Chapter 29: How Brazen

Lin Zhao placed water beside Da Huang, who paused eating, glanced at her, rubbed his large head against her leg, sniffed her scent, and the emotion in his eyes made her nose sting.

He resumed eating, his tail wagging rapidly.

“Dacai, where did you find Da Huang?”

Dacai squatted watching Da Huang eat; hearing his mother’s question, he looked up and said, “Right at the door—he was hiding behind the tree.”

The moment he mentioned the tree, Lin Zhao remembered—it was across the diagonal, right next to their house.

“Da Huang is worried about his pups—what a clever dog.”

Hearing this, Ercai sidled over, stirred by a strange sense of competition, and asked boldly, “Who’s smarter—me or Da Huang?”

Comparing yourself to a dog?

You’ve got guts.

Lin Zhao’s lips twitched faintly, “...Both are smart.”

Ercai wasn’t offended—he patted Da Huang’s head, beaming, “Da Huang, you’re as smart as me—you’re meant to be the Gu family’s dog.”

The second half clearly echoed his grandmother’s words, even the tone was identical.

Lin Zhao had nothing to say.

“Mama, should we build a den for Da Huang and Hu Po?” Dacai asked.

“We could, but I don’t know how,” Lin Zhao agreed with his idea, though she lacked the skill.

Dacai’s eyes lit up. “I’ll ask Grandpa to do it!”

“Brother, I’m coming with you to the old house—I need to return Grandma’s comb,” Ercai stood, hugging Hu Po; he’d once mocked the dog as ugly, but now he was utterly smitten.

Lin Zhao reminded him, “Don’t forget to tell Grandma you used her comb to brush Hu Po’s fur.”

“Grandma won’t scold me,” Ercai waved dismissively and left the house with his brother.

Look at the cheek of these favored little humans—how brazen.

Lin Zhao stopped worrying about the two boys, played with the Long Fengtai for a while, then let the two little bundles play on their own while she watched.

With nothing else to do, she summoned the lottery wheel and noticed several tasks in the right-hand column had been checked off.

Points surged upward.

【You adopted the most loyal Da Huang, letting him taste fullness for the first time in his life, gently removing his odor and pests—you’re the most compassionate dog owner! Congratulations, family member +1, reward: 100 points.】

【You adopted the curious little Huang, gave him the warmest, most beautiful name, spared him hunger and homelessness—surely such a cherished pup will repay you with loyalty and trust. Family member +1, reward: 100 points. Keep going!】

【You taught your children to read and write, helping them become socialist successors—excellent behavior! Reward: 100 points.】

…

A series of task completion notifications.

After that.

In the upper right, total points became 580.

Lin Zhao’s eyes lit up; without hesitation, she spent 500 points on a single draw.

The pointer spun rapidly, then gradually slowed.

Her heart raced in sync with the pointer, thudding faster and faster.

She had no idea what she’d get.

I hope it’s something that can store food without spoiling—like a fridge!!

These few seconds felt endless.

Finally.

The pointer stopped.

The prize’s name appeared slowly, like heat-sensitive ink reacting to warmth.

Four characters:

“Storage Ring”

“!!!”

Lin Zhao’s face lit up with delight.

Her dream had come true!

She took out the Storage Ring, slipped it onto her ring finger, and it instantly vanished from sight.

Yet she could still sense its presence.

It was… incredibly surreal.

If she already had a mysterious lottery wheel, a Storage Ring wasn’t even surprising anymore.

Lin Zhao returned indoors and stored everything she’d won—ribs, watermelon, the gold bars and jewels her father had given her—all inside the ring.

She could see the items neatly arranged in compartments of varying sizes; the sight was deeply soothing—even to Ercai’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Ercai, hugging the scruffy little Huang dog, entered the Gu family’s old house.

Upon seeing Gu Mu, he dashed over, voice bright and rising, “Grandma! Look at my Hu Po!!”

Dacai and Da Huang trailed behind him.

Gu Mu blinked. “You’ve got a dog at home?”

She immediately asked, “Did your mother agree to this?!”

“She did! Mama said we could keep it,” Ercai replied cheerfully.

Gu Mu was baffled—her third daughter-in-law wouldn’t even keep chickens, yet now she wanted a dog?

“Keeping a dog isn’t bad—Da Huang is loyal and understands human speech, good for guarding the house. But it eats a lot.”

Such a big dog—how much food would it consume?

She was deeply concerned.

“Ercai, do you still have grain at home? If not, Grandma can share some with you?”

Ercai said, “Mama didn’t say we’re short on grain.”

If she didn’t say it, they weren’t short.

Gu Mu relaxed, glanced at the emaciated Da Huang, then added, “If you need more, come find me.”

“Of course,” Ercai said with an air of old-world wisdom.

Gu Mu ruffled his bald head.

Ercai pulled out the comb from his pocket and handed it over. “Grandma, here’s your comb—I’m returning it…”

He paused, his eyes flickering as he gauged her mood, then added, “Grandma, I used your comb to brush Hu Po’s fur.”

“Hu Po?” Gu Mu frowned.

“That’s Huang! Hu Po is the name Mama gave him!” Ercai perked up, seeing she wasn’t angry.

“It’s fine—just wash it later,” Gu Mu said dismissively.

“Thank you, Grandma,” Ercai grinned. He knew she loved him, and he wanted to make her happy, so he added, “Grandma, I’ll recite a poem for you—want to hear?”

Gu Mu stared at him in surprise. “Oh? You can recite poems now?”

Ercai lifted his chin proudly and began.

Walking as he recited:

“Before my bed, bright moonlight,

I suspect it to be frost on the ground.

I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon,

I lower it, lost in thoughts of home.”

After finishing, his bright eyes fixed on Gu Mu, expectant, begging for praise.

“Excellent! Beautiful!” Gu Mu beamed, pinching his cheeks, utterly delighted. “Oh my precious grandson, how clever you are—only five years old and already reciting poems! Better than your father!”

Gu Chenghuai suddenly felt an itch in his nose.

Someone was thinking of him.

Zhao Zhao?

Had she received the things he sent back?!

The young officer, face serious, smiled faintly as he thought of his wife and children.

“Captain Gu, the regiment commander wants you,” a young soldier ran up with the message.

Gu Chenghuai’s smile vanished; he snapped his heels together, spine straight as a pine, and saluted.

In the slanting sunlight, his figure walked away.

Back at the Gu house, Ercai’s face glowed red from praise, his eyes and brows brimming with joy. “Grandma, I learned five characters!” He stretched out his palm eagerly.

“Five characters? More than I know! Did your uncle teach you?” Gu Mu asked.

“No! My mama! Mama taught me and my brother to read and count last night.” Ercai decided not to mention his mother’s refusal to arrange brides for them—he didn’t want Grandma scolding her and making her sad.

Gu Mu was stunned, her voice rising. “Your mother taught you both to read and count?”

She’d assumed it was her younger son who’d taught them.

“Yes!” Ercai nodded vigorously.

“Your mother is paying more attention to you now,” Gu Mu remarked, deeply moved.

Ercai said, “My mama is the best.”

Even if she refused to find them brides, she was still the best mother!

Dacai finally found his chance to ask, “Grandma, where’s Grandpa?”

“Why do you want to find him?”

“I want to ask him to build a den for Da Huang and Hu Po,” Dacai said.

Gu Mu thought it was no big deal—he could finish it quickly. She pointed to the room. “He’s lying inside. Go call him.”

“Alright,” Dacai ran off to rouse his grandfather.

Gu Fu knew some carpentry; though not skilled, making a doghouse was enough for him.

After hearing his grandson’s request, he found a few planks and began working.

Gu Er crouched beside his grandfather, watching and voicing demands: “Grandpa, make it pretty.”

Mom doesn’t like ugly things.

Gu Fu smiled and nodded.

In the afternoon, Lin Zhao planned to visit her parents’ home. When she told Da Cai and Er Cai, they immediately insisted on coming along.

The mother complained that bringing both kids was exhausting and time-consuming, so she immediately drew two big pies, promising to make them sweet-and-sour watermelon-lemon juice when she returned. The two children hesitated, then, after a few seconds, declared they would wait at home for Mom.

Masterfully handled.

A sly smile flickered in Lin Zhao’s eyes. She slung an empty basket over her arm and skipped cheerfully toward her parents’ home.

Without children to manage, her steps felt light as wind.

Just before reaching her parents’ village, Lin Zhao took a watermelon, a jar of green tea, and two catties of white flour from her storage ring and walked into Dongfeng Team.

The usually bustling village entrance was eerily empty.

She frowned in confusion.

She hadn’t walked far.

She saw her mother fighting someone.

No—her mother was single-handedly beating someone.

Over there, chaos reigned: curses, cries, and jeers filled the air…

No one could make sense of the situation.

One of the bystanders pulling her mother away spotted Lin Zhao and shouted: “Zhaozhao? It’s Zhaozhao back! Zhaozhao, pull your mom off! Oh my, she’s got no business fighting—she’ll kill someone! This is a new era now, not like the old days—killing lands you in jail…”

Lin Zhao pushed through the crowd to her mother’s side and asked: “Mom, what’s going on?”

She glanced at the woman being beaten—it was the longest-tongued woman in Dongfeng Team, always comparing herself to every peer, gossiping about everyone’s business, turning black into white. She’d suffered consequences for her gossip before, yet never learned.

Song Xi, Lin Zhao’s mother, impatiently shoved the woman who couldn’t speak, clapped her hands, smoothed her slightly disheveled clothes, and remained calm: “Nothing. We were just playing.”

The beaten gossiping woman glared, humiliated and furious.

Who are you playing with?

This savage!

She cursed inwardly but dared not utter a word.

She had no right here—she’d spoken ill of Lin Zhao, and Song Xi, this female bandit, had caught her red-handed.

The woman angrily shoved away those helping her and stormed off.

“What kind of person is that?” the one she shoved muttered unhappily—ungrateful wretch.

Song Xi glanced at Lin Zhao’s bundled packages, her brow twitching faintly. She shot her daughter a sour look and said: “Go home.”

Lin Zhao pretended not to notice her mother’s glare, followed her, and handed the items to her mother—the woman who could slay bandits—then feigned exhaustion, shaking her arms and complaining: “I’m dead tired, Mom, you carry these. Ugh, if only we had a bicycle.”

“...” Song Xi’s eyes showed resignation. She didn’t think her daughter was spoiled. “Money isn’t the issue. Do you have the ticket?”

Lin Zhao shook her head. “No. I wrote to Gu Chenghuai—he might get one.”

Song Xi turned to look at her daughter. Lin Zhao’s eyes were clear and bright, her whole presence luminous and soft—just like when she first married.

Full of confidence for the future, vividly loving this world.

“Still not mad at Chenghuai?”

Lin Zhao blinked. “I’m not mad at him.”

Song Xi sighed inwardly.

If you weren’t mad, why did you neglect the children? Those years, you changed completely—wasn’t it because your husband wasn’t around when you gave birth, and you sulked?

“Fine. You’re not mad.”

The packages were heavy. Song Xi hefted them. “What else did you bring?”

“Just a watermelon, a jar of green tea, two catties of white flour.” Lin Zhao sighed. “I wanted to bring Dad a jar of meat sauce, but I was afraid you’d yell at me, so I didn’t take it. I’ll mail it to your son-in-law tomorrow when I go to town.”

“Mail it to Chenghuai—good idea,” Song Xi approved. “He’s working hard alone out there. You should care for him more.”

“I do care—I write him three letters a week. Isn’t that frequent enough?”

Song Xi said nothing, only: “When you first married, you wrote one letter a day.”

Lin Zhao had no rebuttal—it was true.

The mother and daughter walked off together. The spot once crowded with onlookers instantly lost all warmth.

“Zhaozhao brought more stuff for her parents again. Does her own household have nothing left? Once a daughter marries, she shouldn’t keep taking her in-laws’ things back to her birth family. Only because the Gu family split up, or she’d have been kicked out long ago.”

The woman speaking was the same age as Song Xi. Her daughter-in-law constantly stole from the household to send things to her own family. She despised daughters-in-law who didn’t care for their husband’s home. Seeing Lin Zhao with her bundles reminded her of her own daughter-in-law, and she ground her teeth.

Someone beside her warned: “Their family business isn’t ours. If you don’t want that Song woman coming after you, keep quiet.”

Besides, her daughter married a capable man who’s willing to honor his in-laws—that’s filial piety. Why be bitter?

“Fine, I won’t say anything...”

The gossiping group scattered. Everyone went home, but inwardly they all wondered: What else did Lin Zhao bring this time?

Lin Zhao could guess exactly what the villagers would say—she could recite every word. It was always the same idle talk, much like what people in Fengshou Team said. No malice, just a love for gossip—just a way for country folk to pass the time. She never cared.

Back home.

Lin Zhao immediately spotted her father sunbathing in the courtyard.

“Dad!”

Lin Heling, who had been resting with eyes closed, opened them at the familiar voice, smiled, and waved her over.

“Zhaozhao’s back. Thirsty?”

Lin Zhao sat down beside her father without hesitation. “Starving for water—I practically ran here to tell you the good news. My throat’s on fire.”

At that moment, Lin Shi emerged from the kitchen, holding a pitcher of water.

“Drink,” he said, then glared at his sister. “You didn’t bring your own canteen? Don’t blame us.”

Seeing she wore no hat, he frowned. “Didn’t even bring a straw hat. You’ll get sunburned and whine again.”

Lin Zhao gulped down several big swallows, giving him a wounded look. “I was in a hurry to share the good news with you, and now Brother Er is scolding me.”

She pouted for only two seconds, then perked up again.

“Brother Er, guess what good news I brought?”

(End of Chapter)