Lin Chun realized that it was indeed so; now, when looking for a match, handling it oneself was a laughing matter. It was generally through the introduction of relatives, friends, colleagues, and such.
"Xiaoxia, what you said makes sense! But Dad spent money, he definitely doesn't want to waste it! When Dad left early this morning, he said he would take leave to come back and deal with this in two days!"
Lin Xia reminded, "Big brother! Wouldn't the money we spent be wasted then?"
In fact, Lin Xia didn't care about the more than ten yuan, but she had to persuade her older brother first.
As for Lin Qiu, the reason she obediently stopped going to the garment factory was definitely to avoid causing them trouble.
But Lin Xia couldn't afford to be concerned about trouble, because it directly related to whether Lin Qiu's fate would change in the future.
Would she, returning to the past, just watch Lin Qiu make the same old mistakes?
As Lin Chun neared home, he lowered his voice, "How can we not waste it! I didn't dare bring it up! If I do, Dad will definitely ask where this money came from. If I were to lie and say I borrowed it from someone, what if Dad insists on confronting that person, what would we do then!"
Lin Xia gave a helpless wry smile; they indeed couldn't even mention the matter of spending money to give gifts.
This was also why that day when she went to her aunt's house, and her aunt asked who found her the garment factory job, she simply said a colleague from her unit helped.
As the two talked, they arrived at the gate. Lin Xia, agile as ever, hopped off the back of the bicycle.
She gripped the large bag in her hand and followed Lin Chun into the yard.
Perhaps having heard the noise from inside the house, Lin Qiu ran out. Seeing Lin Xia, her face was instantly full of excitement, and her eyes reddened in a moment, "Sis! You came back!" in her voice was an unmistakable reliance and grievance.
Seeing her sister like this, Lin Xia's heart ached, and she silently swore that even if it meant fighting with Lin Aiguo to the end, she would not let Lin Qiu go to the soy sauce factory!
Lin Xia took a deep breath, and with a smile teased Lin Qiu, "Look at how old you are! Still crying! Are you by yourself at home?"
"Yep! Just me!"
Lin Qiu wanted to take the large bag from Lin Xia's hand, but Lin Xia skillfully dodged her.
Lin Xia said softly, "Then let's go inside quick! I've brought you guys some great stuff!"
"Really!" Lin Qiu's eyes shone with surprise.
Lin Xia glanced back to see Lin Chun fiddling with the bicycle's wheel, "Big brother! What are you up to?"
"You two go ahead inside; I think the tire might be low on air!"
"Okay!" Lin Xia responded.
As Lin Qiu followed Lin Xia into the house, Lin Xia naturally asked upon seeing the large pot in the kitchen, "Xiaoqiu, is there rice in the pot? What did everyone have for breakfast at home?!"
"Sis! It's all warming up in the pot! You go into the room first, take off your shoes and rest on the Kang! I'll bring it to you!" Lin Qiu cheerfully nudged Lin Xia along.
Lin Xia entered the Western House by herself, quickly removing the things from Jade's room from the big bag and placing some of the mushrooms into Jade's room.
By the time Lin Qiu carried the food into the room, Lin Xia had already laid out all the things she had bought for them, including the food, neatly on the Kang.
Lin Qiu only knew that Lin Xia went to the provincial capital, but they were unclear as to what specifically she did.
She exclaimed, "Sis! Did you buy all this? Canned food! Crispy twists! Sugar cubes! Dongzi will be so happy when she comes back from school!"
"Yeah!" Lin Xia took the bowl from Lin Qiu's hand, pointing out, "Xiaoqiu, look! Apart from the snacks, I bought you a hair clip!"
Lin Qiu delightedly picked it up to look, her eyes filled with joyful light, "Sis! It's so pretty! What's this butterfly knot made of? Why is the color so nice, all bright and sparkling!"
Lin Xia glanced at it and explained, "I don't know either, probably resin or something, or maybe acrylic! Want to try it on?"
"Ahh!" Lin Qiu beamed as she went over to the red box to look at herself in the mirror.
Lin Chun had also just come in from outside, and when he saw the food and other things laid out on the edge of the kang bed, he looked a little surprised.
"Xiaoxia! Why did you buy so much stuff?"
On the way back home, he had been preoccupied with learning about the family affairs from his older sister and had completely forgotten to ask how her trip to the provincial city went.
It seemed that the Lingzhi had been sold, but in front of Xiaoqiu, he didn't ask directly, thinking he would wait until it was just the two of them so he could listen properly.
Lin Xia didn't mention how the Lingzhi sale went in the provincial city either. "Well, I figured it's not every day we go there, so I bought you a pair of rubber shoes, big brother. I guessed the size, try them on to see if they fit!"
Lin Xia vaguely remembered that her big brother wore size 41, but she wasn't too sure.
Lin Chun waved his hand, refusing to take them. "Why did you buy this for me? I already have shoes to wear. What did you buy for yourself?"
"Exactly! Sister, you went all the way out there; what did you get for yourself?" Lin Qiu stopped braiding her hair and quickly followed up with the question.
In fact, Lin Xia hadn't bought anything for herself, but she didn't want to make her brother and sister feel uncomfortable, so she said with a smile, "I got myself some food!"
She urged Lin Chun, "Big brother, please try them on quickly to see if they fit. Don't you still have to go to work in a bit?"
There were some things she wanted to discuss with Lin Qiu alone.
Later, she was also thinking of taking the day off work to go and sell scarves; time was tight, so naturally, her big brother had to be sent off to work first.
Lin Chun suppressed the words he wanted to say and reached out to take the shoes. "Alright then! I'll try them on!"
No matter what, this was his older sister's gesture of kindness, and he couldn't say anything to hurt her feelings.
The shoes ended up fitting perfectly. "Xiaoxia! They fit really well!"
Lin Xia smiled and said, "Great! If they fit, that's good enough!"
After trying them on, Lin Chun gently took them off, but he did not wear them to work; instead, he put them away.
"Alright Xiaoxia, you all stay home. I'm off to work now!"
Once Lin Chun had gone, only Lin Xia and Lin Qiu were left at home. Lin Xia then asked Lin Qiu, "Xiaoqiu, what are you thinking? Do you want to work at the bedding factory or the soy sauce factory?"
Lin Qiu caressed the hairpin at the end of her thick braid and said with her head down, "Sister... honestly, I'm okay with either!"
Although she had only worked at the bedding factory for a few days, her coworkers were very nice, especially Auntie Zhao, who had taken good care of her.
She didn't really want to go to the soy sauce factory as her father suggested, but she was afraid that refusing would cause a family argument.
Seeing her like this, Lin Xia understood perfectly and didn't pressure Lin Qiu to make a decision.
"Xiaoqiu, I still think the bedding factory is a good place for you, but let's put this aside for a while. You stay home for a couple of days!"
She had just returned home and needed time to give this matter more thought.
Lin Qiu nodded and smiled, "Mm! Sister, don't worry about me. It's really not a big deal!"
"We can talk about that later!" Lin Xia continued, "When dad came back, did he say anything about me not being home?"
She had only told the truth to her big brother Lin Chun about going to the provincial city to sell Lingzhi, but Lin Qiu didn't know, thinking she had gone out of town for a wedding.
"I heard dad asking big brother a couple of questions, but after that, he didn't say much... Dad came back last night wanting to sort out my job situation, right? So as soon as he found out I was working at the bedding factory, he lost his temper, and didn't bother with anything else!"