Chapter 36: Lin Niang Wants to Vent Her Anger

  Liu Yu secretly returned home after parting with Zhi Xiao, and saw Qin Lan putting rice on the table. He rushed forward, grabbed a white steamed bun, and savored the freshly made sauce meat with a mouthful of fragrance.

  Liu Yu's mother, Qin Lan, saw him and patted his hand, saying: "Go, go wash your hands. Where have you been running to in such a short time?"

  Just brought the dishes to the back hall where Husband was resting, only to be told that this kid had been asked to take a break, but he ran off without a trace, didn't come back for a long time, and even asked if he had delayed things again. Just now saw him sneaking in with his head down, still peeking into the house with a thieving gaze, knew this kid had secretly run out to play.

  It would be better if he could make it. Today I want him to take the provincial city exam, see the results, and best of all, get a Xiucai out of it, so that next year can participate in the county test again.

  This way, let's take a look at what he has learned in the past few years, roughly understand, and save him from always saying that learning is useless. Take advantage of his young age now, have him take a few more exams, if this path doesn't work out, it won't delay things, there are still other options available.

  Qin Lan was thinking along these lines with her husband, hoping that in the future they could get a good education and become minor officials, which would be the best outcome for their family to hold their heads high in this mountain village, and she had such expectations for Liu Yu.

  "Mother, I'm suffocating being cooped up in the house all day." Liu Yu furrowed his brow deeply, feeling extremely distressed. Although his mother had been indifferent to him just now, he still thought about going to find her again tomorrow.

  "Are you sick? What's wrong?" Qin Lan asked, stepping forward and staring at him. This morning, she had reminded her that looking at this kid who was listless every day might be sick, and told her to pay more attention, in case he really got sick somewhere. She stretched out her hand to touch his forehead, which didn't seem hot.

  "It's just that I feel more relaxed outside than at home. Just now when I went out and breathed in the fresh air, it felt better than the air at home."

  "You're just a poor kid, hurry up and bring your grandparents over for dinner." Qin Lan looked at him and saw that nothing was wrong, so she felt relieved and interrupted Liu Yu's next words.

  Qin Lan watched Liu Yu walk in with his head hung low, and thought that maybe she should let him go out and get some exercise, as he had been cooped up at home for too long, and if this went on for much longer, he might really fall ill. Qin Lan thought this to herself, but it was only a fleeting thought, and at the critical moment, she immediately shook her head and dismissed the idea, deciding to wait a bit longer before doing anything.

  ……

  The wise man on the mountain knows.

  With the help of Lanniang and Erni, combined with several cooking methods I had eaten before, at noon, I made a table of dishes that are not commonly eaten using the leftover pig's feet materials at home.

  "This pig intestine may not be worth much money, but it tastes extremely good." Lan Niang held one of the tea cups from a new set of white porcelain printed with floral patterns that she had bought today, blowing on the hot air at the edge of her mouth, chatting idly with her family after dinner.

  Suddenly, Ling's daughter seemed to have thought of something, her face filled with joy, she leaned in close to the children and Liu Jian, and mysteriously smiled:

  "I went to the pumpkin field yesterday and saw that the pumpkin vines that were trampled by wild boars a few days ago had come back to life, lying on the ground. It seems they have even taken root underground. I didn't know this thing was so resilient."

  Liu Jian has also become a good farmer in recent years, and he also knows that some plants have very strong vitality. With a smile, he said that he would go take a look later.

  Zhi xiao also heard for the first time, before she was not familiar with these crops.

  "Next year we'll plant more using this method, I don't think it's possible this year. Yesterday I tried to bend some of the rattan strips down, let's take a look again in a few days, if they really can survive, that would be great."

  Ling's daughter turned her head and looked at Zhi Xiao: "Hey, don't be so down in the dumps. Our family probably has over 80 taels now."

  "Is it almost there?" He looked up at her with a puzzled expression, still feeling uncomfortable about not letting her go down the mountain until now.

  "Uh, mom told you, you can't always stay on the mountain, that time a few months ago was unavoidable, came up to avoid it, now it's good, these villagers take this as true, next time you go down the mountain, they'll all be talking about it, annoying."

  Zhi Xiao looked up at his mother with a pale face and thought to himself: It's not that I want to stay on the mountain, it's you who won't let me go, all you know is to keep a close eye on me every day.

  Lan Niang saw her expression and knew that she was resentful, somewhat worried, with a tone of anger, but only said: "In the past, our family had little land and couldn't say much in the village. Now we have money, so I have to think for you, right? Mother has already thought it through for you."

  Lan Niang took a sip of tea and thought with pursed lips.

  Lan Niang was originally thinking that she still had to wait a few more months to save up enough money to buy land, but now with the unexpected income from selling mountain pigs, her financial situation has improved significantly, so she's thinking of speeding up her revenge plan.

  Go to Liu Gui's house and throw that money in front of him, hurry up and see what expression is on his face, this time I reckon he won't refuse to sell either.

  In recent years, many households have moved out of the village, leaving their land idle and abandoned. Only a small portion is rented out to others for farming, but even then, after deducting the costs and sharing with those who helped with the farm work, there's hardly any profit left. And yet, they still need to return several times a year, perhaps to deal with some disaster or other, exhausting themselves from start to finish, making it all seem pointless. That's why some people who have moved out don't even bother about the little money they could get and would rather just leave their land idle and abandoned.

  Since then, Lanniang has been thinking about it every day, passing by those places, looking at them very clearly and carefully, and feeling a bit regretful. If the whole mountain area could be bought by her family, although they are not all connected together, standing on the mountain and looking around, it would be a vast expanse of land, enough to make them a standard landlord family.

  Besides, Liu Gui has been holding onto a lot of land in recent years, but no one comes to buy it. Lan Niang thinks that now is the right time, with spring just around the corner, she can buy a few more acres of land and plant some crops during this idle period, so next year they can exchange for more money. Anyway, they have spare cash on hand now.

  "In a few days I'll go buy those fields, and you can follow me back down the mountain to live," said Lan Niang resolutely to Zhi Xiao.

  Knowing that Ling Nang had been muttering about this matter since the last time, it's now finally coming true, and they can move down to the foot of the mountain. Upon hearing this, she immediately perked up and gained energy, extremely excited.

  She sat up straight, no longer with the same depressed look as before, her eyes sparkling and shining brightly.

  Knowing, thinking about it, who cares about the village girls, give her one and she will hit one. If you want to scold someone, who can't do it? In these few months on the mountain, intentionally or unintentionally, she has learned all of Xiaoxiao's previous habits.

  Just as the mother and daughter were gazing at each other in excitement, Liu Jian furrowed his brow.

  Liu Jian looked at Lan Niang, he also understood that last time Lan Niang was in the mountain village for the sake of collecting wheat, she suffered a not small blow, they used to drive her out of the village, thoroughly infuriating her, Lan Niang thought of using this method to take revenge, but she seemed to have forgotten...

  "Land is easy to buy, but who will farm it? Our family can't even manage the land we have." Liu Jian couldn't bear to crush her enthusiasm, and muttered softly, stealing a glance at her.

  Lan Niang suddenly spoke up, quickly glaring at Liu Jian, "Can't it still be rented out?" she asked weakly. She also suddenly came to a realization, thinking that after buying it, it would seem like a waste of money, and they couldn't even openly plant melons, which seemed not worth it, spending so much money for nothing.

  Then what can she do? Who will speak up for her? Won't she suffocate to death?

  Just thinking about it, she felt a pang of distress, heavily put down the tea bowl on the table, and scowled with a huff, could it be that all these days, her supposedly clever idea, good plan, had come to an end like this?!

  She was unwilling to give up and wanted to buy this land with her daughter and live in the mountains together.

  She can't get this breath out, she can't bully that family back, and she won't be able to avenge this grudge. She can't even sleep well, especially with Qin Lan around. All these years, she's always been looking for trouble, relying on being the village chief's daughter-in-law, and has been very arrogant. She loves to wander around the village, making people dislike her and talk about how annoying she is.

  The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, and she glared at Liu Jian, who had just come to explain things to her. Now that he had finally spoken up, she was going to ask him a question, and his tone would determine how she responded.