RSMFH 07

Chapter 07

Who Gave You Permission to Touch It?

In their previous life, Lin Chen hadn’t consummated the marriage on their wedding night, leaving him feeling deeply frustrated. Lin Tao had exploited this low mood, gasping and gaslighting him at every turn. Combined with a letter of denunciation he had written, he successfully manipulated Lin Chen into handing over the position of militia company commander to him.

“Educated Youth Jiang has never had much time for you, and now that you’re working so far away every day, how are you ever going to build a relationship?”

“We’re brothers. What does it matter who earns the money? It all goes to the family!”

In reality, the money Lin Tao earned was squandered on food, drink, and gambling. The money used for the household was actually the savings Lin Chen had built up over the years. Lin Chen had no choice but to go into the mountains to hunt or sneak into the black market to peddle goods just to improve the lives of Jiang Ning and his family.

In this life, Jiang Ning would naturally never let such a history repeat itself. The spiritual spring water she gave him was more than enough to purge the inflammation from his leg.

“Everyone, move along,” Lin Chen said, dismissing the onlookers. Once they were gone, he delivered a punch to Lin Tao’s chest. “You know exactly what this punch is for. From here on out, our brotherhood is dead!”

Lin Tao clutched his chest, shooting him a look of rage, but his guilt kept him from retorting. Lin Chen then cast a cold glance at Lin Zhou-shi, who was slumped in her chair. “Things have reached this point; go ahead and split the grain. I still have to make breakfast.”

What else could she do? Going to her grave now wouldn’t solve anything!

“Get Baojia up!” Lin Zhou-shi roared at Yu Xiaofeng in a fit of pique. Her favoritism had always been excessive; the fifty-year-old man had slept through such a massive family upheaval, snoring loudly enough to tear the roof off.

Yu Xiaofeng went into the room and slapped Lin Baojia across the face. Lin Baojia jolted awake. “What? What is it? Earthquake?”

“Earthquake your ass! It’s Lin Chen, he’s causing a scene to split the household; they’re moving out to live on their own!” Yu Xiaofeng gnashed her teeth as she yanked his ear. Thinking back, she had been the flower of the village once—how could she have been so blind as to choose this useless man?

“Ouch, ouch, ouch… let them split then… wait, what? Did they take any of Mom’s money?”

Hearing him say that, Yu Xiaofeng felt a slight sense of comfort. The man was lazy and gluttonous, but at least he was on her side. She explained the details of the split and told him to get up immediately and divide the grain into two equal portions.

Lin Baojia pulled on his pants lazily, muttering, “What’s there to split? There isn’t much grain in the house, and since there are four people on each side, just split it down the middle.”

Soon, the grain was divided: one hundred and fifty jin of unhusked rice for each side, thirty-six jin of rice, three jin of flour, and one hundred and twenty jin of sweet potatoes—that was the entirety of their rations. It was the peak of the “Double Harvest” period; after delivering the public grain, the brigade would distribute the new harvest. From then on, each family would be on their own.

After breakfast, with the exception of Old Lady Lin, the eldest brother’s family went to work in the fields. Wang Xiufen was preparing to head out too, but Lin Chen called her back. “Mom, you’re getting on in years. Don’t go to the fields anymore; just stay home and handle the housework.”

After arranging things for his mother, he instructed Lin Qiao not to worry about field work either. She was to help their mother, read more books when she had time, and prepare to enter high school in September. As for Jiang Ning, he couldn’t bear to let her do any work at all, insisting she stay home and rest.

“Alright, hurry off to the commune to report for duty; it’s getting late.” Seeing the reluctance in his eyes, Jiang Ning cupped his face and pecked him on the lips.

Lin Chen’s eyes darkened, his voice growing husky. “Not enough.”

He hooked his large hand behind her head and pulled her in for a deep kiss. A few minutes later, he released the limp beauty in his arms and whispered into her ear, “Wait for my return.”

As Lin Chen walked away, she kept her gaze fixed on his retreating figure for a long time, until Lin Qiao teased her from behind. “Sister-in-law, Brother is already gone. You two are truly newlyweds—can’t stand to be apart even for a second.”

She turned around slowly. On the surface, she was calm, but inside, her heart was in turmoil. They were indeed newlyweds, but they were also a couple who had weathered decades of life together! In this life, she would not let history repeat itself.

After chatting with Lin Qiao for a while, Jiang Ning deliberately announced that she was heading to the “Educated Youth Point.” Because the marriage had been so hurried, she hadn’t yet retrieved her belongings from there. She left under the vicious glare of Lin Zhou-shi, but as soon as she turned the corner, she slipped into her space.

She had already discovered that the space was not only for storage but also had a movement function. In other words, she could turn invisible and travel anywhere, though her speed was the same as it would be outside, and she could use transportation tools within the space.

Lin Zhou-shi was sitting in the main room, stitching shoe soles to pass the time. She felt a gust of wind blow past her and looked up in a daze, but her fading eyes saw nothing.

Jiang Ning had no trouble finding the money the old woman had hidden in a gap in the wall. It was a thick stack; she didn’t even count it, simply stashing it all into her space. In the cloth bag where the money was kept, there were also some dirty-looking green stones that looked like jade. She didn’t mind the filth and took those as well.

After retrieving the money, she walked quite a distance away before exiting the space and heading toward the Educated Youth Point.

The Educated Youth Point was located next to the brigade office. It had originally been a family home; later, that family built a new house and sold the adobe structure to the brigade to house the educated youths. There weren’t many youths in Chayuan Village—only seven or eight in total, with five remaining now—so the three rooms were sufficient.

She arrived at the room she used to occupy and took everything out of the cabinet to check her inventory on the bed. The money and vouchers she had were still there, but more than half of her food was gone. She remembered only eating one piece of the peach blossom pastry, but now there were only two left. Her beef sauce, which she had just opened and barely touched, was now down to half a bottle. Half a bag of White Rabbit Creamy Candy had vanished as well.

The educated youths had to cook their own meals. She would usually buy eggs from the locals to improve her diet; she remembered buying ten last time, eating four, and leaving six—but she turned the cabinet upside down and couldn’t find them. As for the remaining bar of soap and the box of clam oil, those were missing, too.

She didn’t need to guess; it was certainly Ma Huijuan, who lived in the same room. In her previous life, Ma Huijuan loved to “borrow” things—soap, detergent, beef sauce—never buying anything for herself. Because Ma Huijuan came from a poor family and had no one to send her supplies, she would put on a pitiful face to beg from Jiang Ning. Jiang Ning had been too soft-hearted and sympathetic, lending things every time. She never pressed for them to be returned, and now that she thought about it, the woman had never intended to return them.

“Help! Someone help, there’s a thief!” she shouted without hesitation.

It was noon, and the educated youths were walking back from the fields. Hearing the commotion, they hurried over. Ma Huijuan held a sickle, her expression panicked, though she tried to act calm. “Ningning, why are you back? Did Lin Chen bully you? If he did, you have to tell me—I’ll go and beat him up for you.”

Jiang Ning thought to herself: He did bully me, but not the kind of bullying you’re talking about! She shook her head. Ugh, where did all these dirty thoughts come from? That’s not the point!

“Ma Huijuan, you’ve returned just in time. Did you take my things?” She stared her down with a sharp, piercing gaze. “Who gave you permission to touch it?”