freeallnovels Chapter 423 - 421: Arriving at East Market
Chapter 423 - 421: Arriving at East Market
"A couple of yuan, maybe," Zhou Shitou said with a smile. "It works out to about a hundred yuan a month in income. But you have to pay for electricity and rent. With no fields or land, you have to buy all your grain, oil, and salt from vendors. At the end of the month, you can’t really save much."
Zhou Dashu said with envy, "But at least you get to live in the city. A little hardship and exhaustion are still better than being cooped up in the mountains. We don’t have to worry about a couple of heavy rainstorms burying our houses, and maybe even us."
Zhou Shitou just smiled. "There’s nothing to be done about it. We were born people of the mountains. No matter how bad it gets, it’s still our home. Our fields are there."
Zhou Dashu didn’t see it that way. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Shi Tou, to be honest, I want to leave Shishanling and find work in the city too, but my family doesn’t have relatives there like yours. If you all decide to leave, could you take me with you?"
Only a handful of people from Shishanling had ever been to East Market; for most, the farthest they had ever traveled was the local commune. Even though Zhou Dashu was the captain’s grandson and nearly twenty years old, he had never been to East Market.
That was why for this trip to deliver the dried mushrooms, Captain Zhou had insisted he go with Zhou Shitou. The captain hoped he would broaden his horizons, get to know the Lin family, and see if there was a path for him outside the mountains.
Zhou Shitou shook his head. "I’m not sure. It depends on what my mom and dad are thinking. If we do end up leaving, I’ll come find you."
He recalled his mother talking about finding a way out in East Market. ’To get the travel permit, we’ll have to go to Captain Zhou anyway,’ he thought. ’We’ll probably have to take Zhou Dashu with us then.’
Zhou Dashu patted his shoulder. "Alright. If you decide to go, remember to come get me."
"Don’t worry," Zhou Shitou nodded. "Go get some sleep. You can relieve me later."
"Okay." Zhou Dashu lay down by the fire.
「Early the next morning」
The group continued toward Shilian, only getting down the mountain around noon. When they arrived at Lin Changyou’s house, they found a lock hanging on the courtyard gate.
Zhou Shitou looked back at Wu Shufang. "Mom, it looks like my cousin and her family have already left."
"I have the key," Wu Shufang said, taking it out to open the gate. "I’ll boil some water so we can wash up. We need to feed the mule, then hurry across the river to catch the afternoon bus."
"Alright!" Zhou Shitou and Zhou Dashu replied. They took the burlap sacks off the pack frame, unfastened the frame itself, and led the mule to the backyard to feed it.
Wu Shufang and Xu Hongju went to the kitchen. When they saw firewood still piled by the stove and the water in the vat was still clean, they figured, ’Lin Lan and her family must have left just a day or two ago.’
After boiling some water to wash up, the adults changed out of their mud-caked clothes. They also bathed the three children and dressed them in the clothes Captain Zhou had given them. They made some simple flour paste to eat with flatbreads and then set out again.
After crossing the river, they found a place to board the mule and hurried to the bus station, catching the last bus of the day. It was already between four and five in the afternoon by the time they arrived in East Market.
Carrying a burlap sack, Zhou Dashu craned his neck to gawk at the tall city buildings, the smooth, paved roads, and the constant stream of bicycles. He stared at the fashionable youths on the street with their permed hair, floral shirts, and bell-bottom pants, looking for all the world like a country mouse on his first trip to the city.
Xu Hongju, carrying her sleeping son on her back and holding Little Yu’s hand, stared at the city sights with her mouth agape. Little Yu clutched her mother’s hand tightly, terrified of getting lost.
Wu Shufang held her eldest grandson’s hand. When a small car sped past, the boy stared with his mouth wide open, a trickle of drool escaping in his astonishment. She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his chin.
"Hongbing, when we get to your great-aunt’s house, you need to be a good boy and sit still. No fidgeting and no running around. There are kidnappers out here who snatch children."
"Okay," Zhou Hongjun said, looking up at her. "Grandma, where’s Second Uncle?"
Wu Shufang smiled. "You’ll see him soon enough."
When the group arrived at Wu Shufen’s restaurant in the East Market, Wu Shufen saw her older sister. Though it had only been about ten days, her sister looked as if she had aged a decade. Wu Shufen rushed forward and grabbed her hands. "What’s wrong? What happened?"
Tears instantly streamed down Wu Shufang’s face. She choked out, "There were several heavy rainstorms in a row... a flash flood caused a landslide... It buried the houses. Thankfully, everyone was in the drying shed. Otherwise..."
Wu Shufen was stunned at first, but relief washed over her as she heard the end of the story. "Thank God, thank God. Thank heavens everyone is safe and sound."
Zhang Xiuqing and Zhao Xiaohui also felt a wave of relief. ’Twenty-odd households... that’s over a hundred people at least. If it had happened in the middle of the night, wouldn’t they all have been...?’
Wiping her tears, Wu Shufang nodded. "We’re all alive, but we’ve lost everything else."
Xu Hongju, clutching her child, began to cry as well.
Seeing her sister’s heartbreaking sobs, Wu Shufen began to cry too. After a moment, she squeezed her hand and said consolingly, "As long as everyone is safe, that’s all that matters. It’s okay. We’ll figure something out. We just need to get through this immediate crisis."
Lin Changyou sighed, then turned to Zhang Xiuqing and Zhao Xiaohui. "Go prepare some food for your aunt and her family."
Zhang Xiuqing nodded, and she and Zhao Xiaohui headed to the kitchen in the back.
Zhou Shitou pointed to the dried mushrooms in the sacks and said to Lin Changyou, "Uncle, these are what our production team has gathered over the past few days. Captain Zhou asked if you could help us sell them and buy grain, cotton, cloth, cookware, hoes..."
Zhou Dashu added, "Uncle Lin, my grandpa said the money from the mushrooms won’t be enough for everything. He’s asking if you can cover the difference for now. Everyone is still gathering more mushrooms, as well as Sichuan peppercorns and star anise. We’ll bring more out to pay you back!"
Lin Changyou nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Of course. Come next door with me to weigh them, and I’ll figure out how much money you’ve got. As for buying supplies, you should go find Little Lan and Xiangyang. They know the vendors who sell grain and cotton, and they know a blacksmith."
Zhou Dashu bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Uncle Lin! Thank you, thank you so much."
’I never dreamed East Market would be this big,’ he thought. ’If we had come on our own, we wouldn’t have the first clue where to sell our goods, let alone where to buy anything.’
Zhang Xiuqing and Zhao Xiaohui set the table, and Wu Shufang and her group sat down to eat.
Lin Changyou rode his bicycle to the pastry shop to tell Lin Lan what had happened to Wu Shufang and the others. When Lin Lan and the others there heard that everyone was safe, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Qiaohui thought, ’Their house was buried, so my aunt and cousins must not have a penny to their names.’ She said to Lin Lan, "Cousin, I’m going to go see them. I’ll take some money over."
Lin Lan nodded. "Go ahead. Take some money for them and catch the bus across the street."
"I have money in my pocket," Qiaohui said. She untied her apron, handed it to Tong Xinglan, and walked toward the bus stop.
Lin Lan said to Lin Changyou, "Dad, I’ll go find Li Wu and Hou Gui. I’ll ask them to help get some grain and salt ready."
"Little Lan," Lin Changyou called after her. "We also need to buy cotton, fabric, and cookware. For the fabric, I think you should just have them buy some simple homespun cloth. That should be fine."
"Homespun cloth?" Lin Lan thought for a moment, recalling Li Aihong from the garment factory. "I’ll go to the factory and see if they have any discounted work cloth. It’s much more durable than homespun."
Lin Changyou heard her suggestion and said, "It’s a good idea to check. Durable work cloth would be even better, of course. But there’s another thing. They only brought two sacks and two baskets of dried mushrooms. Even if we sell it all for them without taking any profit, the money we get will still fall far short of what’s needed."