The mother of the era is reborn to support her cannon fodder children!

Chapter 272 "Not Going"

Lin Zhao looked at her and said, "Thank you."

Su Yi was initially somewhat helpless, but upon hearing Comrade Lin's words, she added, "Let's just take that as a compliment."

“How can it not be a compliment?” Guan Zhiqing looked at Lin Zhao and Su Yi, a bright smile appearing on her usually quiet face.

She felt that going to the countryside wasn't without its rewards; she met several lovely people.

"When I return to the city, I will write to you, and you will write back to me, right?"

"Yes," Lin Zhao readily agreed. "I know how, but I don't know if Su Zhiqing does."

She looked at Su Yi and said, "Writing and sending letters is my daily routine, and it's convenient for me. If you trust me, you can give me the letters, and we'll send them together."

Sending a letter requires stamps, which is nothing to me, but for Su Yi, who is already struggling financially... it must be a considerable burden.

She could do it for her; it was nothing to stuff a few papers into an envelope.

For a moment, Su Yi almost thought that Comrade Lin knew about her family's situation.

His face suddenly turned deathly pale.

A wave of fear washed over her.

She was given away by her grandparents with their lives, and absolutely, absolutely no one can know about her...!
What should she do?
Su Yi's face turned pale instantly. Lin Zhao didn't expect her to react so strongly, and the usually self-centered girl felt a rare sense of guilt.

"Yu Bao, pour a cup of brown sugar water." She called out into the house.

Yu Bao responded and rushed into the kitchen with light steps.

"Are you alright? Your face is very pale." Lin Zhao looked at Su Zhiqing with concern, pretending not to know anything and assuming that she was unwell.

When Su Yi met Lin Zhao's sincere and concerned eyes, her heart, which had been pounding in her throat, slowly calmed down, and her complexion improved.

She pursed her lips slightly and shook her head. "It's nothing."

She said in a very soft voice, "It reminded me of unpleasant things from the past."

"...What's past is past, don't think too much about it," Lin Zhao comforted softly.

Su Yi felt a warmth in her heart. "Thank you."

At this moment, Yu Bao, who was a bit taller, came over, carrying a white porcelain bowl in both hands, and carefully placed it on the stone table.

"Mom, is one bowl enough?" he asked.

"That's enough, thank you Yubao." Lin Zhao looked at her son with pride and admiration, her eyes full of...my son is amazing.

Yu Bao was overjoyed, and his little chest stood straight.

"Mom, call me if you need anything," he reminded her, then shyly ran back into the house.

Looking at the sensible children, Guan Zhiqing smiled and thought the Gu family's twins were really well-behaved.

She's more sensible than her nephew.

"I see you're not feeling well. Drinking some brown sugar water might help." Lin Zhao pushed the white porcelain bowl towards Su Yi with her slender fingers.

Gu Chan went to work, but she still visited once every two weeks to do chores like cleaning and tidying up the vegetable garden in the third room. Lin Zhao couldn't refuse her no matter what.

She doesn't do much heavy work, so her hands don't have many calluses. Plus, she applies hand cream frequently, so they're as white as jade, with slender fingers that are very beautiful.

Su Yi was stunned. She held the white porcelain bowl in both hands and couldn't help but say, "Comrade Lin, your hands are so beautiful."

"I used hand protectors," Lin Zhao said.

There aren't that many naturally beautiful people; it's all about hard work.

Of course, her hands were already beautiful, but now they are even whiter and smoother.

Guan, the educated youth, asked curiously, "What kind of hand protector?"

Working in the brigade, even using face cream felt like a waste, but she's going back to the city soon, and her face and hands can finally recover!
No girl doesn't love beauty.

"I got the recipe by chance and made it myself," Lin Zhao lied.

How did I get them? I won them in a lottery, of course! I won a whole box of them!

She brought quite a lot to her family, including a jar for her best friend, her eldest sister-in-law.

Guan Zhiqing's eyes changed; he looked at Lin Zhao with admiration.

Comrade Lin is truly remarkable.

"...Shall we change?" she couldn't help but ask.

Then, somewhat embarrassed, she said, "You have everything I have right now, so you're probably not interested. Let's trade when I get back to the city."

Many of the things Comrade Lin had were things she had never seen before, and she felt embarrassed to even offer to trade them with someone else.

Lin Zhao was a generous person. Seeing that Guan Zhiqing liked it, she offered, "I'll give it to you first. I'll write to you later to tell you what I need. What do you think?"

"Okay, as long as you trust me." Guan Zhiqing had been doing farm work for nearly a year, and his hands and face were rough. He wanted to take care of them in advance so that he wouldn't be ridiculed by his nemesis.

“What’s there to distrust? You’re a great writer,” Lin Zhao teased. “Can I have this newspaper? I’ll keep it as a souvenir.”

After the educated youth returned to the city, they rarely had the chance to meet again.

"Here you go, here you go," Guan Zhiqing said with a smile.

Lin Zhao's compliment as a great writer kept his lips twitching for a long time.

"Does Su Zhiqing want it?" Lin Zhao didn't forget Su Yi either.

Su Yi shook her head, "No need, I still have to work. It's good to have calluses on my hands, it helps me work faster. I'll ask you to buy some more when I have the chance."

The fact that she bought it from Comrade Lin means that she and her family have been reunited.

Thinking of this scene, her eyes sparkled.

“Okay.” Lin Zhao said, getting up and walking to the kitchen, where he took out a pair of nylon gloves from the cabinet.

This is for Su Yi.

"Here you go, wear this while you work. I've used it twice, so don't be disgusted."

She could tell that Su Yi came from a well-off family, but something had happened to her.

Thinking of her own family's situation in the original book, Lin Zhao wanted to help such a person.

When Su Yi received the gloves, a warm feeling welled up in her heart; the kindness of some people is truly like a gentle breeze.

"Thank you," she said, her voice trembling.

Being a sent-down youth was like walking on thin ice, but it also brought a lot of kindness.

I'm pretty lucky, Mom and Dad.

I hope you can also meet good people.
-
Less than half a month later, Guan, the educated youth, received the document to return to the city and left the place where she had been sent to the countryside as she wished.

The return of some people to the city greatly stimulated the educated youth in each brigade.

People who had resigned themselves to their fate started to get restless again.

People ask for leave every day.

Letters, falling like snowflakes, were sent to various cities, leaving Liang Yi, who worked at the post office, completely bewildered.

When Lin Zhao came to deliver the letter, she asked a few questions.

After learning the situation, Comrade Xiao Liang's expression was somewhat complicated.

"Only a very small number of people return to the city; the majority settle down in the countryside. If those people can't accept this, their lives won't be easy."

Lin Zhao agreed in his heart, but did not express his opinion.

Liang Yi made a brief comment and immediately fell silent.

"Are you sending a letter or something today?" she asked.

Lin Zhao placed the items she brought on the counter. "I have everything. I'll send it to two different places."

Being a soldier is tough, so she would send food to her third brother and younger brother Gu Chenghuai every now and then, mostly meat that could be stored for a long time.

Liang Yi inspected the package, which was full of sauces: meat sauce, chili sauce, and mushroom sauce, in several bottles of each. In addition to the sauces, there was also high-gluten flour.

The aroma made Liang Yi swallow hard.

"It smells so good." She looked at Lin Zhao with bright eyes. "Did you make it?"

"Correct."

Liang Yi felt both envious and jealous of the person who was about to receive this gift.

She also wishes a pretty girl would send her delicious food, sob sob sob.

Overwhelmed with emotions, he didn't waste any time and quickly finished, placing it in the designated spot. He then said to Lin Zhao, "All done."

"Thank you for your hard work," Lin Zhao said politely.

"It should."

Watching Lin Zhao leave, Liang Yi slumped weakly against the counter. That meat sauce smelled so good! The post office worker, seeing her like this, immediately guessed what was wrong.

"Didn't you mention it again?" the woman asked.

Liang Yi looked at her resentfully, "How could I possibly accept that?"

A gentleman does not take what others love, sob sob, I really want to try a bite, just one bite.

The woman suppressed a laugh, "What a gluttonous girl!"

"If you don't mention Comrade Lin, you'll never know you crave the sauce she makes."

Yes, everyone at the post office knows Lin Zhao. There's nothing they can do about it; she comes here every few days and is a regular customer. Plus, she's generous, so it's impossible for anyone not to remember her.

Liang Yi straightened up and pretended to be busy. "We are all working people. I can't let Comrade Lin make a mistake."

The woman said, "...Then you'll just have to bear with it."

Liang Yi: "..."
-
Lin Zhao had no idea that someone was eyeing the meat sauce she made, to the point of losing sleep over it.

She had just returned home when Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang came over at the same time.

"Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, why did you come together? What happened?!" Lin Zhao was quite puzzled.

The two sisters-in-law pulled up stools and sat down.

"Third sister-in-law, you don't know yet, do you? Gu Xing'er is getting married," Zhao Liuniang said.

A huge question mark appeared above Lin Zhao's head.

"...With whom?" After a moment of silence, she asked.

“She talked to him herself, saying he was a worker from the city, named Zhang Xuejun,” Huang Xiulan said.

Zhao Liuniang added, "This person seems to be her classmate. I don't know how Gu Xing'er managed to fool him."

It might not be a hoax; maybe they just really hit it off...

Lin Zhao thought to herself, "This is a bad omen."

"Why did my sister-in-law and second sister-in-law come all the way to tell me about this? Is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of it?" She felt there was something else going on.

Huang Xiulan asked bluntly, "There's something going on in a few days, are you going or not?"

Zhao Liuniang also looked at Lin Zhao.

"I'm not going," Lin Zhao said firmly.

This was something she had planned long ago.

Even if her parents were unhappy, she wouldn't go.

Gu Chenghuai said that he would let Gu Xing'er do whatever she wanted.

Her intention was... not to go.

Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang were both taken aback by their third sister-in-law's resolute decision.

Zhao Liuniang asked blankly, "What about the gift? Are we going to give it to you?!"

Lin Zhao shook his head slightly, "With this money, we might as well buy peach shortbread for Bangbang and Tiedan."

Not wanting to put her two sisters-in-law in a difficult position, she added, "Sisters-in-law, don't worry about me. If you want to go, then go."

She does things as she pleases and doesn't expect others to be like her.

Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang certainly didn't have the same confidence as Lin Zhao. They had many things to consider. It was their sister-in-law's wedding, and even if they didn't give a gift, they would definitely help out.

Otherwise, what would the villagers say?

It goes without saying how awful it is.

We're all family, what obstacle can't we overcome? It's such a big life event for my sister-in-law, and the sister-in-law isn't even there. That's just too heartless...

Some of the gossipy villagers wouldn't think about how Gu Xing'er bossed around her sisters-in-law; they would only think that it was Gu Xing'er's wedding day.

“Okay, once you give us a definite answer, we’ll know what to expect,” Huang Xiulan said.

She looked at Zhao Liuniang and said, "Second sister-in-law, let's go help out; we don't need to give a gift."

Zhao Liuniang's eyes lit up, "...Really not giving it to me?"

"No, she wouldn't even look at me anyway." Huang Xiulan thought to herself that she could save the money and buy half a pound of peach shortbread for her son.

“Yes, we won’t give it to her.” Zhao Liuniang was overjoyed at the thought of saving several cents. “Gu Xing’er even looked down on the several tens of yuan she received after the family division, so she definitely wouldn’t care about the few cents we give her. Okay, it’s settled then, none of the three of us will give her anything.”

Lin Zhao thought to herself, "She won't even show up."

What day of the week is she getting married?

Huang Xiulan: "It seems to be Wednesday."

Tie Dan also yelled that his aunt was so stingy, why didn't she put the wedding on a Sunday? Was she afraid they would eat her out of house and home?
"Oh, then I have to go to work." Lin Zhao raised an eyebrow and smiled, since she was taking her four kids to the movies.

perfect.

"What about the four children?" Zhao Liuniang asked.

Lin Zhao: "My mother is too busy to help me take care of the children, so I'll bring all four of them and have my aunt take care of them for half a day."

The village was in chaos that day, and with Gu Xing'er being mentally unstable, even if she were carefree, she wouldn't leave the children in the village.

After Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang left, the twins, holding their younger brother and sister's hands, returned home amidst the excitement of Da Huang Hu Po.

"Mom, my naughty aunt is getting married. Can we attend the wedding banquet?" Hengbao asked as soon as he entered the door.

"..." Lin Zhao glanced at him speechlessly.

"Are you starving?" she said irritably.

"No," Hengbao scratched his head, looking somewhat puzzled.

"You want to eat at every kind of banquet, aren't you afraid it's a trap? You're such a glutton!" Lin Zhaobai glared at his second brother.

"It's so lively at the banquet!" Hengbao's clear voice carried a hint of grievance. "How did I become such a glutton..."

The child's lips are so pouty you could hang an oil bottle on them.

But he never holds grudges.

Before Lin Zhao could say anything more, she leaned over and asked, "Mom, what is a Red Gate Banquet? Is there also a Green Gate Banquet?"

His expression was curious, full of curiosity.

"Does Yu Bao know?" Lin Zhao asked Yu Bao.

“I know,” Yu Bao said solemnly. “My uncle told us about it.”

Oh no, this is bad!
Hengbao's eyes darted around, and he rushed to the outhouse, pulling up his pants. "My stomach hurts, I need to poop, it's so urgent..."

In a hurry, the sound and the figure disappeared.

Lin Zhao: You little brat, you run fast.

Yu Bao, holding his younger siblings' hands, sat next to Lin Zhao. Now that he's a year older, he's starting to look more and more like an older brother.

"Mom, my aunt is getting married, should we go?" he asked, frowning.

Like Hengbao, Yubao dislikes bullying his mother and their aunt.

However, he was clever and never showed it to outsiders.

If others ask him about Gu Xing'er, he will act fearful and embarrassed, making people unable to say anything and only saying that Gu Xing'er is not behaving like an aunt.

Kids with black sesame filling.

"No, we're staying in the county for the next few days. I'll ask two of you to keep you company, and we'll take you to the movies and restaurants," Lin Zhao replied, pinching the soft flesh on Yao Bao's arm.

Yao Bao looked at her mother, then offered her other arm, her chubby little face beaming with a sweet, innocent smile.

Yu Bao's expression visibly relaxed.

"Okay."

Lin Zhao sent a letter to Gu Chenghuai about Gu Xing'er's upcoming marriage.

Just one sentence—"On a certain day of a certain month, your sister is getting married."

They wouldn't write a single extra word.

Gu Chenghuai was both amused and exasperated upon receiving the letter.

So childish.

He didn't think Lin Zhao was being unreasonable. His wife was the best. It was all Xing'er's fault for being so irresponsible. The fact that Zhao Zhao specifically told him was already beyond his expectations.

Gu Chenghuai understood the situation and didn't send Gu Xing'er any money or wedding gifts, pretending he knew nothing about it.

The thought of how Gu Xing'er treated Qingzhou made it impossible for him to be soft-hearted towards her.

(End of this chapter)