Chapter 15: Protection

 

Lin Lan turned to run, but was stopped by Han-dasao. "Niang is calling you, hurry up."

Lin Lan played dumb. "Calling me?"

"Third branch's wife, who else could it be?" Saying that, she took Lin Lan's bowl back and urged her to go in quickly.

Lin Lan reluctantly entered the room.

Han-laotaitai was lying at the head of the kang, leaning against the quilt. On her two temples were round plasters the size of fingernails. Lin Lan couldn't tell what kind of remedy this was.

However, the old lady looked as if she had aged several years. Both her eyes were sunken, probably from not sleeping well.

"Third branch's wife, I know you have complaints." Han-laotaitai set the tone first.

Lin Lan didn't want to be labeled by her. "Old lady, I never make trouble out of nothing."

It's all forced by you!

If you hadn't been biased from the start and always treated the original owner as an outsider, things wouldn't have come to this. If the old lady had been willing to take a few yuan from Han Qingsong's allowance and give it to the original owner back then, things probably would have been better.

After all, this was what the original owner deserved to take.

"Don't say useless things. Laosan transferring to civilian work, is it because of your fussing? Did you force him, or did you go complain to his leaders?" The old lady had thought about it all night and felt it couldn't be the army driving her son back, nor could it be her son wanting to come back himself.

In her view, although her third son was a bit foolish since childhood, he was very filial and would absolutely not cut off the source of cash without discussing it with her.

Then it could only be the third branch's wife playing tricks.

Lin Lan shook her head. "It wasn't me. He reached the age, so he should transfer."

However, her heart still skipped a beat as she remembered some things.

If the old lady hadn't reminded her, she wouldn't have remembered.

The old lady looked at her expression and truly couldn't see anything, feeling it was increasingly meaningless.

Even this shrew knew how to fool people now.

In the past, apart from acting shamelessly, this shrew truly didn't know how to lie and couldn't hide things.

Seeing the old lady had nothing to say, Lin Lan quickly came out. It seemed the old lady minded Han Qingsong's transfer very much; after all, it cut off her source of wealth.

She didn't have to go to work in the afternoon, so she went back to her room to tidy up. Once the other side was ready, they could move over.

Anyway, there wasn't much stuff. A small wooden box to pack the family's torn clothes, and a bamboo basket for the odds and ends, and that was basically it.

However, they would need to cook and store grain in the future, so they still had to buy some things.

Otherwise, many families wouldn't be reluctant to split. After splitting, all household items had to be duplicated, and at this time, iron pots, flour vats, and grain vats were major expenses.

Some families couldn't split even after saving for several years, which was indeed very helpless.

This also highlighted that Han Qingsong's allowance and salary were truly a huge sum of money.

Lin Lan went to the brigade headquarters to take a look. The kang was actually already built. In this hot weather, it would be ready to sleep on after drying for two days and burning a fire.

"Niang, do you like it?" Xiaowang trotted over, holding his glasses with one hand, a willow branch hooked over his arm.

Lin Lan nodded. "I like it. A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as one's own doghouse."

Once married, a family should split. There should only be one female head of the household; having two housewives would lead to trouble.

She saw Dawang over there and wanted to go over to say a few words, but who knew Dawang immediately walked away upon seeing her.

Sanwang said awkwardly, "Niang, my dage has something to do."

Xiaowang: "Is my dage angry because he didn't get candy?"

Sanwang: "Ha, you guys ate candy!"

Erwang slapped him. "What could he have to do? He just wants to curry favor with mama."

Lin Lan stopped Erwang from continuing. "Don't talk nonsense. Your dage isn't that kind of person, he just doesn't like to talk."

She fished out two pieces of candy from her pocket for Sanwang, and took out another piece for Erwang and Xiaowang to share.

At this time, Han Qingsong came over from behind. She let the children play, went to fetch water, and called him to wash his hands.

Han Qingsong directly took off his mud-covered tank top, revealing his lean and strong upper body.

Taking off his clothes without a word like this was a bit too much for Lin Lan to handle.

Her first reaction was to look away, but she also saw several scars on his body—knife wounds and gunshot wounds, looking very frightening. There was a depression on his back that looked like a gunshot wound, and a fatal one at that. It was truly a stroke of luck that he survived.

She scooped a ladle of water and first helped Han Qingsong rinse the mud off his hands.

Once his hands were clean, Lin Lan poured water into the earthen basin for him to wash properly.

Han Qingsong, however, bent over and signaled her to help pour water on his back to wash it.

Lin Lan: "This is well water, it's very cold."

"It's fine."

Lin Lan: "How about I ask Dawang and the others to fetch some river water."

River water was warm.

"It's fine, pour!"

His voice was deep and magnetic, carrying an irresistible oppressive force. As if possessed, Lin Lan poured a ladle of water down with a splash. Only after pouring did she feel something was wrong. Why was she so obedient just now, as if she were being controlled?

The cool well water poured over his body, instantly raising goosebumps, but it was an indescribably refreshing feeling.

After rinsing, Han Qingsong casually washed his tank top, hung it on a small tree to dry, and remained bare-chested.

When Lin Lan spoke to him, her gaze drifted a bit. She hadn't expected his body to be so white.

His face and limbs were clearly tanned to a wheat color, but the areas covered by the tank top were so white. It was truly... comical.

She unconsciously curled the corners of her lips.

Han Qingsong happened to look over and saw her with lowered eyelashes, looking as if she were secretly laughing at something, and instantly felt puzzled.

He didn't know if there was a problem with his past memories or what, but this was in no way the shrew everyone talked about.

Could it be that she learned her lesson this time and suddenly changed her ways?

At dinnertime, Han-laotaitai got off the kang, but her gaze was a bit chilling, especially when looking at Han Qingsong and Lin Lan.

She still had plasters stuck to her temples and groaned, "Back then I said the third branch's wife had to enter the door on a highly auspicious month, but you wouldn't listen and she came in stepping on the dragon's head. Now look, she's stepped on my head. My head hurts all day, throbbing, as if it's being pawed by horse hooves!"

She had been saying this for many years.

Whenever she was angry or had a headache or fever, she would bring it up. Anyway, whether her head hurt, her feet hurt, or even if she was constipated, she could blame it on the third xifu not marrying in on a highly auspicious month.

Everyone had already turned a deaf ear to it.

But since she didn't pick up her chopsticks, no one else dared to eat first.

Old Man Han was hungry. "Let's eat."

Only then did the old lady let out a long sigh. "Laosan ah—"

Han Qingsong responded, "Niang, what is it?"

"Are you really going to transfer to civilian work?"

"Pretty much, it depends on the army's arrangement."

"Laosan ah, do you have resentment toward niang..."

"Hurry up and eat." Seeing his laopozi nagging in front of the whole family, Old Man Han found it truly shameful and interrupted her.

Han-laotaitai suddenly exploded. "What's wrong, what's wrong, you won't even let me speak? It's been like this for so many years. Back then, when I served my laopopo and laogonggong, which day was I not careful and cautious? When I first married in, the family was so poor they clinked, couldn't afford to eat or wear warm clothes. My laopopo threw me a torn padded jacket to mend. That torn jacket was so shredded the outside and inside were rotten, and the cotton was all bunched up. Could it be mended? Could it be mended?"

"Why, why are you bringing up old, rotten sesame seeds and millet?" Old Man Han also lost face.

The relationship between popo and xifu was a messy account; no family should laugh at another.

"Why did I have to serve carefully when I was a xifu, but now that I've finally endured to become a popo, the xifu rides on my head and shits? Am I in the wrong? Now that I'm a popo, can't I even stretch out a bit, do I still have to tuck my tail between my legs?"

Everyone knew the old lady was using this as a pretext to make a fuss. They had heard these words countless times since they were little, and their ears had grown calluses.

"Niang, let's eat first. After eating, we'll hold a meeting, okay?" Han-dage took charge of smoothing things over.

The old lady started wiping her tears. "Why is it that when you guys make a fuss, you don't care about anything and aren't afraid of the children laughing, but when it's my turn, you're afraid of this and that?"

Han Qingsong said, "Niang, I'm not transferring on purpose, it's all arranged by the army. You also know, our farming families have no connections. At my age, I've already received extra money for several years."

This wasn't wrong. Among the tens of thousands who enlisted with him, the vast majority had demobilized. At least among the farm boys in this county, he was considered the most successful.

But it stopped there. This was reality, and it had to be admitted.

Han-dage and Han-erge had inquired about these things and felt laosan wasn't lying.

Of course, Han Qingsong hadn't told the whole story.

Han-laotaitai glared at him. "The army arranged for you to transfer, it wasn't on purpose?"

It wasn't because you were manipulated or bewitched by your xifu?

Han Qingsong said lightly, "Niang, what are you thinking."

Han-laotaitai muttered, tapped her chopsticks on the table, and picked up her porridge bowl. "Eat."

Saying that, she started slurping away, as if the person making a fuss earlier wasn't her.

Lin Lan thought, This family is probably considered quite troublesome even in the commune, definitely providing a lot of laughing stock for other commune members.

After eating, Han-laotaitai acted as if nothing had happened and went to ask Han Qingsong again, "There should be a job arrangement for transferring, right? Is there a transfer allowance given?"

Those who demobilized all got a sum of money. Although it wasn't much, her son was a company commander, so it should be more, probably a few hundred yuan.

If there was a salaried job, it had to be agreed upon that the salary would be given to her in the future.

Han Qingsong only had one sentence: listen to the organization's arrangement. After all, he couldn't decide all this himself, and he didn't know how he would be arranged yet.

Han-laotaitai suddenly realized that the foolish boy from back then had changed! When he was little, she didn't favor him, he spoke little, only knew how to work, and did whatever his niang said. That was why she could make him enlist in place of his older brothers at such a young age.

Facing such a son, she felt very powerless.

She didn't know why, but her son seemed a bit different. If it were in the past, whatever she said went.

But this time, she felt that whatever she asked, he dodged it, just not speaking transparently. Even the way he looked at her felt like sharp little knives, as if he could see right into her heart, making her very uncomfortable.

If it was intentional, she was confident her third son didn't have that kind of scheming mind. But if it wasn't intentional, why did she feel she couldn't control him?

This feeling was terrible!

Just like the first time she realized she couldn't control the old man after getting married!

If her laopopo hadn't died, she would still be suffering endless anger now.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She slammed her chopsticks down again, startling everyone into asking what was wrong.

She acted half-dead. "Aiya, I'm uncomfortable, my chest is tight, I can't catch my breath."

If it were in the past, laosan would immediately say, "Niang, I'll go get a doctor for you," "Niang, do you want to eat canned fruit, I'll go buy some for you," "Niang..."

Now, Han Qingsong remained indifferent, as if he hadn't heard or seen anything.

The old lady waited for Han Qingsong to get up and help her into the room, waited for him to say, "Niang, whatever you say goes."

She glared fiercely at Han Qingsong, but Han Qingsong was actually eating as if nothing had happened.

Han-laotaitai was so angry.

Han Qingsong put down his chopsticks and spoke to Lin Lan. "After eating, go over there and tidy up. The walls and the roof still need to be sorted out."

Lin Lan gave an "mm" and told the children to eat faster. "Erwang, follow your dage tomorrow to cut some vitex branches. We'll tie up a false ceiling."

False ceiling, dust catcher, ceiling—whatever it was called, without it, dust would easily fall and get into their eyes.

Erwang readily agreed. Maisui said she wanted to go too, and several children from the first and second branches also said they wanted to go.

Having eaten san-dada's candy, they naturally had to help.

Dawang acted as if he hadn't heard and focused on eating.

Han Qingsong: "Dawang?"

Dawang answered dismissively, "What is it?"

Han-laotaitai knew her son was blaming Dawang for not immediately agreeing to Lin Lan's words and was educating his son. She immediately interfered, "What are you doing, what are you doing? Our family doesn't have the habit of beating children at the dinner table. Dawang has Dawang's things to do, do you need him to cut vitex branches?"

Dawang dropped his chopsticks and left, looking impatient.

Han Qingsong's thick eyebrows furrowed, and he was about to flare up.

Lin Lan quickly pulled him, telling him not to be angry. Educating children required finding opportunities to teach them slowly. After all, he was this old; beating and scolding him in front of the whole family would be useless.

When Old Man Han put down his chopsticks, she immediately put hers down and got up. She went back to the room to tidy up, told Maisui to coax her younger brother to sleep, and then followed Han Qingsong to see the new house.

As soon as they left, Han-laotaitai bristled, pointing with her chopsticks. "Look at you all, look! It's truly outrageous. What are a grown man and woman being so sticky for? Isn't this inviting gossip?"

In the village, it was rare for a man and his poniang to appear outside together. Men gathered with men, and women chatted with women. Let alone a man and his poniang going out alone together at night like this.

Not proper!

Indecent!

Han-laotaitai's temples started throbbing again, feeling as if they were going to burst.