Zhao Dehai gave a thumbs-up. "Not bad! Your cooking is even better than at the state-run restaurants."
Yang Liying shot him a look. "Of course it is. It’s more at than vegetables, and top-quality pork belly. A state-run restaurant would never be willing to use sothing like this."
Dandan puffed out her little tummy for the old lady to see. "Great-grandma, I ate so much my tummy is full."
The old lady smiled and nodded. "Now that you’re full, take Little Douzi and go play with your iron hoops. It’ll help you digest."
Standing by the stove, Lin Lan laughed. "Save so room! There’s still braised large intestines and stir-fried small intestines... they’re not on the table yet!"
The old lady glanced at the stove. "Don’t make too much. It’ll be a waste if we can’t finish it all."
Lin Guoqiang patted his stomach and chuckled. "I promise we won’t waste any. I’ve been saving room!"
After eating, they all went outside to sit on the stone steps and chat.
Half an hour later, the won brought the rest of the dishes to the table: an appetizing cold-dressed spinach, a refreshing stir-fried bok choy, spicy pickled-chili small intestines, rich and savory but not greasy braised large intestines, and a "cooling" small intestine stew with mung beans and Houttuynia.
Everyone praised the food endlessly as they ate, and Lin Guoqiang also gave Lin Lan a thumbs-up.
"Sis, I’ll never call you lazy again."
Lin Lan rolled her eyes at him. "I was never lazy to begin with!" As she spoke, she ladled so soup into bowls for the children. "Have so soup. It’ll cool you down."
Seeing that Lin Guoliang and Zhao Dehai had only drunk a small cup of liquor, the old lady said with a smile, "Go on, drink as much as you like. It’s fine to have a couple more drinks with dinner."
Zhao Dehai laughed. "This liquor has a strong kick. We’ll take it slow."
Lin Guoliang nodded with a smile. "That’s right. We’re not stopping until we’re drunk tonight."
In reality, the three of them didn’t dare drink too much because they were planning to go to the Construction Team’s graveyard to ambush soone with a sack.
The sky gradually darkened and the sounds outside quieted. The two children fell asleep, leaning against the adults.
Lin Lan put Little Douzi to bed, then packed so stead buns in an enal mug and walked the old lady ho.
Yang Liying saw that Zhao Dehai and the Lin brothers were still drinking and talking, so she took her two daughters and left first.
When Lin Lan returned from walking the old lady ho, she saw Lin Yuezhen clearing the dishes, but the Lin brothers and Zhao Dehai were gone.
Lin Yuezhen gestured, explaining that the three of them had taken a lantern and a fish basket to go catch eels.
Lin Lan found it a bit strange. ’They clearly said they wouldn’t stop until they were drunk. When did they prepare a fish basket and a lantern?’
Lin Guoliang had a sack tucked under his arm, Lin Guoqiang held two wooden clubs, and Zhao Dehai carried the fish basket on his back while holding the lantern. Under the dim yellow light of the lantern, the three n walked along the ridges between the fields toward the Construction Team.
Zhao Dehai said in a low voice, "I saw Liu San riding his bike toward the Construction Team."
Lin Guoliang chuckled. "Those gambling degenerates won’t break up until after midnight. We’ll take our ti and catch so eels along the way. We can cook them with whole garlic cloves later."
Zhao Dehai grinned. "Eel cooked with whole garlic is a real delicacy."
The three of them walked on slowly. By the ti they reached the edge of the Construction Team’s graveyard, they had already caught twenty or thirty eels.
The night was cool as water, the moon a sliver in the sky. The cold, dim moonlight shone down on the graveyard, casting flickering shadows from the eucalyptus and pterocarya trees. The scene was utterly eerie, enough to make one’s skin crawl.
The three n hid in the woods. Lin Guoliang glanced at his watch; the luminous hour hand pointed to twelve.
After another half hour, a bicycle ca wobbling toward them.
"Ptooey!" Liu Jinbao spat. "Damn it, what the hell? Losing money every single day. Are Old Gui and Ye San teaming up to fleece ?"
Zhao Dehai whispered, "He’s here!"
Lin Guoliang pursed his lips, and the shrill, unsettling cry of an owl echoed from the graveyard.
SCREE... SCREE...
Liu Jinbao shivered. He instantly felt the hairs on his body stand on end, even the ones on his head. "Ptooey!" he spat to ward off evil spirits, took a deep breath, and started singing loudly, "The sun is out, oh hey, feeling happy and gay... lift the shoulder pole, clang-clang-clang... clang..."
CLANG! The bicycle fell to the ground with a crash. Liu Jinbao’s vision blurred, and when he ca to his senses, a sack was over his head and clubs were raining down on his body like hailstones.
"Aah! Stop hitting ! Aah! Stop! Brothers, how have I offended you? Just tell , and I’ll make it up to you!"
Liu Jinbao begged for rcy through the pain, but no one spoke. All he could hear was the sinister cry of the owl. Overwheld by terror, his vision went black and he fainted.
Lin Guoliang nudged him. Seeing him lying there like a dead dog, he pulled off the sack, placed a hand under his nose, and confird he had only fainted. He waved to the other two, and the three of them hurried away.
About ten minutes later, Liu Jinbao was woken by a cool breeze. His whole body ached as if he’d been run over by a truck. Grimacing in pain, he struggled to his feet and sat there dazedly for a mont. Seeing his bicycle lying nearby, he picked it up and staggered back the way he ca.
****
Lin Lan finished making the pea cakes and checked the ti. It was already twelve o’clock, and Lin Guoliang and the others hadn’t returned. She told Lin Yuezhen to go to bed first, then lay down on the bed in the east wing, listening for any sounds from outside.
It was past one o’clock when she finally heard footsteps. She quickly got up and saw the three of them tiptoeing into the courtyard. Lin Guoliang was still holding the sack and clubs.
Seeing her standing there, the three n quickly gestured for her to be quiet.
Lin Lan nodded and led the three of them into the east wing. Looking at them, she asked, "Did you go beat up Liu Jinbao?"
Lin Guoliang nodded and explained how the three of them had ambushed Liu Jinbao with a sack. "That son of a bitch. Your second brother and I wanted to beat him up last ti, but we never got the chance. This ti, since our brother-in-law was here, we asked him to help show us the way."
Lin Lan looked at the three of them, her heart filled with warmth. ’I have brothers to back up now, too.’ It felt so good to have soone in her corner.
She sniffled. "That was too dangerous. Don’t ever do that again. If you get caught, you’ll go to jail."
Lin Guoliang shook his head. "Don’t worry. We checked all around and didn’t see anyone before we ca out."
Zhao Dehai added, "We turned off the lantern when we got to the edge of the graveyard. And we even caught a lot of eels along the way."
Lin Guoqiang added in a low voice, "We didn’t hit his head, just his body. We wouldn’t kill him."
Lin Lan felt relieved after hearing this. "Brothers, you should keep drinking. Drink until you fall asleep, and don’t wake up until morning."
"You still want us to drink?" The three n looked at her, confused.
"Yes! Get drunk and sleep it off." As she spoke, Lin Lan went to the kitchen, brought back the bottle of baijiu they had started, poured so into a bowl, and sprinkled so on their heads and clothes. She then told them to finish the rest of the bottle.
Lin Guoliang took a sip and asked, "Little Lan, why do you want us to drink?"
"In case the Liu family suspects you and cos knocking, they’ll see you reeking of alcohol and dead drunk. They won’t have anything to say."
Lin Guoqiang took a big gulp and looked at her. "Sis, where did you learn that?"
Lin Lan made an excuse: "I saw it in a movie!"
The three n understood. They finished off the rest of the liquor together, then piled onto the bed in the east wing, their eyes heavy with drink, and fell asleep.
Lin Lan put the lantern away, emptied the eels from the fish basket into a bucket to keep them alive, and washed the basket and bamboo tongs before stashing them on the roof of the pigsty. Only then did she wash her hands and return to her room.
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