80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

After a refreshing bath, Lin Lan came out of her room carrying her dirty clothes. Wu Shufen had cooked her a bowl of noodles with egg and a savory meat sauce.

It was topped with a golden fried egg, vibrant green scallions, and a large spoonful of meat sauce, all drizzled with chili oil, sesame oil, and Sichuan pepper oil.

In no time, Lin Lan had finished the entire, heaping bowl of noodles, not even leaving a drop of broth. Wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, she sighed, "A hot meal feels so good."

Wu Shufen looked at her with a pang of sympathy, drying her hair with a towel. "Didn’t you eat at all on your trip?"

Lin Yuezhen nodded emphatically. ’She must not have eaten a full meal these past few days.’

Qiaohui picked up the empty noodle bowl, seeing that even the broth was gone. "Exactly. I’ve never seen my cousin eat so fast."

Lin Lan smiled and shook her head. "I’ve spent more time on the train than off it lately, and the food on board is just awful."

She and Liu Da had boarded at Yangcheng Railway Station, and she thought the food in the dining car tasted worse than instant noodles.

Wu Shufen mulled it over. "That makes sense. Nothing’s as good as a home-cooked meal when you’re traveling. Has Xiangyang gone back to his family’s place?"

Lin Lan leaned against the back of the chair. As Wu Shufen gently dried her hair, she grew drowsy. "Xiangyang hasn’t arrived yet..."

Wu Shufen saw she had fallen asleep right there against the chair. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes, she felt a pang of pity and gently shook her awake. "Little Lan, go sleep in your bed."

"A full belly makes you lazy, an empty one makes you anxious. And warmth just makes you sleepy!" Lin Lan mumbled, squinting as she walked toward the bedroom. The moment she felt she was home, an overwhelming sleepiness had washed over her. She lay down, and she was out the instant her head touched the pillow.

Wu Shufen peeked into the room. Seeing her sleeping soundly, she tiptoed out, gently closing the door behind her. She smiled. "She’s fast asleep."

Qiaohui whispered, "My cousin must be exhausted."

Wu Shufen grabbed a pair of scissors and a stool and sat before a large wooden basin. Lin Yuezhen and Qiaohui joined her, and the three of them gathered around it to start snipping broad beans.

A customer had placed an order yesterday for over thirty bags of fried broad beans and seventy to eighty pea cakes.

Brother Yong walked into the kitchen carrying a bucket of fish. "Auntie, Uncle Li caught these and wanted me to bring them over for you."

Wu Shufen saw crucian carp and two snakehead fish in the bucket. ’Snakeheads are so aggressive,’ she thought. ’I wonder what kind of hook he used to catch them.’ Then she remembered that snakehead fish was very nourishing. ’I’ll make a soup with it for Lin Lan tonight.’

"Please thank him for me." Wu Shufen took the wooden bucket, but after a few steps, she turned back. "Little Lan is back, and Xiangyang should be here in two days."

Brother Yong figured it was about time they returned. He grinned. "I’ll have to see what kind of goodies they brought back."

He had asked Li Xiangyang to bring back a couple of nice outfits for him and Lin Yuezhen to wear at their wedding reception.

Qiaohui laughed. "My cousin fell asleep mid-sentence."

Lin Yuezhen brought him a chair and gestured, "Are you finished with your work at the market?"

Brother Yong shook his head. "I can’t stay. Zhigang’s gone to the slaughterhouse, and I have to hurry back to the clothing factory."

Wu Shufen said to Lin Yuezhen, "Yuezhen, go see Ah Yong out."

"Auntie, no need to see me out. I’m in a hurry." With that, Brother Yong strode out, grabbed his bicycle, and left.

Wu Shufen and the two younger women finished packing the order for Wang Zhixue and his brother. After seeing the two men off, they began loading their own goods to go set up their stall. Just then, Lin Lan woke up.

Qiaohui, carrying a basket in each hand on her way out, saw her and smiled. "Cousin, you stay home and rest today. I’ll go to the stall."

"Okay. I promised Little Douzi I’d be home waiting for him." Lin Lan tied her braids back with a hair tie, washed her hands, and went to help them load the goods onto the pushcart.

Once the cart was loaded, Qiaohui slung a cloth bag over her shoulder and left for the Eucalyptus Forest with Lin Yuezhen.

Wu Shufen said happily to Lin Lan, "Xiangyang’s father had Ah Yong bring over some crucian carp and two snakeheads. Tonight, we’ll have crucian carp with savory herbs and snakehead fish soup."

"Okay," Lin Lan said. Her thoughts then turned to Yang Liying, who’d had surgery and was still convalescing. "Mom, I’m going to take one of the snakeheads to Third Sister."

"Snakehead fish is good for someone recovering from surgery. I’ll get one for you." Wu Shufen bustled off to the backyard, fetched one of the snakeheads, and put it in a net bag for Lin Lan. "Are you taking your bicycle?"

Lin Lan nodded, took the net bag, and set off on her bike toward Yang Liying’s house. When she reached the village, she saw Zhao Dehai carrying tofu and tofu pudding on a shoulder pole. "Third Brother-in-law, heading out to your stall?"

Zhao Dehai, who had been hurrying along with his head down, looked up and saw her. "When did you get back?"

’He seems to have aged years in just a few days,’ Lin Lan thought. "I got back at noon. I’m bringing a snakehead fish for Third Sister to make soup with."

"Thanks! Liying’s home, you go on ahead. I’ve got to get to my stall." Zhao Dehai said, then rushed off.

Lin Lan watched Zhao Dehai’s hurried figure for a moment, then got back on her bike and rode away.

When she arrived at Yang Liying’s house, she found the courtyard gate ajar. Lin Lan knocked, then pushed her bicycle inside.

Yang Liying came out of a room, wearing a makeshift cap fashioned from a pillow towel. Her face lit up when she saw Lin Lan. "You’re back! I was wondering who that was!"

"Yeah!" Lin Lan lifted the net bag off her bicycle’s handlebars. "Xiangyang’s dad sent over a snakehead fish, so I brought it for you to make soup."

She noticed Yang Liying’s face was ghastly pale. ’Her color is even worse than it was right after the surgery.’

Yang Liying gave her a gently chiding look. "That was brought for you, and here you are giving it to me."

Lin Lan glanced at her before carrying the fish toward the kitchen. "How are you doing? Are you recovering well?"

Yang Liying gave a bitter smile. "Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. After just one surgery, I feel like my body is so much weaker than before. I get exhausted just from grinding half a basin of beans."

’That feeling, of being completely at someone else’s mercy... she never wanted to experience it again. After the abortion, she had simply gone ahead and gotten her tubes tied.’

Lin Lan thought she was likely suffering from a deficiency of qi and blood. After a moment’s thought, she said, "You should see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, or buy some angelica root and astragalus to stew with chicken."

"Dehai already cooked the chicken you brought for me, and we’ve butchered two of our own hens as well." Yang Liying said with a self-deprecating laugh. "During this recovery, I’ve eaten better than when I gave birth to my two girls, but I’m still so tired."

Lin Lan could see she hadn’t been able to let it go. She comforted her gently, "Third Sister, it wasn’t that you didn’t want the baby; the policy didn’t allow it. What’s done is done. Try not to be so hard on yourself. The most important thing now is to rest and get your strength back."

Yang Liying’s eyes instantly reddened. She pulled Lin Lan down to sit beside her as tears streamed down her face. "I finally had a child... and just like that, I had to send him to his death."

Yang Liying pounded her own chest. "In the middle of the night, I keep hearing someone call out ’Mama’... saying they’re cold, that they’re in pain... My heart feels like it’s being sliced with a knife."

Lin Lan looked at her, recalling how she herself used to dream of having a child. She understood Yang Liying’s pain. Patting her shoulder, she said, "Third Sister, what you think about by day, you dream about by night."

"You can’t go on like this. You have to think about Xiaoyun and Little Li. They’re still young, and they need their mother to protect them."