At this thought, Lin Ran immediately spoke up:
“Dad, Mom, since Second Sister-in-law is so bothered by me resting at home, I should go to work. However, you both know I’m not very capable of heavy labor. Is there any lighter work in our brigade that I could do?”
Shen Wenfang grew anxious upon hearing this and immediately wanted to talk her out of it, but she hesitated when she remembered the harsh words Wang Zhaodi had just thrown out.
Although she desperately did not want her daughter to suffer through manual labor, if Wang Zhaodi truly followed suit and refused to go to work by staying at home, the eldest son’s family would certainly have something to say.
But they couldn’t have both daughters-in-law resting at home. Although the man of the house was the brigade leader, he only earned a set amount of work points. With so many people in the family, the earned rations would definitely not be enough to eat.
These problems had clearly been considered by Lin Weiguo as well, which was why he simply kept his head down, smoking his tobacco leaves without a word.
Lin Ran hugged Shen Wenfang’s arm and then looked at Lin Weiguo.
“Dad, Mom, you don’t need to worry. As long as the work is light, I can do it.”
Shen Wenfang finally let out a long sigh and compromised.
“It can only be this way then. Let your father look around first to see if there is anything you can do.”
After saying that, she looked at Lin Weiguo.
“Did you hear that?”
Lin Weiguo took another puff of his tobacco, his tone frustrated.
“Do you think light work is that easy to find? It’s all been snatched up long ago.”
Shen Wenfang glared at him crossly.
“You say you’re the brigade leader, yet you can’t even manage to find a light job for your own daughter.”
Speaking of this, Lin Weiguo’s head throbbed even more, and he took a deep draw of his tobacco.
Despite being the brigade leader of the Tashan Brigade, he did not have absolute authority. Accountant Zheng, who lived next door, was constantly working against him, just waiting to catch him in a mistake so he could take his position.
But for the sake of his daughter and the household, Lin Weiguo still nodded and promised:
“Don’t worry yet. I’ll try my best to coordinate and see if I can clear up a light task for Ranran.”
While several of them were discussing, no one noticed that Liu Ping had been looking at them, seemingly wanting to speak but hesitating.
Finally, the eldest brother, Lin An, couldn’t stand it anymore and urged:
“If you have something to say, say it. Why are you always afraid to speak up?”
Liu Ping’s face turned bright red, and she lowered her head, stammering:
“I… I don’t know if I should say it.”
The conversation between the two of them immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Shen Wenfang also couldn’t stand Liu Ping’s behavior; it wasn’t straightforward at all. They were all family, yet she acted as if they were going to eat her. Since she was currently worried about Lin Ran’s work situation, she spoke impatiently:
“What are you dawdling for? If there’s something, say it quickly!”
Liu Ping gave a start, and not daring to hesitate any longer, she hurriedly poured out the news she had heard like beans from a jar.
It turned out that while Liu Ping was at work yesterday, she was assigned to the same area as the mother and daughter-in-law of the Qin family, and she happened to overhear their hushed conversation.
She heard that their second son, who was serving in the military, was about to be discharged and return home.
Not only that, but this second Qin son had managed to secure a temporary worker spot at a textile factory for the third Qin son.
Therefore, Qin Lao San was about to move to the city.
The reason Liu Ping brought this up was that Qin Lao San was the brigade’s work point recorder. If he moved to the textile factory as a temporary worker, wouldn’t the position of the brigade’s recorder be vacated?
Shen Wenfang was immediately excited by this good news, but she still couldn’t help but scold a few words.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, why didn’t you say such a big thing sooner? If we had known earlier, we could have found a way to make arrangements. If we missed it, we would truly regret it until our insides turned green!”
“If we hadn’t asked just now, were you not planning to say anything at all?”
This daughter-in-law was also quite infuriating!
The work of a recorder was so light; you just had to watch people work every day and then record it. It was so suitable for Ranran!
Liu Ping did not dare to talk back and stammered to explain herself.
“I… I… I didn’t dare to say.”
She knew her mother-in-law didn’t want her sister-in-law to go to work. If she brought this up, perhaps her parents-in-law would think she was just like the second daughter-in-law, unable to stand her sister-in-law resting at home. That was why she had kept it to herself.
It was only after hearing her sister-in-law volunteer to work and seeing her parents-in-law worry that she hesitated over whether to speak.
But she didn’t dare to defend herself, and after trying to speak for a long time, she still hadn’t voiced her true thoughts.
Fortunately, Shen Wenfang didn’t dwell on it. Her whole mind was now focused on how to obtain the recorder job.
“Husband, the opportunity is right there; it’s up to you!”
Lin Weiguo had also put down his tobacco leaves by now and began to ponder.
He knew that once this news came out, the entire brigade would likely scramble for it, and even the “educated youth” in the village wouldn’t let it pass.
Lin Ran also didn’t expect such a coincidence. She knew about the recorder job—it seemed quite light, and there should be no problem with her doing it.
She breathed a sigh of relief. A weight had finally been lifted from her mind; she would see if Wang Zhaodi would still use her as an excuse in the future.
As expected, mother and daughter were of one mind, and Shen Wenfang thought of this as well.
Earlier, she didn’t have the confidence to refute Wang Zhaodi, but now it was different.
“Second daughter-in-law, you heard it too. Ranran has taken the initiative to go to work. Are you satisfied now? In the future, stop making trouble for me and go to work properly!”
Wang Zhaodi knew that resting all the time would surely make her parents-in-law dissatisfied, but thinking of the money she made last time… no, she had to take this opportunity to make more money. In the future, when the economy opened up, she would have the capital to do business.
Thus, she had no choice but to continue using Lin Ran as an excuse.
Furthermore, she remembered that in her previous life, Lin Ran hadn’t taken this recorder job; she had gone straight into marriage negotiations.
“Mom, you all saying Little Sister is going to work is just talk. Has she gone? How do I know you aren’t just trying to fool me temporarily on purpose?”
“And that recorder position you’re talking about—you know what kind of person Aunt Qin is. Even if her third son moves to the city and leaves the spot vacant, the Qin family isn’t without other members. How could they possibly give that spot to someone else?”
“And also, with so many people and so little to go around, so many eyes are on that spot. Are you sure you can snatch it?”
“So, since Little Sister’s job hasn’t been settled yet, I will rest when I need to rest. It’s decided then; I’m resting tomorrow.”
After saying this, Wang Zhaodi ran off as if her feet were greased, not giving Shen Wenfang any chance to object.
This attitude made Shen Wenfang clutch her chest in anger.
“Look at this, look at this! Is this a daughter-in-law we found? This is an ancestor we’ve brought back!”
Lin Ran quickly helped her catch her breath, only able to comfort her by saying that once she started working, her second sister-in-law would no longer have an excuse.
The next morning, after the rest of the family had left, Wang Zhaodi slipped back into the kitchen.
However, when she saw the empty cupboard, her whole being felt unwell.
Where was the grain?
Without grain, how was she supposed to make money at the black market?
Lin Ran stood at the door of the main hall, quietly watching her.
Hmph, trying to repeat the same old tricks. Fortunately, she had reminded Shen Wenfang last night to put away all the grain in the cupboard.
Wang Zhaodi’s teeth itched with rage, knowing this was her mother-in-law being on guard against her.
But thinking of the rare earning opportunity today, she truly wished she could rush into the main house to search.
But when she saw Lin Ran standing guard at the door, Wang Zhaodi instantly calmed down. No, she couldn’t be impulsive.
She had to think carefully about what else could be sold for money.
Finally, by the time Lin Ran realized what was happening, Wang Zhaodi had already run off with a bundle.
Hadn’t all the grain been put away?
What else could she have taken out?
At this thought, Lin Ran ran to the kitchen to check, not even sparing the cellar.
Finally, she discovered that the pickle jar had been touched. Opening it, she saw that half a jar of pickles was indeed missing.
Lin Ran was absolutely speechless; this Wang Zhaodi actually stole pickles!
Sigh, this person truly never has a moment of peace. There will be another scene tonight!
Forget it. Lin Ran soon cast Wang Zhaodi to the back of her mind; she still had to go back to her books.
Last night, she had finally found the history books collected by her ancestor, but she hadn’t had the chance to read them yet. She would take advantage of the free time over the next few days to finish them.