Chapter 70: He is considered a rich man

“Is your face alright?”

After dinner, while resting, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan’s face again.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Xiulan shook her head and said.

Lin Heng leaned in to take a closer look. There was really no big problem, it just looked a bit frightening at the time, with a red palm print on her face.

“That’s good.”

Lin Heng nodded, lying down to rest. He had worked all day and didn’t have the energy to do anything else.

The next morning, Lin Heng didn’t help his older brother, Lin Yue, with the plastering.

His mother had arranged a task for him, to go with Xiulan to his third uncle, Lin Xutao’s house, to deliver some labor gifts.

His mother took the prepared deer meat and a small bag of white sugar to Lin Heng’s uncle, Li Baiquan’s family.

The gifts were the same: three pounds of deer meat and a small bag of white sugar, around half a pound.

In those days, this was considered a generous gift.

Lin Heng’s third uncle, Lin Xutao, lived near the river, and right beneath his doorstep was the stone slab river.

Carrying the gifts, Lin Heng held his daughter, while Xiulan carried the items, and they set off.

“Ba ba, run~”

Xiaoxia shook her little head, signaling that she wanted to run and didn’t want to be carried.

“Alright, I really can’t do anything about you.” Lin Heng put her down and held her little hand, walking ahead.

She plucked a handful of gray vegetables’ leaves, turned to look at Lin Heng, and said, “Ba ba~”

Lin Heng understood what she meant and said, “This is gray vegetable.”

“This is gray grass~ hehe.”

Xiaoxia imitated Lin Heng’s words, giggling and showing two small dimples, stuffing the grass into Lin Heng’s hands.

As always, she cared about her dad, giving him the grass, while putting the candy into her own mouth.

“What a good daughter, as always.” Lin Heng shook his head, holding her hand and walking forward.

With continuous guidance from Lin Heng over several days, Xiaoxia seemed to treat recognizing things and speaking as a game.

Xiulan looked at the father and daughter, her lips involuntarily curling into a slight smile.

While they were playing around, the three of them had already arrived in front of Lin Heng’s third uncle, Lin Xutao’s house.

“I’ll knock, I don’t know if Aunt San will welcome us, she didn’t have a good attitude when we visited before.”

Lin Heng said as he walked over to knock. Even if Aunt San didn’t like them, they still had to deliver their labor gifts.

It was early in the morning, and Lin Xutao’s family had just gotten up. His two sons were there. The eldest son, Lin Shan, had already gotten married and moved out.

The second son, Lin Hai, didn’t have a wife and still lived with them. At this time, the couple had just gotten up and were washing up in the yard.

Knock knock!

“Who’s knocking?” Lin Heng’s third aunt, Li Xue, put her basin down and walked to the door with a blank expression.

“Lin Heng, Xiulan, what are you doing here?” Li Xue was a little surprised when she opened the door.

“Aunt San, did we disturb you by coming unannounced?” Liu Juan smiled and said.

“No, no, you’re always welcome. Why did you bring things? It’s too kind of you.”

Seeing the items they were holding, Li Xue’s face lit up with joy, realizing it was the labor gift.

She had been waiting for them, but didn’t expect them to come so soon. The gifts they brought were even more generous than she had imagined.

She had always been annoyed that her husband often helped Lin Heng’s family. There were still many tasks to be done in her own house, and her second son still couldn’t find a wife, yet he was helping others. She had argued about this countless times.

But in the last half month, when she was doing laundry, she often overheard village gossip about Lin Heng’s family.

Lin Heng had hunted a badger, which wasn’t much, but he also hunted a large deer. This made her attitude change. The hides of the two animals were worth nearly two hundred yuan.

Now Lin Heng had money, and his family could benefit from it. Maybe when her second son got married, they could even borrow some money.

So, now, the labor gifts were three pounds of deer meat and a small bag of white sugar, worth around five or six yuan.

“Come in quickly, don’t stand on ceremony. Just treat it like your own home.”

Li Xue pulled Xiulan’s hand and welcomed them inside.

Lin Heng felt a bit unaccustomed to his third aunt’s warm reception.

He remembered the time when he passed by her house and asked for a drink, and she had sarcastically remarked about how water was hard to come by.

Now, she seemed to have forgotten all about it and didn’t mention anything.

Lin Heng couldn’t help but think to himself, “Sure enough, it takes money and ability to get respect.”

“Lin Heng, why are you bringing so much? Are you humiliating your third uncle? I only helped out a little, and you bring so much stuff.”

Lin Heng’s third uncle, Lin Xutao, was angry when he saw him.

“I didn’t bring much, third uncle. You know I hunted a large deer weighing over fifty kilos. We can’t eat it all, so you can help us finish it.”

Lin Heng chuckled and, holding Xiaoxia, entered the house.

Xiulan had already placed the gifts on their food cabinet.

“Have some water. Don’t be polite, just treat it like your own home.”

For the first time, Li Xue served Xiulan a cup of sugar water and Lin Heng a cup of sweet tea.

In this era, sugar was very precious and considered a strategic material. Offering sugar water to guests was the highest standard of hospitality in the countryside.

“Aunt San, you’re too kind,” Xiulan said, feeling a bit flattered by her aunt’s treatment.

“Go ahead and talk to your third uncle, I’ll go make dinner.”

Li Xue smiled and quickly went out to prepare the meal.

Lin Xutao was shocked to see his wife treat the guests so warmly. He turned and looked at Xiulan and Lin Heng, both wearing clean clothes and shoes, which seemed like they had just bought them not long ago.

They were already a handsome couple, but with their new outfits, they looked like a well-off family from the city.

He understood now: his wife was treating them well because Lin Heng had money and was capable.

He was quite happy; at least in the future, when they went to the second brother’s house, his wife wouldn’t scold him, and she wouldn’t say anything.

As for his second nephew, he didn’t quite understand him. Not only was he good at hunting, but yesterday he had also dealt with that Wang Cuilian.

“Lin Heng, is the plastering in your house finished?” Lin Xutao asked with a smile.

“It should be done by the end of today,” Lin Heng nodded.

“Has your house settled the water moving-in date? Are you holding a banquet?”

“Not yet, but most likely we won’t hold a banquet. It’s too troublesome.”

Lin Heng thought for a moment and said.

Hearing this, his third uncle didn’t understand: “Such a big happy occasion and you’re not holding a banquet?”

“How can we both hold a banquet at the same time? Who would the guests go to? It’s better not to hold one at all.”

Lin Heng shrugged.

As they continued chatting, Lin Xutao pulled Lin Heng to play chess.

“This is a set I carved myself, take a look.”

Lin Xutao showed Lin Heng a set of chess pieces.

“Impressive,” Lin Heng said.

Lin Xutao chuckled, “I’ll let you take the red pieces, but don’t lose too quickly.”

Three minutes later, Lin Heng made a move that nearly wiped out Lin Xutao’s entire board, leaving no viable moves for him.

In the village, Lin Xutao was quite formidable, so how could he lose to Lin Heng?

“Older cousin, sister-in-law, what are you doing here?”

At this moment, Lin Xutao’s second son, Lin Hai, entered from outside. He was holding several bamboo eel traps, clearly having been out collecting them.

“Just came to see Aunt and Uncle, did you catch any yellow eel?” Lin Heng asked with a smile. Lin Hai was one year younger than him.

“Not much, maybe just a pound or so.” Lin Hai poured the eels into a basin; most were small, with only a few big ones.

“Glad you’re back. Give me the eels and come play a game of chess with your older cousin.” Lin Xutao quickly stood up.

“Okay.” Lin Hai sat down, realizing that his father had been decisively defeated by his older cousin.

“Dad, don’t worry, I’ll avenge you,” Lin Hai said with a laugh.

“Go away, I didn’t lose. Can’t you see the game is still going? How can it be considered a loss before the last step?”

Lin Xutao slapped his son’s head.

Lin Hai didn’t care, looking up at Lin Heng, “My dad never admits defeat, but I’m really good at it. Even the teachers at school aren’t my match, cousin, watch out.”

“Got it.”

Lin Heng smiled slightly, seeing his cousin take another slap. His cousin was very straightforward and loved to undermine his dad.

After a while, Lin Hai started to respect Lin Heng more and looked up at him, “Older cousin, have you studied chess?”

Lin Heng smiled, “I’ve read a few books.”

The real reason was that he had a good memory and recalled a few strategies from his past life. His actual skill wasn’t that impressive.

“It looks like I’ll have to use my real skill,” Lin Hai smiled and became more serious.

Gradually, Lin Heng realized that he was really struggling to win. His younger cousin had delved deeply into chess.

“I lost. Lin Hai, have you studied any chess books?” Lin Heng admitted defeat.

It turned out that being reborn didn’t automatically make one amazing at everything. He could handle the basics, but there were still areas he wasn’t good at.

“No, I’ve just been playing by myself when I’m bored. Your level is really good, though. The old men in the village can’t last more than fifteen moves when playing with me,” Lin Hai laughed heartily.

Being able to reach this level on his own made Lin Heng recognize his younger cousin’s potential. He thought, “This kid could be someone worth nurturing.”

Although they had been childhood playmates, Lin Heng hadn’t really paid attention to his cousin’s chess skills until now. Back in his past life, he hadn’t played much before he was forty.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Soon, Li Xue called out, and started wiping the table and bringing the dishes.

She had prepared six dishes, the best being stir-fried spicy peppers with cured meat, all fat.

At the dinner table, Li Xue frequently served Lin Heng and Xiu Lan food, showing a different, warmer side to him.

Although Lin Heng had only hunted a little bit, earning just two or three hundred, it was a lot in the rural 1983s. Many families earned only about three to five hundred a year, and some even less.

Lin Heng made that much in half a month, and it was money he could freely use.

In 2023 terms, it would be equivalent to earning a hundred thousand a month.

After the meal, Lin Heng didn’t stay to play, using the excuse of needing to go home and help with work.

On the way back, Lin Heng smiled and looked at Xiu Lan. “How do you feel?”

Xiu Lan shook her head. “I didn’t expect that Three Mom would have such a kind side.”

“Of course. She’s all about benefiting from wealth, and she dislikes poor relatives but flatters rich ones.”

Lin Heng chuckled, “Now, we’re considered rich relatives.”

Xiu Lan looked at him. “It’s hard to believe.”

She felt like these past two weeks had been a dream, yet it all felt so real.

When they got home, Xiao Xia was already asleep, so Xiu Lan took her to bed.

Lin Heng took out the lard jar and scooped out some lard to prepare for making soap.

He had gathered all the necessary materials.

Soap works through a chemical reaction called saponification, where fats and alkaline substances react to form salts and glycerin, which have great cleaning properties.

The ancient people discovered by chance that the mixture of plant ash and fat had a great cleaning effect, leading to the invention of soap.

Now, making soap was simple. One just needed to buy strong alkali, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, and mix it with fat to make soap.

Lin Heng couldn’t buy it, so he had to make it himself.

He roasted some collected shell powder over charcoal, transforming its calcium carbonate into calcium oxide. Then, he ground it into powder and mixed it with plant ash water to create a strong alkaline solution containing potassium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide.

Lin Heng had collected the shells near the village pond and riverbanks. They were abundant and discarded by everyone.

“Second Uncle, what are you doing?” Lin Wei, his oldest nephew, walked over while Lin Heng was roasting the shells.

“Alchemy,” Lin Heng laughed.

“Ah?” Lin Wei didn’t understand but was very curious.

Once the shells were roasted, Lin Heng crushed them in a stone mortar and then poured the powder into the prepared plant ash water.

After stirring for a while, he filtered it several times, ensuring most of the particles were removed, leaving behind the solution.

Next, he melted the lard, let it cool slightly, and began adding the strong alkaline solution he had prepared.

This was his first attempt, so he didn’t use too much lard or alkali.

“Uh-oh, it turned into soap water. I added too much alkali.”

Looking at the soap-like mixture, it could only be called soap water for now. But if left to cure, it should work fine.

After learning from his mistake, Lin Heng carefully added more alkali for the second batch and finally got a decent result.

The black-gray alkali solution reacted with the lard to form a gray-white solid. If it didn’t dissolve when written on, it meant success.

Lin Heng poured the successful soap mixture into molds made by a carpenter friend.

He made two pieces with the first batch, and with the second batch, he managed to make 15 pieces in total.

“Finally done, but we’ll have to wait three to four days to see if it’s a success.”

Lin Heng sighed, placing the soap in the new house to let it fully cure.

“Are you making soap?”

While Lin Heng was working, his mother had returned. His older sister-in-law Xiu Lan and Cai Yun were also watching.

“Yes, I’m not sure if it’ll succeed. I saw it in a book,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“We don’t even have soap in the house to wash our hands. It’s really inconvenient.”

“It’ll definitely work. You’ve made lip balm before, so this should be fine,” Cai Yun nodded confidently.

“If it doesn’t work, you’ll be in trouble. You’ve used quite a bit of my lard,” his mother snorted.

Many people had heard of making soap with lard and plant ash, but most didn’t know how. Seeing Lin Heng do it, his mother felt a little amazed.

If it succeeded, wouldn’t they be able to sell soap?

She secretly hoped it worked. It would provide an additional source of income for the family.

“I think it’ll work too. Lin Heng’s abilities are impressive,” Liu Juan also expressed confidence in him.

Without confidence, she would have been wronged too many times before.

Xiu Lan, picking gray leaves, whispered, “It doesn’t matter if it fails. He can always hunt more and get some more lard. It didn’t cost much anyway.”

She was worried that Lin Heng might feel embarrassed if it didn’t succeed, so she preemptively offered an out.

“Second Uncle, can oil really turn into soap?” Lin Wei, his oldest nephew, was confused about the process.

“Learn more, and you’ll understand. It’s all in the books,” Lin Heng smiled, patting his shoulder.

Lin Heng turned to Xiu Lan and said, “I’ll go check if Dad and Big Brother are done with their work.”

“Wait a minute,” Xiu Lan stopped him and went into the house to get him old clothes.

“You can’t wear your new clothes to work,” she said.

“Ah, I forgot.” Lin Heng chuckled and changed into the old clothes before heading to his older brother’s new house.

When he entered, he saw that the work was only half done. Since he wasn’t there earlier, only two people had been working, and the house was bigger than his.

“Brother, I’ll help mix the plaster. You go plaster the walls,” Lin Heng said.

“Okay,” Lin Yue smiled.

But even with Lin Heng’s help, they didn’t finish the work that day.

On the 20th of the lunar month, his maternal uncle finished making ten stools and two small tables. He then left, saying he would come back after a few days to go hunting with Lin Heng.

On the 21st, the plastering was finished on both houses, and the doors and windows were installed. The mud walls had dried in the sun and turned yellow.

That day, Lin Heng mostly moved furniture, took care of Xiao Xia, and in the afternoon, he caught some green barbels to feed to Xiong Ba.

On the 22nd, a light rain fell, preventing Lin Heng from going out, so he tidied the new house instead. The new earthen stove was completed, and the carpenter started making furniture: a desk, wardrobe, grain storage cabinet, wooden bed, vanity, and a few small boxes for valuables.

Unable to identify plants due to the rain, Lin Heng spent time reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms to his daughter to pass the time.

For the next three days, from the 23rd to the 25th, it rained continuously. By June 12th, it was officially summer.

During these three days, Lin Heng’s life consisted of eating, playing with his daughter, catching green barbels, exercising with his wife, and sleeping.

They caught 15 green barbels, all for Xiong Ba. The deer meat at home hadn’t been finished yet, so they weren’t worried. In fact, the family was starting to get a little tired of it. It was truly incredible for this time period.

Green barbels were plentiful and easy to catch, so Lin Wei, his nephew, spent the whole day chasing them.

Meanwhile, Lin Heng’s father consulted someone to pick an auspicious date, and the second day of the fifth lunar month was chosen as the day for the family to officially divide and Lin Heng and his older brother, Lin Yue, would move into their new homes.

(End of Chapter)