. "If you absolutely have to, you can go hide on Shishanling to have another."
Seeing them get more and more carried away, Lin Lan quickly picked up her satchel. "I’ve got to go. It’ll be dark if I don’t leave now."
Wu Shufen nodded. "You can visit anytime. We’ll talk more next time."
The family walked Lin Lan’s family of three out to the street, only returning to the shop after watching their bicycles disappear into the distance.
Lin Lan’s family of three went to Limin Road to collect the day’s earnings. After depositing the money in the bank, they finally returned to Yucai Road.
The next morning, Lin Lan had Li Wu deliver some grain to Lexing. Then, she and Wu Shufen saw him off at the bus station before Lin Lan returned to Lexing.
The mother and daughter went to the seedling paddy at the foot of Niu Bei Mountain. The rice seeds in the field had already grown into delicate, pale green sprouts.
Wu Shufen said, "We’ll be transplanting the seedlings here in Lexing next month. Over in Shilian, they should be leveling their seedling paddies these next couple of days. Your dad and Guoliang are planning to head back to Shilian to check on things in a few days."
Lin Lan looked at her. "So the brigade leader agreed to let you buy work points with money!"
Wu Shufen laughed. "Even if he agreed, it’s still better for us to bring some gifts and go back for a visit when it’s time to sow the grain. If we don’t even show our faces, people will talk."
"If only they’d hurry up and contract the land out to individual households."
When they got back to the house, Lin Lan took Wu Shufen back to the east side of town on her bicycle before heading back herself.
She hadn’t even reached the pastry shop when she saw Qiaohui, Tong Xinglan, and Yang Liying standing out front. Farther ahead, the entrance to the market was swarming with police cars.
Yang Liying grabbed her arm. "Lin Lan, the butchers are fighting! I heard they used their cleavers! There’s blood all over the ground!"
Lin Lan remembered how the pork stalls had been undercutting each other’s prices and thought of Yang Zhigang, who was still at their stall. "Have you seen Zhigang?" she asked, worried. "Do you know who was fighting?"
Yang Liying shook her head. "Zhigang hasn’t come back. I don’t know who was fighting."
"I’m going to check it out." Lin Lan hurried toward the market.
"Wait for me." Yang Liying called out to Zhao Dehai before hurrying after her.
The two of them pushed through the crowd of onlookers, finally squeezing their way to the meat stalls. A police cordon had been set up, and Lin Lan saw Xu Dong and Yao Xiuyun among the people there.
Yang Zhigang was squatting behind their stall, completely unharmed. Lin Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The concrete ground in front of the pork stalls was covered in bloodstains. The injured had already been taken away, and police officers were questioning the other vendors.
Yang Liying pointed at the ground. "Look at all that blood."
A man in the crowd glanced at them. "They were using cleavers. What do you expect? One of them nearly had his arm chopped off."
"The guy who got his arm hacked up isn’t the one in real trouble. It’s the one who took a blow to the head. He’s probably a goner."
"The restrictions have just been loosened, and now something this major happens. They’re not going to shut down the market again, are they?"
Hearing this, Lin Lan also worried. ’After an incident like this,’ she thought, ’the market regulations, which had just started to relax, will probably be tightened up again.’
Yang Liying tugged on Lin Lan’s arm. "Zhigang is fine. Let’s head back."
"Okay."
Shortly after Lin Lan and Yang Liying returned to the shop, the police cars drove away, sirens blaring. The crowd at the market began to disperse.
A little while later, Yang Zhigang returned to the pastry shop, his satchel slung over his back. "Sister-in-law, I’ve still got about fifteen pounds of pork rump that didn’t sell. Go ahead and put it in the freezer."
Lin Lan nodded. She put the meat in a basin and looked at him. "Who pulled a knife first today?"
Yang Zhigang shook his head. "When they started arguing, we even tried to talk them down. But then a customer came to buy some meat, so I went back to work. I was helping an old woman chop some pig trotters when I saw Fatty and that new guy start fighting."
"The cleavers were flashing, and everyone was too scared to intervene. Fatty’s arm got cut twice, and the other guy took a blow to the head and collapsed. That’s when the police arrived."
"Making money is a small thing," Lin Lan said, looking at him seriously. "The most important thing is to never get into a fight. Getting arrested puts a black mark on your record for life, and it will drag down your children. Forgetting everything else, you wouldn’t even be able to join the army."
Yang Zhigang nodded. "I know. My brother said to let them fight if they want to fight. If we can’t sell all our meat, we’ll just make ham and cured pork."
Lin Lan thought about Li Xiangyang, who was at home with Old Li. "You should head home. Your brother probably doesn’t know what happened yet."
"Right! I’ll go after I change." Yang Zhigang took off his greasy apron and army-green overcoat, put on a jacket, and headed for the door.
That afternoon, Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan paid a visit to Xu Dong’s home. They learned that neither Fatty nor the new butcher’s life was in danger. However, they had brawled in the street with knives. If they were lucky, they would only be detained. But if the authorities decided to make an example of them, they could face prison time.
