Chapter 497: Chapter 496: Rembering the Past, Gossiping
Wong Xiao’s accounts could make all the accountants in the commune cry.
Lin Nianhe didn’t cry, because she wasn’t an accountant.
She asked, “Do you really want ten million in taxes every year?”
“It’s not that I want it, it’s Lan County that needs it,” Wong Xiao said earnestly, “Let’s not even talk about ten million in taxes, even if it’s a billion, I still get a monthly salary of twenty-three yuan and sixty cents. This has nothing to do with , it’s not what I want.”
He frowned, his expression serious.
Lin Nianhe grunted, “Alright, I’ll try my best to swindle… cheat… bamboozle… I an, get more money back for you from the foreigners.”
Wong Xiao: “…”
Should he pretend he didn’t hear that?
“Uh, Xiao Lin, Uncle isn’t necessarily asking for ten million, don’t trap yourself.”
Wong Xiao was scared to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Oh, no worries, I have it under control.”
Lin Nianhe was calm and composed.
“Do you really have it under control or are you just pretending?”
“I really have it under control.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“When I said becoming Head Flower could revitalize the textile factory, didn’t you also not believe ?”
“Who said that! I’ve always believed in you from the beginning! Was it Li Dahe, that old bonehead, gossiping with you? You can’t believe him, he’s full of cunning tricks, look at his bald head, he’s lost all his hair from being too sly!”
“Xiao Lin, you’re still young, there are many things from the past you don’t know. Co, co to Uncle’s for lunch, Uncle will tell you more…”
Lin Nianhe: “…”
When n get jealous, they’re scarier than won.
But what could she do? Uncle Wong wanted to gossip with her, and as soone who sincerely enjoyed gossip, she just couldn’t resist.
At lunchti, in the Wong Family’s main room.
Four small dishes, a little bit of alcohol.
Recalling the past, chatting about gossip.
Wong Xiao took a sip of wine, his eyes slightly dazed, “I’m not the kind of person who speaks ill of others behind their back—”
Lin Nianhe: “Mmm.”
Generally speaking, after this statent, expecting to hear sothing nice was impossible.
“It’s the sa when I say ‘let tell you sothing from the bottom of my heart.'”
“During our school days, life was so tough, not like the little bastards these days… Back then, our classroom was draughty, our trousers were draughty too, we would shiver from the cold in winter, we couldn’t even hold the pen, let alone write… that wretch Li Dahe, he’d constantly stick his hands inside my clothes when he got cold… Because of him, I never got over my colds!”
Lin Nianhe: “…”
So, you were that kind of Uncle Team Leader, huh.
“We were hungry, after class, we’d go dig out bird nests and hunt sparrows. Li Da always said he was worried I’d fall, and he’d always be the one stepping on to climb the tree. That was okay, but later I found out, there weren’t just one egg in those bird nests!”
Lin Nianhe: “…”
Hard to comnt, really hard to comnt.
“When we were seventeen or eighteen, Li Dahe would constantly chase after the village belle. His future father-in-law chased him with a shovel more than eight hundred tis! Xiao Lin, tell , isn’t that shaless? If you asked , Erfang was just foolish, how could she marry a rascal…”
Lin Nianhe quickly interrupted him, “Uncle Wong, Aunt is still in the kitchen!”
Gossip is fine, but not at the cost of our lives!
Wong Xiao choked up like soone had grabbed his throat, sobering up instantly, swallowing back all his words with a “clack”.
Just then, Aunt Wong ca in with a plate of fried peanuts, glanced at Wong Xiao’s flushed face, and snorted coldly before sitting next to Lin Nianhe and saying, “Ignore his nonsense. A little alcohol and he forgets who he is.” Saying this, she picked up the chopsticks and gave Lin Nianhe the big chicken leg from the bowl: “Girl, let’s not bother with him, co, eat.”
“Thank you, Aunt Wong.” Lin Nianhe smiled tenderly, bit into the chicken and swallowed, not stinting her praise, “This is delicious, your cooking is really good, Uncle Wong is so fortunate.”
“Eat more if you like it,” Aunt Wong said warmly, continuing to serve Lin Nianhe, “You’re too thin, even piglets are fatter than you.”
Lin Nianhe: “…” You really know how to compare.
With Aunt Wong there, Wong Xiao instantly lost his fire, quietly placing his wine cup aside and picking up his chopsticks to shovel rice.
Lin Nianhe struggled to hold back her laughter as she chatted casually with Aunt Wong.
With the addition of Aunt Wong, Wong Xiao’s bad-mouthing ceased, and the al concluded after half an hour.
“Aunt Wong, thank you for the hard work.”
Before leaving, Lin Nianhe thanked her, arm in arm.
“No need for thanks. Rember the way here; co over anyti when you’re free. I love so lively company,” Aunt Wong said with a twinkling smile, pinching Lin Nianhe’s cheek.
Lin Nianhe graciously accepted: “Sure, definitely.”
“Go on, get busy. If your uncle scolds you, just co to Auntie, and I’ll scold him back!”
“Hahaha, how could he, Uncle Wong has always taken good care of .”
Wong Xiao had work in the afternoon too and left ho with Lin Nianhe.
They talked about the future of the textile factory as they walked towards the commune, and just as they were about ten ters away from the commune, Wong Xiao suddenly pulled Lin Nianhe and turned in the opposite direction.
“Uncle Wong?”
“Hurry, hurry, don’t look back!”
Wong Xiao’s legs churned fast, as if he had seen so fierce beast.
Lin Nianhe followed suit, vaguely recalling soone sitting at the entrance of the commune.
After walking straight for two streets, Wong Xiao slowed down and looked back fearfully, seeing no one chasing, he finally sighed with relief.
“Uncle Wong, is it a creditor visiting?” Lin Nianhe, for the first ti seeing Wong Xiao so scared, couldn’t help but tease.
“Isn’t it indeed a debt collector, I truly owe her!”
Thinking of this made Wong Xiao’s stomach churn, he gritted his teeth and told Lin Nianhe, “Before the New Year, Duan Hongi from Nine-miles Team kept complaining about stomach pain. One day, she fainted at the Educated Youth Corps, Old He hurriedly took her to the clinic, and it turned out there was a tal ball as big as a quail egg in her stomach! Man, it had adhered to her stomach.”
“Ah?”
Lin Nianhe was shocked.
Such a large tal ball, it’s nearly impossible for an adult to swallow by mistake, so this could only an…
“She wanted to use this incident for a dical discharge. Can you believe it, she’s literally gambling with her life!” Wong Xiao was infuriated, “The clinic couldn’t do the surgery, we had to transport her to the city using the factory’s truck to get the ball removed.”
Lin Nianhe licked her lips, suppressing her shock she asked, “So the person at the commune entrance just now was her? After all this, she still hasn’t gotten her dical discharge?”
“If she were truly ill, no matter how difficult, I would have arranged it for her, at the very least approve her long-term leave to go ho, but with her doing this, how can I possibly approve her dical discharge?” Wong Xiao’s frustration was palpable, “If word gets out, those who don’t want to stay here would mimic this act, where do I find so many tal balls to stuff their mouths?”
The last line was clearly uttered in anger, Lin Nianhe decided to ignore it.
“So what did she co to the commune for?”
“She ca to pester , what else.” Wong Xiao frowned deeply, “Crying and making scenes, she nearly hung herself at my doorstep, I don’t go just so she might quiet down a bit.”
Lin Nianhe silently sighed.
In the long and lonely rural life, many people resorted to desperate asures to return to the city; Duan Hongi was not the first to think of harming herself to achieve her goal, nor would she be the last.
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