I don’t know how his relatives found out, but they quickly notified his family to send gifts to the people inside.
In the end, he was sentenced to two months of detention and fined thirty yuan.
By noon, when Er Qiangzi sobered up, he found himself in prison.
Lin Wan found out about Er Qiangzi being in jail a week later from Sister Ma. Without Er Qiangzi’s presence in town, Lin Wan’s business started to thrive.
Sister Ma’s network was wider than hers, and within a few days, she introduced more people over.
The wife of one such family wanted to be filial to her mother-in-law and asked Lin Wan to knit a wool sweater for her.
Because her mother-in-law was plump, Lin Wan charged an additional three yuan.
During this time in the south, it was the rainiest season. This day the weather was bad, and Lin Wan and Mom rarely had some free time.
Taking advantage of the moment, they took out the sweater to continue knitting.
Suddenly, someone rushed into the store. Lin Wan looked up and, unexpectedly, it was Han Yi.
His shoulder was already half wet, and he walked straight to her side, speaking with some urgency, "Is there a place to hide?"
Lin Wan froze; wasn’t he already inside?
Han Yi clearly noticed her misunderstanding and corrected, "I don’t mean from the rain, but rather a place to hide people."
"Oh." Lin Wan came to her senses, looked outside at the rain, seeing no one, stood up and said, "Follow me."
She was about to lead him into the room with an umbrella when she remembered that her Mom was napping. She hesitated, then led him to the kitchen instead.
"You can stay here," though she didn’t know what Han Yi was up to, the fact that he thought of her in his time of need showed he still had some impression of her.
Han Yi nodded to Lin Wan and said thanks.
Lin Wan thought it was rare for them to be alone together and took the opportunity to have a good conversation, to deepen their connection. As the saying goes, the barrier between a woman pursuing a man is as thin as gauze. Just as Lin Wan was about to speak, she noticed someone had arrived outside. Smiling back at Han Yi, she said, "I’ll go greet them first."
Han Yi stood in a spot where he couldn’t be seen from the storefront and nodded to Lin Wan.
When Lin Wan went outside, two people wearing green clothes were already standing in the room, one middle-aged and the other about the same age as Han Yi.
Judging by their demeanor, they seemed high-ranking.
"Would you like something to eat?"
The middle-aged man glanced at the menu on the wall, frowned slightly, and said dismissively, "Two orders of vegetarian dumplings."
"Alright, please wait a moment."
"Make two side dishes." The younger man added as Lin Wan was about to head to the kitchen.
After setting up the dishes for them, Lin Wan went to the kitchen to cook the dumplings.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw Han Yi sitting properly on the stool in front of the countertop.
Lin Wan added two logs to the stove, and while washing her hands, she quietly asked Han Yi, "Are those two people outside looking for you?"
Han Yi glanced at her and replied with a nasal "Hmm."
After that, there was silence between them, and Lin Wan busied herself. When the water boiled, she put dozens of dumplings into the pot.
She glanced at Han Yi, seeing he was still wearing his wet clothes. Unable to help herself, she said, "You can take off your clothes and dry them by the stove."
Han Yi awkwardly said no need.
Lin Wan divided the dumplings into three plates, picked up two plates and said to Han Yi, "This plate is cooked for you, hurry up and eat."