Chapter 7: Mother, are you sure you only want that ten dollars?

Li Xiaowan was still too stunned to respond, her mind reeling from the events that had just unfolded.

Lin Yang’s actions moments ago had been far too swift. First, he had smashed a bottle; then, with only two sentences, he had mercilessly begun to kick, leaving Liu Datong’s face bloodied. And yet, despite the fact that the man had several companions present, they had all slunk away in humiliation.

Does this mean…

“Brother Lin, is Sun Xiaorong really pregnant with Liu Datong’s child?” Li Xiaowan asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Yes. They were secretly together even back in school. Now that Fatso Liu is married, they’ve still been carrying on behind everyone’s backs. Sun Xiaorong got pregnant and wanted someone to take the fall, which is why she suddenly agreed to be my girlfriend. I only discovered this secret two days ago.”

Lin Yang spoke in a calm tone, as if everything that had just happened were nothing more than an insignificant interlude. He picked up his chopsticks and continued to eat his noodles, acting as if nothing at all had occurred.

The other people in the restaurant didn’t find the scene particularly strange; they simply continued their own meals. In this day and age, street fights between young men were far too common.

Hearing this, Li Xiaowan pursed her lips in anger. She felt both a sense of injustice for Lin Yang and a burning indignation at the behavior of Sun Xiaorong and Liu Datong. “How could Sun Xiaorong do such a thing? It’s too much! It’s just too much!”

Lin Yang only smiled, saying nothing, and continued to eat his noodles quickly. He was truly famished. Moreover, the food before him was authentic and possessed a flavor unique to this era, holding a tremendous appeal for him.

After both had eaten their fill, they headed to the supply and marketing cooperative. The store was packed with a dazzling array of goods. Nowadays, many daily necessities no longer required ration coupons and were readily available. However, for staples like grain and oil, or major items like television sets and bicycles, coupons were still mandatory. Lin Yang had intended to buy some oil, but since he hadn’t brought the necessary coupons, he had to let it go.

On the way back, the handlebars of his bicycle were weighed down by two large, stuffed bags.

When they reached the entrance of the village, Li Xiaowan quickly hopped off the bike. A sweet smile graced her pretty, innocent face as she said to Lin Yang, “Brother Lin, I’m heading back now!”

“Wait!” Lin Yang called out to her.

After parking the bike, he pulled a beautiful hair clip from his pocket. He walked over to Li Xiaowan and gently placed it in her hair. After examining it carefully, he looked at her with a smile in his eyes. “Back at the store, I saw you staring at this clip, and you seemed to love it, so I went back and bought it.”

Only then did Li Xiaowan understand why Lin Yang had turned back after leaving the shop. She never expected that the simple act of glancing at the clip a few times would be noticed by him. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped deer, and her face flushed involuntarily. “Brother Lin…”

“I know you like it. I bought it specifically for you, so you aren’t allowed to refuse!” With that, Lin Yang couldn’t resist giving her cheek a light pinch. Her skin was soft and full of youthful vitality—it felt wonderful.

“I’m going to return the bike to Uncle Li in a moment.” Ignoring Li Xiaowan, who was standing there with a burning face and looking completely dazed, Lin Yang waved and pedaled away toward home.

After shouting a few times, he realized his parents were not at home, and he had no idea where they might have gone. He took out the things he had bought, including plenty of cooking spices and two bolts of dacron fabric. He had intended to have his parents make new clothes. In his memory, the two of them hadn’t had new clothes in years. Their current garments were covered in layers of patches, which was truly an eyesore. He had wanted to buy some cotton as well, but the bike couldn’t carry any more, so he had to leave it. Luckily, they could always dismantle their old cotton-padded jackets and restuff them.

Just as he was about to put the fabric away in his room, he heard footsteps in the courtyard—his parents had returned.

As soon as Zhao Guixiang saw the fabric in her son’s hands, her expression shifted instantly, and she gritted her teeth in fury. “I knew you couldn’t change your ways! You actually went to town to buy fabric for Sun Xiaorong!”

As she spoke, she hurried toward the woodpile and pulled out a stick as thick as a thumb.

Lin Dahan sighed, holding his pipe. He struck a match, lit the tobacco, took a deep drag, and said irritably, “Beat him hard! If you don’t beat him, he won’t learn his lesson! It would be best to break his legs so he doesn’t dare to run off to town or waste money ever again!”

Seeing the situation, Lin Yang realized his parents had misunderstood, and he hurriedly shouted, “Mom, I bought this fabric for you and Dad, not for Sun Xiaorong! Look closely at the color.”

Zhao Guixiang, her stick already raised, paused upon hearing his words, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes. “Really? Don’t you try to fool me, you brat!”

“It’s the absolute truth! I swear it on the ancestors of the Lin family!” Lin Yang said, caught between laughter and tears. He knew his mother’s fiery temper well; if he didn’t explain himself immediately, a beating would be inevitable.

Zhao Guixiang held the stick in one hand and reached out with the other. “Give me all the money! Your Uncle Li came by earlier and told us everything—that you dug up a wild ginseng root on the mountain and kept it from us, and even had him sell it for you.”

Only then did Lin Yang understand why his mother had reacted so strongly to the fabric. It turned out Uncle Li had reported him. However, a mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Mom, are you sure you only want those ten yuan?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, hand it over!” Zhao Guixiang was still skeptical, urging him on with a glare. As if to add to the intimidation, she waved the stick slightly.

Though she felt as if her son had finally woken up, she still felt the need to prevent him from relapsing. Who knew if this dense boy would get confused again and repeat his past mistakes?

Lin Yang smiled helplessly. He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket, extracted a ten-yuan note, and handed it to Zhao Guixiang. “Mom, you said it yourself—only those ten yuan. I’ll be keeping the rest for myself.”

Zhao Guixiang froze, staring blankly at the thick stack of bills in Lin Yang’s hand, her eyes widening. Lin Dahan even forgot to smoke his pipe, staring at the money in his son’s hand, unable to react for a long time.

Afraid his parents would continue to misunderstand, Lin Yang explained quickly before they could speak. “Dad, the basket you made for me yesterday was a huge help! I used it to catch a large soft-shelled turtle weighing over two pounds.”

“Combined with those forty-some snow frogs, I sold it all in town today and made over 150 yuan. I bought a few things, and I also treated Li Xiaowan to a meal while I was at it.”

He spilled the details as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube. Lin Yang knew that once this money was handed over to his parents, he would never see it again—at least not until he was getting married. His mother was always frugal, trying to stretch every penny to its limit. However, by showing them this money, he wanted his parents to know that he now had the ability to earn more with his own hands, hoping to change their perception of him and stop them from being suspicious or overly restrictive.

Zhao Guixiang took the money Lin Yang pressed into her hand with trembling fingers. As far as she could remember, this was the first time she had ever taken money from him. The crucial point was that Lin Yang had actually earned over 150 yuan on this trip to town! Their family farmed a few acres, and after paying the grain tax and levies, very little was left. The two old folks worked hard from dawn till dusk, and at most, they could save a few dozen yuan a year—and that was only in a good harvest year. Their current total family savings didn’t even add up to 100 yuan!

Lin Dahan’s eyes were wide as brass bells, and his voice trembled slightly. “You really sold those snow frogs and that turtle for that much money?! Aren’t snow frogs only thirty cents each?”

“Dad, you have to find the right people and the right place to sell things to get a good price! We didn’t understand the market before, which is why we let those good things go to waste and let the middlemen profit,” Lin Yang explained with a hint of pride.

In his previous life, none of his accomplishments had given him as much satisfaction as handing this money to his parents. He knew this wasn’t just about the money; it was his way of proving himself to them and a symbol of his rebirth, marking the true beginning of his new life.