Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Preparation (2)_1 Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Preparation (2)_1 “This?” Lin Changshu was somewhat shy about it.
“I often come to your house for meals.” Wu Dayou was displeased.
“Thank you, Brother Dayou. Please come over for dinner tomorrow. I’ll cook a wild chicken for you.” Lin Ziyin casually said. There’s always a way to return a favor.
“Alright.” Wu Dayou agreed with a smile.
So, the old man, Lin Changshu, Lin Ziyin and the two injured children returned home. The village spectators, left without a spectacle, also dispersed.
“A full ounce of silver, already gone?” Under the tree, Mrs. Yan was shedding a waterfall of tears.
“So many people watching, what could I do? It was all that kid’s fault, less use and more trouble.” Ma Zhicai glared furiously at his younger brother.
On hearing this, Mrs. Yan also slapped her youngest son several times in anger.
Ma Youcai, realising he was in trouble, didn’t dare to speak and hung his head as Mrs. Yan slapped him several times.
When the children arrived home, Lin Zige and Guo Huiniang were shocked and immediately burst into tears.
“I’m going to settle the score with them.” Lin Zige grabbed a sickle, intending to go out.
“Come back, we’ve already taken our revenge.” Lin Ziyin stopped her and narrated the day’s events.
“They got off easy.” Lin Zige was hot-tempered. After hearing what happened, she finally calmed down.
“Cook eggs for them, then roll the eggs on their bodies to help dissipate the bruises.” Lin Ziyin advised.
“Oh, I’ll go now.” Guo Huiniang wiped her tears and hurriedly went to boil eggs.
“We have medicinal wine at home,” the old Mr. Lin began, while Lin Changshu had already gone into the house to find it.
Once the medicinal wine was found, he checked for any internal injuries on the children. Finding only superficial injuries, he applied the medicinal wine to them, finally heaving a sigh of relief.
“If you ever encounter someone you can’t beat in the future, run.” Lin Ziyin instructs her younger brother, pointing at his head, “See, not only did you get hurt, but you also let Yanzhi get injured. He’s much younger.”
“Not scared.” The little guy surprisingly remained defiant, “They insulted sis.”
“You… ” Lin Ziyin didn’t know what else to say.
Once the household calmed down, they finally started to have lunch.
The lunch was hearty with leftover pork from the previous night, and a new dish of fried tofu with shredded pork. The whole family ate till they were stuffed. From then on, Guo Huiniang restricted the children from going out.
“Why pick so many wild vegetables? These vegetables taste strange, nobody in the village wants to eat it.” After lunch, and after soaking the beans, Lin Zige was tidying up the basket. When she saw waterweed, she asked unhappily.
“These are all good things. We will need them for business we will start in a few days,” Lin Ziyin replied with a smile. “But, you need to help me air dry them later, so we can grind them into powder tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Lin Zige agreed in one breath.
The next day, Wu Dayou did come for dinner as promised, even bringing a piece of wild boar meat with him.
“Why soak so many beans?” Familiar with the Lins, Wu Dayou felt free to ask when he saw the beans in the house.
“Not telling you,” Lin Zige replied.
Wu Dayou, scratching his nose, didn’t ask any further.
Five days passed quickly. The day before the temple fair, Lin Ziyin asked Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou to transport the stove and firewood to Ding’an Temple. Beginning from that afternoon, she started making tofu with the help of her family.
“We made so much. What if we can’t sell it all tomorrow?” Looking at the excessive amount of tofu, much more than usual, Lin Zige was worried.
“Don’t worry, this stuff is tasty, we won’t have trouble selling it.” Wu Dayou whispered to reassure her.
Because Wu Dayou got along well with the Lin family, and always a bachelor, he often enjoyed meals at their home. He had missed seeing Ziyin get hurt because he was in the mountains hunting. Upon returning and learning what happened, he was filled with self-reproach.
As he spent time with the Lins these days, Lin Ziyin also noticed that he seemed to have uncommon feelings for her elder sister Zige. The Lin family was comfortable being close to him, so they didn’t hide the tofu making from him.
Indeed, these days he had been quite helpful with many things.
Lin Ziyin didn’t hesitate to put him to work.