After closing up shop and returning ho, Lin Lan relayed the ssage Li Xiangyang had asked Zhijun to bring to Yang Liying. "Third Sister, you should discuss this. Xiangyang sent word that he already went to talk to the hoowner about buying the house."
Yang Liying hesitated after hearing this. "That house is in such bad shape. Do you think it’s worth buying? Besides, the news isn’t confird yet. If sothing changes, the money will all go down the drain."
Lin Lan understood her concerns. Soone used to being frugal who had finally managed to earn a little money would certainly be reluctant to spend it on a rundown house.
"Third Sister, don’t worry. The policies will only get better. We should buy property when everyone else thinks it’s a bad idea. That’s when there’s the most potential for its value to rise. Once the news is confird, the prices of houses on Vegetable Market Street will skyrocket. By the ti everyone sees it’s a good investnt, we won’t be able to afford it!"
’Thinking of this, she recalled the ti she had first planned to buy a shop. She had found a good location and decided to wait for the price to drop a little before making a move. Who would have known that after just half a month, the prices had risen again? Later, having learned her lesson, she quickly bought several shops during a dip.’
After listening, Yang Liying figured she didn’t understand much herself, but felt that she couldn’t go wrong listening to Lin Lan. "Okay, I’ll go back and discuss it with your brother-in-law, then I’ll find Eldest Sister. We can talk more about it tomorrow when we go to Shilian."
Lin Lan nodded with a smile. "Buying a house is no small matter, so you two should discuss it thoroughly. Also, once the markets open up, there will only be more people doing business. Making tofu and tofu pudding is low-skill. You need to learn properly from Eldest Sister how to make dried tofu and tofu skin. You have to offer a full range of products for the business to grow."
"Got it." Yang Liying hurried ho and told Zhao Dehai what Lin Lan had said. "What do you think? Should we buy it?"
Zhao Dehai said without hesitation, "Buy it! Li Xiangyang could buy it himself, so why would he have Lin Lan tell us about it? It’s obvious he’s giving us this opportunity to please Lin Lan. Why wouldn’t we buy it?"
Yang Liying thought for a mont after hearing this and nodded. "If that’s true, Xiangyang is really good to Lin Lan."
"It’s rare! Not many n in their second marriage treat their wife’s family so well," Zhao Dehai sighed to Yang Liying. "We don’t have many skills ourselves, so let’s just listen to capable people like them. Like Lin Lan said, while the news is still uncertain and while we can still afford it, let’s buy it!"
Yang Liying nodded. "Okay! I’ll go to Eldest Sister’s house now and ask what she thinks."
Lin Lan and her sister worked until midnight, preparing all the goods for the next day’s morning and evening markets, before finally dragging their exhausted bodies to rest.
Early the next morning, after Lin Lan had sorted the goods for Zhou Xiaohong and Wang Zhilin, the sisters Yang Liying and Yang Liqun ca to her house with Wang Zhixue.
As soon as the two sisters saw Lin Lan, they told her the result of their discussion: they had decided to buy.
Yang Liqun also reassured Lin Lan, saying that no matter if they made or lost money in the future, they wouldn’t bla anyone.
Lin Lan looked at the two and smiled. "Eldest Sister, Third Sister, just trust on this. You definitely won’t lose money. In fact, you’ll have an unexpected windfall."
"We trust you, of course we trust you!" Yang Liqun said in a rush. "Just today we were still worrying about having enough money for salt!"
"Zhixue, you look really sharp today," Lin Lan said, changing the subject, a little embarrassed.
Wang Zhixue was wearing a navy blue Zhongshan suit with matching trousers and black cloth shoes. Seeing Lin Lan, he scratched his head in embarrassnt. "I’m a little unused to wearing new clothes."
Lin Lan smiled. "This outfit looks great today. Handso, but also mature."
Yang Liying also smiled and nodded. "Mmm! It does look good today."
Yang Liqun looked at her son with satisfaction and said in a low voice, "I think he’s been tense the whole way here. He seems very uncomfortable."
Lin Lan checked the ti. "Let’s go! If we head over now, we can catch the first bus."
The group said goodbye to Lin Yuezhen and also told Wang Zhilin to go to the black market to inform Li Xiangyang of their decision to buy the house. Then, they left for the station, took a bus to Dashiqiao, and arrived at the ferry landing. After a short wait, the ferry ca.
After the boat departed, the river wind blew against their faces, carrying a biting chill.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, they could see from a distance that the colors of autumn had deepened on the slopes, a patchwork of yellow and green everywhere. Along the path at the mountain’s base, the once-vibrant green grass and bright wildflowers had withered to a dry yellow. A gust of autumn wind swept by, adding a trace of coolness to the air.
As the group climbed the hillside toward Lin Lan’s family ho, Yang Liqun recalled her last visit to the mountains several years ago. She noticed that many new houses had been built at the crossroads, most with earthen walls and thatched roofs.
The houses were spacious, with large courtyards. In so yards, the branches of Hong Ju trees were heavy with fruit, their bright yellow oranges weighing them down.
In the vegetable patches by the doors, green vegetable seedlings had already sprouted. In the fields, the rapeseed plants and wheat seedlings were a lush, verdant expanse.
Yang Liqun smiled. "We’ve already started sowing our rapeseed back ho. Over here, it looks like it’ll be another week or so before they can transplant the seedlings."
Yang Liying smiled and nodded. "Things are a bit later here. Lin Lan’s family’s place is really nice. Down the mountain is the Min River, but it’s not in danger of major flooding. Uphill, there’s a large flat area, and the foundations for houses are spacious too."
Lin Lan pointed toward the foot of the mountain. "My family has a small boat down by the river. When my younger brother is ho, he often goes out to net fish for us to eat."
Yang Liqun said, "That’s really nice. It’s just inconvenient to cross the river. It would be great if there were a bridge."
Yang Liying shook her head repeatedly. "The river is so wide, building a bridge is probably impossible!"
’In another ten years or so,’ Lin Lan thought, ’several large bridges will be built across this river, and even the ferry will beco obsolete.’
Laughing and chatting, the group arrived at Lin Lan’s parents’ ho to find the courtyard gate shut tight. Lin Lan led them around to the pigsty in the back, where they finally found Wu Shufen.
Wu Shufen looked at them, pleasantly surprised. "What a rare visit! Co on, co back to the house and sit down." Then she turned to Zhao Xiaohui and said, "Little Hui, go call your father and your eldest sister-in-law."
"Okay!" Zhao Xiaohui replied. She gave Lin Lan a smile and then headed off toward the foot of the mountain.
The Yang sisters smiled and said, "Auntie, sorry to trouble you."
"No trouble, no trouble at all," Wu Shufen said, leading the group back toward the house.
Just as they got back to the house, Lin Changyou and Zhang Xiuqing, having heard the news, hurried back as well. Everyone exchanged a few polite greetings, and then Lin Changyou had Zhang Xiuqing go to her parents’ ho to inform her eldest sister-in-law.
Wu Shufen looked at Wang Zhixue with a smile. "Zhixue, it looks like you’ve gotten much taller."
Yang Liqun said with satisfaction, "He’s grown about an inch in the past six months. We didn’t eat well before, but since he started doing business with his aunt, our als at ho have improved, and all the kids are having a growth spurt."
Zhang Xiuqing glanced at Wang Zhixue, feeling satisfied. She quickly rode her bike back to her parents’ ho and found her eldest sister-in-law, Yu Xiufang.
She whispered to her, "Little Lan brought her sister and Zhixue over. I got a look at the boy—he’s dressed in all new clothes from head to toe, he’s tall, and he’s quite good-looking."
Yu Xiufang was also very happy to hear this. Untying her apron, she said, "Yuru is in the backyard picking oranges. I’ll go call her back so she can get cleaned up."
Zhang Xiuqing nodded with a broad smile. "Have her change into that new outfit we just made. I’ll head back and bring them over."
"I know what to do!" Yu Xiufang said as she headed toward the backyard.
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