Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 118 Xu Dahai sets up a stall

He didn't go into too much detail, but the three of them understood the implication.

Lin Qin nodded, "Then I'll trouble you to look after him for a few days, brother-in-law. Wenjun just said that Gao Lei won't be back for another three days. It will probably be four or five days before he arrives in Anshi. Maybe the police station will have already found him by then."

Xu Dahai expressed his strong agreement.

The matter was settled, but the children's food supply remained a problem.

Lin Yi hesitated for a long time, then took out the little money he had left and found Lin Qin. "I know your cousin and his wife did something wrong, but your cousin is the only male in the Zhu family. Your uncle definitely wants a grandson. If they can come up with that fine, they definitely won't abandon the child."

Don't be angry, of course! Dad isn't trying to excuse your cousin, he's just not going to make a fuss for Mom's sake.

Lin Qin's eyes were red and she was very emotional. "Dad! I don't care what Zhu Fugen and Li Lan think. I feel bad for the child. She was abandoned by her biological parents just because she wasn't a boy. If Wenjun hadn't recognized Ping An's things, I don't know what would have happened to the child!"
Even if they can't afford to raise the child, couldn't they at least pay the hospital fees and find a well-off family to adopt him? To be honest, they're just irresponsible and selfish, nothing more!

Lin Yi couldn't refute it, and could only repeatedly tell Lin Qin to relax, "I'm just worried that the baby isn't getting enough to eat. Such a small baby can't keep drinking rice water. I wonder if anyone can share some breast milk?"

Lin Qin had a terrible headache. "Dad! We live on an island. Where are we going to find a woman with plenty of breast milk? Besides, even if we did find one, she might not be willing to give it to us."

Lin Yi immediately took out his money, "See if you can buy some. Let's raise the child first. It'll only be a few days, it won't cost much."

“Dad, this isn’t about money. Our family isn’t really short of money. Anyway, we can’t explain it clearly. Let’s wait for the police station to investigate. But I have to tell you in advance that my cousin and his wife did something wrong. They’ve been blacklisted by me. I don’t want to have any contact with them anymore.”

"Let's wait for the police station's investigation results and see what they say. If they really deny it to the death, then this child will have nothing to do with them anymore! You don't need to tell them where the child is, you can't say anything even if they insist!" Lin Qin stared at Lin Yi without blinking.

Lin Yi nodded hurriedly, "Don't worry, your dad isn't senile yet."

After receiving Lin Yi's assurance, Lin Qin's expression softened considerably.

The most pressing issue was indeed the child's food supply, and the father and daughter discussed it together.

Lin Yi rode his bicycle to Shanglin Village to buy goat milk from sheep farmers.

I originally wanted to buy breast milk, but it's hard to explain, and rumors might spread that my child wants goat milk, and no one would suspect anything.

There are only a few sheep farms in Shanglin Village, and I am quite familiar with Lin Yi. They mainly raise sheep to sell mutton at the end of the year, and they don't raise many ewes.

Lin Yi found a family that was easy to talk to and ordered four catties of goat milk from them, agreeing to come and pick it up every afternoon.

When he returned with the goat milk, the child had just woken up and was crying loudly from hunger.

Xu Dahai quickly took the goat milk and cooked half a pound for the child.

This half-pound of milk can last until evening.

With enough goat milk, the child was full and then fell fast asleep.

The adults all breathed a sigh of relief.

When Ping An and Ya Ya returned in the evening, they were overjoyed to learn that there was a little sister in the family. They stayed in Xu Dahai's guest room and didn't want to come out.

Xu Dahai and Huang Yuezhen are helping Lin Yi with farm work right now.

Lin Qin leaned against the doorframe, asking leisurely, "Do you prefer a younger brother or a younger sister?" "Both!" Ping An turned his head, looking expectantly at Lin Qin's belly, "Mom, when the little brother is born, we'll have a younger brother and a younger sister!"

Lin Qin chuckled, "How do you know it's a boy in Mommy's tummy? What if it's a girl?"

“That’s okay! Just like Ya Ya, they’re both my good little sisters!” Ping An said very loudly.

The little guy mumbled something, turned his head, and suddenly opened his eyes.

Lin Qin paused for a moment, "Oh no! She's awake, probably had diarrhea, she needs to eat! You guys watch over her, Mom will go heat up the milk."

By the time Lin Qin finished her work, it was completely dark. Judging by the time, Chen Wenjun should already be on his way back.

After putting the children to sleep, she told Ping An and Ya Ya to do their homework before going to the kitchen to cook dinner.

That night marked the first time Xu Dahai had taken care of a newborn baby alone.

Fortunately, Huang Yuezhen woke up twice in the middle of the night to remind Xu Dahai to feed the baby and change the diaper. The baby didn't fuss much and was so well-behaved that even a grown man like Xu Dahai felt sorry for him.

The next morning, she started talking about it to everyone, saying, "These child's biological parents are so heartless. They just threw away such a good daughter like that!"

Xu Dahai shook his head, shouldered his hoe, and continued working in the field.

For the next three days, there was no news from Shen Wenfeng, but Gao Lei brought back a ship full of goods.

Around 8 p.m., the cargo ship passed by Nanyu and stopped outside Chen Wenjun's house.

Gao Lei called out twice before Lin Yi came out to open the door.

Seeing that it was Gao Lei returning, Lin Yi hurriedly and warmly welcomed him into the door, explaining, "Wenjun is still delivering goods and won't be back until around ten o'clock. Please come in and sit for a while."

Gao Lei stopped in his tracks. "Since Brother Wenjun isn't here, I won't sit down. The goods are all on the boat. If anyone wants to buy wholesale, Uncle can call them over and come with me to the boat to pick some out, or I can have someone bring out the samples."

"Then move it down, I'll go get some people to come and help us choose." Lin Yi said as he ran towards the house.

Gao Lei then called on his brothers to start moving the samples.

Everyone gathered in the courtyard. Lin Yi turned on the courtyard lights, and the group of people surrounded the dazzling array of samples, occasionally letting out a gasp of amazement.

Lin Qin, being a reborn woman, knew what clothes were selling well at the moment. She immediately helped Xu Dahai choose several women's shirts, some made of polyester and others of other materials, some simple and pure, others bright and stylish. Except for the polyester, which was more expensive, the others were not too expensive to buy.

You can make a profit by wholesaling it for three yuan and then selling it for five or four yuan in town; the profit margin is quite large.

Most women's skirts are long skirts, which will cost one or two yuan more.

Men's styles are simpler; there are only a few popular styles, so they'll sell well no matter what you pick.

The shoes included summer sandals and leather shoes. Since it was summer, the leather shoes were almost all last year's inventory. Gao Lei was essentially helping people clear out their inventory, so the purchase price was low, and the price he gave Xu Dahai was also low.

Lin Yi was tempted after hearing Gao Lei's offer and wanted everything.

(End of this chapter)