Seeing this, Lin Qizheng quickly slung the fishing basket over his back and said, “Then I’ll go catch some fish. I can also keep watch for you.”
Although the path up the mountain was muddy today, who could guarantee that no one would come this way?
His daughter was now carrying a secret that could allow their family of four to survive comfortably in the Maisui Production Brigade. There could not be even the slightest risk of it being exposed!
Lin Shengxia understood her father’s intentions. Looking at the bruises covering his face made her heart ache, but she still nodded.
“Dad, you’ve thought this through carefully. Once the food is ready, I’ll have Xiaodong come get you.”
Seeing that his daughter understood what he meant, Lin Qizheng’s expression visibly relaxed.
After he left, Dong Wanqiu began rendering lard from all the fatty pork they had cut off. She sprinkled a little salt over the crispy pork cracklings left behind and handed them to Lin Shengxia and Lin Handong.
There was only a small bowl, enough for the siblings to have two or three bites each, but under their current circumstances, the crispy pork cracklings tasted exceptionally delicious.
While Lin Shengxia and Lin Handong shared the cracklings, Dong Wanqiu had already put the meat on to stew. She even used a chipped porcelain basin to knead some dough, planning to stretch it into flatbreads and lay them over the stew later.
Flatbreads soaked with rich, savory broth had always been a family favorite.
Their mother was clearly determined to give everyone a truly satisfying meal today!
Fortunately, no one came near the ruined temple before Dong Wanqiu finished cooking the meat and put out the fire.
Lin Handong hurried off to find Lin Qizheng and brought him back to the temple.
Lin Qizheng had also enjoyed an excellent catch today. Not only had he caught two large, lively carp, but he had also caught more than a dozen yellow catfish!
Seeing his haul, Lin Shengxia immediately smiled and handed him a bowl filled to the brim with pork and vegetables.
“Dad, you worked hard today. With so many fish, we’ll be able to make quite a bit of money again tomorrow!”
Although she didn’t know exactly how much yellow catfish sold for, more than a dozen of them should surely be worth several dozen yuan, right?
Thinking about that, Lin Shengxia began calculating what else she should buy for the family.
Their problems with food and shelter had more or less been solved. As for transportation, there was little hope of them leaving this remote mountain area anytime soon.
In that case, clothing should be their next priority!
When they had first been sent down here, each of them had only the clothes on their backs and one spare set.
After half a year, their clothes had already been washed so many times that the fabric had faded and stiffened.
On top of that, Lin Handong had grown several centimeters taller. His sleeves and trouser legs were now noticeably too short.
There was even less need to mention the condition of her parents’ clothes.
When they went outside, wearing these old, ragged clothes was naturally safer and less likely to attract attention. But once the doors were locked and only the four of them were together, Lin Shengxia still wanted her family to live as comfortably as possible.
During that meal, the Lin family was so busy eating that no one even had time to talk.
There was a huge pot of pork belly stewed with bean sprouts, along with more than a dozen flatbreads.
By the time they finished, there wasn’t even a drop of broth left!
After eating, the family of four huddled together, leaning against one another while rubbing their full stomachs and burping.
Then, for no particular reason, they all burst into laughter.
By mid-afternoon, rain began falling again.
Lin Qizheng quickly lit a fire to keep the ruined temple warm and prevent the dampness from creeping inside.
With the rain pouring outside, there was naturally nothing for them to do.
Lin Handong leaned against his father’s back, bored, and couldn’t help saying, “It would be nice if I had a book to read right now.”
Back when Lin Qizheng had been a university professor, he had placed great importance on cultivating his children’s reading habits.
Although Lin Handong was only six years old, Lin Qizheng had begun drawing picture books for him when he was three and teaching him how to recognize characters.
By now, Lin Handong probably knew several hundred Chinese characters.
Hearing her younger brother’s words, Lin Shengxia silently thought it over and realized his wish wasn’t difficult to fulfill.
She remembered there was a bookstore right beside Pangjia Life Supermarket.
Tomorrow, she would go take a look. If she found any books suitable for Xiaodong, she would buy some for him.
No one knew who fell asleep first, but before long, the ruined temple became completely silent.
Early the next morning, Lin Shengxia glanced at the weather outside.
After confirming that the rain had completely stopped, she quietly slipped her bamboo basket onto her back, opened the rear door, and headed outside.
Ever since Dong Wanqiu learned about her daughter’s mysterious ability, she had become much less worried about her.
In fact, she didn’t even wake up when Lin Shengxia left.
Lin Shengxia first went to the familiar spot and picked all the newly grown wood ear mushrooms before heading off to gather wild vegetables.
However, she didn’t plan to gather too many today.
Her father still had plenty of fish for her to sell, and if she brought too many vegetables as well, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle everything by herself.
When the sun was just about to rise, Lin Shengxia finally stopped working.
She stored the entire bamboo basket inside her mysterious space, then made her way lightly down the mountain and headed straight for the back entrance of the ruined temple.
Dong Wanqiu had already prepared white rice porridge.
She had even added brown sugar to Lin Shengxia’s bowl.
Her daughter went out before dawn every day, and the morning dew was heavy. Dong Wanqiu worried that her daughter’s body wouldn’t be able to withstand the strain.
Lin Shengxia happily took a sip of the sweet brown sugar porridge.
The sweetness seemed to spread from her mouth all the way into her heart!
While she ate breakfast, Dong Wanqiu and Lin Handong had already finished sorting and bundling the wild vegetables.
Lin Shengxia had bought a battery-powered electronic scale from Zhang Guangming. This allowed her to make sure that every ten-yuan bundle of wild vegetables weighed more than half a kilogram.
She wanted all the uncles and aunties who supported her business to feel that they were getting their money’s worth!
While they were busy preparing the vegetables, Lin Qizheng had already packed the fish for his daughter.
He wrapped the outside of the fishing net with the plastic sheeting his daughter had brought back, ensuring that not even a drop of water would leak out.
After finishing breakfast, Lin Shengxia changed into the clothes Xiao Zhang had given her before pushing open the back door of the ruined temple.
When she arrived at the steamed bun shop, she discovered that Xu Aixia and the other regular customers from the neighborhood were already waiting outside!
The moment Xu Aixia spotted the fishing net hanging beside Lin Shengxia’s bamboo basket, her eyes lit up.
She rushed over and enthusiastically helped Lin Shengxia lower the basket to the ground.
Then, while no one else was paying attention, she quickly grabbed the fishing net for herself!
When she saw the two large carp inside, her smile grew even wider.
“Shengxia, I’ll take both of these big carp!”
Her husband, Old Xiao, absolutely loved them.
Last time, she had only brought home one carp, and Old Xiao had talked about it for several days afterward.
Lin Shengxia was just about to nod when Lin Changcheng, the owner of the grain and oil shop, immediately protested.
“Come on, Old Xu! Aren’t you being a little too greedy? Shengxia only manages to bring fish once every few days. If you buy them all at once, wouldn’t that mean the rest of us won’t get any?”
Hearing this, Xu Aixia hesitated.
Then she noticed another layer beneath the fishing net containing the carp and quickly asked, “Shengxia, did you bring something besides carp today?”
“My dad caught more than a dozen yellow catfish. I wasn’t sure whether everyone would like them, so I brought them over to see if anyone wanted some.”
Because the yellow catfish were underneath the carp and covered by plastic sheeting, no one had noticed them at first.
As soon as Lin Changcheng heard this, he hurriedly said, “Then I don’t need the carp! I’ll take all the yellow catfish. I’ll make a hot pot with them when I get home!”
Lin Changcheng was originally from Guizhou Province, and compared with carp, he much preferred yellow catfish.
Hearing that, Xu Aixia immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
She pulled out her two large carp and held them tightly in her arms, guarding them as though someone might snatch them away.