chsdbacks Chapter 17: New Residence Completed, Undercurrents Begin to Stir
Chapter 17: New Residence Completed, Undercurrents Begin to Stir
When he was about a hundred meters away from the courtyard house, Lin Yan slightly stirred his consciousness, circulated his internal energy, and his face quickly turned pale, characteristic of a heart patient. His lips also turned slightly purple, and his breathing deliberately became somewhat short. He took slightly unsteady steps and slowly walked into the courtyard house.
Just as he reached the door of his east wing, his cousin's wife, Wang Cuihua, rushed up to him anxiously. Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for anyone nearby to hear: "Oh, Xiaoyan! You're finally back! Didn't we agree that your cousin would pick you up from the hotel? You silly child, why did you walk back by yourself? Luckily it's not the middle of summer; if it were under the blazing sun, you'd definitely catch a bad sunburn!"
Lin Yan's divine sense had already detected the third aunt hiding behind his window, eavesdropping. He chuckled inwardly, but feigned weakness, waving his hand and saying in a feeble voice, "No...it's nothing, sister-in-law. The spring sun feels so warm and comfortable. It's just that the road is a bit far, and I'm a bit tired. Is our house...is the renovation finished? I'll go in and take a look..."
His face showed just the right amount of longing and anticipation as he craned his neck to look into the house.
"Look at me! I was so busy talking!" My sister-in-law slapped her thigh, looking like she was just realizing what had happened. "Hurry up, come inside and take a look, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Lin Yan followed his cousin-in-law into the house. The first thing that caught his eye was the snow-white walls and the newly replaced, gleaming glass windows. Sunlight streamed in without any obstruction, making the whole house bright and clean, and the lighting was several levels better than the previous dim old house.
The original two rooms on the first floor, which had been combined to form a space of about 60 square meters, have now been cleverly separated. Upon entering, there's a small dining room with simple tables and chairs. The kitchen is slightly larger, occupying about 28 square meters, with two newly built wood-burning stoves and a sink; the tap is sparkling clean. What Lin Yan is most satisfied with is the separate bathroom/toilet. Although it's a ceramic squat toilet instead of a flush toilet, requiring a large bucket for flushing, it's an extremely luxurious feature in a courtyard house of this era! A showerhead has also been installed, meaning there's no longer a need to queue at the communal water room for bathing.
He stepped up the brand-new wooden staircase. The second floor had also been divided into two rooms. The outer room was his bedroom, where his original small single bed was placed right under the window, allowing sunlight to shine directly onto it. Several books and a lamp sat on the bedside table. The inner room was a small study, not large in size, but fully equipped with a desk and bookshelves, giving it a tranquil and cozy feel.
Lin Yan was very satisfied with it. Understated, practical, and with all the basic functions, that was enough; anything too luxurious would be jarring.
After going downstairs, he asked where his cousin had gone. His cousin's wife lowered her voice and said, "Your cousin went to the food factory early this morning to complete his onboarding procedures. After he came back, he was worried that the newly built stove at home was short of firewood, so he went up the mountain to collect firewood. I told him to go to the coal station tomorrow and pick up two cartloads of coal, and also buy the rationed grain from the grain ration book. There are all sorts of shady characters in this neighborhood, so we have to keep a good appearance and not give ourselves away."
Lin Yan nodded approvingly. In truth, with his current strength and wealth, he didn't need to care about these people in the academy. However, the domestic situation wasn't entirely stable, and enemy spy activities occurred frequently. Being too unconventional could easily attract unnecessary suspicion and investigation, which would mean endless trouble and seriously interfere with his cultivation plans. Keeping a low profile and blending into the environment was the best solution at this stage.
My sister-in-law clearly understood this principle and quietly took care of the details.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, "Cousin Lin Gang" called to his two "brothers" and they pulled two carts of chopped firewood into the yard. He directed them to stack the firewood neatly against the wall on their porch.
Seeing this, his sister-in-law took the opportunity to say, "Gangzi, you can use this cart to make another trip to the coal station and grain station and buy back the coal and this month's grain rations."
While her cousin was busy, her cousin's wife whispered to Lin Yan about the situation over the past few days: During the renovation, Grandma Ma from the neighboring side room in the front yard and Aunt Li (with her two grandsons) from the back house had both come over to lend a hand. As for Bang Geng from the middle yard, he had sneaked into the kitchen, which didn't have a door yet, to look for food, but was "coincidentally" caught by her when she returned and was scared away.
As evening fell, "Cousin" carried the grain back to the yard, following the coal cart. Yan Bugui, who was standing guard at the gate, saw the large bag of grain on Lin Gang's shoulder, his eyes lit up, and he immediately greeted him with a beaming smile and a fawning tone:
"Gangzi, you're back? Wow, you bought so much grain! You're really young and energetic! We happen to have a bottle of good wine at home, how about... we go over to Uncle San's for a bit? We can have a couple of drinks and chat?"
Lin Gang smiled憨厚朴实 (honest and simple) but his tone remained firm: "Uncle, you're too kind. But this grain doesn't belong to my family; it's a food subsidy for Master Wang and the other workers on the renovation team. We have to deliver it to them first thing tomorrow morning. We can't touch it."
Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's plan failed once again, and he felt a little embarrassed. He could only laugh awkwardly and say, "Oh, it's public grain... Well... I won't keep you any longer. Hurry back and build the coal wall. See you later."
"Hey, see you later, Third Uncle." Lin Gang still smiled憨憨地, carrying the grain into the house.
Upon arriving home, Lin Yan instructed his cousin, "Quietly deliver some of the fine grains we bought today to Grandma Ma next door and Aunt Li in the back house to thank them for their help a few days ago. Just pour a little into our own rice bin, and put some potatoes and sweet potatoes in the kitchen as a token gesture." He had plenty of top-grade grains in his spatial storage, so these ordinary supplies were perfect for doing favors.
Night quietly descended.
Lin Yan sat alone in the small study on the second floor, quietly contemplating his next move by the light of the desk lamp.
First, a group of puppet officials must be dispatched immediately to various parts of the country, especially to areas historically recorded as severely affected by the disaster, to gather intelligence on the ground and accurately grasp the extent and scope of the disaster, as well as the actual food shortages in different regions. He knew that many people believed the Three Years of Natural Disasters began in 59, but in fact, signs of the disaster had already appeared in many places in 58. The drawbacks of the People's Commune system, the tendency of some cadres to exaggerate production figures, and the impact of the nationwide steelmaking campaign on agriculture... this disaster was not only a natural one, but also a man-made one. He needed the most accurate firsthand information to plan his next steps.
Meanwhile, another group of puppets will continue to carry out the task of looting unclaimed property. Targets like the Prince Gong's Mansion—long abandoned or in disarray—will be his initial capital for future global expansion. "What God has given me, I will keep."
"Tomorrow," he thought, "I'll have to ask my cousin to go up the mountain again to cut some good wood and make a comfortable and beautiful little doghouse for Xiaoqi." Thinking of Xiaoqi's happy face, a smile couldn't help but appear on his lips.
"Also, have my cousin-in-law secretly take out the high-quality cotton produced in the space, and while the weather is good, make a few thick new cotton quilts and light summer quilts for the family. Life has to be decent."
His thoughts gradually settled, and his nerves relaxed. Outside the window, the courtyard gradually fell asleep, with only the occasional chirping of insects. Lin Yan lay on his desk and slowly drifted off to sleep.