CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 24: NAMING

Lin Xiang was numb.

In her past life, she hadn’t been pressured into marriage, but this time she had a thorough experience of it.

Lin Xiang smiled at Mrs. Lin, who kept on talking nonstop.

Mrs. Lin spoke until her mouth was dry, then stopped for a sip of water. Seeing Lin Xiang smiling in agreement at her, she proudly said, "Don’t you think my analysis makes a lot of sense?"

"Yes, it makes a lot of sense."

Mrs. Lin beamed, "So have you decided to go work as a female worker?"

Lin Xiang, still smiling, said, "I’ve decided to go to school; I can’t bear the hardship of working every day."

But she could endure the hardship of studying.

Seeing that her words achieved nothing, Mrs. Lin pursed her lips, completely ignoring Lin Xiang, and even took her big white bun, dipped it in the potato and meat sauce, and ate it with relish.

Lin Xiang didn’t mind the bun, told Mrs. Lin, and went to the team leader’s house.

The team leader’s wife was, as usual, cursing while washing clothes. Despite the fact that it wasn’t even winter yet, her hands were already chapped with chilblains, some even cracked open.

"Auntie, is Uncle at home?" Lin Xiang politely greeted across the fence.

The team leader’s wife, seeing it was Lin Xiang, immediately changed her previous unfriendly attitude and warmly invited her into the house.

"Your uncle’s at home, Sister Niu, come in quickly!"

"Thank you, Auntie." Lin Xiang entered, and the team leader came out of the house too.

"Sister Niu, did you just come back from town? How about that cooperation with the foreigners you mentioned, did it work out?"

Lin Xiang grinned broadly, "Happy to report, it did work out. Uncle, I’m not here for anything special today, just had nothing to do and thought of visiting you for a chat."

The team leader wasn’t foolish; hearing Lin Xiang’s words, he immediately understood what she meant.

"It’s so cold outside, it wouldn’t be nice to stand in the wind. Come in first, I’ll have my wife make you some sugar water."

Sugar water just meant adding sugar to hot water, giving it a sweet taste. In the rural areas of the ’70s, it was already considered the highest form of hospitality.

The team leader’s wife, who had just started to change her opinion about Lin Xiang, snapped back to her old attitude the moment she heard about making sugar water, grumbling dissatisfiedly, "What sugar water? Where’s there any sugar at home? Those sugar coupons were taken back to your son’s wife’s family!"

The team leader’s face darkened, just about to lose his temper when Lin Xiang quickly waved her hands to refuse, "No need, no need, Uncle, my mom’s waiting for me to go back for dinner, I’ll just chat for a bit and then head back."

"Well then..."

"Let’s go inside first. Otherwise, if people see me sneaking into your house, they’ll gossip."

"Alright, come in and sit." The team leader had no choice but to lead her into the house, not forgetting to glare fiercely at his wife as he walked behind Lin Xiang.

In the main room, the team leader’s daughter, hearing Lin Xiang’s voice, came bouncing out of a room, "Sister Niu, you’re here!"

The little girl was barely over ten, at the age of admiring strong people. Lin Xiang, being able to serve as a translator and having connected the phone line for the Li Hua Team, was well-known in the entire commune.

The little girl seemed to have completely forgotten the previous negative assessments of Lin Xiang, enthusiastically calling out "Sister Niu" repeatedly.

"Lin Xiang’s here."

Another voice came from the west room; Lin Xiang looked over and saw it was the daughter-in-law who had been scolded by the team leader’s wife.

"Sister Huifang, you’re showing a lot now, ready to give birth soon?"

Qian Huifang stroked her pregnant belly with her right hand, her face full of smiles, looking gentle, "The doctor says I’m due in the middle of next month. Sister Niu, why don’t you help name my child when the time comes?"

The previously cheerful Lin Xiang’s smile instantly froze on her face.

She waved her hands repeatedly, looking resistant, "Oh no, oh no, Sister Huifang, I have something to discuss with Uncle. I’ll catch up with you later!"

Lin Xiang knew well that the change in everyone’s attitude towards her wasn’t just because of the phone line setup, but mostly because she could serve as a translator, fluently knowing a foreign language and standing out in front of the leadership.

But she couldn’t let it get to her head.

Qian Huifang smiled, not pushing further, and pulled the team leader’s little girl back into the room, leaving only Lin Xiang and the team leader in the main room.

The team leader sat on a stool, nervously rubbing his rough hands, "Sister Niu, what is it you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Uncle, has the Li Hua Team decided on what kind of workshop to set up?"

The team leader gave a bitter smile, shaking his head in helpless sighs, "We don’t have any particular skills, although we know how to make tofu, setting up a tofu workshop won’t work. Sister Niu, do you have any good suggestions?"

Lin Xiang spoke frankly, "Today I talked with Chef Shen from the state-run restaurant about this. He suggested we set up a sweet potato noodle workshop in the Li Hua Team."

"Sweet potato noodle workshop?" The team leader pondered the feasibility of this matter.

The Li Hua Team indeed produced a lot of sweet potatoes, but the problem was, every team had people who could make sweet potato noodles. Even if it’s well made, it won’t sell!

"Chef Shen said the state-run restaurant needs one hundred jin of sweet potato noodles every month, additionally he could help us find other buyers, but the prerequisite is that our sweet potato noodle quality must meet standards."

The team leader’s sun-darkened face wrinkled tightly, "The quality isn’t a worry. Our Li Hua Team never cuts corners."

However, one to two hundred jin a month could just have the villagers make it at home, no need to set up a whole workshop!

If other teams find out that Li Hua Team opened a sweet potato noodle workshop but only sold one or two hundred jin a month, wouldn’t they laugh their heads off?

Besides, the commune might not even approve the application.

The team leader, weighing the pros and cons in his mind, eventually declined Lin Xiang’s proposal.

"Sister Niu, Uncle knows you mean well, wanting our Li Hua Team to prosper more and more. But setting up a sweet potato noodle workshop won’t work."

Since the team leader declined, Lin Xiang naturally couldn’t insist further. Seeing it was getting dark, she took the opportunity to bid farewell.

"Uncle, you rest up, I’ll head back first. When I have the chance to go to town again, I’ll look into it."

"Alright, good of you to think about it."

The team leader personally escorted Lin Xiang out of the courtyard and watched her disappear at the end of the road before returning home.

Seeing his wife still washing clothes in the dark, he was filled with anger, "Just now when I asked you to make sugar water for Sister Niu, what was that attitude? Sister Niu’s now favored by the leadership, we shouldn’t intentionally flatter her, but we can’t offend her either! A little sugar isn’t worth enough for you to be stingy. Aren’t you ashamed to say it out loud?"

The team leader’s wife, already fuming, kicked over the basin after being reprimanded by the team leader.