Little Douzi laughed happily as he looked at the bicycle and had Lin Lan lift him onto the back seat. "Mama, do you know how to ride a bike?"
Lin Lan smiled. "A little. I haven’t ridden in a long ti, so I’ll need so practice."
"Hee hee!" Little Douzi hugged the bike seat. "I want to go to Grandpa’s house with you."
Lin Lan thought for a mont and said, "Mama is going tomorrow morning and will be back by the afternoon. Your aunt is here to keep company now, so if you want to stay at Grandpa’s for a few days, I can take you."
Little Douzi thought for a mont, his little brows furrowed as he looked at Lin Lan. "If I’m at Grandpa’s house, what if I miss you?"
Seeing his clingy expression, Lin Lan’s heart lted. She picked him up and gave him a kiss.
"If you miss Mama, you can just have your uncle bring you back! At Grandpa’s house, you can play with your cousins. Your youngest uncle can take you boating, go up the mountain to see squirrels, and you can learn kung fu from him to protect Mama."
She was worried she was raising him to be too much like a girl and hoped he would absorb so masculine energy at his grandfather’s house.
Little Douzi blinked, tilted his head in thought, and looked at Lin Lan. "Does my youngest uncle really know kung fu?"
Lin Lan nodded, her heart warming. "He does!"
"Okay! I’ll go learn kung fu and co back to protect you," Little Douzi said.
At that mont, Lin Lan’s heart completely lted. She picked him up and spun him in a circle. "Mama’s good boy!"
"Mama, fly!" Little Douzi hugged her neck and burst out laughing.
The mother and son went back inside to pack a change of clothes. They also cut so thin cotton fabric to take to Wu Shufen to make clothes for Little Douzi.
In the afternoon, when Yang Liying heard that Lin Lan was returning to her parents’ ho, she went out and bought so liquor and candy. She gave Lin Lan the money she owed the Lin family and also gave her money to pass on to Lin Changyou to help buy soybeans.
After accepting the money, Lin Lan rembered that the return bus didn’t leave until four o’clock. By the ti she got ho, it would be too late to make the pastries for the evening market.
「The next day.」
She and Lin Yuezhen got up extra early and made all the pastries for both the morning and evening markets. They put the evening pastries in a basket and lowered it into the well to keep cool.
Lin Lan went into the room and kissed Little Douzi’s rosy cheeks as he slept. "Ti to wake up, little sleepyhead. We’re about to leave."
"Mmm," Little Douzi mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he sat up and leaned into Lin Lan’s arms.
She dressed him in his corduroy outfit. After breakfast, she hung the satchel and the small wicker basket for carrying Little Douzi on the back rack of the bicycle. When she first got on, the handlebars wobbled a few tis, but after riding a lap around the courtyard, she got the feel for it again.
Lin Lan put one foot on the ground, turned her head, and waved to Lin Yuezhen, who was standing on the stone steps watching her worriedly. "Sis, bring Little Douzi over and put him in the basket."
Lin Yuezhen put Little Douzi into the basket. The boy had grown, so it was a bit of a squeeze. She gestured worriedly to Lin Lan: ’Be careful, don’t go too fast!’
Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "I will! I’ll be back this afternoon."
Lin Yuezhen took Little Douzi’s hands and made him grip the back of the seat, then waved to him.
"Bye-bye, Auntie!" Little Douzi waved back.
Lin Yuezhen gave him a reluctant kiss, watched them leave the courtyard, and then closed the gate and started feeding the pigs and letting out the chickens.
When Lin Lan reached the bus station, she put one foot on the ground to get off the bike. With one hand holding the bike steady, she used the other to lift Little Douzi out of the basket as he was trying to stand up and climb out.
Li Hongi, who was on the bus, saw Lin Lan and got off with a smile. "Little Lin, heading back to your parents’ place?"
"That’s right, Sister Li!" Lin Lan took out so pea cakes and orchid beans from her satchel and handed them to her. "You and Master Chen should try my new varieties."
Li Hongi accepted them happily with thanks, then called Old Chen over to help get the bike up onto the roof rack of the bus.
Shouldering the bike, Old Chen laughed. "Little Lin, you got a good deal on this used bike. A Golden Deer is cheaper than a Forever or a Phoenix, but its carrying capacity is better."
Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "Exactly. Out in the countryside, you need a bike that can carry a heavy load and is sturdy and durable."
Having a bike really sped things up. The bus arrived in town a few minutes past eight, and from there, she rode to the ferry to cross the river.
A journey that used to take over an hour was now only half an hour to the foot of the mountain.
Little Douzi saw a vibrant clump of wild ginger flowers and clamored to get off and pick them, so Lin Lan had no choice but to lift him out of the basket.
She watched him pull down the ginger leaves and pick two stalks of flowers. Only then did she start pushing the bike up the slope. Little Douzi ran up to her, holding out the flowers. "Mama, flowers for you! I’ll help you push the bike."
Lin Lan was afraid he’d stick his hand into the spokes, so she smiled and said, "I think Mama’s lost. Can you lead the way?"
"Okay!" Little Dou Ding bent over and ran forward with all his might.
Lin Lan pushed the bike up the slope, then lifted him onto the front crossbar and rode for a short distance. They were almost there.
Little Douzi pointed at the bend in the road. "Mama, we’re there after this turn!"
Lin Guoqiang was carrying buckets of night soil on a shoulder pole, having just co from the production brigade’s cesspool. From a distance, he saw a woman on a bicycle approaching and thought she looked an awful lot like his sister, Lin Lan.
After walking a few quick steps to get a clearer look, he shouted happily, "Sis! What are you doing back? Where’d you get the bike?"
Little Douzi turned his head. "Mama, your little brother is calling you." Then he shouted happily, "Uncle! My mama is riding a big bike!"
"Douzi!" Lin Guoqiang grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. He ran up, the buckets of night soil sloshing on his shoulder pole. "Sis, wait for ."
Lin Lan squeezed the brakes and put a foot on the ground, turning to look at him with a grin. "It’s a used bike I bought. I brought it back for you all to ride."
Lin Guoqiang couldn’t quite believe his ears and stared at her. "Really?"
Lin Lan laughed. "Truer than true!"
"Heh heh!" Lin Guoqiang grinned from ear to ear. He set down the night soil buckets and gave Little Douzi a kiss. "Let your uncle take you for a spin."
Lin Lan handed the bike over to him, adding a worried reminder, "Go slow. Don’t let Little Douzi fall."
Little Douzi looked at him, his face full of concern. "Uncle, do you know how to ride a bike?"
Lin Guoqiang laughed and flicked him gently on the forehead. "You little rascal, you dare look down on your uncle?"
Lin Lan picked up the night soil buckets he’d left by the road. She saw him wobble for a mont after getting on the bike, then shoot off like a puff of smoke.
Just as she reached the doorway, Wu Shufen ca out to greet her, her expression relaxed. "That rascal of a son of mine just dropped a satchel at the door, yelled sothing, and took off on the bike."
Lin Lan looked at her with a beaming smile. "I got the bike and wanted to bring it to you all as soon as possible, so I took the early bus."
"You bought that bike?" Wu Shufen asked. Seeing her forehead covered in sweat, she hurried to pour a basin of hot water for her and added, "Where’s Little Douzi? Why didn’t you bring him?"
"He’s here. Guoqiang took him for a ride on the bike." Lin Lan washed her face and felt much more comfortable. "It’s a used bike a friend helped buy. It only cost fifty yuan!"
Wu Shufen looked at her happily. "Really!" Then, her expression turned worried. "What does this friend of yours do? How did they get it so cheap?"
Lin Lan smiled. "Don’t worry, he’s a police officer who works at the local station."
"Oh, that’s good then!" Wu Shufen nodded, relieved. She looked at the contents of the satchel, then shot her daughter a look of mock reproach. "It’s so hard to earn money! Things are just starting to get a little better, and you’re already spending money recklessly!"
"I didn’t buy them..." Lin Lan explained with a smile where the items had co from.
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