Reborn in 1982, the prodigal son returns

The next morning, Lin Nuo didn't go out as usual, but went straight into the main room. Lin Weiguo was holding a bowl.

"Father, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Lin Weiguo put down his bowl and glanced at him:

"What's up?"

"I want to raise chickens. Not just three or five, but I want to build a chicken coop and raise a whole batch."

Lin Weiguo's brows furrowed immediately:

"You won't let us raise rabbits, but you want to raise chickens? When the third son wanted to raise rabbits, you were completely against it, but now you want to do it yourself. Isn't that the same thing?"

Zhao Xiuying poked her head out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula in her hand, and wiped it twice on her apron:

"You old geezer, the child is trying to reason with you, can't you just talk nicely? What does Nuozi want to do? Can't you just say something nice?"

Lin Weiguo choked for a moment, his face flushed slightly, and he fell silent.

Lin Nuo smiled and sat down next to Lin Weiguo:

"Dad, none of us have ever raised rabbits before, we don't even know what rabbits like to eat. If people say they can make money and you just jump on the bandwagon, that's not starting a business, that's gambling. But chickens are different, we've been raising them in our yard every year, you and Mom know that. I'm just turning three or five into three or five hundred, the principle is the same."

He paused, then added:

"Besides, my parents will need to help. I can't manage it all by myself."

Zhao Xiuying's eyes lit up. She came out of the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron.

"You mean...we'll raise them together as a family?"

She was writing very carefully, the pen scratching softly on the paper, so much so that she didn't even hear Lin Nuo come in. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her lips were pursed, as if she was carefully considering something.

Lin Nuo walked over and sat down next to her. He glanced down at the manuscript paper, on which was written:

"Stars in the Mountains"

"In the elementary school, there was a child who wrote the character for 'mountain' as 'emerge'. He scratched his head and said, 'When the mountain emerges from its peak, it means the sun is rising.' I was taken aback for a moment, and then told him, 'You're right.' From that day on, I took them to the yard every morning to watch the sunrise. We watched the sun slowly climb up the eastern ridge and illuminate the whole village."

Lin Nuo's lips curled up after reading this passage. He continued reading and read on. It described a class where a child caught a frozen toad and put it in his pocket. During class, the toad was revived by the stove fire, jumped out of the pocket, and landed on the teacher's platform. All the girls in the class screamed and backed away. The child blushed, caught the toad, and said, "Teacher, I'm sorry, it doesn't bite."

Lin Nuo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Su Wanqing looked up, her face slightly flushed, and reached out to cover the manuscript paper. Lin Nuo was faster than her, gently picking up the paper and reading it line by line.

She writes about the trivial things that happen in the school, but she writes about each one with great interest.

The writing is indeed immature, but not all articles nowadays are of Lao She's level. He has also read some novels, and he might try writing one when he has time in the future. Maybe he can become a writer too.

After Lin Nuo finished reading, he gently put the manuscript back and looked at her.

"Teacher Su, you write so well."

Su Wanqing lowered her head, her fingers tracing patterns on the pen cap:

"No, I just wrote it down casually."

I wasn't trying to comfort you.

Lin Nuo's voice was earnest as he reached out and took her hand:

"Try submitting it to the county newspaper. Haven't you always wanted to write articles? If you write them but don't submit them, how will others know you're good?"

Su Wanqing looked up at him, her eyes bright: "Can you do it?"

How will you know if you don't try?

Lin Nuo squeezed her hand a little tighter:

"I'll mail it to you in town tomorrow. Just treat it as practice; if it works, great, if not, oh well. It's not like it'll cost you anything."

Su Wanqing didn't say anything more, but the corners of her mouth turned up. She slowly leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder, her hair brushing against his chin, tickling him.

Lin Nuo pulled her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head, and lowered his voice:

"I went to see Da Wu today; he works with us. Uncle Zhou also invested, providing the money. Da Wu provides the labor. This way, we can raise more livestock."

Su Wanqing gave a soft "hmm".

"Also, I found out where the chicks came from at the veterinary station. There's a professional chicken farmer in Beihe Township; I'll go check him out later. If it works out, we can try raising two hundred first."

Su Wanqing lifted her head from his shoulder, looked at him with a light in her eyes, and said earnestly:

"I'll support whatever you do."

"Me too, I support whatever Teacher Su does."

Lin Nuo lowered his head and gently touched her forehead.

Su Wanqing's face flushed again. She instinctively reached out to push him away, her voice soft:

"You...you didn't eat turtle again today..."

Lin Nuo chuckled, a slightly mischievous grin on his face.

"What does eating turtle have to do with this?"

He always finds a reason to bully her.

Su Wanqing lightly spat, turned her face away, pulled another piece of paper from under her pillow, handed it to him, and didn't dare to look at him.

"There's one more, take a look."

Lin Nuo took it. This time, it wasn't about a school, but a short story. It was about a city girl who married into a village, but her husband treated her badly, spending his days gambling and drinking, and doing nothing productive.

Later, her husband changed for some reason. He stopped gambling, stopped drinking, and started working. He bought his wife a red scarf, a fountain pen, stewed rabbit, and hunted wild boar. She slowly felt that there was hope for the future.

As Lin Nuo read, the corners of his mouth curled up:

"Teacher Su, who are you writing about?"

Su Wanqing didn't answer, burying her face in the blanket, her ear tips as red as if dripping blood.

Lin Nuo folded the manuscript paper and placed it beside the pillow, then reached out and hugged her from behind. Su Wanqing didn't move, but her breathing was noticeably rapid.

Lin Nuo leaned close to her ear, his voice low and slightly hoarse:

"Teacher Su, this is well written. Please write more in the future. I'll help you submit your work."