"Thanks!" Li Xiangyang readily accepted it and said gently, "If you need help with anything in the future, just say the word. Don’t try to handle it all by yourself."
’He’d never seen such a tough woman. She was clearly scared but still dared to fight with those thugs. What if she’d gotten hurt?’
Lin Lan said politely, "Thank you, Master Li. I’m always troubling you!"
"Lin Lan," Li Xiangyang called out to stop her, smiling. "You call Master Li all day. It makes sound old. Why don’t you just call Xiangyang?"
Lin Lan smiled. "Alright, I’ll call you by your na from now on."
"That’s more like it. We’re all young people, so we should be more casual." With that, Li Xiangyang went back to pack up his stall.
Lin Lan turned and started walking back. She thought about how since she started her stall here, Li Xiangyang, Zhou Xiaohong, and the others had helped her a lot. Li Xiangyang, in particular, had always taken great care of her because of the old lady.
’Ever since I was reborn into this world, I’ve never thought about relying on anyone. My past experiences taught that if a woman wants to live a good life, she has to depend on herself—to be strong and self-respecting.’
’Back then, I knew nothing and had stumbled along, forging a path for myself. But now, I have skills and experience; I believe I can do even better.’
She found Li Wu, the grain seller, and said, "Brother Li, I’d like to buy a hundred pounds of rice. Could you please help pick out a good-tasting kind?"
Li Wu readily agreed. "Sure. I’ll deliver it to you tomorrow after I close up."
Lin Lan nodded and returned to her stall.
Yang Liying, who had finished packing up her stall, looked at her with a wide smile. "More and more people have been buying my tofu these past few days. They all say it tastes great and the portions are generous."
Lin Lan smiled. "That’s great news! When you’re in the food business, custor approval is what matters most. Once you have repeat custors, you won’t have to worry about business."
"Mhm! I’ll rember that." Yang Liying hesitated for a mont before looking at Lin Lan and saying, "Lin Lan, can you help my eldest sister find a stall? There are three of us sisters, and she has it the hardest. Her husband isn’t just inconsiderate, he’s also poor but obsessed with saving face."
"Her oldest, Zhixue, is eighteen this year. He’s handso and sharp, but because they’re poor, no one’s even tried to set him up for marriage. Her second son, Zhilin, is a bit disobedient, and her third, Zhidong, is in his second year of junior high. She’s supporting that whole family by herself. She’s not even forty, but she looks like she’s in her fifties."
’Speaking of which,’ Yang Liying thought, ’aside from the prestige that ca with having sons to carry on the family line, my two daughters are far more considerate. Ever since we started selling tofu, my daughters co ho and help with the cooking, and even boil the slop to feed the pigs.’
Lin Lan thought for a mont and recalled her eldest sister-in-law, Yang Liqun. She was a gentle and kind-hearted person, and a quick worker, but her personality was a bit too mild, lacking Yang Liying’s forthrightness.
When the original owner of her body gave birth to Little Douzi, both she and Yang Liying had helped her through her postpartum confinent.
"Third Sister, when you have a mont, go ask Eldest Sister. If she’s willing to run a stall, I can ask Sister Zhou to help find a spot for her over by Dongzikou. Also, they charge ten yuan a month in protection fees to set up a stall there."
"Okay, I’ll go over to Eldest Sister’s place as soon as I get back." Yang Liying looked at Lin Lan gratefully. "Thank you, Lin Lan. If you hadn’t shown a way to make a living, I’d still be worrying about Little Yun’s school fees!"
Lin Lan smiled. "Third Sister, don’t say that. You all never looked down on in the past, either!"
Hearing this, Yang Liying looked at Lin Lan with emotion. "If there was anything I did wrong in the past, please don’t hold it against . The youngest is gone now. If you remarry in the future, I’ll treat you like my own sister."
’She felt a little guilty. They had been nice to Lin Lan in the past only because their youngest brother was a good-for-nothing, and he had only managed to marry Lin Lan with great difficulty. Of course they had to keep her happy. But now, she genuinely wished her well!’
Lin Lan readily agreed. "Okay, from now on, we’re sisters." ’No matter what happened in the past, from my interactions with Yang Liying these past few days, I feel that Yang Liying is so much better than that scumbag Liu Jianguo’s sisters.’
Yang Liying nodded with a smile, then suddenly rembered Lin Lan ntioning that their grand-aunt had gone to the Public Security Bureau to accompany Ding Bang on a blind date. She chuckled and said, "When you get back, go to Grand-aunt’s place first and see what the girl Ding Bang t with is like."
Lin Lan nodded. "You go take a look. I still need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy so kraft paper and alkaline powder."
Yang Liying agreed and left.
At the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Lan bought two packs of kraft paper, a few bags of alkaline powder, soy sauce, vinegar, rough toilet paper, and regular toilet paper. On her way out, she saw so clay pots displayed by the door. After asking, she found out they didn’t require coupons and were cheap. Thinking that she couldn’t use an iron pot to simr peas, she bought two and carried them ho on her back.
When she got ho, the old lady was just returning, leading Dandan by the hand.
"Grand-aunt, are you just getting ho?"
The old lady nodded with a cheerful laugh. "I waited for Ding Bang to get off work, then dragged him downstairs to Auntie Zhang’s place before coming back."
’She was very pleased with the match Auntie Zhang had introduced for Ding Bang. Not only was the woman attractive, but she was also a nurse at the city hospital. She just hoped the two of them would hit it off, get married, and treat Dandan well.’
Seeing how happy she was, Lin Lan felt happy for her and also breathed a sigh of relief. ’Now that I’m here, Yang Dingbang probably won’t get into trouble again.’
Yang Liying ca out from the backyard carrying washed wrapping cloths and smiled when she saw the old lady. "Grand-aunt, when is Ding Bang going to bring his girlfriend ho for us to see?"
The old lady said, "Their way of dating is different from our matchmaking. They have to wait until they both feel it’s serious enough before bringing her ho."
Yang Liying nodded. "Right. City people are more particular than us."
The old lady then asked Lin Lan about buying the beans on her way ho. When she learned that even the soybeans for Yang Liying’s tofu had been bought, she was relieved and prepared to go ho.
Lin Lan quickly gave her the dried mushrooms she had brought for her. The old lady accepted them with a cheerful laugh and told her she would bring over the chicks and goslings tomorrow, then left with Dandan.
After putting the tofu fras and wrapping cloths out to dry, Yang Liying also said her goodbyes and went ho with Little Yun.
Lin Lan started cooking rice. Seeing the clay pots in her back-basket, she rembered she didn’t have a stove for them. She recalled a pile of broken bricks under the eaves behind the west wing, so she decided to just build one herself. She grabbed a wicker basket, picked out a few basketfuls of broken bricks, and carried them back to the kitchen.
She had the bricks, but she still needed yellow clay. She rembered that Niu Bei Mountain was full of it, so she took Little Douzi to the foot of the mountain, dug up so yellow clay, and carried it ho on her back.
She dumped the yellow clay in the backyard, added water, and mixed it. Little Douzi watched her curiously. "Mama, are you going to play with mud?"
Lin Lan smiled and dabbed a bit of clay on his cheek. "Mama is building a small clay stove. A small stove saves on charcoal."
Little Douzi rolled up his sleeves. "Mama, I’ll help you."
Lin Lan looked at the dot of yellow clay on his cheek and shook her head with a smile. "You can take a piece and go play in the front yard."
"Okay!" Little Douzi happily grabbed a clump and went off.
First, Lin Lan fashioned a grate out of the clay and left it to dry on a washboard. Then, she went back to the kitchen and, next to the inner firebox, used the yellow clay and bricks to build a stove about fifty centiters high. She placed the grate inside the firebox, and just like that, an ugly little stove was finished.
She then plastered it inside and out with another layer of yellow clay. Wetting her hands, she smoothed the surfaces until the little clay stove looked sleek and well-made.
Lin Lan nodded in satisfaction, lit so kindling, and placed it in the firebox. A fire began to burn.
While stir-frying vegetables, she gradually added more firewood to the firebox, using the low heat to slowly dry the new clay stove.
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