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

Chapter 51 is about to begin.

Lin Qin jumped up and down excitedly several times. "This is really good news! Does my dad know? Tell him, let him be happy too! By the way, I threw a bunch of stones down the mountain this morning. See if you can use them. If you can, push them over there. The cement and gravel will arrive in the next couple of days, and we can start construction then."

The next day, Lin Qin went to sell fish with Chen Wenjun as usual, and also went to Guoxing Hotel to meet Huang Wenlong. They discussed cooking and ordered ten tons of cement.

After leaving the Guoxing Hotel, the couple made a special trip to Shanglin Village.

Lin Qingxiang has cleared the vegetable patch at the village entrance and replanted vegetables. The weather is hot now, so the seedlings are growing fast and changing every day.

Lin Qin glanced at it a few more times, feeling extremely pleased.

However, this good mood vanished once he got home.

The area outside Lin Yi's house was a mess, especially the kitchen, where even the large pot had been smashed with a hole, and there wasn't a single decent thing left.

She gnashed her teeth in anger.

The old lady next door heard the commotion and came over to take a look. When she saw it was Lin Qin, she rushed over and told her what had happened that day with a frightened look on her face. "I'm telling you, Lin Qin! Your ex-husband is a real scoundrel. Luckily, you and your father weren't here. If that madman had run into you, you would have been lucky to escape with your lives!"

That day he also smashed things in your dad's yard. We had some free time afterwards to help clean it up, but the kitchen was such a mess that we didn't know if you had anything left to keep, so we didn't dare make the decision.”

Lin Qin took a deep breath, turned around and smiled politely at the old woman, "Thank you, Grandma. Shao Jun told us everything that happened that day. I'm so sorry for scaring you!"

The old woman waved her hand, "It's alright, it's alright, it's good that you're back. Sigh! If you ask me, we still need to deal with your ex-husband's situation. Otherwise, when your father recovers and comes back, that crazy man will keep coming over and causing trouble. Wouldn't that be terrible?"

Lin Qin nodded repeatedly, and only after the old woman left did she pack her things with a serious face.

Chen Wenjun said, "I'll handle this. You go find Uncle Qingxiang."

Lin Qin straightened up, kept telling herself to calm down, and then went to the field to find someone.

As they passed Lin Zhi's land, Li Lian, with her sharp eyes, stopped her and launched into a tirade without explanation, "Lin Qin, what's wrong with you? You've already divorced and remarried, so why are you still having an unclear relationship with the Liu family!"

Lin Qin stopped, her face grim as she blocked Li Lian's path. "Which eye of yours saw that I had an ambiguous relationship with the Liu family?"

"Ha! If you didn't have an affair with the Liu family, why would Liu Yongming come to our village and cause such a ruckus? He even destroyed the vegetable garden! You must have provoked them again! You're a woman who doesn't stay at home quietly and instead causes trouble. You've completely disgraced our Shanglin Village!" Li Lian said sarcastically.

Lin Qin was furious and grabbed Li Lian's hand forcefully. "Who do you think you are, daring to talk about me like this! If you're so good at talking, then go and talk to the brigade leader properly! Let's see how foul your mouth can be!"

Li Lian didn't expect Lin Qin to suddenly attack her, and immediately started acting like a brat, jumping up and down, "Let go of me! You shameless bastard, you clearly did something shameful and you won't let me say it! You even laid a hand on an elder! Help! This is outrageous! Help! Help!"

"Lin Qin! Let go! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!" Lin Zhi threatened, carrying a hoe.

Lin Qingxiang, from another vegetable patch, came over in a gentle voice, "What are you doing? Are you two shameless old geezers ganging up on someone?"

Lin Qin nodded vigorously, "Uncle Qingxiang, Li Lian is making things up about me, I'm going to complain to the brigade leader!"

Lin Zhi was furious. "Lin Qin! How dare you call your second aunt by her name? You ill-mannered thing!"

Lin Qin rolled her eyes at Lin Zhi, "Even if I were ill-mannered, I wouldn't do something so disrespectful to my elders and spread rumors. If you ask me, Li Lian needs to be more well-mannered. Let's see if that stinky mouth of hers can become a little cleaner."

"You bastard!" Lin Zhi angrily went over to teach Lin Qin a lesson.

Lin Qingxiang was even faster, blocking Lin Qin's way, "I've got this girl under my protection! If you want to fight, I'll fight you!"

"Lin Qingxiang! Don't think I won't beat you up!" Lin Zhi spat on the ground in anger, but he really didn't dare to lay a hand on him. The two were locked in a stalemate when Lin Qin forcefully shook off Li Lian's arm, breaking the deadlock. "Uncle Qingxiang, Wenjun is waiting for you at my house. He has something to discuss with you."

Lin Qingxiang still looked at Lin Zhi with a warning, "I'll let it go this time, but if you cause trouble again, I won't be so polite!"

Li Lian watched the two leave, and in her anger, she cursed, "What's so great about them! Shameless! Bah!"

In Li Lian's eyes, divorced women are inferior, let alone women like Lin Qin who have broken ties with their ex-husband's family, she must be no good.

Since the land belonging to the eldest son's family didn't fall into her hands, she vented all her resentment on Lin Qin, whom she looked down upon.

Lin Zhi glared angrily at Li Lian, "You can't even beat a money-losing piece of trash, you're useless!"

"You still dare to talk back to me! Didn't you back down in front of Lin Qingxiang? If you had fought with Lin Qingxiang just now, I would have dared to fight with Lin Qin!" Li Lian retorted irritably.

The couple blamed each other because of this humiliating experience.

By this time, Lin Qin had already taken Lin Qingxiang home.

The three of them sat on the threshold that had just been tidied up.

They were talking with their backs to the door, even though the door wasn't open.

"Uncle Qingxiang, I've made arrangements with the cement factory. We'll pick up the cement tomorrow afternoon, and we can start laying the foundation the day after tomorrow morning. We'll pay the laborers 1.2 yuan a day. Is that acceptable to you?"

This price was negotiated between him and Lin Qin, and it's also the market price.

Lin Qingxiang nodded repeatedly, "Sure! How many people do you need?"

"For now, it'll just be you and Shaojun, plus my father-in-law to help out. Aqin and I can also lend a hand this afternoon. That should be enough," Chen Wenjun said.

Lin Qingxiang chuckled, swatted a fly with his slipper, and said, "That's about right. Once the foundation is finished, we'll hire a master craftsman to come and help for a couple of days. That should be enough. I happen to know someone who's very particular about his work. I'll just let him know in advance."

The higher the price, the more expensive it is, with a daily wage of one dollar and eighty cents. But the work of a master craftsman is more demanding; if the initial work is done well, there's no need to worry about the later stages.

After the matter was settled, the couple hurriedly returned to Nanxi.

Li Lian had been trying to find out why Lin Qin and her husband were looking for Lin Qingxiang, worried that he might miss out on something good. But when he finally arrived, the gate to Lin Yi's house was locked, and there were only flies buzzing around in the yard.

She hurried to the old lady's house next door to inquire.

"Auntie, have Lin Qin and her husband gone back?"

The old woman glanced at Li Lian and nodded, "You're too late, they left long ago!"

Li Lian wasn't embarrassed at all and continued to ask, "Do you know what they said to Lin Qingxiang?"

"How could I possibly know?" The old woman immediately became unhappy, picked up her winnowing basket, stood up from the bamboo stool, and was about to leave.

Li Lian immediately stopped her, "Auntie, just tell me! Lin Qin is a married woman, her family's affairs have nothing to do with her, she can't make decisions. I'm just afraid she's being naive and will cause us trouble again!"

"Like those plots of land, they originally belonged to our family. My brother-in-law had no objections; it must have been that money-losing Lin Qin's terrible idea that caused our relationship with Lin Qingxiang to sour!"

(End of this chapter)