"I’ll take it, you quickly take a shower and rest."
The next day, Lin Wan didn’t make too much, just over thirty, and went to a place far from the village, this time to a few different villages; the children’s snacks can’t be brought too often.
Going once every two or three days, the adults in the village wouldn’t be too resistant.
Liang Hongmei worried about her working hard and took care of making and cooking rice dumplings at home herself.
That day, Lin Wan left home early, and just as she reached the village entrance, she saw Ye Qing walking into the village.
Ye Qing saw Lin Wan, eyes unnaturally fixating on her for a moment, then smiled and said, "Xiao Wan, why so early, where are you going? What’s on your back?"
"Nothing much, just going to town. You... where are you going this early?"
"... Oh, one of my family’s ducks is missing, I’m out looking for it," Ye Qing said somewhat unnaturally, yet still with a smile on her face.
"Not yet, you go ahead, I’ll keep looking elsewhere."
Lin Wan nodded towards her, took a few large strides forward, then turned back to look at Ye Qing again, noticing she was hurriedly walking.
Lin Wan frowned, suddenly realizing that since they watched a movie last year, Ye Qing had rarely played with her.
She hadn’t minded it at the time, as she was busy preparing for college entrance exams and didn’t bother her.
How foolish she was to not notice in her past life.
For a solid month, Lin Wan walked hundreds of miles every day. Her feet grew several blisters. But business was good.
After deducting costs, she earned over thirty dollars by the end of the month.
Liang Hongmei went to town to buy meat several times that month; everyone in the village eyed her keenly. Lin Wan carried the bamboo basket back and forth every day. The villagers all knew the mother and daughter were working on small business. Their hearts felt even more disdain towards them.
In less than two days, everyone in the village knew Lin Wan was doing the unpopular job of a peddler. With every person she encountered in the village, there were subtle judgments.
Especially Lin Wan, whenever she came out with her bamboo basket, some would sarcastically ask, "Xiao Wan, how much can you earn in a day?"
"Why do something so low, be a peddler?"
"Xiao Wan, you’re a good child, your mom has raised you with difficulty, you can’t do things that damage your reputation. We can’t let people look down on us." Some neighbors genuinely cared and kindly advised, "Hongmei, your Xiao Wan isn’t going to school anymore; a young girl coming home late every day with no decency, it’s time to talk about marriage, don’t you think? Just a few days ago, a young man from the next village took a liking to Lin Wan and asked me to probe a bit. I felt embarrassed to speak for him, fearing I might harm him." Old Zhang’s wife from the same village was Hongmei’s cousin-in-law from Grandma’s side.
Back then, because Grandma only had Liang Hongmei, no sons to carry the family name, and they were poor, Grandma’s family eventually stopped visiting. After Grandma was left alone, they severed family ties directly.
"What’s auntie saying? Other kids in the village come home late every day without anyone saying anything, why can’t my Xiao Wan? My Xiao Wan is working properly, how is she lacking decency?" Though the villagers looked down on their family, they didn’t dare speak to her so openly.
All these years, as a woman with two kids, she’s become quite assertive, often arguing with the villagers.
"Did I say anything wrong? I’m kindly reminding you to make sure your Lin Wan is careful, but you blame me instead. Really taking kindness as donkey liver. If it weren’t for you calling me cousin, who’d bother with your family’s affairs?"