CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 98: RELATIVES ARE DIFFERENT TOO

Lin Qin nodded heavily and mentioned Lin Yi’s plan to her, "Those few plots of paddy fields are all planted with lotus roots. You know, Dad has always dreamed of planting lotus roots like others to make money. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that much land, and this time his wish has come true.

As for the other few acres of paddy fields, they’re intended for rice planting. That entire area has been allocated to Dad for vegetable farming. For ginger, we’ve designated a separate area, since it demands a lot of nutrients, the soil needs to recover for a while after planting.

I’m thinking that after the New Year, Wenjun should buy some fruit saplings. We can plant oranges, sugarcane, loquats, pomelos, mangoes, longans, lychees, and guavas on the hillside. Right now, these are what we can get. Planting a few of each will provide more than enough."

Lin Ying was excited, "I think you could also raise some chickens, ducks, and geese. With such a large area, it would be a waste not to raise something. And pigs too! Building a pigsty would be great!"

Lin Qin nodded thoughtfully, "Actually, the Dang family raises pigs on sampans, with the pigs kept below deck. I’ve seen it a few times. Wenjun hasn’t raised any before, and I haven’t really thought about it, but now I might consider it."

Raising pigs is especially smelly, but they only raise three or four, so the smell isn’t too strong. If the pigsty is placed a little farther away, you can also create a composting pit, which will be useful for the crops at home.

The main thing is that by doing all this, we won’t need to spend much on daily groceries the following year. We might even make some money, and the money from fishing and wholesale seafood can be saved up entirely.

The more Lin Qin thought about it, the more feasible this plan seemed to her.

The only thing is that we’ll need to dig a well. After all, the whole island is surrounded by mountains, making it inconvenient to use water from Nanxi. Digging a well would make things simpler. We’d have one inside and one outside; the inside one specifically for irrigation, and the outside one connected to a tap for easier access to water.

With these ideas, Lin Qin became even more motivated to work harder.

When the food was almost ready, Lin Ying quickly went to call the children to come and eat.

In just a short while, the four kids became quite filthy from playing, and their new clothes turned into old ones.

Lin Ying was so angry that she grabbed a stick.

Lin Yi quickly shielded the children, "What are you doing on New Year’s? Looking for trouble? Let the kids play if they want. If they get dirty, I’ll wash them!"

Lin Ying was lost for words, "Dad, you need to have limits when spoiling the children. You can’t just indulge them like this!"

Lin Yi retorted confidently, "I raised Yaya and Ping’an like this, and look how great they turned out! Don’t lecture me!"

With Lin Yi’s protection, the four children became fearless, washed their hands, and sat at the table.

There was a chicken and a duck, perfect for four drumsticks, one for each kid. The adults wouldn’t compete with the children.

Zhu Fugen and Li Lan were thrilled to see a table full of meat.

"Uncle, during New Year’s in our house, it’s just one plate of meat, a pot of steamed eggs, minced pork with pickled vegetables, and some steamed rice. My mom adds some taro rice, and that’s it. It’s not like here where you have chicken, duck, fish, and everything else."

Lin Qin placed two large pieces of chicken and duck on Li Lan and Zhu Fugen’s plates, "Then eat more. These chicken and duck were brought by your cousin; the ones we raised at home aren’t big enough yet, and my dad is reluctant to kill them."

Li Lan completely understood, "Even if ours were big enough, we couldn’t kill them; they need to be kept for laying eggs."

Lin Ying nodded repeatedly, "Isn’t it the same for everyone? I can only be this generous when I return to my parents’ home for New Year’s. Usually, my two kids have to plead with their grandma to get some meat, which really annoys me! It’s best to build our house soon and live separately for peace of mind."

Lin Qin deeply agreed.

The meal lasted until the afternoon.

Li Lan went back to the room to talk to Zhu Fugen about the fine for having an extra child, "Five hundred yuan, even if we sold everything the family had, we might not have enough. This is a sum we simply cannot afford."

As she spoke, tears involuntarily fell from her eyes.

Zhu Fugen, slightly tipsy, with flushed cheeks and a hazy gaze, pulled Li Lan to sit beside him, "The baby isn’t even born yet, why worry so much? If this one’s a son, then everything’s fine!

If it’s still a girl, we can have someone else raise her. Many families do this!"

Before coming to the city, he had many worries, but after witnessing the city’s prosperity, he had an idea. If they had a daughter, he would find a wealthy family to adopt her. It’d be better than her staying with them.

Li Lan hesitated, clutching her clothes and biting her lip, she said, "Fugen, do you think if we have a daughter, we could give her to my cousin? They’re wealthy, live well, and mainly, they don’t have children of their own. Our daughter would be perfect for them."

Zhu Fugen immediately fell silent, lowering his voice and scolding, "What kind of daydream is this? They already have a son and a daughter, even if they have more, they’d want a son. They can have their own children, why would they raise our daughter?

Besides, my uncle would be watching. If you dare have that thought, he’d send the child right back to you. Then the fine for an extra child wouldn’t be necessary, but you’d certainly be taken for sterilization!"

Li Lan was startled, and indeed dared not think about it anymore, although she felt a bit regretful.

Due to the lack of better options at the moment, and since Nanyu wasn’t Lin Yi’s but Lin Qin’s home, it was inconvenient to stay there.

The couple stayed one night on Nanyu, and early the next morning, they took the bus back.

Before they left, Chen Wenjun prepared a lot of fish and shrimp for them.

Lin Ying’s family stayed on Nanyu.

Lin Yi took them to the bus station and bought them tickets.

During New Year’s, the station was crowded with people carrying large bags, and Lin Yi squeezed through the crowd to help Zhu Fugen and his wife get their luggage on the bus. As he turned around, he ran into Hong Weimin and his wife getting off another bus.

Hong Weimin was Lin Yi’s eldest sister’s son. This eldest sister was sent to be a child bride early in her life and never returned to Shanglin Village afterward.

After the economic reforms, they had contact a few times, and Lin Yi remembered this nephew, Hong Weimin.

"Weimin! What brings you to the city?" Lin Yi was overjoyed and pondered what was going on this year. How come one relative after another appeared?

Hong Weimin was clearly surprised as well, carrying large bags with his wife, Huang Yuezhen, to a less crowded place, excitedly shaking Lin Yi’s hand, "Uncle, last year our village announced land division to households. But we didn’t get much land, and my parents said they could manage it themselves. So, they told us to find work elsewhere to earn a bit more.

Yuezhen, this is my uncle, greet him."

Although Huang Yuezhen’s clothes weren’t very impressive, they were clean and plain. Her hair was neatly combed, and she stood there smiling and greeting people, which was quite pleasant.

Lin Yi directly brought the couple to Nanyu.

Lin Qin and Lin Ying were busy preparing meals to entertain the couple.

As Lin Qin turned around, she noticed Huang Yuezhen standing at the door, looking a bit embarrassed.

Seeing Lin Qin looking her way, Huang Yuezhen quickly explained, "I just wanted to help out. Is there anything I can do? Maybe I can assist with washing the vegetables!"