Lin Lan was more tolerant to Xiaowang than she was towards the other children, but she didn’t want him to roll on the new quilt since he was full of dust. Hence, she coaxed him to not go up.
Xiaowang was rarely coquettish and mischievous, but the temptation of the quilt was too great and he truly wanted to roll in it.
Just as Han Qingsong was about to show his stern face, Lin Lan gave him a wink, indicating that he should not be so cruel to children.
Han Qingsong’s expression softened, “Come here, I’ll tell you a story.”
Lin Lan pricked up his ears. He knows how to tell stories? What a liar.
Xiaowang had always been not very close to Han Qingsong. In actual reality, he was probably a bit scared of his own father. But as soon as he heard about the storytelling, he leaned over, “Wangwang likes listening to stories the most.”
Han Qingsong told him a story about a stupid woman and a greedy man. The stupid woman sewed a quilt and sewed herself inside the quilt. Then, the greedy man always wanted to eat. When it rained, he claimed that the pitter patter sounded like someone frying some beans; when it snowed, he said that the fluttering snow outside was like someone pulling dough…
In Lin Lan’s ears, the story was rather dry, not the slightest bit emotional at all.
But Xiaowang listened with relish and kept asking, “Did the stupid woman come out? Did the greedy man get to eat anything?” No matter what stories children listen to, they always liked happy endings.
Han Qingsong glanced at Lin Lan, “The stupid woman had a diligent man with her and the greedy man had a clever wife. In the end, they were all satisfied.”
Xiaowang was also satisfied.
Lin Lan felt guilty and almost put herself in the shoes of the characters. Was he trying to make fun of her stupidity?
Han Qingsong became more and more proficient at sewing. After a while, he sewed the quilt and even offered to help Lin Lan with the futon.
Lin Lan quickly refused, “No, no, the mattress is very thin, I can do it myself.”
Han Qingsong didn’t insist, “I’ll go to the Brigade to see if I can buy some wood.”
Lin Lan had said before that she would want to have two boxes to place some items. Not having a secure place to put the important items at home was truly not safe.
At this time, the furniture for young married couples was basically a table, two benches or a stool, a cabinet and two suitcases. The cabinet was a square-shaped, deep compartment with a very large storage space. It was not a problem to put five or six quilts inside and it could also be stuffed with seasonal clothes. If the cabinet was a good one, a large box could even be stacked on it.
The two suitcases were very small, usually filled with some small or private things.
At this time, there was no concept of a wardrobe(2) in the countryside.
(T/N: I assume that the cabinet is just the typical one with compartment levels meant to store quilts and fabric, but a wardrobe in itself referred to the cabinet that was meant for clothes and maybe equipped with doors)
The alternative was to put a cabinet on the kang, but in general, there were many children in a family. To have both a couple and their children to squeeze onto a kang was already quite a chore, so to place the cabinet on the kang was out of the question.
These furniture were square without any special shape, which could maximise the value of wood and maximise the storage space.
The marriage between Lin Lan and Han Qingsong was very shabby. There was only one lame table and two suitcases. One of them was given to her nephew and the other one did not look very presentable. And when it came to the cabinet, the large box, or the kang, their house didn’t have any of those items.