The first person to buy a watch was an older woman.
Her son was about to get married, and the bride’s family had demanded a wristwatch. But no matter what they tried, they couldn’t get one.
So she had come to the black market today to try her luck.
To her surprise, she actually found one.
After asking the price, she realized it was only a few dozen yuan more expensive than at the supply and marketing cooperative.
As long as no watch coupon was needed, a few extra yuan didn’t matter.
Being able to bring her daughter-in-law home was what mattered most.
The woman paid 160 yuan and left with the watch.
Once there was a first customer, a second quickly followed.
All five watches were sold within half an hour.
Lin Qiaoyun never expected such a small town to have such strong purchasing power.
So after leaving the black market and returning, she now had ten more watches in her hand.
“Boss, this woman is pretty suspicious. How does she have so many watches? Should we follow her later? Maybe we could…”
A short man spoke to a tall man and made a throat-slitting gesture.
“Follow her for what? It’s obvious she’s moving goods. They’re probably from Hong Kong or somewhere outside. People like that aren’t someone we can afford to mess with. Don’t cause trouble for me.
“They’ll leave once they’ve finished selling their goods.
“Besides, she’s only selling watches. It doesn’t affect any of our other business.
“Didn’t you want a watch too? Go buy one. If you miss this chance, there won’t be another.”
“Alright then. I’ll buy one for my wife. She’s wanted one for a long time.”
The short man happily ran off and bought a watch from Lin Qiaoyun as well.
Lin Qiaoyun sold all fifty of her watches in a single morning.
In total, she earned 8,000 yuan.
Even when she was preparing to leave, people were still coming over to ask if she had any more.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have any more watches like those in her space.
The remaining watches were reserved for her family.
After leaving the black market, Lin Qiaoyun found a place to change clothes before heading to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Zhao Tiezhu and her mother-in-law had given her plenty of coupons.
Of course she intended to use them.
Anything she thought she might need, she bought.
She purchased five jin of pastries.
Two jin of brown sugar.
Two jin of white sugar.
She also bought a variety of odds and ends that young girls might need.
Finally, she bought two bolts of cloth to make clothes for her sisters-in-law.
By the time she returned to the Zhao family home, both the front and rear of her bicycle were loaded down with goods.
It was already past one in the afternoon when she arrived.
Seeing how many things their sister-in-law had bought, the younger sisters were the happiest.
Yinhua was the most skilled at sewing.
While Lin Qiaoyun went to eat lunch, she handed everything she had bought over to her sisters-in-law to sort out and distribute.
After lunch, she spoke with her father-in-law and mother-in-law before heading back to the Lin family home to bring her parents over.
After Zhao Tiezhu left, she found herself unable to wait any longer.
The original plan had been to bring them over tomorrow.
But after thinking about it at home, she decided to fetch them now instead.
When she arrived at the Lin family home, Old Madam Lin, Wang Chunhua, had just returned as well.
After learning that Lin Youshui and Xu Nian’en planned to move in with their daughter, Wang Chunhua had exploded with rage.
She only discovered that her second son planned to leave the family when she came back and asked Xu Nian’en for the household registration booklet.
When she opened it, she found that three pages were missing.
Only then did she realize what was happening.
Xu Nian’en had never expected her mother-in-law to figure it out so quickly.
She had originally planned to leave tomorrow.
Lin Youshui stood in the courtyard.
No matter how much his mother cursed or beat him, he was determined to leave.
“Don’t you know that sons don’t split from the family while their parents are still alive?”
“Mom, collective dining is about to start anyway. What does splitting the family even matter now?
“Besides, I’m not asking you for money.
“My wife and I are only taking a couple of changes of clothes. What do you have to complain about?
“I won’t even be eating your food anymore. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“So you’re just going to ignore your parents? Ignore your brothers? Ignore your nieces and nephews?”
“Mom, that’s a funny thing to say.
“You and Dad can still work and earn your own grain rations. We won’t even be eating at home anymore. There’s still plenty of grain left for you.
“When it comes to supporting you in old age, I’ll do exactly what my brothers do.
“My brothers have their own lives.
“My nieces and nephews have their own parents to take care of them.
“Why should I be responsible for them?
“I only need to take care of my own daughter.”
Old Master Lin spoke up.
“Second Son, you don’t have any sons. That’s even more reason for you to treat your nephews well. You’ll have to rely on them to support you when you’re old.”
“Dad, it’s exactly because I don’t have a son that I’m going to the Zhao family.
“Right now, the Zhao family is trying to please Yun’er, so they’re letting my wife and me move in.
“My son-in-law will support us in our old age, so we don’t have to worry.
“If I go now, I can enjoy a few more years of comfort.
“Why won’t you let us leave? Are you unwilling to let your own son enjoy a good life?”
“And what if the Zhao family throws you out someday?”
“That’s impossible. Do you think I’m stupid?
“My son-in-law and I already signed a support agreement.
“He’s responsible for taking care of me until the end of my life.
“So there’s no need to trouble my nephews.”
Lin Youshui had completely made up his mind.
His daughter had told him that the Zhao family’s feng shui was excellent.
Maybe after moving there, his wife might even give birth to another son.
When Lin Qiaoyun had persuaded her parents to move to the Zhao family home, she had listed many advantages.
None of them had moved Lin Youshui.
Except this one.
The Zhao family was exceptionally good at having sons.
Just look at them.
They had nine sons, and every single one of them was successful.
Who in Guyun Village wasn’t envious?
At least Lin Youshui certainly was.
“I won’t allow you to go! If you dare leave, I’ll sever our relationship!”
“Mom, don’t threaten me.
“I, Lin Youshui, have nothing.
“My daughter is already married.
“I only have my wife.
“I don’t even have a single cent in my pocket.
“Whether you sever ties with me or not makes no difference.
“I don’t want anything from the Lin family.
“I’m only taking two changes of clothes.
“If you think that’s too much, I can leave without them.
“None of the clothes are any good anyway.”
Lin Youshui simply wouldn’t budge.
Xu Nian’en hid behind him without saying a word.
Whenever someone asked her opinion, she only replied,
“I’ll do whatever my husband decides.”
When Lin Qiaoyun arrived, she saw Wang Chunhua hitting her father with a large broom.
A crowd of villagers had gathered outside the Lin family home to watch the excitement.
When they saw Lin Qiaoyun arrive, one of the spectators shouted loudly, clearly enjoying the drama.
“Lin Second Brother, your daughter has come to take you away!”
The moment Wang Chunhua saw Lin Qiaoyun, she stopped hitting her son.
She immediately turned the broom toward Lin Qiaoyun.
“I’m going to beat you to death, you troublemaking little wretch!”
The moment Lin Youshui saw his mother trying to hit his daughter, he rushed forward and tightly grabbed hold of Wang Chunhua.
“Mom, what are you doing? Why are you hitting my daughter?”
“I’m going to beat her to death! If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t be trying to leave this family!”
“Grandma, that’s completely unreasonable.
“Didn’t you teach us to be filial?
“I’m bringing my parents home so I can be filial to them.
“Ask the villagers. What’s wrong with a daughter bringing her parents home to care for them?
“My father-in-law and mother-in-law both agreed to it.
“Grandma, why are you the only one against it?”
“Pah!
“You little bitch!
“You can forget about taking your parents away to enjoy an easy life!”
Wang Chunhua was so provoked by Lin Qiaoyun that she blurted out exactly what she was thinking.
“Grandma, my father isn’t your biological son, is he?
“Otherwise, why are you so determined to stop him from enjoying a better life?”
“Mom, why can’t you stand seeing your own son live well?”
“I just don’t want you enjoying a good life! What can you do about it?”
Slap!
With fury in her eyes, Wang Chunhua slapped Lin Youshui hard across the face.
“You’re not my mother.
“I’m going to ask Dad whether I’m really his son or not!”
Holding his cheek, Lin Youshui rushed off to find Lin Zhong.
Lin Qiaoyun and Xu Nian’en immediately followed behind him.
Meanwhile, Wang Chunhua chased after them, still trying to hit Lin Youshui.
For a moment, the entire Lin household descended into complete chaos.