Li Xiangyang greeted Wu Shuhui and Xu Xiaobo, then said to Lin Lan, "Should we all head out, or should I go get Mom?"

Lin Lan looked at Wu Shuhui. "Auntie, would you like to come into town with us?"

Wu Shuhui glanced at Li Xiangyang and nodded. "Alright, we’ll go with you."

’She hadn’t expected Lin Lan to find such a good man for her second marriage. It felt like the heavens were being unfair. Why did they always favor Wu Shufen?’

’Other people’s sons came back disgraced after three years in the army, but her son managed to get promoted to an officer. After leaving the service, he was even given a job in the East Market.’

A sense of unease suddenly crept into Xu Xiaobo’s heart when he saw Li Xiangyang.

Li Xiangyang went and opened the door to the main hall, pushing Lin Lan’s bicycle out. He gave Xu Xiaobo a cool glance. "Cousin, do you know how to ride a bike?"

’This cousin of Lin Lan’s has shifty eyes,’ he thought. ’A good-for-nothing loafer with sticky fingers is unlikely to ever truly change his ways.’

Xu Xiaobo nodded hurriedly. "I do, I do." For some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy after seeing Li Xiangyang.

"This one’s a bit easier to ride. You take it and give Auntie a ride." Li Xiangyang then closed the door to the main hall.

Lin Lan went back to the kitchen and tidied up the area in front of the stove. She checked the large white beans in the steamer basket. Seeing they were cooked through, she used a small shovel to cover the embers in the firebox.

Li Xiangyang came out of his room. Lin Lan handed him the keys, telling him to lock up and let Wangcai out into the yard. She and Xu Xiaobo started pushing the bicycles outside.

The mother and son, Wu Shuhui and Xu Xiaobo, each lost in their own thoughts, followed Lin Lan out of the courtyard. They could hear Wangcai’s happy barks from inside. A moment later, Li Xiangyang came out and shut the courtyard gate. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He took the bicycle from Lin Lan. "You sit on the back. I’ll pedal."

Lin Lan nodded and said to Xu Xiaobo, "Littlebo, follow us."

Wu Shuhui stroked the brand-new bicycle. ’It would be so nice if our family could afford a bike like this someday.’

Xu Xiaobo nodded. After Wu Shuhui got on, he mounted the bike and glanced back one more time before securely following behind Li Xiangyang with his mother.

Not long after the four of them had left, two young men carrying woven back-baskets approached the wall of Lin Lan’s home. They had just followed it to the courtyard gate when Wangcai suddenly threw himself against it, barking furiously.

The two men flinched at Wangcai’s loud barking. They took a few steps forward, looked both ways, and then the man closer to the wall pulled a greasy paper packet from his bag and hurled it into the yard.

Wangcai pounced on the packet and sniffed it, then backed away to the gate, staring at the men outside. ’Master, someone’s trying to get me for dog meat again!’

The group of four arrived at the pastry shop in the south of the city. They saw Qiaohui and Tong Xinglan bustling about, packing pastries for customers.

After getting off the bike, Lin Lan said to Li Xiangyang, "Are you going to check on the meat stall?"

Li Xiangyang nodded, glancing at Xu Xiaobo as he rode up. "I’ll head back and take a look. After I check things on Limin Road, I’ll visit Brother Yong and Shuiqing if I have time. You don’t need to swap with my dad for lunch."

"Okay," Lin Lan said. "Tell Zhigang to come over for lunch."

Xu Xiaobo arrived with Wu Shuhui, panting. "Brother-in-law, you ride too fast! I could barely keep up."

Li Xiangyang laughed. "I’ll have to take you out to train with me sometime."

Xu Xiaobo didn’t even have the courage to say yes.

Wu Shuhui got off the bicycle and stared at the pastry shop in astonishment. "Little Lan, this is your shop?"

Qiaohui and Tong Xinglan saw the group outside as well. They offered a smiling greeting before turning back to packing pastries.

"Mhm!" Lin Lan led the mother and son into the workshop at the back. "Mom," she said to Wu Shufen, "Auntie is here."

Wu Shufen froze for a second before stepping forward with a smile. "I was starting to think you’d really cut ties with me!"

Wu Shuhui forced a smile. "We were the ones who spoke out of turn. Don’t hold it against me, Second Sister."

Wu Shufen was all smiles. "We’re sisters. Let’s just let bygones be bygones." She graciously led Wu Shuhui to the break room to sit and chat.

Lin Lan washed her hands and turned to Xu Xiaobo, who was standing in the courtyard with his eyes darting about. "If you want to learn to make pastries, you have to start with kneading dough. I’ll get the ingredients ready; you can do the kneading."

Lin Yuezhen glanced at Lin Lan but said nothing.

Xu Xiaobo froze. "Okay, Cousin." ’He hadn’t expected Lin Lan to be so blunt, putting him to work the moment he arrived.’

Lin Lan measured out the ingredients and began to teach Xu Xiaobo how to knead the dough.

Xu Xiaobo had never done this kind of work before. He got flour all over his hands, and before long, his nose and hair were dusted with it too.

Lin Lan praised him with a smile, "Littlebo, you’re obviously a smart guy, you learn so quickly! We ladies don’t have much strength, so it’s wonderful that you’re here. From now on, you can be in charge of all the kneading."

"Littlebo, don’t think kneading is a simple job. Let me tell you, the first step to making pastries is learning to knead dough. The pastries will only taste good if the dough is kneaded properly. It took Xinglan half a month of kneading before she even got the hang of it."

"I know, Cousin. I know you’re just trying to help me," Xu Xiaobo said agreeably, but inwardly he was cursing. ’Knead my ass. As soon as I get what I came for, I’m out of here.’

Lin Yuezhen glanced at Lin Lan, then at the electric dough mixer. ’Ever since Xinglan learned to knead, they’d used the mixer to make dough as long as the power was on. She couldn’t understand why Lin Lan was saying this.’

In the break room, Wu Shuhui overheard Lin Lan praising Xu Xiaobo and laughed happily. "Second Sister, Littlebo is a smart boy and a quick learner. Once he learns the trade from Little Lan, he’ll go back to Dashiqiao and open his own pastry shop."

Wu Shufen glanced over at Xu Xiaobo and nodded with a smile. "As long as he’s willing to put in the effort, opening a shop after he’s finished his apprenticeship is better than going back home to work the fields, no matter how you look at it."

Xu Xiaobo was panting with exhaustion by the time he finished kneading the dough to Lin Lan’s specifications. He was just about to say he needed to step out for a moment, but before he could get the words out,

Lin Lan brought over a large wooden basin. She looked at him with a wide grin and said, "Littlebo, sorry to trouble you, but could you knead one more batch, just like I showed you?"

Xu Xiaobo’s expression darkened, but he forced a smile and nodded. "Okay, Cousin."

Lin Lan glanced at Xu Xiaobo’s miserable expression, which looked like he’d rather be dead. She cut off a piece of the dough with a knife, covered the rest with a damp white cloth, and then started making Sachima with Lin Yuezhen.

Meanwhile, Li Xiangyang had already returned to their home in Lexing. As he opened the courtyard gate, Wangcai greeted him, tail wagging, circling his feet.

Li Xiangyang searched around the yard and found a piece of braised meat wrapped in kraft paper in the vegetable patch. He picked a large vegetable leaf, wrapped the meat in it, and tucked it into the satchel hanging from the back of his bicycle seat.

He went back and ruffled the fur on Wangcai’s head. "Good boy. I’ll go get you a bone."

Wangcai barked twice and followed him to the kitchen, tail wagging.

Li Xiangyang took a meaty bone from the cupboard and went to sit on the bamboo chair under the eaves. After giving the bone to Wangcai, he patted the dog’s head. "Guard the house, good boy. And don’t eat any meat strangers give you, or they’ll snatch you up for a stew."

Wangcai pinned the bone with its paws and looked up at Li Xiangyang, letting out a few dissatisfied yelps. ’Dog meat isn’t for eating.’

Li Xiangyang watched Wangcai for a moment. Then, remembering something, he stood up, closed the kitchen door securely, and pushed his bicycle out. After shutting the courtyard gate, he headed for the police station.