Chapter 78: Clap Clap Clap!

It’s hard to know how long they had been sitting on the swing, as happy times always seem to pass so quickly.

“You take our daughter and keep playing, I’ll go prepare the dishes for lunch,” Xiulan said after a while.

After playing for a bit, Xiulan got up from the swing.

“Okay, I’ll come help you in a bit,” Lin Heng nodded.

They played a little longer, waiting until the sun was shining brightly before stopping.

“Clap clap, swing!”

Xiaoxia didn’t want to get off the swing, holding onto Lin Heng’s hand, she shook it playfully.

“Hahaha, alright, let’s play a little longer,” Lin Heng couldn’t bear to refuse his little girl.

They played for a while longer before Lin Heng took Xiaoxia to feed the fish, and finally persuaded her to temporarily leave the swing.

He threw a handful of wheat bran into the water, and the fish swam toward them in groups, making the little girl giggle happily.

“Clap clap, swing!”

After feeding the fish, Xiaoxia immediately wanted to get back on the swing.

Lin Heng was helpless, and whenever he tried to pull her away, she would stubbornly stay in place.

If he let go of her, she’d try to run back to the swing.

“Let’s go, let’s go, I’ll find another place to swing you,” Lin Heng coaxed as he picked her up.

They went to the main room, where he took out the basket from the other day and used a rope to tie it to a wooden pillow, creating a makeshift cradle.

He placed Xiaoxia inside, and she immediately burst into laughter, excitedly making “oh oh” sounds as the basket rocked.

The joy of children is so simple.

The door of the courtyard creaked as it opened, and a cute little head peeked around the screen: “Second brother, are you welcoming me?”

Lin Heng looked at Caiyun and smiled, “If I said I’m not welcoming you, would you leave?”

“I was originally going to help you take care of the baby, but seeing how ungrateful you are, I’ll leave then,” Caiyun replied, pretending to be angry, and pulled her head back.

It seemed that after realizing she could continue her studies, she had become much more cheerful.

Lin Heng ignored her and continued picking vegetables, preparing for lunch to entertain their guests later.

After a while, Caiyun came out from behind the screen and approached Xiulan, saying, “Sister-in-law, although second brother isn’t very welcoming, I’m sure you’ll accept me, right? I’m here to help you.”

“Of course, I’m happy to welcome you, and I’ll help you deal with him,” Xiulan laughed as she lightly hit Lin Heng.

Caiyun smiled even brighter: “Sister-in-law is the best, you’re much kinder to me than your brother.”

She came over to play with Xiaoxia, gently stroking her little face. “Call me Aunt.”

“Cluck cluck, swing!”

Caiyun had taught Xiaoxia this many times, and she remembered it.

“Alright, let’s swing,” Caiyun smiled and began rocking the basket.

“Has Big Brother and the others finished drinking?” Lin Heng asked while picking vegetables.

“Not yet. They’re still playing rock-paper-scissors. It’ll be a while. I ate and came out first,” Caiyun shook her head.

Lin Heng nodded, not surprised. Drinking and boasting were some of the few entertainment options in the countryside.

They were mostly picking early tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans, along with some ferns Xiulan’s mother had picked in the morning, and a few bamboo shoots from their own bamboo forest.

By the time they finished, the alcohol at the neighbor’s place still hadn’t run out.

Xiulan scooped some corn to feed the chickens, and Lin Heng led the sheep to the grassy area behind the house.

Once everything was set, they both started cleaning up the bed. Caiyun played with Xiaoxia in the backyard.

Though they had moved things over this morning, they hadn’t yet organized everything.

Lin Heng took the straw for bedding out and set it up on a rack to dry in the sun.

In this era, most places didn’t have spring mattresses, especially in rural areas. Their old wooden bed had straw underneath, with a cloth placed on top, followed by a quilt, and a bed sheet on top of that.

As long as they aired the straw out regularly, the bed would be quite soft.

“Help me move this desk, let’s put it in front of the window,” Xiulan said.

“Okay,” Lin Heng walked over to help. When it came to arranging the furniture, Xiulan made the decisions.

They placed the desk in front of the window, and then Xiulan placed the dressing table next to it. Their bed was placed horizontally facing the window, with the headboard against the east wall, and the wardrobe was on the opposite side of the bed, facing the window.

“Husband, all our money is in this little box. We have a total of 103 yuan right now. Seventy of it is what I’ve saved over the past few years, and thirty is from the money you gave me from selling the turtles and fish.”

She showed him a small iron box, about 10 cm long and 5 cm wide, containing valuable items, including money and a pair of silver bracelets her mother had given her as a dowry.

After showing him, she locked the box and placed it in a drawer of the wardrobe, covering it with other items, and wrapped the only key in plastic, pressing it under the desk.

Previously, she hadn’t wanted to tell Lin Heng where she hid the money and the key because she didn’t trust him—what if he took the money and they had no emergency funds?

But now, she trusted Lin Heng unconditionally.

“There’s no need to tell me, just keep the money safe,” Lin Heng shook his head.

“I have to tell you, this is our shared property,” Xiulan winked. She wanted them to manage the family together, not to have everything handled separately.

“Lin Heng, let’s go to the river to catch fish and crabs!”

At this moment, they heard the voice of Xiulan’s uncle-in-law from the front yard.

“They must have finished drinking,” Lin Heng said, quickly heading out.

When he saw his uncle-in-law and third uncle walking in, he smiled and said, “Alright, are you sure you don’t want to rest before heading out?”

He didn’t mind, but was a little worried they might be drunk and go to the river, which could be dangerous.

“No problem, we only drank a little, we’re fine,” Xiulan’s uncle-in-law waved his hand dismissively.

“Are my uncles going too?” Lin Heng asked.

“They can’t go, they’ve already passed out at your brother’s house. They’re all drunk,” Lin Heng’s third uncle said with a laugh.

“Alright, wait for me to grab some tools,” Lin Heng turned and grabbed the new plastic bucket he had bought. After telling his wife, he headed out with his third uncle and uncle-in-law.

Both of them were already holding big hammers, ready to go.

“When we shake the fish, you catch the crabs,” said Xiulan’s uncle-in-law, Li Baiquan, as he waded into the river, soaking his pants and shoes.

“I’ll try first!”

Bam!

Thud!!

With a low shout, Lin Heng’s uncle-in-law swung the hammer in a wide arc and slammed it down hard. Water splashed everywhere, followed by a muffled sound. A stone the size of a washbasin cracked into pieces.

Immediately, five or six fish flipped over and were stunned to death.

“Not bad, I’ll try too!” Lin Heng’s third uncle grinned and, with a swing of his hammer, struck another stone.

Clap clap clap!!

“I got a yellow bullhead! This is great!” Third uncle picked up a fish over 10 cm long and tossed it to Lin Heng.

“Definitely good stuff. You shake the fish, I’ll catch the crabs,” Lin Heng laughed.

Playing in the water in summer was so much fun. With each thud, Lin Heng happily collected the fish.

“Last time, you guys were ungrateful after I kindly helped you, now you see the consequences, right?” Lin Heng chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the fish in the basin.

While collecting fish, he also grabbed crabs. He turned over small stones in the river, finding black-shelled crabs. The small ones were only as big as a sparrow, while the larger ones could be as big as a fist.

The larger crabs were usually old, with yellow shells and claws, and they weren’t as tasty as the smaller ones.

Catching crabs required speed—either fast or slow. If you were too slow, you’d get pinched.

Lin Heng, being an experienced hand, relied on his speed. Though sometimes he made mistakes and got pinched, he rarely missed.

He turned over the stones with one hand while using the other to quickly grab the crabs before they could react.

The fish and crabs in the Shiban River had been overfished, but luckily, since pesticides were expensive in this era, they weren’t poisoned, so there were still plenty every year.

Around the year 2000, many small rivers were cleared by electricians and poisoned fish, and it took several years for them to recover.

“Is that enough?”

An hour later, Lin Heng’s uncle, Li Baiquan, looked into the bucket.

“That’s enough, that’s enough.”

Lin Heng said, “The fish and crabs combined are already about half a bucket, three or four kilograms.”

“Don’t bother with more.” Uncle nodded.

But without realizing it, the three men ended up spending another two hours in the river. The fun of hunting is addictive, just like fishing.

They would say it was enough, but still want to shake one more stone. After shaking that stone, they’d think, “How dare this fish swim past me?” It was too disrespectful and had to be stunned for a lesson.

In short, they couldn’t stop.

“Alright, that’s enough, the bucket’s full, probably about ten kilograms altogether.”

In the bucket were not just fish and crabs, but many field snails Lin Heng had picked up. They were also a good thing, very tasty when eaten.

“Okay, let’s go back.” Uncle grinned, finally satisfied.

By the time they got home, the clothes of the three men were dry, and the liberation shoes on their feet were almost dry too.

The three uncles had also sobered up and were chatting in the yard.

When they saw the three men bringing the bucket back, Lin Heng’s second uncle was the first to praise them. “You three have done a good job, catching so much.”

“Hey, the fish in the river these days are easy to catch,” Uncle immediately bragged.

“We’ll have it with some drinks later,” Lin Heng said with a smile, entering the house to get a wooden basin and pouring the catch into it.

“Bring a knife, we’ll help,” said the eldest uncle.

“Sure,” Lin Heng brought two small knives for them to process the crabs and fish.

He picked out the snails and put them into another basin. Then, he got some coarse sand with small stones, poured it in, and shook it hard.

This was much faster than using a brush, similar to sandblasting.

After a few minutes, all the moss on the snail shells was gone, clean as can be.

“Lin Heng, your method is clever,” praised his second uncle. They had always washed them with brushes before and never thought of this method.

“Heh, I just thought of it suddenly,” Lin Heng smiled, then cleaned the snails again before going into the house to get some pliers.

“Just now, the carpenter sent over a bamboo basket for our family and for big brother’s family,” Lin Heng’s mother, Xiulan, pointed to the bamboo basket on the cupboard in the main room.

It was made from fine bamboo strips, very labor-intensive. A basket could last for over ten years. It took a whole day to make one, and they could sell for two or three yuan each.

“That person is quite thoughtful. I thought he was just being polite,” Lin Heng said, somewhat surprised. But it wasn’t a big deal—if he needed carpentry work, he’d just go to him.

In the yard, Lin Heng used pliers to process the snails, clipping off the sharp ends, pulling out the innards, making the meat easier to remove when eating.

Basking in the sun, he quickly finished preparing the snails, soaking them in saltwater to wait for his wife to cook.

“Here, the fish and crabs are ready too,” Uncle smiled, bringing the fish and crabs inside and handing them to Lin Heng.

“We’re having something good today,” Lin Heng smiled as he took the fish, which were perfect for drinking.

The stream fish and crabs could be fried directly in oil, or coated with flour and eggs before frying. After frying, the crab shells would become crispy, so you could eat everything.

“Well, I’ll start cooking now,” Xiulan said, having already prepared the vegetables.

“Go ahead, I’ll call big brother and mom,” Lin Heng nodded and went out to call them.

Just as he stepped out, he saw Li Caifeng walking toward him. He was about to greet her when she handed him two bundles of spinach and spoke first: “Lin Heng, congratulations on the new house. My spinach grew a lot, so I pulled some for you.”

“Oh, no need, no need, thank you, we have some at home,” Lin Heng quickly waved his hand. He felt a bit stunned that Li Caifeng would give them spinach.

“It’s nothing, there’s plenty in the field. Just take it,” Li Caifeng insisted, pushing it into Lin Heng’s hands.

Lin Heng was about to speak when she added, “What’s wrong, you’re not looking down on me, are you?”

“No, no.”

“Then take it, I’m going to check on the cattle up the hill.”

“Come inside and sit for a while.”

“No, no, we’ll see each other often, we live so close,” Li Caifeng waved her hand and left.

Lin Heng stared at the spinach in his hands in a daze before heading back and putting it down.

Xiulan looked at the spinach and curiously asked, “Where did you get this spinach? I remember we didn’t plant any.”

“Li Caifeng gave it to me. Strange, right? She wouldn’t stop insisting,” Lin Heng said, looking at the spinach, not knowing what to say.

“This is obvious,” Xiulan said knowingly.

“Me?” Lin Heng asked, puzzled.

“Of course. These days, when mom and I walk on the road, people greet us more warmly.”

Xiulan glanced at him and continued, “The reason is obvious—it’s because you gave Wang Cuilian a good scolding. People in the village think you’re capable and educated, they respect and fear you.”

Lin Heng froze, then laughed. “I didn’t even notice that.”

Recently, it seemed that more people were greeting him.

When he thought about it, it seemed true everywhere—if you’re weak and kind, people will take advantage of you, but if you’re tough and domineering, people will show respect and fear.

Turning, he went to the old house to find his mother.

“Mom, where’s dad?” Lin Heng asked, looking at his mother chopping pigweed.

“Your dad and your brother went to the field to weed the corn and fertilize it. They’ll be back soon,” his mother looked up and said.

“Then I’ll wait for dad. Can you ask my sister-in-law to help Xiulan with the cooking?” Lin Heng said.

“Got it, I’ll finish chopping this pigweed and go,” his mother said, pointing to the leaves in the basket.

“Alright,” Lin Heng nodded and went outside to wait for his father.

At this time, chemical fertilizers had not yet spread, and the rural areas still used manure for fertilizing—pig manure or cow dung for corn, and ash for sweet potatoes.

This was also why, despite having thirty acres of land, the Lin family could only feed their eleven members every year—the yield was too low.

“Lin Heng, what are you doing here?” Yang Zhaotao walked by and asked with a smile.

“Waiting for my dad, he’s fertilizing the crops,” Lin Heng casually said, noticing that Yang Zhaotao’s tone had become much friendlier.

They chatted for a bit, and Yang Zhaotao even offered him a cigarette.

Lin Heng took the cigarette and asked, “By the way, do you have any mulberry mushrooms?”

Yang Zhaotao didn’t quite understand why Lin Heng asked, but nodded and said, “Yes, I found over a kilogram of them a few days ago, planning to keep some and sell them later.”

Lin Heng smiled. “In that case, you can sell them to me. The Liu family in the town buys them for 80 cents per kilogram, and I’ll match that price.”

“You buying them for what? To sell in the city?” Yang Zhaotao was puzzled. “You’re the same price as the town unless you sell them in the city. It doesn’t make sense to sell them to you.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just help me spread the word. Whatever you find, bring it to me and I’ll pay cash, no delays,” Lin Heng smiled.

“Alright, I’ll let people know,” Yang Zhaotao agreed. He didn’t understand why Lin Heng would do such a thankless task, but he didn’t ask further.

Not long after Yang Zhaotao left, Lin Heng’s father and older brother Lin Yue returned with baskets of manure.

“Dad, brother, don’t bother. Let’s eat, the food’s ready,” Lin Heng said.

“It’s fine, we’ll take a couple more trips and then go,” his father shook his head.

“Yeah, no rush. The food will be ready in a while,” Lin Yue agreed.

“Alright, I’ll call you when it’s time,” Lin Heng said helplessly.

Half an hour later, dinner was ready, a table full of dishes. Lin Heng called his father and brother to the table.

At the table, Lin Heng first raised his glass to solemnly thank everyone. The relatives had helped a lot with the house, and now they were sending gifts. It was truly warm-hearted.

As everyone drank their wine, the atmosphere became lively.

“This crab is so delicious, crispy and crunchy,” Uncle said.

“This snail is even better, spicy and fragrant. One bite and it’s amazing,” his second uncle loved sucking the snails.

Lin Heng also liked the snails. Even though there was little meat, the taste was truly great, especially with the wine.

“Eldest uncle, I’ll toast you,” Lin Heng said after a while.

They all toasted, and Lin Heng still had to make sure the drinks kept flowing. Today was his home, so he had to host well, but luckily the alcohol wasn’t too strong.

“Cheers,” the eldest uncle smiled as he lifted his glass after eating a crab.

After several rounds, Lin Heng was starting to feel dizzy. His father took over the hosting duties, and the others saw he was out of it, so no one forced him to drink more.

Lin Heng sat down, eating crabs and snails, watching the others talk and joke, occasionally sipping a little just for form’s sake.

The drinking lasted from 5 PM to 7:30 PM before finally winding down.

Except for his eldest uncle, who was staying to go hunting with Lin Heng, the others all went home.

Lin Heng’s mother took him, his eldest uncle, and father to the old house to rest. His sister-in-law helped his brother walk away, and Caiyun stayed to look after Xiaoxia, while Xiulan cleaned the table.

“I’ll go get the straw for the bed, or it’ll get damp,” Lin Heng said, getting up.

“You’re drunk. I’ll go get it in a bit,” Xiulan said.

“I’m not drunk, I’ll walk straight to show you,” Lin Heng laughed. He was confident in his drinking ability, never getting so drunk that he couldn’t control himself.

—

(The End of chapter)