However, Lin Zhen had made up his mind to stay away from the transport station for the time being.
He had made quite a bit of money from reselling the goods he brought back this time.
Just thinking about the thirty thousand yuan in the bank passbook made him feel secure, even if he lost his job.
It was only a matter of two years—he could wait.
Once the child was a bit older, he would head south again. By then, buying and selling goods would be much safer.
Compared to the profits from reselling, the meager wages from the transport station were nothing to him now. At the very least, Song Wei was more important.
Aunt Xinghua couldn’t help but remind him with concern.
It wasn’t until Song Wei woke up and everyone sat down to eat together that she mentioned the matter to Song Wei. She felt that, compared to Lin Zhen, Song Wei would understand the importance of the job better.
Song Wei glanced at Lin Zhen but didn’t say anything to him. Instead, she smiled and told Aunt Xinghua that she understood.
After the meal, once Aunt Xinghua had left, Song Wei asked him, “Are you really not going back?”
Lin Zhen nodded and handed her the passbook, along with the five hundred yuan he had kept and various vouchers.
“I’ll stay home to take care of you. Once the situation upstairs is resolved, I’ll head south again to make money.”
Song Wei opened the passbook and was instantly surprised by the number.
“You made this much this time?”
Lin Zhen nodded. “It’s enough.”
Song Wei exclaimed, “It’s more than enough!”
Not counting the money in the passbook, they now had over a thousand yuan in cash. They probably wouldn’t even use up all the cash in two years.
After all, they could still hunt for their own meat, and they had vegetables in their garden. They already had a radio, a bicycle, and a sewing machine at home.
When she thought about it, there really weren’t many places to spend money now.
Lin Zhen took on almost all the chores at home.
He even enlisted Lin Ping’an to help.
Washing dishes, feeding the chickens and deer, doing laundry, and sweeping the floor—these tasks were mostly handled by Lin Ping’an.
Whenever Song Wei tried to help, both men in the house refused.
Lin Ping’an declared earnestly, “Sis, don’t move! My brother said that when he was in the army, he did everything himself. That’s what a real man does. I want to be a little man too. When I get married someday, I’ll do the housework. This is something you have to learn from a young age!”
Song Wei thought, This silly kid—his brother has really talked him into this.
But she could still handle tasks like sweeping the floor. It wasn’t like she was that fragile!
“Sis, if you really can’t sit still, take the sika deer and the silly roe deer out for some fresh air. Remember to bring Wolf One and Wolf Two with you to help herd them. If the deer run off, don’t chase after them, okay?”
Song Wei replied, “Got it.”
The two sika deer at home—the fawn from back then had grown up.
Its antlers were especially beautiful.
Sika deer were elegant, and theirs, well-fed, were plumper than those in the wild but also stronger.
Moreover, the young sika deer had grown up with wolves, so it was exceptionally bold. It could even hold its own in a fight with a wolf and appeared much sturdier.
The silly roe deer still had its foolish, dazed look. The white tail on its rear end spread out like a heart, which was quite charming.
As Song Wei strolled along with them, it occurred to her that animals seemed to mature early and had mating seasons.
Should their sika deer and silly roe deer also find partners?
Just as she was thinking this, Lin Zhen came to find her.
“Lin Zhen, don’t you think our sika deer should start looking for mates?”
Pregnant women’s thoughts could sometimes be strange and all over the place.
Lin Zhen glanced at the three deer. “Yeah, it’s about time they found partners.”
“Maybe we should set them free. I feel like we can’t keep raising so many deer at home now.”
Lin Zhen didn’t mind, but it seemed a waste to release them after raising them for so long. However, slaughtering them was out of the question—Lin Ping’an would definitely be upset. After all, he had grown attached to them, especially as a child.
“Or maybe we could castrate them? That way, we wouldn’t have to worry about them going into heat.”
Lin Zhen: “……”
His wife could be quite ruthless.
Song Wei was just talking off the top of her head. By the time she returned home, she had already forgotten about it.
A few days later, while out for a stroll and gossiping with the elderly women in the village, Granny Wang walked Song Wei home. Along the way, they suddenly noticed a suspicious figure lurking around.
Drawing on her experience as a seasoned gossip, Song Wei quickly pulled the old woman into a hiding spot.
“Isn’t that Third Old Ma?”
The old woman peeked out and confirmed the person’s identity.
Third Old Ma, also known as Third Uncle Ma.
He was around forty-five to fifty years old.
Song Wei recalled a piece of gossip she had heard earlier. The reason she remembered it so clearly was that one of the people involved had intellectual disabilities.
Granny Wang clearly knew about this gossip too. Seeing Third Uncle Ma heading in the direction of Dashun’s house, she grew both furious and alarmed.
“That bastard! Dashun’s life is already hard enough. How dare he target someone so vulnerable!”
“And that woman—I have to expose them!”
Song Wei held her back. “Maybe we’re jumping to conclusions. Let’s follow him first. If it turns out we’re wrong, we wouldn’t want to falsely accuse anyone.”
“Alright, you’re quick on your feet. Make sure you don’t let us get spotted.”
Song Wei nodded.
The two followed Old Ma from a distance. As they walked, Song Wei couldn’t help but wonder.
Lin Dashun looked to be in his thirties, so his wife probably wasn’t much older.
How could that woman have such poor taste as to be involved with someone so much older?
People in their fifties in the countryside already looked quite weathered.
That said, most villagers had lean, strong builds from doing farm work all day and eating simple meals. There were very few overweight people in their entire production brigade.
Song Wei quietly shared her thoughts with Granny Wang.
“Do you really think Xu Yinhua is the faithful type, only involved with this one man?”
Song Wei’s eyes widened. Wow, this was quite the character!
“Old Ma’s family has some money. At the very least, they eat better than most. With his sons providing for him, his wife doesn’t dare interfere. He usually spends his days drinking, playing cards, and living a leisurely life. No wonder that shameless Xu Yinhua set her sights on him. Even before she married Dashun, she was never the faithful type. Did anyone really expect her to settle down and live peacefully with a man like Dashun, who has intellectual disabilities?”
Song Wei understood now. This was purely a gold-digger situation—she was only in it for the money.
And the men who knew exactly what was going on but still got involved with Xu Yinhua were no good either.
The only real victim in all of this was the simple-minded Lin Dashun.
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