Chapter 26: Finding Aunt a Proper Livelihood
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Pop, pop, pop!
When Liu Yue’e and Bai Lu came out together, Lu Fan was practicing with a pistol.
He stood in the middle of the courtyard, having placed a bottle near the southern wall. Holding the imitation Big Black Star he had bought for Bai Shuang, he fired at it shot after shot.
The PP pellets struck the bottle with crisp little cracks.
“Lu Fan, you’re up awfully early today!” Bai Lu asked curiously, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Lu Fan glanced back at the two of them, then looked again.
Only then did he realize that when Bai Lu and Liu Yue’e stood side by side, Bai Lu looked remarkably young and green, like fruit that had not yet fully ripened—sweet, perhaps, but still rather tart.
“I went to bed too early last night, so I couldn’t sleep this morning.”
“Oh, you’re practicing shooting!”
“Yeah. It’s actually pretty fun.”
From behind them, Liu Yue’e said, “Why don’t I carry our television to the repair shop today and have them fix it? Then you two can watch some TV tonight to pass the time.”
Lu Fan waved his hand. “No need to trouble yourself, Auntie. I don’t watch television. I think getting to bed early and rising early is a pretty good habit.”
Lu Fan raised his head and looked at the two women again. At last, he understood what had seemed strange.
Liu Yue’e’s skin was somewhat rough, but she was just as fair as Bai Lu. Today, however, her complexion was tinged with a faint red.
Yes—fair skin flushed with color!
“Auntie, do you have a cold or a fever? Did you catch a chill during the night?”
Liu Yue’e waved her hands somewhat frantically. “N-no… I’m fine!”
“Do we have a thermometer at home? I think we should take your temperature anyway. Some people have a fever without even realizing it. You’re the pillar of this household, and you still have to look after Uncle. You can’t afford to get sick.”
Bai Lu looked worried as well. She quickly placed a hand on Liu Yue’e’s forehead, then touched her own, and said anxiously, “Mom, you’re warmer than I am. Do you really have a cold? Lu Fan, come and see.”
Lu Fan glanced at Bai Lu.
She was still young, after all, with an innocent mind. She did not treat him like an outsider.
Naturally, he was not actually going to put his hand on her mother. “There’s no thermometer at home, right? I’ll go out and buy one. I know where the pharmacy is.”
“There… there is one. I’ll make breakfast first, then take my temperature afterward.”
Liu Yue’e hurried into the small kitchen on one side of the courtyard.
Bai Lu asked, “Why does Mom seem so strange this morning?” Then she glanced toward the kitchen, leaned close to Lu Fan’s ear, and whispered, “She even asked whether the two of us had done that…”
“Done what?”
“Whether we slept together!”
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“Oh, oh, oh—shh! Don’t let your mother hear you.”
Lu Fan hurriedly raised a finger and placed it against her lips.
The two of them had spent the entire day at home yesterday, then gone out together to sell clothes that evening. On their way back, they had encountered such a terrifying incident.
Those experiences had allowed Bai Lu to grow familiar with him remarkably quickly.
At the very least, if this had been yesterday, she certainly would not have confided something like that in him.
Perhaps, in her heart, she had already decided that he was her man. By whispering secrets to him, she wanted to deepen the intimacy between them.
The things she had said at the door when they returned last night had already hinted at something of the sort.
If Liu Yue’e found out that the daughter she had raised with so much hardship had so easily turned her heart outward, who knew what she would think?
From Bai Lu’s words, Lu Fan could vaguely guess why Liu Yue’e looked as though she had a fever.
It seemed that asking her daughter such private questions had embarrassed her mother into blushing!
Lu Fan smiled and shook his head, doing his best not to imagine the scene of their conversation.
He removed the magazine from the toy pistol, opened another packet of PP pellets, and loaded them back in.
“Bai Lu, do you want to try shooting? I’ll teach you!”
Remembering how much this pistol had helped them the previous night, Bai Lu was considering whether she should buy a toy gun herself to scare people with. She nodded at once. “I want to!”
“All right. When we were at school, we learned about aligning three points in a straight line.”
“Isn’t it two points in a straight line?”
“Oh, right—two points in a straight line. This front sight and this rear sight have to line up with our eyes. When all three are on the same line, you can shoot accurately.
“This pistol is called the Type 54 semi-automatic. Because there’s a star emblem on the grip, it’s also known as the Big Black Star. It’s the primary sidearm used by our military and police…”
Lu Fan had just begun showing off his knowledge when Bai Lu interrupted him.
“Lu Fan, can I use the bathroom first?”
Lu Fan froze, then quickly nodded. Only then did he remember that neither of them had gone to the bathroom after getting up.
The Bai family’s toilet was in the southeastern corner of the courtyard. It was very small and only partially enclosed.
From the courtyard, one could see a strip of scenery roughly eight inches wide when looking toward it.
The squat toilet itself was hidden from view, but their faces could be seen, and their eyes could meet.
Lu Fan hurried back inside. Before entering the house, he added, “Your mother hasn’t gone either.”
Once inside the main room, he began looking around again. The house was simply too small; turning around was enough to bump into someone’s backside. Living here was truly inconvenient.
After making a circuit of the room, he took a pair of scissors and cut a piece from the sheet serving as a partition around the inner room.
Then he found two nails in a drawer.
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Only after Liu Yue’e and Bai Lu had both finished using the toilet did he leave the main room.
“Bai Lu, I found a piece of cloth. Let’s nail it up at the entrance to the toilet. That should make things more convenient.”
“You’re so clever!”
“Heh, don’t praise me too much, or I’ll lose my way.”
Working together, they hung up the strip of cloth. The toilet was now enclosed.
From then on, even if someone was standing in the courtyard, it would not interfere with anyone using the toilet.
As for the sounds of water—who could use the bathroom without making a little noise?
Only someone pressed right against the wall!
They were all family, after all. There was no need to fuss over such minor details.
Lu Fan taught Bai Lu how to shoot for a while. Lu Dawei had personally taught him his shooting technique, so his movements were extremely precise.
In a very short time, Bai Lu was able to hit the bottle on her own. She cheered excitedly like a little child.
Standing in the small kitchen, Liu Yue’e watched the two of them through the window with a smile. She was extremely satisfied with the state of the household.
In just two days, Bai Lu had gone from being a somewhat solemn, taciturn girl to someone far more lively. Having someone else shoulder the burdens of the family felt wonderful!
Liu Yue’e felt as though even her back had straightened.
After the three of them finished eating, Liu Yue’e went to the hospital to deliver food.
Bai Lu then asked, “Lu Fan, when are we going to the garment factory to buy stock today?”
Lu Fan lightly tapped his finger against the tabletop, thinking it over. “My plans have changed a little. I don’t really want to sell clothes anymore.”
Bai Lu looked at him and nodded in agreement.
“Walking around at night is simply too dangerous. We managed to fool them once, but that doesn’t mean we can fool them twice. As the saying goes, if you walk along the riverbank often enough, sooner or later your shoes will get wet.”
Lu Fan did not contradict her, nor did he explain anything. He merely continued, “However, we still have to go to that garment factory today.”
“Oh, right. We still owe them two thousand yuan.”
“No, we’re not going there to repay the money. I’ve taken a liking to that factory. I’m thinking of acquiring it and finding your aunt a proper livelihood.”
“Wait—you took a liking to it… What are you going to do for my mother?”
Bai Lu had not heard him clearly, nor had she understood what he meant. She looked at him in confusion.
Or perhaps she had heard him perfectly well and simply could not bring herself to believe it.