Only after the woman had walked away did Lin Xiaoman let out a sigh. She really needed to hurry up and build that courtyard wall, and also get two large dogs to guard the house. If anyone like that came again, she would just set the dogs on them!
Lin Erhu called out from inside the house, “Sis, come in here for a moment.”
Thinking something might have happened with the cabinet door, Lin Xiaoman went inside and found Lin Erhu crouched on the floor in the corner, prying at the stone slab.
“What are you doing that for?”
Lin Erhu beckoned to her mysteriously. “Sis, come take a look.”
Lin Xiaoman walked over and crouched down like him, reaching out to pry at the stone slab. “What did you find?”
As she spoke, she realized that this slab was different from the others. Not only was it hollow underneath, but her fingers also brushed against a short rope—as if something had been hidden beneath, and the rope had been accidentally left exposed when the slab was put in place.
Lin Xiaoman told Lin Erhu to step aside. She applied a little force and lifted the slab. Beneath it, a hole about a foot wide had been dug into the ground. Lined with straw, the hole held a small wooden box lacquered in red.
Lin Erhu jumped up excitedly but still kept his voice low. “Sis, did Mom and Dad hide this?”
Lin Xiaoman nodded firmly. “Yes!” Who else would hide something in the room they lived in?
Reverently, the siblings lifted the box out of the hole. A small lock hung on it, but the key was long gone. Lin Xiaoman simply twisted the lock open with her hands.
When they saw the deed to a shop in town and a lease agreement inside, both siblings were dumbfounded. They had never imagined that their family actually owned a shop in the city.
Looking at the date the shop was purchased, they realized it was the day of the earthquake—over a year ago.
Thinking back, they remembered that their parents had left early that morning and only returned after they had already gone to sleep. That must have been when they went to buy the shop.
Sob, sob—they hadn’t been able to protect their mother’s dowry, but their parents had still left them a shop.
The siblings cried in each other’s arms for a while before deciding that tomorrow, instead of selling mushrooms on the other side, they would go into town to check out the shop. Not only did they want to earn money in town, but since over a year had passed, they should also collect the rent.
That evening, they cooked all the hotpot ingredients they had bought. Lin Erhu said, “Sis, I’ve seen people selling skewers in town. How about we take back the shop and sell boiled skewers? One coin for a vegetable skewer, two coins for a meat skewer. We’d just need to buy some bowls and plates.”
Lin Xiaoman thought it was a good idea, but preparing the skewers every day would be a hassle. The two of them alone wouldn’t be able to manage it. Was there a more labor-efficient way?
The siblings changed into their other clothes and went through the wardrobe to the other side. Their phones, which had just lost signal, soon chimed with several notifications—ads, recommendations, an inspirational message from Grandma Liu, and friend requests from Grandma Xu and a few other elderly ladies.
After accepting the friend requests, the siblings each replied with an emoji.
Opening a search app, Lin Xiaoman—who didn’t know how to write the simplified characters used here—used voice input to say, “Famous snacks.”
The search results showed rankings of well-known delicacies from various regions. Clicking on a few made the siblings’ mouths water.
“Sis, let’s try them all someday! They look so delicious.”
Lin Xiaoman was also salivating. Finally, she clicked on a local food ranking. Each entry included the restaurant name and address. Two of them were nearby—they had passed by before and smelled the mouthwatering aromas wafting out.
But looking at the upscale storefronts, they had worried it would be too expensive to afford. Now they saw that the average cost per person was only a few dozen yuan. One basket of mushrooms would be enough for them to eat there several times.
“Sis, I want to try this beef hotpot. The set meal for two is only 168 yuan.”
Plowing oxen were strictly forbidden from being slaughtered by the imperial court in their world. Back when their mother was alive, they never went without good food, but they had never tasted beef before.
Little did they expect that here, it had already become a delicacy.
Lin Xiaoman glanced over and saw that Lin Erhu had also opened a food review website on his phone. The beef hotpot on the screen looked incredibly tempting. However, given their appetites, the set meal for two would definitely not be enough. Lin Xiaoman preferred a 268-yuan set meal for four.
“Let’s eat! Get the large portion!” Lin Xiaoman noted down the restaurant name and decided she would take Lin Erhu there another day.
As she scrolled down, she came across a local farm stay that specialized in river fish and sleeping on a kang (heated brick bed).
Lin Xiaoman had no idea what a kang was. Awkwardly using handwriting input, she typed out the two characters. The search results made her eyes grow wider and brighter with excitement.
The kang, also known as a heated brick bed, was a common heating device in rural northern households.
As she scrolled further to read about how to build one, she got so excited that she slapped Lin Erhu on the back. “Erhu, let’s find someone to build a kang for us in the next few days!”
Lin Xiaoman was naturally strong, and in her excitement, she forgot to hold back. The slap sent Lin Erhu yelping and tumbling to the ground.
“Sis, are you trying to kill your favorite brother?”
Lin Xiaoman regretted it immediately. She helped him up. Fortunately, Lin Erhu was young and sturdy—she hadn’t actually hurt him, but he was covered in bits of straw.
As she brushed off the straw, she apologized, “I was just too excited. Look at this kang. If we build one at home, we won’t have to be afraid of the cold this winter.”
Lin Erhu took her phone and looked at it. He also became interested in the idea of a kang. “Sis, since we’re at it, how about we renovate the house before the new year?”
Lin Xiaoman thought it was feasible, but before renovating, they still needed to earn more money.
The siblings only stopped using their phones when the batteries ran out. Reluctantly, they returned home.
The solar charging panel had been on the roof all afternoon and was fully charged. They plugged in their phones before lying down on the bed.
Lin Erhu kept asking about their parents. Though he still remembered them, he had been younger than Lin Xiaoman and didn’t have as many memories.
It was only when both siblings were too sleepy to keep their eyes open that they finally drifted off to sleep.
…
The next morning, after washing up, Lin Xiaoman made a pot of plain noodle soup with a few soft-boiled eggs.
After eating, they sold a few more baskets of mushrooms at a discount on the other side before heading to the east end of the village.
There, a cart driver made trips to town every day. The fare was only two coins per person.
The horse pulling the cart was a bit old, but it was still faster than walking. The siblings paid four coins and climbed aboard. Five people were already seated.
When they saw Lin Xiaoman and Lin Erhu getting on, everyone squeezed in to make room. A woman waved them over. “Xiaoman, Erhu, come sit by Aunt Guihua.”
Lin Xiaoman recognized her as Shen Guihua, a close friend of her mother’s. By generational standing, Shen Guihua should have been of the same generation as Old Lady Lin, but their families were distantly related, and she and Lin Xiaoman’s mother had been close friends before marriage. So Lin Xiaoman didn’t address her by the village’s generational title.
“Aunt Guihua, are you heading to town to buy things?”
“Yes, I’m going to buy some fabric and embroidery thread.”
Sitting beside Shen Guihua was her daughter, Lin Xingxing. She had been very close to Lin Xiaoman since childhood. From the time they could walk, they often went together to collect pig feed.
But over the past year, under Old Lady Lin’s oppression, Lin Xiaoman had been buried in endless chores and had no time to spend with her old friend.
“Xiaoman…” Lin Xingxing’s lips trembled, her voice choked with emotion.