Chapter 10: " The resurrected ex-wife who once cast me aside"

There are only two brothers in the Lin family, and they separated after Lin Laoshi got married.

According to rural customs, the elderly usually live in the home of the eldest son, so the family property, that is, the old house, usually belongs to the eldest son. As for the second child, his parents would usually find another place in the village to build a house for him.

The same is true for the Lin family. Lin's father passed away a few years ago, and Lin's mother lives with her eldest son. When Lin Laoshi was getting married, he built three more tiled houses a few dozen meters away from the old Lin family house. The brick-walled and green-tiled house looks particularly imposing among the thatched houses. This was also one of the important reasons why the He family was willing to marry He Chunli to Lin Laoshi.

Lin Jianyi sent Lin Laoshi to the door of the house. Seeing the lock on the door, he scratched his head and smiled naively: "I forgot to ask my mother for the key. Wait a minute, I'll call her."

After that, he cupped his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted twice towards his door.

Soon, Lin's mother ran over excitedly with the key in hand. She pulled Lin Laoshi and looked him up and down. When she saw the crutch he was leaning on, her eyes suddenly became red: "Ashi has suffered a lot, it's good that you're back!"

God knows how worried she was when she heard that her youngest son was injured. Since He Chunli left, she couldn't sleep every night. Fortunately, she received a telegram later saying that he was fine, and she was relieved.

"It's okay, Mom, let's go in!" Lin Laoshi said to his mother.

Mother Lin slapped her forehead and said, "Yes, let's talk inside, let's talk inside, let's talk outside in the sun. By the way, where's Chunli? Why isn't she with you?"

Just as she asked this question, the sound of a tractor came from the entrance of the village, and within two minutes it stopped in front of them. Juan sat on the front of the car and waved to the three of them: "Aunt San, Ashi is back! By the way, I saw Chunli on the road just now, so I brought her back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, He Chunli climbed down from the tractor with a small bag and brushed the dust off her skirt.

Mother Lin saw it and said with a smile: "Thank you, Xiao An, come in and have a seat!"

Juan waved his hand and said with a smile: "Aunt San, why are you being polite? We are neighbors. I still have to go to the village to return the tractor, so I'll leave first."

After that, he drove away proudly on the tractor. Not long after he walked, a few kids catching loaches jumped out from the fields, stopped in the middle of the road, and asked for a ride.

Juan asked them to get on, took out a handful of candy from his pocket and threw it to the children, then waved his hand and drove away the tractor proudly.

When Lin's mother saw this, she shook her head and sighed, "Xiao An was such a good child, but it's a pity that his parents passed away early and no one took care of him. His lifelong event was wasted like this. How pitiful."

Juan was good-looking and could drive a tractor. Logically, it should have been easy for him to find a wife, but his parents died early and he was an orphan since childhood. He had no food to eat and he had no plans. After the household contract responsibility system was implemented, every time the grain was harvested, he would take the grain to the town to sell it and eat in restaurants. He was lavish and spent all the food rations for a year in less than half a year. He lived like a god in the first half of the year and like a beggar in the second half.

He spends money lavishly, can't keep money, his house is shabby, and he can't afford the bride price. Who would be willing to let their daughter marry him and suffer? So Juan was 25 years old and still single, which made some caring aunts feel very sympathetic toward him.

Lin Laoshi glanced at Lin's mother and thought, if you knew that he would steal your son's girl and give him a green hat, you probably wouldn't feel so sad.

However, after this meeting, he could roughly understand how the penniless Juan could have coaxed He Chunli away.

Juan is good-looking, sweet-mouthed, and generous. Although he has no food to eat, he is willing to spend money when he has it. This kind of generosity can easily make women happy. Otherwise, how could there be such absurd multiple-choice questions in later generations as "I am willing to spend 100 yuan on you if I earn 100 yuan, or I am willing to spend only 100 yuan on you if I earn 1,000 yuan"?

This shows that many women still fall for this. The original owner was not good at speaking and had few tricks. He was not as eloquent as Juan. He might not be so generous in spending money when he was short of money, and he could not spend all his money to please his wife without any hesitation. She was in stark contrast to Juan. His kindness, righteousness, integrity, and sense of responsibility were worthless in front of a vain woman who could not endure hardship.

"Ashi, what are you thinking about? Come on, go into the house." Lin's mother pulled his hand and interrupted his thoughts.

Lin's mother helped Lin Laoshi into the house, and Lin Jianyi pushed the bicycle into the yard. Because they were so happy to see Lin Laoshi, the mother and son completely forgot about the existence of He Chunli.

When she was in town, He Chunli was already full of anger, and when she returned home, she was ignored by her mother-in-law and husband. She felt even more uncomfortable. She snorted coldly, strode past Lin Laoshi and his mother, entered the house, and went straight into the bedroom and did not come out.

Lin's mother was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at her son: "Ashi, what's wrong with Chunli? Did you make her angry outside?"

Lin Laoshi looked puzzled: "No, maybe she didn't sleep well on the train and was too tired. Let's not disturb her. Mom, let's go and see what I brought you."

Lin's mother's attention was quickly diverted by Lin Laoshi.

He Chunli heard this conversation in the room and was so angry that she was about to explode. She tried to tell herself that Lin Laoshi was just like that, he always did more than he said. If he was more understanding and considerate, she would not have gone with Juan in the first place.

After being sulky for a while, she automatically adjusted her mood and went to Lin Jianyi's house for dinner with Lin Laoshi.

Today's dinner at the Lin family was so sumptuous that it could be compared to the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. On the table were a stewed old hen, a braised fish, a plate of pork belly stir-fried with green peppers, a pile of braised peanuts, a portion of cold cucumber salad, and a stir-fried loofah.

Mrs. Lin warmly invited Lin Laoshi to sit down and eat.

The three women and two children finished eating first. The children went out to play, and Lin's mother talked to her two daughters-in-law on the side.

Lin Jianyi and Lin Laoshi drank slowly for three rounds. Lin Jianyi glanced at Lin Laoshi's legs and asked, "Ashi, you are retired due to injury, right? Have you been arranged a job?"

Lin Laoshi took a sip of wine and said, "Yes, but I refused. I have hands and feet, and I still have some strength. I will not cause trouble for the country."

Lin Jianyi felt a little regretful and said, "That's a formal job." Rural people who have someone in their family who eats public food will hold their heads higher.

Lin Laoshi smiled and said, "But I have a low level of education. I can't do anything except working hard. An amateur should not interfere in the affairs of experts. It's good to be able to return to my hometown safely and see you."

Lin's mother listened nearby and nodded repeatedly and said, "Ashi is right. It's good as long as people are safe. Work is not important. Now the policies and measures are good. As long as people are diligent and willing to work, they will not starve!"

He Chunli, who was nearby, couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard this. How short-sighted! How can farmers who grow crops be compared with officials in the city who eat public food? Moreover, for veterans like Lin Laoshi who have made meritorious services and are left disabled due to injuries, the country will give him preferential treatment and help find jobs for his family members.

If she didn't know that Lin Laoshi would make a great career after returning to his hometown, which would be much better than being an ordinary small cadre with a fixed salary, she would definitely stop Lin Laoshi from returning to the countryside.

Seeing his mother had said so, Lin Jianyi did not say anything more and turned to ask Lin Laoshi: "What do you plan to do next?"

Lin Laoshi said: "My household registration has been restored, and the village will allocate land to me. I will farm the land."

Lin Jianyi is just an ordinary farmer. Although he always thinks his brothers are more capable than himself, now that they have returned to the countryside, what else can he do besides farming?

"Well, that's fine. You haven't farmed for many years. Just give me a shout if you need any help." Lin Jianyi raised his glass and clinked it with Lin Laoshi.

Lin Laoshi nodded: "Well, I have a lot of questions to ask you now. The rice has been harvested. When is the best time to plant wheat?"

"Around the Descent of Frost. Before that, we have to turn the soil over and loosen it..."

The whole family reunited, and the two brothers drank until after nine o'clock in the evening before they dispersed.

Lin Laoshi went home with He Chunli holding a flashlight. As night falls in the countryside, it is pitch black everywhere. In the paddy fields where the rice has been harvested, the sound of frogs croaking can be heard. There are naughty children catching eels in the fields with flashlights. It is peaceful and tranquil.

But He Chunli couldn't appreciate this night view at all. All she could think about was what Lin Laoshi had just said about farming. The two brothers had been discussing farming at the table for a long time, and it didn't look like they were joking.

But what kind of land could be farmed? In the 1980s and 1990s, the land was full of gold. At that time, setting up a small stall in the city was better than farming at home.

She tried to hold back, but still couldn't help it. When she reached the door of her house, she finally couldn't help asking Lin Laoshi: "Do you really want to farm?"

Lin Laoshi pushed open the door: "I'm a farmer, what else can I do if I don't farm?"

"Let's go to the city to set up stalls and make money. This time I went to D City, there were a lot of small stalls selling things, food, toys, clothes and so on." The more she spoke, the more excited she became. He Chunli blurted out all the words she had prepared in her mind, "I also heard people say that clothes are very cheap in factories on the southern coast. If you ship them to the provincial capital, you can make twice the profit by reselling them. Let's pool some money together and go to the southern factories to buy goods and open a clothing store!"

He Chunli felt that she had lived twenty years longer than people today and had seen a wide variety of clothes in later generations. At least her aesthetic taste was good, and opening a clothing store would definitely make money. As for other ways to make money, although she had seen them and heard about them vaguely, she had no skills and didn't know how to operate them specifically, so it was not safe. After much thought, she decided that selling clothes was safer.

Lin Laoshi glanced at her and rejected her without hesitation: "Your behavior is speculation!"

"How pedantic. Nowadays, so many people set up stalls and open shops, and they are all living in peace!" He Chunli was furious. She had such a good way to make money, but he didn't know how to seize it. Opening a shop and doing business was definitely better than going home to farm.

Lin Laoshi said righteously: "Others are others, I am me. In short, I will never do anything like speculation!"

You don't want to make money, but go home to farm. What a fool you are. He Chunli was so angry that she didn't want to talk to Lin Laoshi anymore. In this era of gold rush, the timid will starve to death, and the bold will die of gluttony. It's strange that Lin Laoshi can get rich.

He Chunli couldn't help wondering if she had made a mistake in her previous life? With Lin Laoshi's pedantic, timid, and overly straightforward character, can he really do something big?