"If we don’t pay, he just wants us to go over so he can bleed us dry. We can do business anywhere, if we’re not allowed here, then we’ll leave." Don’t think she’s young and doesn’t understand, the policies are out, and that guy surnamed Yang can’t pin any crime on them, he just wants to profit off his power. Lin Wan said, her voice somewhat choked, saying it didn’t matter, but deep down, she was reluctant. This was her first time doing business. It was so hard-earned to save some money, and now it’s ruined .
"Little sister is right, Mom, let’s pack up and go. I doubt that hooligan will let it go so easily, if you stay here, he’ll definitely bother you every day. How can I feel at ease?" They are at a disadvantage now, with no capital to contend with them, only to suffer losses.
"Alright, listen to you guys." Liang Hongmei wiped her tears,
turned around and went inside.
The three of them packed simply, wrapping quilts and clothes in bed sheets, and went out to find two carriages.
That’s how they left the place they had lived for a few months, with reluctance and regret.
Their home was over ten miles away from here. Initially, she had wanted to go to the county town with the money in hand, but the cart driver only took her here and kindly reminded her to change to another vehicle here to reach the county town.
At that time, she wanted to hire a horse cart but discovered this town was much busier than theirs. After some thought, she decided to hide here for a month.
Their village was still two miles away from the main road, so they paid the horse cart driver an extra fifty cents to take them to the village entrance.
In those days, the main roads weren’t asphalted; they were all coal slag roads, difficult to travel. On rainy days, although not as muddy as dirt roads, it wasn’t much better.
The three of them, mother and children, hadn’t been home for over half a year, carrying so many things and bearing injuries on their faces. Many in the village saw them and curiously asked, "Where have you been?"
Liang Hongmei smiled and said they had been visiting relatives.
As if anyone would believe that they had been visiting relatives. Over the years, they didn’t have many relatives, did they? Everyone in the village knew about Lin Wan running away in the summer.
A girl running away by herself led to quite a bit of gossip behind their backs in the village.
It’s just that their family had produced two college students, even if only Lin Yinghui actually attended university, it warmed the village’s attitude towards them somewhat.
The mother and her children seemed to have grown accustomed to it; even when people doubted them, they ignored it and went straight home.
They lived in three mud-brick tile-roofed houses, considered some of the worst in the village. They had no choice; things had been tight for years. They didn’t have spare money to build a house.
Even though no one had lived there for a long time, their pig and a few chickens were taken care of by Little Grandmother next door, so the yard was relatively tidy.
As soon as Lin Wan got home, she busied herself, first cleaning up the two rooms, letting her brother and mother lie down and rest.
She went to the kitchen, boiled some hot water, and made a simple rice porridge. With some pickles, the family had a simple dinner. Since there was no electricity, they went to bed early. At that time, few villages had electricity; using electricity for farming was even more of a luxury. The electric lights at home were almost never used, farmers couldn’t afford to use candles, so they had to light kerosene lamps. When they woke up in the morning, looking at each other, there were two black traces from both nostrils... In places like Er Qiangzi’s town, electricity had arrived early.
Their town had money and power, so every household was supplied with electricity.
It wasn’t that their village had no electricity; the places that had electricity were all public. For example, if they needed to grind rice, the village chief would have to apply to the power department in advance. The power department would supply electricity during a specific period, and during this time, farmers would queue up to go to the rice mill. Once time was up, with a snap, the power would be cut off immediately.