“Compensating with a wife will also require an additional two hundred yuan,” the old woman said. “My son can’t suffer for years for nothing.”
“You’re confused! Have you forgotten how you ended up in the police station? Where are you going to find a wife to compensate them with? Are you still thinking of going after the second branch again?!” Lan Tianzhu pulled back Liu Guihua, who was about to step forward and argue.
“I don’t only have one granddaughter. Isn’t there still another one in the house?” Liu Guihua said as if it were only natural.
Lan Meili, hiding inside the room, widened her eyes in terror when she heard this. Wasn’t it supposed to be Lan Sisi? Why had it suddenly involved her? That man outside was clearly not a good person, she absolutely refused to marry him!
“No!” Lan Tianzhu rejected it outright.
“Then you tell me what to do. Let them smash our house? Or pay money?” Liu Guihua shot back.
“Father, let’s just do as Mother says. She’s just a girl anyway, she’ll be married off sooner or later. If these people smash the house, where will we live?” Yu Shi came over and said, still holding Lan Guangming, who was too frightened to speak.
Lan Aijun held his head. He was not as biased toward sons as Yu Shi, he quite liked his daughter. But when he thought that if he could not bear to give up his daughter, then he, his wife, and his son would have no place to live, the balance in his mind immediately tipped.
Lan Tianzhu pointed at the couple from the third branch, unable to speak for a long while. “That’s your own daughter!”
Listening to her mother’s words, Lan Meili felt her heart turn ice-cold. She looked around the house she had lived in for seventeen years and thought to herself that she probably could not stay here any longer, she had to run.
Outside, Liu Guihua was still negotiating with the old woman. In the end, it was settled that Lan Meili would marry into their family, along with an additional compensation of one hundred yuan.
Lai Hu left with the old woman and several of his men. Before leaving, they smashed the gate of the Lan family’s old residence, yet because they outnumbered them, not a single member of the Lan family dared to step forward to stop them.
The onlookers all shook their heads and sighed. What was this called? Retribution.
“In the next few days, make sure you coax your daughter properly. Don’t let anything go wrong,” Liu Guihua warned. “If anything happens again, that one thousand yuan will be paid by your third branch!”
“Understood, Mother, don’t worry. I’m just afraid Meili won’t be willing if she finds out,” Yu Shi said hurriedly.
“What’s there to be unwilling about? When the time comes, just drag her over and consummate the marriage, then she’ll naturally accept it. Isn’t that how every family does it?” Liu Guihua said coldly, her words showing that she did not regard Lan Meili as a person at all.
Aside from Lan Jianshe, the entire eldest branch had stayed in their room to watch the whole farce unfold. Since it did not involve them, they did not care in the slightest. Once everyone left, they simply returned to their room to tidy up and sleep.
After everyone dispersed, only Lan Tianzhu remained standing in the courtyard. Looking at the broken gate, he let out a deep sigh.
The next day, Lan Sisi only learned about the matter from Aunt Sun. After hearing it, she felt that the outcome had been expected, after all, that entire family was selfish and self-serving.
“This Liu Guihua, she’s really committing sins,” Aunt Sun said, shaking her head.
Around noon, several women came to Lan Sisi’s house and stood at the entrance, curiously looking around. Lan Sisi happened to be returning from the fields. When she saw them, she politely asked, “Do you need something?”
They were all from the same village, but because they lived far away, Lan Sisi was not very familiar with them, she only found them somewhat familiar by face.
“Sisi, right? I’m Xiulan from the end of the village. My son is in the same class as your younger brother,” one of the women in her twenties stepped forward and said with a smile.
“Hello, Sister Xiulan. Come in and have a seat, have some sweet water,” Lan Sisi opened the gate and warmly invited them inside. She had already roughly guessed what they had come for.
After entering the courtyard, Xiulan explained their purpose. As expected, it was about the wool sweater Lan Sinian was wearing.
“I’ve never seen clothes this nice, light, and warm before. I wonder if you still have any. I want to make one for my son and my husband,” Xiulan said, holding her bowl of sweet water. “I even brought the money.”
“I want to make one for my daughter. She’s about to meet a potential marriage partner, so she needs a nicer outfit,” another aunt surnamed Tang said.
“The new clothes made in town only come in one or two styles, and the fabric is rough. If your skin is a bit delicate, it’ll rub it red. Sinian’s clothes are better, they feel soft and don’t irritate the skin.”
“Yes, I have some. Wait for me a moment.”
Lan Sisi returned to the house and brought out several wool sweaters, round-neck, V-neck, cardigans, and pullovers, along with a few cashmere coats, all tailored in fitted styles.
When they saw her bring out the clothes, their eyes lit up, and they all gathered around.
“So there are so many styles, this color is so bright.”
“Sisi, how are your hands so skillful? This coat makes me want to buy one too.”
“This coat is so beautiful. I have a relative who came from the provincial capital and spent several hundred yuan on a coat, and it’s not even as nice as this one.”
“Sisi, how much are these clothes?” Xiulan was straightforward and asked directly.
“These are all wool, twenty yuan each. The cashmere coats are fifty yuan each. I didn’t make these clothes myself, I had someone make them,” Lan Sisi thought for a moment and quoted a price that was neither too expensive nor too cheap.
As expected, one of the aunts put down the clothes in her hand after hearing the price.
“However, since this is your first time here and we’re all from the same village, I’ll give you a discount. In the future, I hope everyone can help spread the word for me,” Lan Sisi added.
As soon as she said this, smiles appeared on the women’s faces, and they all rejoined the selection. Those who had originally only planned to make clothes for their husbands and children changed their minds after seeing the cashmere coats. In just a short while, Lan Sisi had sold more than a dozen pieces of clothing and earned over two hundred yuan.
After noting down their measurements and agreeing on a time to pick up the clothes, Lan Sisi finally saw them off, even though they were reluctant to leave.
Holding a stack of large bills and small notes, Lan Sisi felt delighted. This could be considered pure profit.
Taking advantage of the fact that Lan Sinian and Lin Ruihai had not yet returned, she went to the farm again, made the clothes, and placed them in the warehouse, waiting to take them out in a few days.
After harvesting a batch of fruits and vegetables, the farm leveled up to level fifteen. Fruits unlocked watermelon, vegetables unlocked chili peppers. Once the watermelons grew, there were two forms, one was normal size, seedless inside, sweet, crisp, and refreshing. The other was only the size of a thumb, eaten whole with the rind, one bite each, also sweet and refreshing. The chili peppers were long and red, extremely spicy. The farm named them “irritable chili peppers,” because if they reached maturity and were not harvested in time, they would get angry and explode, filling the entire farm with spiciness.
Lan Sisi had encountered this once. All the chickens, ducks, fish, cows, and sheep in the farm were brought to tears by the spiciness. The farm became completely uninhabitable, it was practically like a biological weapon.
Because of its overwhelming potency, Lan Sisi even made a pepper spray from it to carry with her.
She had just salvaged fifty jin of river shrimp from the pond. Lan Sisi used half of it to make a pot of dry pot shrimp.
When Lin Ruihai and Lan Sinian returned, they smelled an intense spiciness. After the spiciness came fragrance, so enticing that their mouths watered.
Besides the dry pot shrimp, Lan Sisi also made a dish of boiled pork slices. The hot oil poured over the chili peppers sizzled loudly, and the aroma spread far. Everyone ate heartily. Even Lin Ruihai, who did not usually eat spicy food, could not stop.
At the Lan family’s old residence, on the dining table, they made a rare exception and prepared a meat dish today. Although there were only a few slices of meat, it was already quite rare outside of holidays.
“Meili, here, have a piece of meat.” Yu Shi picked up a slice and placed it in Lan Meili’s bowl.
Lan Meili glanced at Liu Guihua. Seeing her reluctant yet forced expression of generosity, she sneered inwardly and did not refuse, stuffing the meat into her mouth in big bites.
“Mom, I want meat too.” Lan Guangming pushed Yu Shi unhappily.
“Alright, alright, I’ll give you some.”
Just as Yu Shi extended her chopsticks, she saw that all the remaining meat had already been taken by Lan Meili and eaten in one bite. She felt a bit dissatisfied, but remembering Liu Guihua’s instructions, she held it back.
“Mom, I want to go to town this afternoon to buy a piece of clothing. Give me some money,” Lan Meili said.
“You’re just a girl, what do you need new clothes for? Your brother doesn’t even have new clothes yet!” Yu Shi said angrily.
“Third daughter-in-law, if the child wants to buy something, let her. Dressing up a bit is good. After all, she’s no longer a little girl, it’s time to start talking about marriage,” Liu Guihua said, suppressing her reluctance. Compared to a thousand yuan, the cost of buying clothes was nothing.
Yu Shi did not dare to argue and could only take out five yuan from her pocket and hand it to her. “I’ll go with you this afternoon.”
“Five yuan isn’t enough. The nicer ones cost over ten yuan now,” Lan Meili added.
“You…” Yu Shi was about to scold her, but when she caught sight of Liu Guihua’s warning look, she swallowed it back. Forget it, it was only this once.
Lan Meili tucked fifteen yuan into her pocket and returned to her room.
In the afternoon, Yu Shi took her to town by ox cart. However, Lan Meili found fault with everything and liked nothing. After wandering around the whole afternoon, she did not buy anything.
“Keep the money with me for now. I’ll buy something when I see something I like another day,” Lan Meili said.
“…Alright.” Yu Shi suppressed her anger.
When Lan Sisi returned from the fields, she saw someone standing at her doorstep. It looked like a young girl, her hair braided into two plaits hanging in front of her chest. She held a notebook and was peering inside. It was an unfamiliar face.
“Miss, who are you looking for?” Lan Sisi asked.
When the girl saw her, a trace of hostility flashed in her eyes. Lan Sisi saw it clearly and felt puzzled. What was that about?
“May I ask if Teacher Lin lives here?” the girl asked.
Teacher Lin? Lan Sisi took a few seconds to react before realizing she was referring to Lin Ruihai.
“He does live here. What do you need?” Lan Sisi asked.
“My name is Huang Ying. I’m his colleague. I came to deliver lesson plans to him,” Huang Ying said softly.
Just look at her, gentle as water, dressed in a fine synthetic dress, like a fresh lily. And she was a teacher. Then she looked at herself. Lan Sisi glanced down at her mud-stained pant legs and the coarse shirt she wore for fieldwork. Not only did she look rustic, she was also uneducated, even her prestigious university degree from her previous life could not save her from that.