Chapter 399: Chapter 397: I’ll Douse You with Swill Next Time

Yang Liqun said happily, "A truck would be even better, of course. Sorry to trouble you, Lin Lan." She had thought a tractor for the wedding procession would be great, but a big Dongfeng truck would be far more impressive.

"Don’t mention it, Sister," Lin Lan said with a smile. "I’ll go home and have Xiangyang borrow the big Dongfeng truck from Uncle Da for your wedding procession."

Yang Liying added, "We’re going to open the shop tomorrow. Have Zhigang send some pork intestines over for me."

"Alright then, I’ll let you get back to it. I’m heading off," Lin Lan said. She waved, stepped off the ridge between the fields, and pushed her bicycle away.

Just as she reached the production brigade’s sunning ground, she ran into Sun Xiuhua carrying bundles of seedlings. The moment Sun Xiuhua saw her, she dropped her baskets and blocked Lin Lan’s bicycle.

Lin Lan quickly squeezed her brakes and planted a foot on the ground to stop. "Sister Sun, what are you doing?" she demanded angrily. "What if I had hit you?" She hadn’t seen Sun Xiuhua in over half a year, and the woman looked as if she had aged a decade.

"Little Lin," Sun Xiuhua begged, her hands clasped together. "Please, Little Lin! I’m willing to pay you back for the clothes Jinbao stole. I’m begging you, please be magnanimous and spare my Jinbao this one time!"

In another two years, her husband would be retiring, and Liu Jinbao would have been able to take over his position at the distillery. Now, all of that was gone.

What saddened her even more was that with Jinbao locked up in the detention center, his sisters couldn’t have cared less. They were all busy fighting over who would get to take their father’s job at the distillery!

Lin Lan said gravely, "Sister Sun, this isn’t about whether I’m willing to forgive him or not. Why don’t you go ask at the police station how many shops he stole from?"

Wiping away tears, Sun Xiuhua nodded. "I know. It’s my fault I didn’t raise Jinbao right. Now that he’s in jail, his wife has gone back to her family and wants nothing to do with him. I’m begging you, please go to the police station and put in a good word. Ask them to just detain him for a few days and let him go. Can you do that?"

Lin Lan said irritably, "It’s not like I own the police station. I can’t help you." With that, she turned her bike around and rode away along a nearby field ridge.

After riding a little way, she glanced back and saw Sun Xiuhua still standing there in a daze. She found the woman both pitiful and infuriating.

When she got home, she put her bicycle away, then went over to the bamboo grove to find a few of the neighborhood "aunties." She arranged for them to come help plant pumpkin seedlings in about ten days and caught up on some gossip in the process.

It turned out that ever since Huihui from the Zhang family had been arrested, Zhang Jun had been going all over the production brigade claiming Lin Lan was getting revenge on his family. He was saying she had framed Huihui, and that was the only reason the police had taken him away.

Lin Lan explained the real story to the aunties but couldn’t be bothered to confront the Zhang family about it. After setting a date with the women, she rode her bike back to the pastry shop.

She had only been back in the shop for a moment when the owner of the steamed bun shop across the street appeared at the entrance. She looked at Qiaohui and asked, "Young lady, is your boss in?"

Qiaohui nodded. "She is. Why are you looking for my cousin?" ’She obviously saw my cousin come back just now, so she’s just asking for show. This can’t be good.’

The owner gave a faint smile. "Just to have a word with her."

Qiaohui went to the back doorway and called to Lin Lan in the workshop, "Cousin, someone’s here looking for you."

Lin Lan untied the apron she had just put on and came out. Seeing the fair-skinned, plump owner of the bun shop, she offered a polite smile. "Ma’am, please, come in and sit down."

With a sullen expression, the owner pointed to the adjacent alley. "Boss Lin, could I trouble you to step outside for a moment? I’d like a word with you."

Lin Lan nodded, stepped out of the pastry shop, and followed her into the alley, waiting for the woman to speak.

The shop owner looked at Lin Lan and said, "I’m here to tell you to keep your cousin in line. My son, Xiao Kang, has been engaged since last year. But for the past few days, he’s been causing a fuss at home, saying he wants to call it off."

’A country girl thinks she can marry into the city just because she learned a trade. She should take a good look in the mirror and see if she’s even worthy.’

"You people really are all cut from the same cloth. Your son is already an engaged man, yet he still has the gall to shamelessly pester my cousin." Lin Lan stared at her coldly. "Go home and get your own son under control. If he dares to bother my cousin again, I’ll break his legs."

Furious and humiliated, the owner opened her mouth to curse, "You bitch— GAK... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!" Before she could finish, a basin of water descended from above, drenching her completely. She swallowed a few mouthfuls and broke into a violent coughing fit.

Tong Xinglan was standing on top of the courtyard wall, basin in hand. She pointed at the woman and yelled, "You crazy old hag! Who the hell do you think you are, cursing my cousin?"

Lin Lan looked at her in surprise. "What are you doing out here?"

Tong Xinglan gestured toward the bun shop owner. "I heard this crazy hag’s voice."

The drenched and disheveled owner pointed a trembling finger at her. "You... you dared to throw water on me..."

"You old witch!" Tong Xinglan planted a hand on her hip. "You spout any more nonsense, and next time it won’t be clean water. It’ll be pig slop!"

The owner’s eyes widened. "You’re all..."

"Mom, what are you doing over here?" The owner’s son had run over from across the street at some point. He grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.

Lin Lan looked up at Tong Xinglan on the wall. "Get down from there! What are you, putting on a show?"

"Hee hee, I’m coming down," Tong Xinglan said, hopping down from the wall.

Back inside the shop, Tong Xinglan said to Lin Lan with a look of relief, "Cousin, that bastard came looking for me again right after we opened this morning. He said he would convince his parents to let us be together. I remembered what you told me, so I just ignored him. Thank goodness I did! Otherwise, my reputation would be ruined all the way to East Market."

Lin Lan gave her a thumbs-up. "Good. You’re a smart girl."

"That was awesome! She had it coming!" Lin Yuezhen and Qiaohui also gave her a thumbs-up.

That afternoon, she told Li Xiangyang she had promised to help Yang Liqun borrow a truck for her bridal pickup. The two of them then paid a visit to Liu Da’s house to borrow the vehicle, and Liu Da readily agreed.

Li Xiangyang told him they would come to get the truck on the seventeenth and then asked if he’d had any luck finding a company to operate under.

Liu Da said he had talked to two companies about an affiliation, but they couldn’t come to an agreement. There was one other possibility, but he was worried they’d get swallowed whole.

Li Xiangyang told him that Xu Dong had analyzed the situation and said that government policies for private entrepreneurs would only become more lenient in the future, so it wouldn’t be too late to make their move then.

Mechanical equipment was expensive these days. The cost of a single truck was substantial, and to run a less-than-truckload freight business, they’d need at least seven or eight. On top of that, after buying the trucks, they’d have to hire someone to modify the cargo beds.

If the company they affiliated with seized their trucks, they would have no choice but to swallow the bitter loss.

After some discussion, the two decided to proceed with caution, continuing with their current work while they waited for the right opportunity.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Zhixue’s wedding day arrived. Zhang Xiuqing and Lin Guoliang had already returned to Shilian ahead of time, and on the seventeenth, they delivered the dowry to the Wang family.

The Wang family’s newly built brick-and-tile house was covered in large, red "happiness" characters. The same portly chef as before was busy working in front of tall stacks of steamers.

Early that morning, Li Xiangyang drove the bridal procession to Shilian and brought the bride back amid much fanfare.

A few days after the Wang family’s wedding, Lin Lan’s family got busy planting pumpkin seedlings. The first step was to clear out all the weeds in the Eucalyptus Forest.

It was only then that they discovered the soil in the woods was incredibly fertile, with a thick layer of humus from fallen leaves and decayed weeds.

On the day they were digging holes to plant, Little Douzi, Dandan, and Lin Jun, all on summer vacation, came to the Eucalyptus Forest to play.

The children were especially well-behaved. Seeing that the adults couldn’t keep up, they helped out by placing the pumpkin seedlings into the holes, while Lin Lan, Wu Shufen, and a few of the aunties dug the earth and planted them.