Fu Wenwen cheerfully prepared two dishes and one soup. They were just right for her and Lin An, one big and one small, to eat. After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Fu Wenwen saw that the sky had darkened. She hurried to bathe Lin An in the twilight, and after tucking him into bed, she took a bath herself.
In the countryside, there were not many entertainment options at night. Fu Wenwen told Lin An made-up stories to coax him to sleep.
“Once upon a time, there was a poor little girl. She was abandoned by her parents from a young age and was so poor she couldn’t even get enough to eat. She wandered the streets. A kind aunt saw her plight and took her in. The kind aunt made a living by selling matches, so the little girl helped her sell matches every day. With the money they earned from selling matches, they started other businesses and made a lot of money. Under the kind aunt’s care, the little girl grew into a beautiful young woman. They bought a castle. The kind aunt became the queen, and the little girl became a princess. She married the prince of a neighboring country and lived a very happy life ever since. The end.”
After Fu Wenwen finished, she saw Lin An staring at her with wide eyes.
“Mama, I will also earn a lot of money and buy you a castle in the future,” Lin An said seriously, looking at Fu Wenwen.
Although he didn’t know what a castle was, he was sure it was a very good place.
“...Cough, okay.” Fu Wenwen almost couldn’t help but laugh, but she was very pleased with Lin An’s thoughtfulness.
She should have described the castle as a big house earlier.
“Mama, I will go pick matches and sell them tomorrow too!” Lin An said excitedly, nodding at Fu Wenwen.
“...This isn't how it works, my little darling. Your most important task now is to take good care of your health,” Fu Wenwen shook her head, rejecting Lin An’s idea.
“Leave the money-making to Mama. When Lin An grows up, Mama will send you to school. If you study well, you won’t have to worry about not making a lot of money!” Fu Wenwen tickled Lin An’s nose and smiled.
“Okay,” Lin An nodded heavily.
After coaxing Lin An to sleep, Fu Wenwen looked at the ceiling and began to worry. With the money from selling clothes earlier, she had earned sixty-eight yuan. Adding the thirty yuan her parents sent her, and the eighteen yuan she got back from Su Xiaoxiao, she had a little over a hundred and ten yuan.
Although more than a hundred yuan was a considerable sum at the time, Fu Wenwen knew it wasn’t much.
The grain in the warehouse was enough for her and Lin An to eat for a long time. Although they were not short of food now, they couldn’t just sit and consume it all. She still needed to find a way to make money.
She had been in Honghe Village for so long. She didn’t know how to work before, but if she suddenly started working now, it would definitely arouse suspicion. The path of working in the fields to earn work points was out of the question.
If she couldn’t work in the fields, what else could she do?
Fu Wenwen pondered for a long time. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard a noise in the courtyard in a daze. Fu Wenwen instantly woke up, carefully got out of bed, walked to the door, picked up a broom, and looked at the courtyard.
She saw a dark figure slowly approaching the nearby warehouse in the courtyard. Fu Wenwen raised her eyebrows and watched as the figure loaded a large bag of grain into the warehouse and dragged it into the yard.
Fu Wenwen immediately stepped forward, holding the broom, and performed a set of dog-beating staff techniques. The dark figure was hit in the leg by Fu Wenwen’s first move. The intense pain made him cry out in agony.
“Ah!!!”
The miserable cry startled the villagers nearby who were preparing to go to bed. They quickly put on their clothes and ran out.