Chapter 9: Moving into the New Home (Part 1)

  Old Lin walked back home and saw the villagers standing outside their own yards, pointing and gesturing at his yard. He stood behind them and listened for a while, getting angrier by the second. He picked up a thick wooden stick from the grass pile outside the yard and entered the yard. He saw Lin Er Lang and the madam still arguing, while Lin Xiao Hua supported the fainting Lin Lao Tai as she rushed out of the house. She was shouting for Lin Er Lang to call the old doctor, and Old Lin hastily threw down the stick, rushed forward, and helped Lin Lao Tai into the main room.

  The procuress saw that something had happened at Lin Er Lang's house and didn't bother him anymore, muttering to herself that she would settle the score with Lin Er Lang next time they met, left the yard and took a cow cart back to town.

  Lin Chuan left Old Man Lin's house in the afternoon and arrived at Uncle Dashan's house. The village head, Seventh Uncle Gong, and several villagers who could speak properly discussed it and decided to let Lin Chuan and his three siblings live in the hunter's hut on the west mountain foot of the village. The hut had two rooms, made of wood and thatched with grass, where the village hunters used to live. Later, a hunter was injured while hunting in the mountains, recovered, and went to work as a nurse for a wealthy family in the county, never returning again, so it had been empty ever since.

  Dashi decided to have a meal, and brought several young people from the village to repair the house. After all, it had been abandoned for many years, and the grass on the roof was gone due to wind and sun exposure.

  Cuihua agreed, and let Lin Chun and her brother move into their own home first. They would move to the house at the foot of the mountain after it was repaired. The Dasan family's house was very new, built when Dasan married his wife, and was a brick-tiled house, considered a good house in the village. There was one living room, three bedrooms, connected to the courtyard, and a pigsty and chicken coop in the backyard. At the north corner of the courtyard, there was a kitchen with mud walls, also very spacious, next to which was a small shed for storing miscellaneous items and farm tools.

  The main bedroom is slightly larger, with two small rooms attached to the side, obviously prepared for children to live in. Little Mountain is still young and sleeps with Big Mountain Uncle and Cuihua Auntie. When he grows up a bit, they will separate. Big Mountain Uncle probably wants to have another daughter with Cuihua Auntie, so they built two small bedrooms. Although there's only room for two people, with just a bed and a small bedside cabinet, it's still a brick house, the best one Lin Chuan has seen since crossing over. Each room is very clean, with soft and dry straw on the beds.

  Cuihua Danni put new sheets and quilts on the beds in both small bedrooms. Lin Chun only found out when she asked that these were all Cuihua Danni's dowry, which had never been used before. Instead, they were given to her for the first time, and a warmth rose up in her heart. She immediately threw herself into Cuihua Danni's arms and burst into tears. Er Ya saw Lin Chun crying and also hugged Cuihua Danni's legs and cried. Cuihua Danni patted the backs of the two sisters, speaking words of comfort, and it wasn't until after a while that she let Lin Chun calm down. In her heart, Lin Chun vowed to be good to Dashan Bo and his family from now on.

  Lin Chun didn't want to dirty the quilt of Cuihua's mother, so he let Da Tou go get the old quilt that was hidden away and had Cuihua's mother put away the new one. The three siblings slept soundly at Dashan's house after dinner, and the next day Dashan got up, went out for a run, came back, and told Lin Chun about what happened at Lao Lin's house in the evening. Lin Chun only said two words: "Serves them right!"

  Later, it was said that Old Lady Lin lay in bed for half a month and took dozens of large doses of medicine. Old Man Lin was heartbroken and scolded Second Brother Lin severely, sending him back to town. He also gave Little Flower two slaps on the face, which left her swollen for over a month. After Old Lady Lin recovered, she and Old Man Lin went to Chenjia Village to find Chen Xing. Fortunately, Chen Xing was alone, with no parents, and was over 20 years old. He was considered diligent in the village, so they discussed it together and decided that Little Flower would get married after spending the New Year at home.

  Lin Chun ignored all these, and only waited for his leg to recover. He also hoped that Uncle Dashan could repair his small house as soon as possible, so he could move in and stop living off others. Lin Chun sighed, thinking that Dahu was indeed a sensible child.

  Every day at noon after lunch, take advantage of the sun still on the mountain to find some mountain goods. Although it's already October, you can still pick some wild jujubes and hawthorns. Occasionally go to the neighboring villages in the evening and bring back one or two eggs. Cuihua's mother couldn't stop him, so he just went along. Whatever big head brought back was mostly eaten by Lin Chun and his family. Occasionally Xiaoshan would eat some wild fruit, and Big Head was very happy. Neither Dashan Bo nor Cuihua's mother said anything, which made Lin Chun feel that Dashan Bo's family was truly kind-hearted, without any prejudice or pretence.

  The house at the foot of the mountain is almost complete, and after cleaning up for a day or two, it can be moved in. On this day, Uncle Dashan sent away the fellow villagers who helped with the construction of the house and prepared to return home to let Cuihua's wife go to the market the day after tomorrow, and also planned to buy some pots and pans for Lin Chun's sister's family.

  Back home, Lin Chun saw sitting in the yard sunbathing, Da Tou was feeding rabbits with Xiao Shan and Er Ya, Cui Hua's wife sat at the door mending clothes. When she saw her husband return, she quickly put away the clothes and went to the kitchen to pour a bowl of hot tea for him. The children all came over to greet him and then went back to playing. Lin Chun also called out "Da Shan Bo Bo".

  Dashi sat down on a small stool in the yard, saw Lin Chun gently tapping his own leg, and a pang of pain flashed through his heart. "Da Yu, can't your legs really be completely healed?" Dashi Bo asked with concern.

  Lin Chun knew that the Da Shan family was genuinely treating her and her siblings, so she didn't respond. She slowly got up from her chair, took a few steps, and even jumped up and down a few times. At first, Da Shan was a bit scared when he saw Lin Chun stand up, but seeing that she could walk normally and jump around, his heart was filled with great joy. "This... this..." Da Shan Bo and Cui Hua were both shocked, but immediately they were overjoyed, clearly delighted by Lin Chun's recovery.

  "Da Ya, your leg, is it completely healed?!" Da Shan Bo Bo and Cui Hua Da Niang still had some doubts, feeling a bit incredulous, fearing that the child knew their thoughts and intentionally put on an act for them to see.

  Lin Chun naturally understood in her heart, walked up and held onto Cui Hua's arm, "Auntie, uncle, you can rest assured, my leg is already fully recovered. Previously, it was just to get everyone to sympathize with us siblings that I said it was that serious. Now, in front of you, I wouldn't dare lie." Lin Chun said with a half-joking and half-scolding tone.

  As expected, Da Shan Bo Bo and Cui Hua Da Niang saw Lin Chun pouting and saying without getting angry, but instead very pleased. "He's a clever child, not bad, not bad. Although Lin Lao left, he still left three good children behind. Bo Bo is delighted, it's just a pity..." Da Shan sighed with emotion as he thought about how Lin Chun and his siblings had cut ties with their father's family, and also thought about how Lin Da Lang had been silent for many years.