Chapter 375: Chapter 372: Overthinking It a Bit

Lin Lan smiled, watching the tall man and the little boy hugging. "Little Douzi, have you had breakfast yet?"

Little Douzi nodded. "I have. Grandpa made fermented rice soup, and he added little sweet dumplings and a poached egg."

Lin Lan smiled and patted his head. "You don’t have school today. Are you going to the department store with Grandpa, or are you coming with us to the pastry shop?"

Little Douzi hugged Li Xiangyang’s neck again. "I want to be with Uncle Xiangyang today."

"Alright, you’ll stay with me," Li Xiangyang said, carrying him downstairs.

Lin Lan went back to their room. She took a bank passbook from the cabinet, picked up the watch from the nightstand and put it on, then headed downstairs as well.

When Old Li saw the two of them come down, he smiled and gestured toward the kitchen. "If you’re hungry, feel free to cook something yourselves."

Li Xiangyang smiled. "We’re not going to cook. We’re going out for tofu pudding and rice."

"I’m heading out now," Old Li said, grabbing his keys. "It’s the Dragon Boat Festival today, so the shop will be crowded. I have to go watch over things." He unlocked his bicycle by the main gate and looked at Little Douzi. "Grandpa’s leaving now."

Little Douzi waved his small hand. "Be careful, Grandpa. I’m staying with Uncle Xiangyang today."

Old Li waved and left, pushing his bicycle.

Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang went to the pastry shop, where Qiaohui and Tong Xinglan were standing in front of the coal stove, busily using bamboo tongs to get rice dumplings for customers.

Tong Xinglan looked at Lin Lan with a mournful expression. "Cousin, what took you so long? We’re swamped over here."

Lin Lan said apologetically, "Sorry about that, I overslept." She went into the back, took off her jacket, and changed into her work clothes. Then she came back out, grabbed the bamboo tongs hanging from the handle of a large metal pot, and got to work.

Seeing he couldn’t help, Li Xiangyang took Little Douzi into the shop, greeted Lin Yuezhen, and walked toward the backyard. "Let’s go eat some rice dumplings."

Little Douzi said, "The rice dumplings with Grandpa’s cured salt pork are delicious."

"Alright, we’ll have the salt pork ones."

Little Douzi pointed at a brown hemp rope. "Uncle Xiangyang, the ones tied with this color string are the salt pork and chestnut dumplings. You should try one, they’re delicious."

"Mhm!" Li Xiangyang went inside, got a plate, picked out four rice dumplings, placed them on the small square table, and sat down to eat.

Lin Yuezhen came in with a scented sachet and smilingly hung it on Little Douzi. "Wear this sachet, Little Douzi, and you won’t get any sores."

Little Douzi looked happily at the five-colored sachet. "Thank you, Auntie!"

Lin Yuezhen smiled and waved her hand, then turned and went back to the shop front.

Once a rush of customers subsided, Qiaohui said, "Cousin, you should go eat. Xinglan and I can watch the stall."

Lin Lan looked at the two of them. "Have you two eaten?"

They both nodded. "We did. We had some plain and filled steamed buns."

"Why steamed buns?" Lin Lan asked curiously. For the last few days, breakfast had been nothing but rice dumplings. And when they were too busy to make lunch, they’d just order tofu pudding and rice from Yang Liying’s place next door.

Qiaohui glanced at Tong Xinglan and said with a mischievous grin, "The ’Steamed Bun’ from across the street brought them over. He just left them here and took off. We couldn’t even stop him."

"Don’t look at me," Tong Xinglan said, pinching Qiaohui. "What’s it got to do with me if ’Stinky Steamed Bun’ brings over buns?"

Lin Lan was confused. "’Stinky Steamed Bun?’ Are the buns from his shop stinky?"

Tong Xinglan looked at Lin Lan, amused. "Cousin, ’Steamed Bun’ is the nickname Qiaohui gave the young shop owner across the street."

Lin Lan smiled and tapped them both lightly. "You two little rascals, how could you give someone a nickname like that?"

"Hee hee, Xinglan called the young boss ’Steamed Bun’, and he actually answered to it."

Lin Lan glanced at the steamed bun shop across the street. ’The young owner seems like a decent guy. If he’s genuinely interested in courting Tong Xinglan, it could be a good match.’

"Xinglan, Qiaohui, don’t call the young boss by a nickname anymore. It’s not nice to call people names, it makes us look like we have no manners."

The two of them blushed and nodded repeatedly. "We understand. We won’t call him that anymore."

"You two keep watch, I’m going to get something to eat."

When Lin Lan didn’t see Li Xiangyang and Little Douzi at Yang Liying’s, she headed for the backyard and ran right into them on their way out. "You two ate the rice dumplings?"

Little Douzi said with a look of admiration, "Mama, Uncle Xiangyang is so amazing! He ate five rice dumplings!"

"He sure is amazing!" Lin Lan said, playing along with a laugh. She turned to Li Xiangyang. "Are you heading to Uncle Da’s place now? I’ll give you the passbook."

Li Xiangyang nodded. "Mhm! I’m going to ask Uncle Da to go to the bank with me to transfer the money into his account."

"That’ll be more convenient." Lin Lan gave him the passbook. "After you go to Uncle Da’s, bring back the bicycles and sewing machine you bought for Eldest Sister and Third Sister. When you get back, we’ll go to the East City Restaurant."

"Okay." Li Xiangyang left, holding Little Douzi’s hand.

Lin Lan went out and over to Yang Liying’s place. "Third Sister, I’ll have a bowl of blood curd, a portion of pork intestines, and a bowl of rice."

Yang Liying smiled, ladled out a bowl of blood curd, and brought it to the table. "I saw Xiangyang and Little Douzi come by. Aren’t they eating?"

Lin Lan smiled. "They ate some rice dumplings and left."

Yang Liying brought the rice and pork intestines to the table and sat across from Lin Lan. "I was originally going to treat you all to a meal today, but I figured you’d be going to your parents’ home to give festival gifts, so I changed it to tomorrow. Come over to my place after we close up this afternoon. Eldest Sister and the others will be there too."

"Great! If you’re offering a meal, I won’t be polite!" Lin Lan remembered that Wang Zhixue and Yuru were having their wedding banquet on the eighteenth of this month. "Third Sister, is Zhixue’s new home all decorated?"

Yang Liying said with a grin, "It is. A few days ago, Eldest Brother-in-law went to the brigade and got the residential land plot for Zhilin approved. Eldest Sister is planning to build a house for Zhilin after Zhixue’s wedding."

"Getting the land approved early is the right move. If you have the money, it would be best to get a plot approved for your third brother as well."

"You mean houses here in Lexing will become valuable too?"

"In the future, residential land plots will only become scarcer."

"You have a point. I’ll talk to Eldest Sister about it later."

"Mhm!" Lin Lan put the money for the meal on the table. "Xiangyang went to help you guys pick up your things. You can come get them from my place when he gets back!"

Yang Liying said joyfully, "Thank you, thank you! I’ll go tell Eldest Sister right now."

Lin Lan smiled. "Go on, I’m heading back."

Yang Liying took two steps, then suddenly remembered something. "I have something to tell you." She pulled Lin Lan into the backyard. "Lin Lan, I think Zhilin might have taken a liking to Xinglan."

"Ah!" Lin Lan was so startled by Yang Liying’s words that she started hiccuping. She quickly took a deep breath and swallowed, but it didn’t stop.

Yang Liying quickly poured her a cup of water and patted her on the back. "Oh my, if I’d known, I would’ve told you later. Besides, I’m just guessing. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Maybe I’m just overthinking it."

After swallowing the warm water in the bowl in several gulps, Lin Lan finally stopped hiccuping. She looked at Yang Liying, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "How did you figure that out?"

Yang Liying said in a low voice, "The other day, I heard Eldest Sister say that someone introduced Zhilin to a potential match. They went to meet her, and when he came back, Zhilin just kept complaining about the girl. He said she was hopelessly dowdy and that even Tong Xinglan was better than her."

After hearing this, Lin Lan considered how the two of them usually interacted and said, "I don’t think so. Zhilin was probably just complaining."