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

This incident made Lin E famous throughout Shanglin Village. Lin Jianqiang and his wife didn't dare to breathe loudly in front of her.

Lin Yi also obediently humbled himself and acted subserviently, being particularly clever.

With Lin E in charge, the funeral proceeded relatively smoothly.

In the evening, Lin Yi led his family and Lin E's family back to Nanyu.

Everyone was a bit listless.

The four children sensed that the atmosphere between the adults was not right, so they did not dare to make a fuss. Even Xu Jian and Xu Kang, who had not seen their parents for a long time, did not dare to be too unruly.

"Dad! I still find it unbelievable. Uncle beat his own son to death? This..." Lin Ying plopped down on the bench, her eyes wide open.

Lin Yi rubbed his temples wearily and gave a bitter laugh. "I'm just glad I don't live in the village, otherwise they would be watching me and causing trouble. Jianqiang just came to see me and said that he's not renting our house anymore and wants to move back home."

Lin Ying paused for a moment and then understood, “That makes sense. Jianguo is gone, and the second wife only has one son. Plus, with the second uncle arrested, it’s not realistic for the couple not to go back.”

"If you don't want to rent it, then don't. Our family isn't short of money. It'll also help us cut off contact with Uncle's side," Lin Qin said expressionlessly.

Hearing her two nieces so hostile to Lin Zhi's family, Lin E felt bad, but since she had personally dealt with Li Lian's mental illness, she could understand the sisters' actions.

After chatting for a while, Lin Qin and the others went to shower and change clothes after the men finished showering.

The next day, everyone went about their business as usual.

Lin Qin had only been back at school for two days when Zhao Qingyue came knocking on her door.

"My dear junior, I'm here now, as I mentioned asking you to buy seafood and other ingredients!"

Lin Qin glanced at the student council members beside Zhao Qingyue and gave her a warm and polite signature smile. "How many does the president plan to buy? What are they for?"

Zhao Qingyue didn't hide anything and said directly, "Next week our school is having a joint event with other schools, and it just so happens that leaders from the provincial capital are coming over, so the job of entertaining them all falls on our student union."

The canteen owner is well-informed; he sent over a list of ingredients well in advance, with prices clearly marked. Look at this: river shrimp is 2.5 yuan per jin, oysters are 2.6 yuan per jin, and carp is 2 yuan per jin. Even the cheapest vegetables are 40 or 50 cents per jin! Isn't this taking advantage of us who've never bought vegetables before?!

Lin Qin was also shocked after reading it. "Didn't you report this pricing issue to the cafeteria owner?"

A boy next to Zhao Qingyue frowned and said, "We reported it, but the other party was arrogant and said that it was only right for them to receive a little help fee since they were running errands for us. If there were a vegetable market near our school, we wouldn't have been taken advantage of by him."

The teachers' college is located in the suburbs. This area is full of schools, with a few shops outside. It's far from residential areas, so it's impossible to find a vegetable market nearby.

Most students at the school don't own bicycles, so if they want to leave the school, they have to take a school bus to the city and then transfer, which costs money. Normal students don't spend money to wander around aimlessly, so asking them to go to the market and bring back enough groceries is indeed quite difficult.

Zhao Qingyue grumbled indignantly, "If he had charged a reasonable fee for his trouble and given decent food, we wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble. But the ingredients he gave us weren't even very fresh."

To put it simply, half of the basket of ingredients was of inferior quality. When we went to confront him, he would disappear and reappear after the event. By then, there would be no way to prove anything, and he could deny it. This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice, and I have also reported it to the school leaders.

But that person is related to a leader at the school. All they have to do is make a few connections, smooth things over, and say a few nice words, and the matter will be over. In the end, we'll be the ones being criticized!
This time I'm determined not to use his stuff; let's see how he tries to take advantage of us!

Lin Qin was somewhat surprised. "President, I don't think you're the type to act impulsively. Since you know the cafeteria owner has connections, it's fine if you quietly find another supplier. But what if they make things difficult for you and take your position as president?" "He wouldn't dare!" Zhao Qingyue clenched her fists angrily.

Lin Qin shook her head helplessly, "President, calm down. This isn't how you do it. You don't have to buy ingredients from the cafeteria owner, but you must do it flawlessly so that the other party can't find fault. For example, find a school leader who is easy to talk to and supports you, and go to that leader to get an approval document for the ingredient purchase."

Once the higher-ups have approved it, you can go and make the purchases. Even if the cafeteria owner finds out and the other party causes trouble, you can push the higher-ups out. If the school insists that the cafeteria owner help with the purchases, you can hand the task over to some students with connections.

"If the cafeteria owner continues to use inferior ingredients, those students aren't pushovers either. If things escalate, it won't concern you."

Zhao Qingyue was no fool to have become the student council president. She gave Lin Qin a deep look, her eyes filled with complex emotions, and said, "It's our loss that you didn't come to our student council."

Lin Qin laughed heartily, "I'm just a bit older and have more experience, so I can't take the blame. Here's what we'll do: once you get the approval documents, I'll personally take you there. You can decide for yourselves what ingredients you want and how much."

After seeing Zhao Qingyue and her group off, Lin Qin calmed down and continued studying.

Two days later, Zhao Qingyue had taken care of the matter.

Lin Qin also personally took them to Wenjun Seafood Wholesale Store as promised.

Lin Yi happened to be there as well.

There are many people buying goods from the store, and everyone can see and hear the prices, so there is no possibility of price gouging.

This also put Zhao Qingyue at ease.

After this trip, Zhao Qingyue and the others won't need Lin Qin to lead the way anymore.

Seeing everyone buying by the basketful, Zhao Qingyue and her group exclaimed in surprise, "They're here to buy supplies!"

Lin Qin laughed and said, "Otherwise, why would it be called a seafood wholesale market? We don't do retail business here. We mainly sell seafood. Seniors, take a look and see what you need. The other vegetables are all in the fields. You can see what vegetables you want, and my dad will go back and pick them for you now."

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they immediately looked at the seafood and asked about the prices.

With Lin Qin providing full support, things went very smoothly, and the cost was more than ten yuan less than Zhao Qingyue had expected.

Overjoyed, Zhao Qingyue once again gave the cafeteria owner a good scolding.

Lin Qin went back to school with them and then stopped paying attention to the student council matters.

What happened next was told to her by Ge Qiuyue and a few others after they returned from the student council.

"Aqin, you don't know, this morning the cafeteria owner went to the student union to make a scene, saying that the president went back on his word, that he ordered ingredients from him but then reneged, causing him to lose money, and that he insisted on compensation from the president."

The president was furious at the shamelessness of the person he had ever met. Fortunately, the school leaders had given their approval, and the cafeteria owner was publicly humiliated and stormed off, making a threatening statement before he left, which everyone heard.

"Do you think this will affect the president?" Ge Qiuyue asked with a worried expression. (End of Chapter)