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

Chapter 86: Beating Furniture

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Gao Lei had no choice but to accept the gifts, leaving two large fish for Wu Agui and sending the rest home.

Zhao Dongling knew it was a thank-you gift from Chen Wenjun, and she sighed for a while. Thinking of her youngest son's injury, she couldn't help but say, "I don't want to say anything about you liking to play with those shady people, and I can't stop you, but since you can play with anything together, you might as well play with Chen Wenjun."

"Go fishing with him is fine too. Fishing is fun and not dangerous at all. If you ask me, you should go find Chen Wenjun from now on."

Gao Lei really scared her this time. She almost had to bury her son. During this time, she kept nagging Gao Lei to stop hanging out with those hooligans, but he wouldn't listen and would get angry if she said too much.

Zhao Dongling had no choice but to settle for second best and start from somewhere else.

Gao Lei waved his hand impatiently, "Mom, Chen Wenjun is my savior, I acknowledge him as my brother. Agui and the others are my little brothers. They are not thugs at all. Don't put it so harshly. In short, I will definitely not do anything dangerous again in the future, you can rest assured. Don't worry about anything else."

"You...you're going to drive me crazy!" Zhao Dongling's eyes reddened with anger, but she had no way to deal with her youngest son.

Chen Wenjun, who had just delivered the items and returned home, had no idea about all this messy stuff.

While pondering things, he realized he had almost paid back the more than 300 yuan he owed Zhang Yongquan, and the materials Gao Lei had given him were still there. Now he needed to decide whether to continue the renovation or postpone it and have the furniture knocked down first.

When he got home, he immediately pulled Lin Qin aside to discuss it.

Without hesitation, Lin Qin said, "We definitely need to break up the furniture first. At the very least, we need to get four beds. We can put the cabinets, tables, and chairs aside for now. Once the beds arrive, we can sleep in proper beds. Then we can renovate the first floor as much as we want."

They're sleeping on wooden planks now. The second floor is so clean, what's the point of putting red bricks and wooden planks up there?

Chen Wenjun also felt that Lin Qin's words made sense, so he could only go to Lin Yi to inquire about carpentry masters.

Lin Yi has recently become obsessed with cycling. Upon hearing Chen Wenjun's request, he immediately said he could go to Shanglin Village right away.

Chen Wenjun took him to the shore.

Lin Yi carried the bicycle onto the road and disappeared from Chen Wenjun's sight in a hurry.

He was spotted by Lin Qingxiang, who was working in the fields, as soon as he entered Shanglin Village.

"Hey! Where did this bicycle come from? Did you buy it yourself?"

Lin Yi grinned and nodded vigorously, "The two kids are going to the city's experimental primary school. It's easier to pick them up and drop them off with a bicycle. Wenjun just bought one, and I'll be able to use it to take the kids to and from school once I get the hang of it."

Lin Qingxiang gave a thumbs up and teased, "Did you ride back especially to show off? Aren't you afraid Lin Zhi and his wife will be furious!"

Speaking of Lin Zhi and his wife, Lin Yi's smile faded a bit. "I'm not that free! It's Qin and her husband who are planning to make furniture and need to find a carpenter. I'll go check with Afu. If he doesn't have any work, I'll ask him to do it. Let's get the bed made first. Once we have the bed, we can move it to the second floor, and then we can start decorating the first floor."

Lin Qingxiang was very surprised, "Didn't you say you were still in debt from renovating the second floor? How come you're starting to renovate the first floor so soon?"

Lin Yi vaguely recounted how Chen Wenjun had saved people.

Lin Qingxiang sighed again, "Good deeds are rewarded. Well, this will save me several thousand yuan! You can go now, but come find me if you need any help."

"Got it!"

Lin Yi went to the village and stayed in Shanglin Village for about an hour before leaving.

Lin Zhi and Li Lian also learned that Lin Yi had returned by bicycle, and just as Lin Qingxiang had said, they were so angry that they jumped up and down and scolded Lin Yi and Lin Qin at home.

Busy as we went, it was already October in the lunar calendar. The weather was already cold. At this time, Anshi still had four distinct seasons. Frost began to fall in October. When I woke up in the morning, it was freezing outside. The leaves and grass buds outside the yard were covered with a layer of crystal-clear white frost.

Early in the morning, Lin Yi woke up the two children. As soon as Ya Ya lifted the blanket, she was so cold that she shrank back inside.

Ping An obediently started putting on her clothes.

Lin Yi couldn't help but scold Ya Ya, "Look at your brother, he's already getting dressed, and you're still lying in bed. If you're late for school, I won't wait for you!"

Ya Ya pouted, resignedly picked up her clothes and put them on, constantly complaining that she was cold.

Lin Yi exhaled a puff of white smoke and muttered, "It's really cold. I'll buy a few pounds of yarn and knit a sweater for each of you when I take you to school later."

The two children's eyes lit up instantly.

The speed at which I put on my clothes and pants was significantly faster.

Lin Yi remembered that Ping An didn't seem to have a sweater, so he casually asked, "Didn't your dad knit you a sweater?"

Ping An shook his head honestly, "Dad doesn't know how to knit. In the past, I would stay in the back cabin in winter and sleep until almost noon before getting up. It was very warm then. I wouldn't get cold if I went out on the deck to sunbathe. After the sun went down, Dad and I would go to sleep. I didn't need to wear thick clothes."

Sometimes when it's too cold, I wear my dad's clothes, since I don't go out anyway.

Lin Yi felt particularly heartbroken upon hearing this. He had originally planned to knit two sets, but now he was already thinking about making four sets.

After the three generations of the family finished breakfast, Lin Yi used a bamboo pole to take the two children across the river, moored the boat, carried the bicycle off the boat, and took the two children to school.

Because he was delayed by buying yarn, when he returned to Nanxi, he found that Lin Qingxiang and Afu had arrived.

There was a bunch of stuff next to it.

He hurriedly carried his bicycle downstairs, asking, "Is the bed all set up?"

Afu smiled and nodded at him, "As you requested, they're all 1.8-meter-wide beds. We had them delivered by tractor. Now, what do you think we should do? Should we take them back for you?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Yi quickly joined in, helping Afu and Lin Qingxiang carry the things onto the boat.

They no longer live on the five-awning boats; some of the bamboo awnings have been removed, leaving only the rear cabin, while the front has been converted into a cargo ship.

Transporting all four beds over at once is not a problem.

This was Ah Fu's first time riding a Tanka boat and his first time visiting Nanyu. He was amazed by everything he saw and had to say something about everything, making no attempt to hide his envy.

"I was wondering why you would leave your perfectly good house unoccupied and your land uncultivated, insisting on living at your son-in-law's house. Now I understand! If I had a son-in-law like that, who was willing to take care of me, I would never go home!"

Lin Yi laughed heartily, "Come on! Let's move our things upstairs first. After the bed is set up, we'll stay for a meal. I grow a lot of vegetables here, so we can have whatever we want to eat."

Along the way, Afu did find a large field full of vegetables, enough to feed his family more than they could eat.

When he reached the edge of the paddy field, he asked in confusion, "Since we can't plant rice now, why are you making such a tidy preparation?"

Lin Yi replied cheerfully, "I plan to plant some lotus roots next month. Anyway, there's plenty of wasteland on the island. After the lotus roots are planted, I'll open up some paddy fields to plant rice next year."

(End of this chapter)