Chapter 17 Go Home Overnight

It is Aunt Li, Lin Luoran’s next-door neighbor in hometown, who calls her. She gets along well with Lin Luoran’s family and does it out of kindness, but what she says almost frightens Lin Luoran to death. “Slow down, auntie, what’s wrong with my parents? Does my father get a high blood pressure again or my mother falls ill…” The first thing that occurs to Lin Luoran is her parents have medical emergencies because that is the worst matter in her mind. Aunt Li feels confused about her question through the phone. She gets blank and then replies, “No, it’s not like that. Your parents are in good health!” Lin Luoran still feels scared and says, “Auntie, you also almost scared me to death. As long as they are fine, nothing else is urgent. Don’t worry. Tell me slowly!” “Li Anping’s mother has been cursing all afternoon in front of your house. Don’t you think it is a big deal...” Although Aunt Li is a countrywoman, she has a loud voice. Also, being an eloquent talker, she explains what happened in the afternoon in a few words. Aunt Li is not a person concerned and doesn’t know the whole story. However, hearing her narration, Lin Luoran’s mouth is trembling, and her chest is heaving—she is exasperated! Aunt Li adds at the end, “Luoran, she said she would come again tomorrow. Are you coming back to take a look?” Lin Luoran tries to calm herself down. She thinks for a moment and tells Aunt Li, “Auntie, I’ll go back to deal with it as soon as possible. How about this: don’t tell my parents about that in case they’ll worry. Wait till I’m back.” “That’s good. That’s good.” Aunt Li hangs up when hearing that. After Lin Luoran hanging up, the first thing that occurs to her is to call Baojia. But considering for a while, she drops the idea. Baojia must be exhausted after a whole day of shopping. It is unreasonable to let her go back together overnight! Besides, what if one day Baojia isn’t around? She still needs to deal with problems herself. Putting the lock issue aside, Lin Luoran loads what she bought today to the space and goes downstairs after changing shoes and taking the keys. In case there will be some incidents, and it is inconvenient to withdraw money in the village, Lin Luoran goes to the bank to withdraw some cash with her. Besides, she refuels her car. In no mood to choose gifts, she sets the GPS and drives back to her hometown. Lin Luoran keeps speeding up all the way. Thanks to the bone marrow cleansing, now she has good coordination, though she drives very fast, the whole journey is intense but not dangerous on the highway. She looks at the watch only to find it’s only half-past six: she comes back to the county in just one hour safely. Her hometown is a place where it rains at least 200 days within a year. The air is moist at all times. The county has a reputation for rainy weather year-round. But Lin Luoran’s home is in the countryside, more than ten kilometers away from the county. Notably, the last part of the road is full of gravel and mud. If it rains, wheels will get stuck in the road. Lin Luoran thinks of the rest of the journey and expects to get home before dark, so she isn’t in a hurry. After all, it is tough to travel in the countryside road. An accident caused by a race against time is the last thing she would do. Lin Luoran calms down now. Li Anping’s mother threatens to come again tomorrow, so it is useless for her to hurry back at this moment. Anyway, Lin Luoran hasn’t come back for a long time and really appreciates Aunt Li. Therefore, she parks at the entrance of a large supermarket, selecting some high-grade tobacco, wine, and tonic, and then restarts the car. In fact, in terms of the effect, these foods or medicines may be less useful than the vegetables in her own space! However, the most sufficient things in the village are vegetables. It is too insincere if she takes these as gifts, while others do not know how unique these vegetables are at all. Lin Luoran comes across a notorious gossip when entering the village. If she greets the woman, her label of “new money” will be spread all over the town instantly, but if she ignores her, well, a prefix of “arrogant” will be added. “Bajie, picking onion?” Lin Luoran rolls down the window and greets the woman known as Li Bajie with a smile. Li Bajie clutches a handful of spring onions and is about to go home and eat a bowl of noodles. When seeing an upscale car sliding to the village, she thinks it belongs to someone’s rich relative. Suddenly the window rolls down, Lin Luoran appears. It’s getting dark, and Lin Luoran has changed dramatically. If it weren’t for the familiar voice, Li Bajie would not have dared to recognize her. Li Bajie widens her eyes, and her mouth trembles exaggeratedly, “Are you the daughter of the Lins? Well, well, you get rich. You still remember me, not like others showing no respect…” Lin Luoran knows Li Bajie will not stop talking once she starts, so she interrupts smilingly, “I will go to visit you another day. It is dark. I have to go back!” Li Bajie can’t refuse, waving and seeing her drive away. Just as Lin Luoran’s car makes a turn, Li Bajie spits on the ground, “Exactly as Anping’s mother said that the witless young girl had made a fortune. Bah! What an immoral world!” Li Bajie is jealously indignant, but laughs later, “I’m going to spread this information. Something funny will happen tomorrow!” She even doesn’t hurry to cook anymore, and rushes to Li Anping’s home in the east village with spring onions in her hand. When Lin Luoran gets home, her parents haven’t cooked yet. Hearing the car sound outside the courtyard, they wonder what happens and come out to find it out. It is strange. Why is this car parking in their yard? Lin’s parents are honest peasants, only thinking it is a passer-by. Lin Luoran gets off from the car, calling out, “Dad, mom, I’m back!” They finally realize that this greatly-changed girl in the woolen sweater driving the beautiful car is their daughter, who hasn’t been home for months. There are no parents who do not look forward to their children coming back home once they’re away. Lin’s father is a bit dull. He is too happy to express his feeling. He doesn’t think of helping his daughter carry belongings until Lin’s mother gives him a push. In the light under the eaves, Mr. Lin looks at the cigarettes and wine in his hand. “These are all high-quality cigarettes and wine. They are all good stuff. Few families in the village can afford them! My daughter is a filial.” He thinks to himself and then grins happily. Mrs. Lin considers more. These cigarettes and liquor are apparently not cheap. Her daughter buys so much and drives a fancy car back. Where does her money come from? Is Anping’s mother right about it? Lin’s mother feels like butterflies in her stomach. Seeing her husband moving gifts into the room inconsiderately, she can’t refrain after thinking for a while, holds Lin Luoran’s hand, and whisper: “Ran, tell me the truth. How do you get this car? Where do you get so much money? I know how much you make a month…”