Chapter 209: The Game of Candy Wrappers

Chapter 209: The Game of Candy Wrappers

“Should we take some dumplings to Mom and Dad?”

After finishing their meal, Xiulan suggested.

Lin Heng shook his head. “No need, they’re helping out at the Liu Family’s place and will eat there.”

“Alright, then let’s have Caiyun come over for dinner after school,” Xiulan nodded and added.

Lin Heng had no objections to this. Speaking of Caiyun, he remembered that this week was her exam week, and she would soon be on vacation. Today was the 12th, a Thursday, but he wasn’t sure exactly when her break would start.

After breakfast, Xiulan took the beef tripe that had been soaking overnight, while Lin Heng headed to the Liu Family’s place with Xiao Xia.

Although the main event was tomorrow, when guests would come to offer gifts, it was still important for him to show up and help out today. Otherwise, it would seem a bit neglectful.

The Liu Family’s place was much livelier than before, with a crowd gathered, creating a bustling and lively atmosphere.

Inside the tent, it was warm due to the charcoal fire. Lin Heng checked the kitchen, where his mother was helping wash vegetables.

Seeing Xiao Xia, she immediately wiped her hands and reached out with a smile. “Come here, let Grandma hold you.”

“Grandma, I want to eat this,” Xiao Xia said, pointing to the persimmons nearby.

The Lin family’s persimmons had long been dried, and Xiao Xia had tasted them before. She loved their sweetness and couldn’t resist asking for one upon seeing them.

“Alright, Grandma will get you some,” Mother Lin said, kissing Xiao Xia’s cheek with a smile.

Li Yan, another woman helping with the vegetables, handed a persimmon to Xiao Xia. “Say something nice, and this persimmon is yours.”

Xiao Xia looked at Li Yan, thought for a moment, and said in her childish voice, “Auntie, you’re really pretty, just a little less than my mom.”

Li Yan was momentarily speechless.

“Hahaha, this little girl really knows how to talk.”

“Praising her mom even outside, she’s such a good child!”

The women around were amused by Xiao Xia’s words, finding her truly entertaining.

“Here you go, but next time, maybe skip the second part,” Li Yan said, patting her face and handing over the persimmon.

Xiao Xia took a bite of the persimmon and mumbled a thank you.

Lin Heng, watching this, was about to leave and let his mother take care of Xiao Xia for a while.

“I want to go with Daddy.”

But before he took a few steps, Xiao Xia ran over and grabbed his clothes.

“Alright, alright, we’ll go together,” Lin Heng said, helplessly taking her along and informing his mother before leaving.

The women watching were curious. “Xiao Xia is really attached to her dad, huh?”

Someone shook their head. “I see Lin Heng often taking her everywhere, never getting tired of it. My husband won’t even dress the kids, let alone play with them.”

“Yeah, Xiao Xia is only two, but she talks like a four or five-year-old.”

Mother Lin smiled at the women. “That’s right, my son takes her everywhere and tells her stories every day.”

“Really?” someone doubted.

Mother Lin spread her hands with a smile. “If it weren’t for that, Xiao Xia wouldn’t be so articulate and smart. They won’t even let me take care of her.”

“My goodness, Lin Heng is really patient.”

“That’s right, or else he wouldn’t have become a Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household.”

The women, including Li Yan, expressed their envy. Lin Heng had become the ideal partner or son-in-law in everyone’s eyes. Since he became a Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household half a year ago, Lu Hongmei had noticeably gained weight, her skin was smoother, and her clothes were much nicer.

Lin Heng and Xiao Xia soon reached the corner where the liquor was being brewed. His brother had built a mud stove there, with a large iron pot heating the liquor.

The tent was filled with large square tables and benches. With no farm work this season, a group of people gathered around the tables, chatting and playing cards, creating a lively scene.

From a distance, Lin Heng saw his father, Lin Xu’an, surrounded by people. They were deep in conversation, discussing everything from national affairs to trivial matters in the fields.

His father was clearly the center of attention, with everyone agreeing with his views. In the past, few would have done this, but now, because his son was a Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household and had been featured in the news, things had changed.

Not only his parents, but even his Third Uncle in the village had gained more respect.

As Lin Heng walked with his daughter, people greeted them warmly, smiling and saying hello.

At times like these, Lin Heng couldn’t help but marvel at the power of money.

However, he wasn’t one to flaunt his wealth. He took Xiao Xia to sit in the corner where the liquor was being brewed.

Nearby, a few children were playing a game with candy wrappers. In these times, candy was precious, and collecting candy wrappers had become a pastime for kids.

The game involved placing two candy wrappers on the table and slapping them. If both wrappers flipped over, they belonged to the player. If not, it was the opponent’s turn.

Lin Heng had played this kind of game before, but for Xiao Xia, it was her first time. She watched curiously with wide eyes while munching on a persimmon cake.

“Do you want to play?”

A child noticed Xiao Xia and timidly asked.

“I don’t have any candy wrappers!” Xiao Xia shook her head. She didn’t even know about this game, and she had thrown away the candy wrappers after eating the candies.

What she didn’t realize was that many of the wrappers these kids used were ones she had discarded. For the village children, picking up candy wrappers in front of Lin Heng’s house was like a treasure hunt.

And there were so many types. They envied Xiao Xia because they could only have a piece of rock candy once a month, while Xiao Xia could eat individually wrapped milk candies every couple of days.

“No worries, I’ll give you one.”

A little girl, about four or five years old, handed a candy wrapper to Xiao Xia.

“Thank you.”

As soon as Xiao Xia took the wrapper, a little boy eagerly approached her to play, clearly intending to take advantage of a beginner.

Unaware of this, Xiao Xia placed the wrapper down and gently slapped it. Miraculously, both wrappers flipped over.

“You won!!”

The little girl who had given Xiao Xia the wrapper was more excited than Xiao Xia herself. She gathered the wrappers for Xiao Xia and then turned to the boy across from them, saying, “You lost, you need to put up more wrappers.”

“Fine, I have plenty.”

The little boy, with slightly dirty hands, was unwilling to admit defeat and put up another wrapper. This time, Xiao Xia couldn’t flip it.

“My turn!”

The boy was thrilled, but his slap only resulted in the wrappers flipping back to their original position, failing his attempt.

Xiao Xia tried again and succeeded once more, happily picking up the wrappers and turning to Lin Heng. “Daddy, I won.”

“Xiao Xia is amazing.”

Lin Heng laughed heartily and encouraged her.

Xiao Xia found the new game fascinating and turned back to play some more.

No one noticed that Xiao Xia was only two years old, while the other children were four or five. A little distance away, a few two- or three-year-olds were playing and babbling, unable to speak clearly.

Lin Yue approached from afar and said to Lin Heng, “Little brother, why are you here? I can watch over things for you.”

“I came to take a look. It wouldn’t be right not to show up at all, especially since I agreed to it,” Lin Heng replied with a grin.

Lin Yue glanced at him and chuckled, “Want to play cards? Lin Hai is here too.”

“No thanks, I’m not interested in that.”

Lin Heng shook his head with a smile. It wasn’t the right occasion for such games.

“Alright then.”

Lin Yue found a stool to sit on and started talking to Lin Heng about some matters related to the funeral.

Though they were trivial matters, they were quite interesting to listen to.

After chatting for a while, Xiao Xia suddenly returned, looking a bit downcast. “Daddy, I lost all my wrappers.”

“Mine are gone too.”

The little girl who had given Xiao Xia the wrapper, named Liu Qingqing, was also a bit dejected.

Meanwhile, a few boys at the table held thick stacks of wrappers with proud expressions. They were skilled players, and even though Xiao Xia had some initial luck, they quickly won back their losses.

Lin Heng searched his pockets and found three White Rabbit candies. He looked at the boys and said, “I’ll trade a candy for some wrappers. Who wants to trade?”

“I do, I have thirty wrappers.”

A little boy was the first to rush over, handing his wrappers to Lin Heng.

“Alright then.” Lin Heng didn’t haggle and gave the candy to the boy.

The others were too late, watching enviously as the boy held the White Rabbit candy.

Lin Heng gave the remaining candies to Xiao Xia and Liu Qingqing, then handed all the wrappers to Xiao Xia. “Now you have some.”

“Daddy is the best.” Xiao Xia gave Lin Heng a kiss, overjoyed.

“Here you go.”

Xiao Xia turned and gave over ten wrappers to Liu Qingqing.

Then she turned back and continued playing the candy wrapper game with them. The other children looked at Xiao Xia with deep envy, wishing they had a father like Lin Heng.

Liu Qingqing’s fondness for Xiao Xia grew significantly because of that candy.

While Xiao Xia and the others were playing, the Village Party Secretary came over to chat with Lin Heng for a while.

After playing for more than an hour, Lin Heng took Xiao Xia home. By then, she only had five wrappers left.

Outside the tent, Lin Wei and the other ten-year-olds were setting off firecrackers. They were having a great time with the leftover firecrackers they had collected.

Not far from the tent, Lin Heng saw a group of students with backpacks walking along the road, and Caiyun was among them.

“Back so early? Is it a holiday?” Lin Heng wondered, standing still to wait.

“Second Brother, Xiao Xia!”

Five minutes later, Caiyun arrived in front of Lin Heng with a large bag of books, greeting him and picking Xiao Xia up into her arms.

“Auntie~”

Xiao Xia joyfully pressed her face against Caiyun’s. Besides her parents, she liked Caiyun the most.

“Are you on break?”

Lin Heng asked Caiyun with a smile.

Caiyun nodded with a smile. “Yes, I just finished my exams this morning. I’ll pick up my report card next Monday, and then I’m free.”

Lin Heng nodded. “Then come to my house. Let Xiulan make you some dumplings. Mom and Dad are both helping out.”

“Thank you, Second Brother.”

When Caiyun heard the word “dumplings,” her eyes lit up immediately. She had been hungry for a while.

Back inside, Xiulan had already cleaned the beef tripe and was chatting leisurely with Tian Yan.

“Sister-in-law, Sister Tian Yan!”

Caiyun came over, holding Xiao Xia, and felt a warm closeness with the two of them.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xiulan got up to prepare dumplings for Caiyun.

Before boiling them, she fried a batch first.

The fried dumplings were golden and crispy on the outside, adding a unique fried aroma that was irresistible, much like pan-fried buns.

Even though Lin Heng and Tian Yan weren’t hungry, they couldn’t resist eating several.

Tian Yan looked at Lin Heng and said, “Lin Heng, you really are lucky. Xiulan’s cooking is even better than my mom’s.”

“Haha, of course,” Lin Heng replied proudly.

Tian Yan shook her head, “It’s a good thing you’re treating Xiulan well now, or you’d be in trouble.”

After a few more words, she started chatting with Caiyun again.

Before long, Xiulan brought a bowl of dumplings to Caiyun.

Caiyun took a bite and was almost moved to tears, “It’s so delicious, I wish I could stay here forever.”

This was only the second time she had dumplings this year, the last time being during the Lantern Festival.

“I want some too,” Xiao Xia, who was always hungry, chimed in whenever she saw someone eating.

After the meal, the four of them played cards for a while.

In the evening, Lin Heng enjoyed another satisfying meal of dumplings, feeling utterly content.

The next morning, Lin Heng got up early to help out.

Today was a big day, and a lot of people arrived early in the morning.

By ten, the banquet had already started, and Lin Heng noticed the spread was better than expected.

There were six cold dishes, five hot dishes, and a soup, making a total of twelve dishes per table, though most were made from simple ingredients.

In the afternoon, Xiulan came with Xiao Xia and her sister-in-law Liu Juan, bringing a gift of ten jin of rice.

Though money was an option, everyone was bringing food, so Xiulan followed suit.

In these times, nothing went to waste at a banquet. Each dish was quickly consumed, and if anything was left, people would take it home to share with their families.

Some gatherings only prepared food for the women, who would then divide it up to take home.

Good food was rare, and anything with meat was especially prized, so it was natural to share with family.

Xiulan didn’t take any home, as her family already had plenty of meat, and her cooking was even better than what was served at the banquet.

After the feast, there was a grand performance of traditional songs and a suona band, which attracted many locals to stay and watch.

That night, the formal closing ceremony took place, and the next morning, a group carried the remains to be buried on the hill behind.

Lin Heng watched with a touch of sentiment, shook his head, and turned to go home.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was now the 13th of the twelfth lunar month, January 15th on the solar calendar.

It was a Monday, the day Caiyun was to collect her report card.

Lin Heng also needed to head down to town, as a shipment of mountain goods was expected, along with news about the ginseng buyers.

Similarly, wholesalers would be delivering goods, as sales had increased significantly during the New Year period.

All of this required Lin Heng’s attention.

So early in the morning, Lin Heng prepared the carriage and set off with Caiyun toward Huangtan Town.

— Translator’s Notes —

– suona band: The suona is a loud, double-reed woodwind instrument central to Chinese folk music, commonly used in weddings, funerals, and festivals for its piercing, celebratory sound.

– White Rabbit candies: White Rabbit is a iconic Chinese brand of creamy milk candy, produced since 1948, known for its wrapped, chewy treats that were especially prized in rural areas during times of scarcity.