When Lin Weishen returned home, Song Lanfang couldn’t wait to share the good news with him.
Lin Weishen was so surprised he couldn’t speak. He found it hard to fathom, “Didn’t she just barely pass her final exams last semester? How did she make such a huge improvement all of a sudden?”
Song Lanfang didn’t think much of it, “She didn’t want to study before, but now she does. Our daughter has always been very smart. Just look at how she sells popsicles—calculating the accounts, receiving payments, and making change—she has never made a single mistake.”
That was true. Parents in Jiang Province had always valued their children’s education, and since this was their own daughter, if she did well in her studies, she would be able to get into university in the future. Lin Weishen was naturally pleased.
When Lin Qionghua proposed skipping grades, Lin Weishen felt it was unnecessary, “Our family isn’t short on money right now; there’s no need for you to skip grades just to save money.”
Lin Qionghua was speechless. Was her father thinking she was too sensible? She shook her head, “Dad, I’m not doing this to save money; I’m doing it to save time.”
Lin Weishen was even more confused, “You don’t need to save time. You’re only eight. If you suddenly jump to the fifth grade and go to school with a bunch of twelve or thirteen-year-olds, will they have any common topics with you? You’ll be very lonely.”
One should do things appropriate for their age. Since she was the only child in the family, there was no need to force her growth.
Lin Qionghua shook her head, “I don’t think I’ll be lonely. On the contrary, if I take classes with a bunch of children, I feel they are immature. Mom, Dad, you must have heard of physical age and mental age, right? My body is eight years old, but my mind is already thirteen or fourteen.”
Lin Weishen and Song Lanfang looked at each other. Was this how a genius thought?
Seeing that his daughter was insistent, Lin Weishen stopped trying to stop her, “Fine, start reviewing. After school starts, I’ll take you to see the teacher. If you can’t keep up, you’ll go back to the second grade.”
Seeing her father agree, a hint of joy appeared on Lin Qionghua’s face.
She coughed lightly and began to pursue her goal, “Mom, Dad, I don’t think the teaching quality at our town’s middle school is very good. I heard that out of more than 1,200 candidates in this year’s high school entrance exam, only two students got into key high schools. The probability is too low. Although I am clever and smart, I still need good teachers. I want to go to the county middle school to study. They have a strong faculty and high teaching quality.”
Lin Weishen ruffled his daughter’s hair, “I didn’t expect you to understand these things too. Not bad! Not bad!”
One should never cut costs on education, no matter how poor they are. Lin Weishen agreed immediately, “Fine! If you can rank in the top 500 of the entire city when you graduate from elementary school, I’ll send you to the county to study.”
Lin Qionghua’s eyes lit up, and she looked at her mother to seek her consent.
Song Lanfang glared at her husband, “If she really goes to the county to study, she’s such a young child, can she live in the dorms? We would have to follow her. You agreed so rashly—have you considered how to deal with the consequences later?”
She felt that with her daughter’s level of intelligence, the top 500 would be easy to achieve. She didn’t want him to renege on his promise if her daughter actually succeeded. What kind of parent would that make him?
Lin Weishen didn’t take it seriously, “If she gets in, we’ll go. It’s not like our family is broke. We’ll go to the county and buy a house. I can sell food, and I’ll still be able to support you two. Who knows, maybe business will be even better in the county.”
Seeing that he had it all planned out, Song Lanfang didn’t stop him again and looked at her daughter, “You heard him, right?! As long as you can rank in the top 500, we will send you to the county to study. It will also cost money to buy a house, and the expenses won’t be low. You have to work hard.”
Lin Qionghua extended her little finger, “That’s a deal.”
Song Lanfang hooked her finger with hers, “That’s a deal!”
Lin Qionghua ran off excitedly to read her books.
Lin Weishen lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, “I never thought that I, Lin Weishen, would live such an ordinary life, yet produce a genius daughter. Why am I so lucky?”
Song Lanfang hummed, “You don’t dislike having a daughter now?”
When she was born, when his parents learned she was a girl, they didn’t even hold the baby and threw her straight into the hospital. It wasn’t as if the husband hadn’t felt any regret back then.
Lin Weishen hurriedly sat up and glanced outside, “I never disliked her. That’s all ancient history; why bring that up? If Qionghua hears you and misunderstands me, what should I do?”
Song Lanfang snorted, “Then don’t ever say again that daughters can’t carry on the family line.”
“I know.” Lin Weishen nodded. Afraid that his wife would continue the topic, he diverted the conversation, “My brother didn’t go out to sell goods today, did he?”
Song Lanfang nodded, “I ran into him at noon. He looked dispirited. When your parents met him, they even told him to hurry up and have a son while he still has money. Since your sister-in-law injured her body having Xinghua, she can’t give birth at all. Isn’t that just telling your brother to divorce your sister-in-law? For old folks to incite their son to divorce his wife, that is truly wicked!”
Lin Weishen was so angry he slapped the side of the bed, “They really said that?”
“I heard it with my own ears; how could it be fake?” Song Lanfang felt that the eldest brother might truly be tempted.
Lin Weishen was afraid his brother would do something foolish and cause the family to break apart.
He immediately sat up, “No! I have to go and guide my brother so he doesn’t make a mistake.”
Song Lanfang nodded and watched him leave the house.
She went to sort through the vegetables her husband had brought back, cleaning them so that when he returned, he could stir-fry them immediately.
Lin Weishen found his brother and took him to the fields to chat. After he tried to persuade him for a while, his brother still couldn’t make up his mind.
Abandoning a wife who had stuck with him through thick and thin was morally wrong, especially since he had three daughters; after a divorce, they might grow to resent him.
The two walked along the field path toward the main road. From a distance, they saw Dong Liang driving a Santana past them.
The reason they knew it was Dong Liang was because he specifically stopped on the side of the road to greet Lin Weimu.
It was an obvious display of showing off; how could Lin Weishen not see it? He could only pretend not to care and listen to the two of them talk.
After the Santana drove away, Lin Weishen frowned and asked, “When did he buy the car? Wasn’t the wedding car rented during his wedding?”
For a big event like a wedding, renting a car was justifiable. But renting a car on a regular day? That was foolish.
Lin Weimu shook his head, “It’s not his car. I heard he started a project with someone, and this car belongs to the big boss behind it. He’s just their driver.”
Lin Weishen suddenly realized the truth and curled his lip in disdain, “Just a driver, and he acts so capable! His chin is almost in the sky!”
After parting ways with his brother at the fork in the road, Lin Weishen returned home. He stir-fried two dishes, and after the family finished eating, Lin Qionghua went back to her room to continue reading, while Song Lanfang made hair accessories for her husband to sell after the market day.
School was about to start, and the hair accessories were selling better and better. Previously, they sold thirty or forty a day; now it was fifty or sixty.
Lin Weishen tidied up the pots, pans, and chopsticks, and refilled the water jar.
Just as he finished, Qingqing’s father came to find him.
Lin Weishen thought that Yang Yugang had accepted another catering job and had come to ask for his help, but he really couldn’t do it.
Lin Weishen wiped his hands somewhat apologetically, “I have to go to the market these days.”
Yang Yugang waved his hand, “It’s fine, my wife can help me. I haven’t seen you for several days; you’ve been leaving early and returning late, acting all mysterious—where are you making your fortune? Let’s chat.”
Lin Weishen laughed, “Then let me stir-fry a plate of peanuts, and we brothers can have a drink?!”
Yang Yugang laughed and waved his hand, “No need for such trouble. I just went to Dong Liang’s house to cook, and there’s plenty of good food left. Come on, let’s go to my place to eat. We can chat while we eat.”
Lin Weishen didn’t stand on ceremony, and the two soon arrived at Qingqing’s house.
Qingqing and her mother had gone out and were not home.
After sitting down, Yang Yugang poured Lin Weishen a drink. Lin Weishen first picked up a piece of pig’s ear, “Did Dong Liang ask you to cater for him again today?”
“That’s right. His new wife isn’t a good cook, and he had to host some important guests today, so he asked me to come help prepare a few side dishes for the drinks.” Yang Yugang lowered his voice and told him, “When I was cooking, I heard them chatting. They said they took on the harbor demolition project, but they don’t have enough money and want to find a few more villagers to put up the capital.”
Lin Weishen frowned, “Didn’t they just look for some earlier? Why are they looking again?”
“They took on another one.” Seeing that Lin Weishen didn’t know anything, Yang Yugang told him that this harbor demolition project was very large, extending all the way from the coastal village to the west. Their village was considered the last one; it wouldn’t be their turn until next year.
It was obviously unrealistic to leave such a massive demolition project to a single engineering team, so the superiors divided it into several smaller groups and distributed them to the construction teams below. In any case, it was subcontracted layer by layer. This allowed the foremen to take on small projects.
Lin Weishen seemed to understand. He asked curiously, “Has the previous demolition project been settled?”
“Settled my ass. It’s not that fast! It’s just started. Isn’t that why they don’t have enough money?” Yang Yugang explained to him that the demolition team not only had to pay the contracting fees but also had to rent vehicles and find workers—everything cost money. The small amount of demolition compensation they had was simply not enough. That was why they wanted to rope in more people to work together.
After Yang Yugang finished, he asked Lin Weishen, “Are you doing it? I heard it’s very profitable. If you invest one thousand, you can earn back two thousand five.”
Lin Weishen gasped. It could actually earn that much?!
After the shock, he thought of his wife’s instructions and honestly shook his head, “I’ll pass.”
Yang Yugang was anxious, “Don’t pass. Such a good opportunity to make money—it would be a pity to miss it.”
Lin Weishen wasn’t acting high and mighty, and he didn’t treat money like dirt. He sighed, “You know about my conflict with Dong Liang. I can’t invest.”
Yang Yugang also remembered that point, “Really not investing?”
Lin Weishen shook his head decisively, “Not investing!”
Yang Yugang thought for a moment, “How about you invest the money in my name? Don’t tell anyone else. Given our relationship, I would certainly never cheat you.”
Lin Weishen was worried about Dong Liang causing trouble from within. It wouldn’t be worth the loss, “No need. I don’t want to have anything to do with Dong Liang.”
Since he said so, Yang Yugang couldn’t insist. He picked up his cup and toasted him, “Alright then.”