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

Li Xiangyang crouched down and looked at him. "That’s right. Don’t listen to your mom. Our Little Douzi will definitely ace his test."

"Yeah! I’ll definitely pass." Little Douzi looked at the two of them. "Wait for me."

They both nodded repeatedly. "Okay, we’ll wait for you."

Little Douzi walked into the classroom with his little backpack on. Two other children tugged on his arm. "Yang Xiaoguo, are those your mom and dad?"

Little Douzi glanced back at the couple, a wide grin on his face as he nodded. "Yep! That’s my mom and dad!"

"Little rascal," Li Xiangyang said, turning to Lin Lan. They shared a smile.

After the bell for class rang, the teacher began the exam. Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and a few other parents waited in a classroom next to the preschool for the children to finish.

Over half an hour later, the dismissal bell rang. Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang went to the classroom door to wait for Little Douzi. They would have to come back on the thirtieth to see the results.

Little Douzi came out of the classroom, his little backpack on his shoulders. Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang each took one of his hands and started walking home. Neither of them asked if he’d finished all the questions.

They could hear other parents who were picking up their children asking, "How did your test go? Did you finish all the problems?"

Little Douzi looked up at them. "Mom, Uncle Xiangyang, why aren’t you asking me how I did?"

Lin Lan smiled warmly at him. "Alright then, did you finish?"

Little Douzi nodded. "I finished, and I knew how to do everything." After a moment’s thought, he added, "Mom, once I’m in first grade, I’ll be a big kid. You can’t call me Little Douzi anymore."

Li Xiangyang grinned. "Then how about we call you Little Guozi?"

Little Douzi pouted. "Mom, why are the names you picked for me always something like ’Little Douzi’ or ’Xiaoguo’?"

"If you stick your lip out any further, I could hang a teapot on it." Lin Lan laughed and playfully tapped his mouth. "Then what do you want to be called?"

Little Douzi thought about Dandan, whose name often made people think she was a girl, and Little Hai, who also had "Little" in his name. He sighed like a world-weary adult. "Never mind. Just call me Xiaoguo!"

Li Xiangyang chuckled and ruffled his hair. "You little rascal."

The three of them left the school and went to Limin Road. Old Li told the couple that Yang Meihua had stopped by. She said they were to hand over the grain tax on the fourth of next month, and that Lin Lan should get the grain ready.

Lin Lan calculated that she still had six or seven days. ’Besides,’ she thought, ’the weather’s been nice lately, so the grain will be dry by then.’ "Okay," she said. "I’ll go tell my mom after we close the shop."

Old Li nodded and said to Li Xiangyang, "Zhigang went looking for you. Did you see him?"

"No, we came straight here from the school. He probably went to my house," Li Xiangyang said, then paused. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"He didn’t say." Old Li recalled Yang Zhigang’s demeanor and chuckled. "When I asked, he got all shy and wouldn’t say a thing. My guess is he’s got his eye on some girl and wants you to be his matchmaker!"

Li Xiangyang laughed at that. "That’s entirely possible."

Lin Lan agreed, laughing. "I’m going to head to the bakery and see if the delivery has arrived."

Li Xiangyang nodded. "Alright. Little Douzi and I will wait here for Zhigang for a bit. I’ll come pick you up before we close."

Today, Li Wu was supposed to deliver raisins, shelled sunflower seeds, marshmallows, white sugar, black and white sesame seeds, and some fillings for mooncakes. The Jin family’s farm was also supposed to send over beans and winter squash.

"Okay!"

Just as Lin Lan arrived at the bakery on her bike, Qiaohui handed her the delivery invoice from Li Wu. "Li Wu said the rest of the raisins will be delivered tomorrow."

Lin Lan took the invoice and glanced at it. "Okay. Have Captain Jin and his men arrived yet?"

The three women at the bakery already knew Lin Lan was pregnant. They had originally planned to open the shop on Limin Road, but now they would have to wait until after Lin Yuezhen gave birth and Lin Lan’s own pregnancy was more stable.

The three of them were overjoyed to learn Lin Lan was expecting. Qiaohui and Tong Xinglan scrambled to do all the work, trying their best to keep her from lifting a finger.

Their consideration made Lin Lan very happy. ’It feels good to know my kindness to them wasn’t wasted,’ she thought.

Qiaohui shook her head. "Not yet. They usually don’t get here until after two in the afternoon."

Lin Lan nodded. "Have you had a look at the dried goods that arrived?"

Qiaohui said, "We have. We checked the shelled sunflower seeds and the black and white sesame seeds. We’re planning to have Yuexing help sun them tomorrow to sift out any impurities."

"Good. Put all the air-dried duck eggs into the baskets. When Zhigang gets here, have him take them over to the shop on Yucai Road to be brined."

Qiaohui nodded, then glanced at Lin Lan, her face turning red. "Cousin, what do you think of Zhigang?"

Lin Lan froze for a second, then looked at her. "What do you mean by that, you silly girl?" ’I haven’t seen her and Zhigang act close at all! When did they hit it off?’

’Zhigang’s a good person, but his looks and height leave something to be desired. Qiaohui may have a small nose and eyes, but since coming here, her complexion has lightened, she’s filled out, and she’s even grown taller. She’s actually quite pretty now.’

’I never once thought about pairing her up with Zhigang. I can’t believe Qiaohui has actually taken a liking to him.’

Qiaohui pulled a red silk pouch from her pocket and placed it in Lin Lan’s hand. "Zhigang bought it for me." She glanced at Lin Lan, nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "He said... he said he wants to ask Uncle Li to go to my family and formally propose marriage."

Lin Lan untied the red string on the pouch and pulled out a gold necklace. She examined it for a moment before asking Qiaohui, "And what do you think about all this?"

Qiaohui looked down, tracing patterns on the floor with the toe of her shoe. After a moment, she looked up at Lin Lan. "Cousin, I think Zhigang is a great guy. He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink excessively, he’s not a spendthrift, and he’s a good earner. He also said that after we get married, he would never, ever hit his wife!"

"Qiaohui, talk is cheap," Tong Xinglan said, poking her head in and grinning at them. "You need to make him swear that he’ll give you all the money he earns and that he’ll never lay a hand on you."

"You silly girl," Lin Lan chided. "If oaths actually worked, thunderstorms would strike a lot more people dead."

As she spoke, Lin Lan was reminded of a saying she’d heard in her past life: ’If a man’s promises were worth anything, there wouldn’t be any scumbags in the world!’

"Hee hee!" Tong Xinglan stuck out her tongue. "Cousin’s right, an oath doesn’t seem very reliable. I remember when my older brother was courting my sister-in-law, he also swore he wouldn’t lay a single finger on her."

"And what happened? Not even half a year after they got married, they had a huge blowout. My brother gave my sister-in-law a black eye, and his own face and neck looked like they’d been shredded by a chicken’s claws!"

’What a pretty picture that must’ve been!’

Lin Lan and Qiaohui burst out laughing. "How did you know your brother made that vow?"

Tong Xinglan looked a bit embarrassed. "They were talking in their room and didn’t know I was there. I just happened to overhear them."

"You’ve got sharp ears," Qiaohui said, giving her a light smack. "So you just happened to hear what Cousin and I were talking about, too?"

Tong Xinglan rolled her eyes at her. "Look who’s talking, Miss Secretive. I tell you everything, but you didn’t even tell me you and Zhigang got together."

She pointed toward the oven and wrinkled her nose at Qiaohui. "I was standing right there in front of the ovens while you two were talking by the door. It would have been hard *not* to hear!"

Qiaohui looked at her sheepishly. "Xinglan, don’t be mad. To make it up to you, I’ll wash your clothes for a week."