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

The two exchanged a glance, and Du Juanhua said, "Zhang Hong and I have decided to take part-time jobs to earn some living expenses, so we won't be going back."

Lin Qin asked with concern, "Have you found it?"

The two nodded in unison and smiled, "We are members of E-Company, with first-hand part-time job information, so we don't have to worry about finding a place to work."

Everyone laughed and agreed to have a meal together when they returned to school for National Day before going their separate ways.

On the way back, Chen Wenjun and Lin Yi each rode a tricycle. Lin Yi's tricycle carried Huang Yuezhen and Xu Jian and Xu Kang, while Chen Wenjun carried Lin Qin and the three children.

Little Chen Ruiming couldn't hold on any longer and fell into a deep sleep in Lin Qin's arms.

Ping An and Ya Ya were still full of energy, discussing the pipa and sword dance they had just witnessed.

"Mommy, can I learn to play the pipa? That lady played so beautifully!" Ya Ya said with a look of envy.

Lin Qin laughed, "If you can afford it, you can definitely learn it. Mom supports you!"

Ping An blushed and said with great regret, "If only I could wield a sword like that auntie just now!"

Xu Jian and Xu Kang deeply agreed with this, and the three of them began to discuss the sword dance they had just witnessed.

Lin Qin gently stroked Ping An's head with some heartache. If he were healthy, he would definitely be able to learn. He has been exercising every day for several years, but it has only improved the mobility of his left side, and it won't be as obvious as he thinks.

Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun's goal is to enable Ping An to live like a normal person in the future, which is already very difficult. They don't even dare to think about letting Ping An learn sword dance.

Xu Jian and Xu Kang could give it a try, but this kind of thing needs the consent of Lin Ying and her husband, and they can't make all the decisions on their own.

As they talked, they slowly drove the tricycle back to Nanyu, taking about half an hour.

Since there were no classes tomorrow, Lin Qin and the children all let loose and cooked a late-night snack when they got home. They ate until they were half full before going to bed.

The next day, the children attending the special talent class had to continue going to the training class.

The youngest, Chen Ruiming, didn't need to go to daycare. Lin Qin would take him to play in the gymnasium, pick vegetables in the garden, pick fruit on the hillside, and collect chicken and duck eggs along the way.

The mother and son played all morning and then prepared a sumptuous lunch.

Just then, Huang Yuzhen and Lin Qingxiang arrived.

Lin Qin quickly invited them inside and invited them to have dinner together.

The couple repeatedly refused, saying, "No need for food. We're here today to inform you that you'll be attending a wedding banquet in the village on the 12th."

Lin Qin's eyes lit up. "Oh! The house is finished?"

Huang Yuzhen nodded excitedly, "Speaking of which, we still have to thank you. We originally thought that building two brick houses for them would be enough, but then we remembered what you said. If they have children in the future, we'll have to build another house in a few years, which is too much trouble."

After much deliberation, we gritted our teeth and borrowed money to build this house. We built a two-story house on half an acre of land, with five rooms in total. Even if they have four children, each of them will have a room. Not to mention the one-child policy, they won't be able to have that many children anyway.

We built a house and incurred a lot of debt. Xiaohong, that kind-hearted girl, insisted on helping to pay it off, but my husband and I refused. We gritted our teeth and borrowed some more money to whitewash the entire house and install the stair railings.

Let them provide their own furniture.

After Xiaohong's family came to visit, they delivered beds, cabinets, living room tables and chairs, and everything else a few days ago, filling every room.

My husband was so happy that he told them to get married as soon as possible. We'd only feel at ease if we had such a good daughter-in-law soon. Lin Qin laughed, and she could understand the feelings of Lin Qingxiang and his wife.

"Okay! Wenjun and I will give them a big red envelope then!"

No sooner had Lin Qingxiang and his wife left than Lin Yi returned with the children.

Lin Qin brought this up during dinner.

Lin Yicai said, "It's time to get married soon, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble those bastards will cause!"

Lin Qin raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Lin Yi then calmly recounted the recent events, “Your cousin Jianqiang got married before, but he had nothing, and even his new house was rented from our family. The couple agreed to work together to build a house, but before they even started building, your Uncle Qingxiang’s family had already built one, and it’s a two-story house.”

Your second uncle and aunt are unhappy and gossip about it in the village every day. They say that they married a poor girl from the mountains just to keep the bride price, that they are heartless, and so on. They just spread rumors everywhere.

Yuzhen isn't someone to be trifled with. She got into a huge fight with your second aunt, and the village head and secretary both got involved. I heard even the police came.

Now the two families are sworn enemies. Jianqiang's wife feels ashamed and keeps making a scene, so the house they agreed on was canceled. Jianguo, on the other hand, is a shameless fellow. He somehow found out that Xiaohong can make money by setting up a stall, so he wants to steal her away.

Shao Jun gave him a good beating, and the two families had another fight. If you ask me, it's still your second uncle and aunt's fault. They've ruined a perfectly good child.

After this incident, Qingxiang and his wife were worried; they would only feel at ease if they could quickly bring their son home with his new wife.

Lin Qin was furious and almost threw down her chopsticks. "Shameless old bastard, aren't you afraid of retribution? And Jianguo, doing such a despicable thing, does he not want to live anymore?"

Lin Shaojun is intolerant of any wrongdoing, but his temper has improved in the last two years. If it were before, Lin Jianguo would probably have been beaten into the hospital.

Lin Yi shook his head. "Luckily we don't live in the village, otherwise the brigade leader and the secretary would have to come to our house to ask us for help."

Lin Qin cursed a few more times, and only took her youngest son upstairs to sleep when she saw that he was sleepy.

Two days later, Gao Lei returned from Guangdong Province with an imported camera. He took pictures everywhere he went, as if afraid that others wouldn't know he owned a camera worth tens of thousands of yuan.

When he visited Nanyu, he saw several children staring at his camera, which greatly satisfied his vanity. He waved his hand and took several more photos of Lin Qin and the children.

Before we knew it, it was the last day of the National Day holiday.

Lin Qin thought of her agreement with her roommate and discussed it with Chen Wenjun: "I plan to bring some ingredients to school this evening and find a restaurant outside the school to cook them for us. We can eat dinner at school. I'll also bring a thick quilt with me. It's cold now, and we can't take a nap without a thick quilt."

I'll sleep at school tonight and come back tomorrow night.

Chen Wenjun nodded without hesitation, "Dad will drive you there in a bit. The child will sleep with your cousin-in-law tonight. The little guy is used to it and doesn't cause any trouble."

He had to get up in the middle of the night to go to Nangang to wholesale seafood. It wasn't safe for the child to sleep alone, so he usually sent him to Huang Yuezhen's house.

Lin Qin nodded and told Huang Yuezhen about it when she returned.

Only then did they go to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, and then to the hillside to pick fruit.

The pomelos, oranges, and jujubes have all fruited now, and many are ripe and ready to be picked. (End of Chapter)