Lin Xia glanced at her dismissively, "Took them! But ate them all on the way!" What good food could there be that she wouldn't have to share with her brothers and sisters? Was there anything left for her? Dreaming in broad daylight, huh?
Lin Yu's eyes snapped, "Really!" Cursing under her breath, who'd believe that! Definitely a lie, hiding to indulge herself, no good intentions!
But the current Lin Xia had become so eerie, and the ferocity with which she wielded the small axe while splitting Mingzi made Lin Yu inexplicably panicked, so she no longer dared to speak her mind like before, quietly washed her hands, and left.
Lin Xia watched her leave and sneered, "People really do bully the weak and fear the strong, always squeezing the softies." In the past, they'd all endured silently, only to end up spoiling Qian Chunli and Lin Yu and Lin Qiang, making them completely disregard them.
Now that she acted tough and decisive, they dared not say anything in front of her.
After working for a while, Lin Dong came out from the Western House, "Big sister! I'm off to school!"
Lin Xia stopped him, "Dongzi! Wait a moment!"
This cheeky boy, his mouth all greasy and he doesn't even bother to wipe it.
Lin Dong blinked curiously, "What's up?"
Lin Xia took out a handkerchief, wet it with water from the dipper, and silently gestured for Lin Dong to wipe his mouth.
Lin Dong took the hint, grinned, and after wiping his mouth, handed it back to Lin Xia, "Big sister! You wash it yourself! I'm off!"
Lin Xia ruffled his head, "Alright! Hurry off to school! Study hard!"
"Don't worry, big sister!" Lin Dong left cheerfully.
Lin Qiu had just finished eating and was taking his dishes out when Lin Xia finally entered the Western House.
She stuffed the four cans into her satchel, claiming to find a place to throw them away to destroy the evidence;
But actually, she planned to hide them in Jade's room first and discard them whenever convenient.
Lin Chun didn't leave and was sitting on the edge of the platform. He looked at Lin Xia's actions and smiled, "Xiaoxia! Everything went smoothly?"
"Smoothly!" Lin Xia sat next to Lin Chun and whispered, "Big brother! I won't go into details now, just know that your sister has made some money!"
The whole process couldn't be explained in a word or two, and with Lin Qiang at home and although Lin Qiu was in the kitchen, there was a chance he might overhear something.
Lin Chun's voice dropped to an even lower whisper, "How much?"
"Hmm! Over a hundred!" Lin Xia didn't reveal the exact amount.
"That much?" Lin Chun's mouth dropped open in astonishment, it took him a while to recover. He truly had not dared to imagine such an amount!
Lin Xia patted Lin Chun's arm and chuckled softly, "Hehe! Big brother! You've got to hold steady!"
She then pulled two ten-yuan notes out of her pocket and handed them to Lin Chun, "Big brother, keep this money!"
Lin Chun firmly refused, "Xiaoxia! Big brother doesn't want it! You earned this money with great difficulty! Keep it for yourself! Moreover, you've already bought so much, why give me money?
"Big brother! Have you forgotten the money you gave me? Without that, how could I have traveled so far? Keep it, and buy something you want!"
Lin Xia sincerely wanted to give it, and Lin Chun sincerely didn't want to accept. After a silent struggle for a while, Lin Chun finally took one ten-yuan note, but absolutely refused the other.
Lin Xia didn't insist too much, her heart could barely contain her excitement, "Big brother, this is just the beginning, I will earn more later, and eventually, I'll give each of you more money than you can spend!"
Lin Chun sat up straight, with a stern face and a low voice, "Xiaoxia! Big brother doesn't want you to do it this way, can't we just have a normal job?"
In his eyes, having a stable job had to be better than being a petty trader, right?
Lin Xia chuckled lightly. She knew she couldn't get through to her older brother right away, so she went along with his words, "Sure! I'm just making a little extra cash in my free time! I'll still do my main job properly!"
Lin Chun felt somewhat relieved. Now that his younger sister had responded in this way, he didn't feel it was right to say anything more. He glanced at the time, "Okay! As long as you know what you're doing! Xiaoxia, I'm almost late for work! We can talk more about this in the evening!"
"Okay, big brother! Slow down on your bike!"
"Alright! You rest well!"
After Lin Chun left, Lin Qiu finished tidying up the kitchen and entered the room. The sisters chatted for a while, and Lin Xia lay on the kang and drifted off.
When she woke up, she saw it was about time, so she slung her homemade crossbody bag again and left the house.
She rode her bicycle to the entrance of Chopstick Factory No. 1.
At five o'clock, when the factory ended its shift, the workers flowed out like water released from a sluice, just as they had at noon.
Lin Xia quickly sold the remaining twelve scarves, but the crowd around her didn't disperse; those who hadn't managed to buy asked her if she was coming back tomorrow.
Lin Xia was busy talking with them, so she didn't notice a man across the street staring at her…
This man was none other than Lin Qiang, who had been secretly following Lin Xia!
During lunch, he and Lin Yu were in the Eastern House. Although they couldn't hear clearly what was happening in the Western House, they could vaguely sense that the group there was up to no good.
Why else would Lin Qiu dilly-dally in the kitchen and not go in?
Plus, Lin Xia had just come back from a wedding out of town. Not to mention other things, she should have brought back some wedding candies.
So he whispered a few things to Lin Yu. When he woke up from a nap, he saw Lin Xia leaving the house with a crossbody bag. Curiosity got the better of him, and he quietly followed her, wanting to see what she was up to.
He had not expected to end up here at the chopstick factory and, hiding nearby, waited a long time only to see Lin Xia selling scarves!
Lin Qiang stood to one side, looking dazed for a long time, his face filled with disbelief. He had never thought that Lin Xia, who usually didn't say much, could speak so well, selling a simple white and red scarf for three yuan each?
What a bold asking price! How much money was she earning per scarf?
Where had she gotten those scarves from? Surely no one just gave them to her for free?
And where did the money for the scarves come from?
A whole slew of questions ran through Lin Qiang's mind. When he saw Lin Xia smoothly pocketing stacks of money, Lin Qiang felt unbearably dry-mouthed and itchy with desire. How wonderful it would be if all that money were his, and he could buy whatever he wanted?
All he ever had in his pocket were a few cents, rarely more than a yuan, and his mother gave him nothing.
All his friends wore bell-bottom trousers, but he couldn't afford them and always felt embarrassed about it!
If that money were his, he could get himself a pair of trousers too, and with the leftover money, buy cigarettes, alcohol, and meat!
But with so many people around, how could he dare to just go up and snatch it?
Lin Xia was different now; if he dared to rob her, she would definitely scream.
Taking advantage of the fact that Lin Xia hadn't noticed him yet, Lin Qiang quickly slipped away. He needed to discuss this with someone. After all, although Lin Xia could escape for now, she couldn't escape forever—he would wait for her at home!