“Ha?! She’s back?” Lin Weisen sneered, “This is clearly about the money.”
Song Lanfang sighed, “Ever since the incident with Fang Da, she took her son and remarried; she hasn’t come back to visit the old man even once all these years. There’s going to be a quarrel now.”
Lin Qionghua asked her parents, “Do they have a share in the Fang family’s relocation compensation?”
Lin Weisen shook his head. “No share. That house is registered in Old Lady Fang’s name. She married into the family, and her three sons all took her surname. Since she’s still alive, how could she possibly give the homestead land to her three sons? Besides, the family hadn’t been divided at that time either.”
Lin Qionghua suddenly understood, “That’s good, then. At least they won’t succeed if they try to file a lawsuit.”
“Hard tactics might not work, but if they play it soft, I don’t think Old Lady Fang will be able to handle it.” Zhou Lanfang only had a nodding acquaintance with Old Lady Fang, but she felt very sorry for the third son, Fang San. He was a talented man, but he was ruined by the blast of artillery fire.
Lin Qionghua asked her father when their family would be moving.
“No rush. The concrete floor needs time to cure, otherwise, it will crack.” Lin Weisen pondered that many families hadn’t signed the papers yet, so they could stay at least until the end of the year.
The reason for the delay was that many young people were working out of town, and their families couldn’t notify them; they had to wait for them to return before they could sign.
After the gossip session, the family of three busied themselves with their own tasks.
Song Lanfang was busy organizing clothes; since they were moving to a new home, she certainly had to throw away clothes she no longer wore and tidy up their belongings.
Lin Weisen helped Lin Qionghua make starch jelly, using sweet potato starch. After the water boiled, he poured the sweet potato slurry into the pot and stirred it continuously. Lin Qionghua helped hold the pot down so he wouldn’t tip it over.
After it was cooked, they poured the thick paste from the pot into a basin and waited for it to set.
“Third brother? Are you home?” Lin Weimu came to look for him.
Lin Weisen thought he was here for the jelly, so he pointed to the basin, “I made two basins for you. Is that enough?”
Lin Weimu took a look and nodded repeatedly, “Enough, enough! I came over to call you because we need to go to the Fang family’s place. The old lady there asked us to help with something.”
Lin Weisen didn’t understand what he could help with, but living in the same village, it was normal to help each other. He told Song Lanfang and headed out.
Lin Qionghua held her father’s hand and went with him.
Lin Weisen was worried about his daughter. “You can come, but don’t cause any trouble while the adults are talking.”
“Understood.”
When they arrived at the Fang residence, several villagers were already sitting in the main hall.
Lin Weisen understood the situation at a glance; these were all villagers specifically sought out by Old Lady Fang, the ones who usually didn’t hesitate to share their food with Fang San.
For example, the village chief, the women’s director, and Zhou Qiang. Lin Weisen and Lin Weimu were actually the youngest generation present.
The reason they were called over was that Old Lady Fang wanted to hear the opinions of the younger generation.
After they sat down, Old Lady Fang handed each person a pack of cigarettes and asked them to help find a solution. “You all know the situation with my third son, and I’m not young anymore. I don’t know how much longer I can look after him.”
These words were melancholic, and everyone hurried to comfort her, urging her to take good care of her health.
Old Lady Fang waved her hand. “Of course I will take care of my health, but to speak bluntly, if Heaven decides to take you at the third watch, I won’t live until the fifth. He is the only son I have left, and I must secure his life.”
The village chief took the lead in expressing his stance. “Old sister, whatever you have to say, just say it; we will certainly help if we can.”
Old Lady Fang spoke about her eldest daughter-in-law returning with her grandson. “I know she’s here for the relocation money. But his only kin are me and his nephew. If even she can’t take care of him, who else can I trust?”
Her words were the reality. Lin Weisen asked curiously, “Where did Liang Lu remarry? Is she a local?”
Liang Lu was Fang Da’s wife.
“Yes! The journey is only half an hour away.” Old Lady Fang sighed. She could understand why the other party wanted to remarry; after all, there was no man in the house, and it was indeed difficult for her to raise the child on her own.
Lin Weimu pursued, “Did you ask your eldest grandson if his stepfather treats him well?”
Old Lady Fang hesitated for a long while. “He said it was quite good. But I feel he said it quite reluctantly. Perhaps he’s also afraid that his mother will abandon him.”
Zhou Qiang, however, felt she didn’t need to be so anxious. “Once you get the relocation money, first go to another village to buy a plot of land. Let Fang San have a place to settle down. As for the money, keep half in your own account and the other half for Fang San, and put it all into a fixed-term deposit.”
Old Lady Fang had thought of this strategy before, but she was worried. “What if I’m gone, and Liang Lu coaxes Fang San into withdrawing the money? What should Fang San do then? Or maybe she wouldn’t even need to coax him; she could just take his bankbook and ID card, and the bank would let her withdraw it.”
In these times, withdrawing money didn’t require a password at all; just an ID card or household registration book plus the bankbook was enough.
Since depositing the money wasn’t reliable, Lin Qionghua noticed everyone was silent. She cleared her throat and spoke up. “Old Lady, I think you could divide the relocation money into thirty portions, to be spent one portion per year, with joint supervision from the village committee and the Civil Affairs Bureau.”
Old Lady Fang felt that the village committee might not be reliable either. The staff was mixed; if someone had bad intentions, her son would be doomed. Besides, the village had already been slated for demolition, and the village committee would be disbanded soon. She didn’t trust the Civil Affairs Bureau to supervise it either; in this day and age, corrupt officials were like leeks, one batch after another, and no matter how much you cut, they never end.
The women’s director suggested that she could bring her eldest grandson to stay with her. “You can skip the usual school days, but during winter and summer vacations, you could pick him up and have him stay here. Start by building a bond and taking care of the child. It might not be easy for him living as a guest in his stepfather’s home. Perhaps you really could win his heart. If the child has good character, in the future, you could give him half the assets, and leave the other half to Fang San, so that he can provide Fang San with a meal. People’s hearts are made of flesh, and they are relatives; perhaps the child could properly look after Fang San.”
This was not a bad idea, and Old Lady Fang nodded repeatedly. “I can try that.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “While I’m alive, I can look after Fang San. But if I should pass away, I beg everyone here for your help.”
Seeing her bow, the village chief quickly steadied her. “Old sister, please speak.”
“I plan to keep only 100,000 for buying land and living expenses; the remaining relocation money will be divided into thirty parts, all put into fixed-term deposits. If one day I am truly gone, these thirty fixed deposits will be Fang San’s living expenses. Please do me a favor; let each of you take turns looking after Fang San for one year. Whoever looks after him will receive one portion of the deposit. You don’t have to provide fine dining; just enough to keep him from starving is fine.”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay; so that was her plan. Lin Qionghua felt that although Old Lady Fang was uneducated, she knew how to judge character. The people she found were all kind-hearted and truly planning for her sake.
Before there was money, everyone was willing to take care of Fang San anyway. Now that there were living expenses, no one would refuse.
Lin Weisen was the first to express his stance. “Fang San became like this for the sake of the country; if it weren’t for him, how could we have our peaceful days? Auntie Fang, rest assured, if that day really comes, I will be the first to help look after Fang San. Although I cannot guarantee fish and meat every day, I promise you that whatever my daughter eats, Fang San will eat the same.”
Old Lady Fang was so happy she nodded repeatedly. “Good, good, good, thank you very much.”
Since Lin Weisen had said so, the others naturally followed suit and made promises.
The village chief smiled, “If your eldest grandson is filial, you won’t even need us to help.”
Old Lady Fang nodded, “If I can live until he is grown, I won’t bother you. But if I cannot wait until that day, I will still need you all.”
If the eldest grandson wasn’t grown up, he would be the one being looked after by his own mother and stepfather; he wouldn’t be able to take care of Fang San. Old Lady Fang had considered everything very thoroughly.
Coming out of the Fang house, Lin Weisen sighed, “Auntie Fang has really put in a lot of thought for Fang San.”
Lin Weimu felt the old lady was quite wise, it was just that her fate was poor. None of her three sons were there to support her in her old age.
Lin Weimu didn’t quite understand one thing. “Why is she in such a rush? It’s like she’s arranging her funeral matters; it’s too unlucky.”
It wasn’t that he was overthinking, but he felt that Old Lady Fang was terrified of Liang Lu showing up, and that same day she had called them over to settle her affairs. It wasn’t as if Liang Lu could just openly rob them.
Lin Weisen also felt Auntie Fang was overthinking.
Lin Qionghua glanced at them both, her expression complicated. “Dad, Uncle, money stirs men’s hearts. Liang Lu showed up and couldn’t get the relocation money. Old Lady Fang is afraid that if she waits too long, she might develop crooked intentions…”
She didn’t put it too bluntly, afraid of scaring them.
But even her polished words gave Lin Weisen a start. He quickly picked his daughter up, looking at her worriedly. “How could you think of that?”
Lin Qionghua scratched her head. “That’s just what I thought. Why?”
Lin Weisen rubbed his daughter’s head. “It must be the influence of those comic books. You are a child; you shouldn’t keep reading those violent comic books. What if you have nightmares tonight?”
Lin Qionghua was speechless; she had only said a few words, and her father had already started worrying about her mental health. Although being cared for by her father was nice, she still comforted him, “I was just guessing.”
Lin Weisen and Lin Weimu looked at each other. “Don’t go to Qingqing’s house to read comic books anymore. The people in Water Margin aren’t heroes; they’re all hoodlums, rascals, and robbers who don’t do any good all day long.”
Lin Qionghua was even more embarrassed. She laughed it off, “Dad, I won’t read them. Tomorrow I’m going to go to the stall with Uncle to sell the starch jelly.”
“Good. Selling starch jelly is good.” Lin Weisen supported his daughter doing business; at least it was better than watching television.
As the three reached their doorstep, they saw guests had arrived at their neighbor, Lin Weilin’s house.
A middle-aged woman had brought a young girl. Lin Weisen recognized the woman; she was the eldest sister-in-law from the second sister-in-law’s maiden family, and the young girl was likely the second sister-in-law’s niece.
Lin Weimu spoke to his third brother in a low voice, “Perhaps they came to borrow money.”
Ever since the relocation compensation was distributed, every household had relatives visiting with similar reasons: to borrow money.
Lin Weimu had discussed it with his wife: all the money would be put into fixed-term deposits, and they wouldn’t lend it to anyone.
Lin Weisen didn’t think it was for borrowing money; it was very likely they were there for a matchmaking visit.
“The girl has reached the right age; perhaps the second sister-in-law wants her to marry into Dalin Village.” Lin Weisen counted the young men in their village who hadn’t gotten married yet.
In fact, it was just as Lin Weisen had guessed.
In the evening, the second sister-in-law came to find Song Lanfang, wanting to ask her to help inquire about the third son of the Huang family—whether he had a partner, and if not, to ask her to play matchmaker for her niece.
If someone else had made this request, Song Lanfang might have actually agreed, but since the second sister-in-law asked, she wouldn’t even consider it. “Second sister-in-law, I’m not a matchmaker, why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask Matchmaker Jiang? Isn’t your relationship with her the best? I’m clumsy with words, don’t ruin your niece’s prospects.”
She remembered that at the beginning of the year, the second sister-in-law told her that her niece had a partner and that she was going back to her maiden home during the summer vacation for a wedding feast; how did they suddenly break up? And she needed to find a new match for her again? Could it be that the eldest sister-in-law of the second sister-in-law’s maiden family saw that Dalin Village was being relocated, broke up a pair of lovers, and wanted her daughter to marry a young man from their village? If the girl got married while still pining for her previous partner, she would be the one to blame.
The second sister-in-law quickly said, “You’re clumsy with words? There isn’t anyone in the village with a sweeter tongue than you. Who doesn’t know that your relationship with Auntie Huang is the best? Do me a favor.”
“Second sister-in-law, don’t make things difficult for me. I don’t make a living doing this; what if it doesn’t work out and it leads to resentment? Just like when your third brother fought with Dong Liang a few days ago, second brother didn’t help, and I didn’t take it to heart at all.”
She said she “didn’t take it to heart,” but she specifically pointed it out; even a fool could see that not only was she resentful, but she was just waiting for revenge.
The second sister-in-law’s face turned livid, and she turned and left.