Chapter 10: The Curse of a Husband's Death

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The sky had not yet darkened.

After dinner, those with nothing to do came out for a stroll. Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, and the others wanted to see what delicacies Shazhu was enjoying, but found no one there.

Eventually, following the aroma, they arrived at Lin Shaowen’s courtyard.

At that moment, He Yushui was sipping from a coconut.

Though small in stature, her appetite was impressive—she had eaten two bowls of rice and three coconuts.

As for Shazhu…

There’s an old saying: There’s no such thing as the wrong nickname, only the wrong given name.

After Lin Shaowen and Shazhu had downed two bottles of Erguotou, Shazhu began to shout, “Lin Shaowen, you’re a good man.”

“Is that so?” Lin Shaowen smiled.

“So I’ve decided—Yushui will be your wife from now on.”

Pfft!

Lin Shaowen almost spat out his drink.

“Brother, what nonsense are you talking about?”

He Yushui, already a grown girl, blushed deeply.

“That won’t do, won’t do, there’s a generational gap here,” Lin Shaowen waved his hand with a laugh.

“What generational gap?” Shazhu glared. “You’re even a few years younger than me. Do you want to be my uncle or what?”

Pfft!

Everyone watching the scene burst into laughter.

He Yushui stomped her foot, cheeks flushed, but kept sneaking glances at Lin Shaowen’s face.

“See, our relationship is so secret, and yet you say it out loud like it’s nothing,” Lin Shaowen shook his head.

“Go to hell,” Shazhu laughed and cursed.

“Come, drink.”

Lin Shaowen raised his glass again.

“Come on…”

But Shazhu suddenly collapsed onto the table.

“Alright, enough gawking. Someone take Shazhu home and clear the rest of the dishes,” Lin Shaowen called outside.

The three had eaten two pounds of meat, but aside from He Yushui, Lin Shaowen and Shazhu had been too busy drinking to eat much.

“Brother Lin, this is such a waste,” He Yushui whispered.

“It’s fine.”

Lin Shaowen ruffled her hair, causing the young girl to blush again.

He could have stored the leftover food in his ring; though sunny inside, the tiny space wouldn't let things spoil. Aside from not being able to refrigerate, it was actually better than a fridge.

But he didn’t like eating leftovers.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Yan Bugui strode in without a word, then helped Shazhu up and carried him away.

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Right behind him was his eldest son, Yan Jiecheng.

After they helped Shazhu out, two teenage boys shouted “Brother Lin,” grabbed the dishes on the table, and ran off.

“Hey, Jiefang, Jiekuang… with all this meat, how can your family eat it all? Save some for Second Uncle,” Liu Haizhong called loudly.

But the boys ignored him and sped home.

In these times, there was no such thing as eating leftover food; meat was always a prized commodity.

He Yushui said nothing but quietly picked up a broom to sweep.

At that moment, Liu Guangfu and Liu Guangtian sneaked in. Seeing the coconut shells on the ground, they immediately grabbed them and ran off without a word.

“That’s mine…”

He Yushui shouted, chasing after them with the broom.

She had heard from Lin Shaowen that after cracking open a coconut, the flesh inside could be eaten too.

Liu Guangfu and Liu Guangtian were sly; they didn’t go home but ran straight out of the courtyard.

He Yushui chased them onto the street but lost sight of them, stomping her foot and crying in frustration.

“Bastards, how can they steal from a girl like me…”

Liu Haizhong pretended to scold the two brothers, then patted his backside and headed home.

He Yushui, eyes red, returned to the west wing, cleaned up, and then silently went home.

Lin Shaowen said nothing to comfort her, merely lay on the bed preparing to sleep.

This world was quite interesting.

The next day.

Lin Shaowen had just woken when he saw a shadow moving outside and called out, “Who is it?”

“Brother Lin, it’s me,” He Yushui answered.

“Up so early, what are you doing?” Lin Shaowen opened the door.

“I… I brought you breakfast.”

He Yushui placed the breakfast on the table—it was still Shazhu’s table.

Lin Shaowen looked at the buns and asked curiously, “Did you eat?”

“I… I did.”

Just as she spoke, her stomach growled loudly, coloring her cheeks a deep red.

“Alright, you eat. I’ll sleep a little longer—had too much to drink yesterday, got a headache,” Lin Shaowen rubbed her head and turned back to bed.

He Yushui quietly picked up a bun and left.

Island.

“First cast…”

Lin Shaowen poked his hand.

“Received one bicycle ticket.”

“Bad luck.”

“Received a set of bathroom fixtures.”

“That’ll do.”

“Received twenty pounds of beef.”

…

After three rounds of fishing, Lin Shaowen returned to bed feeling dejected.

The thing he wanted most had yet to appear. A distinguished graduate from medical school, was he destined only to give massages all his life?

“Ah.”

Lin Shaowen got up, cleaned himself, then pulled out the vouchers from Factory Manager Yang.

Wow, quite a collection of random vouchers.

But the most valuable were ten cloth coupons and one bicycle ticket.

In this era, bicycles had to be registered and stamped at the public security bureau. Without a steel seal, they were considered untraceable—at best confiscated, at worst suspected stolen, which would be disastrous.

After tidying up, Lin Shaowen prepared to leave.

His goal was clear: first get the bike, then hire craftsmen to repair the house, and if time allowed, buy some clothes for himself.

Just as he reached the courtyard entrance, he heard a timid voice call, “Brother Lin.”

“Yushui, what are you doing here?” Lin Shaowen asked in surprise.

“I came to see if you were awake. Where are you headed?” she asked curiously.

“To go shopping,” Lin Shaowen smiled.

“Shopping?” Yushui didn’t understand.

“To the supply and marketing cooperative. Want to come?” Lin Shaowen rephrased.

He hoped to bring Yushui along; shopping alone was dull.

“Sure!” Yushui agreed happily.

Passing by the Jia Zhang family gate, Lin Shaowen met a fierce, hateful glare.

“You bastard, still eating meat, why don’t you choke on it? He Yushui’s a prostitute too, so grown and yet no shame—deserve each other, you thieves and harlots…” Jia Zhang’s voice was low but clear to Lin Shaowen’s ears.

“Cursed husband,” Lin Shaowen mouthed silently, then grabbed Yushui and ran.

“You little bastard, who did you say’s cursed husband…”

Jia Zhang lost control, grabbed a broom, and rushed out, but Lin Shaowen and Yushui had already run far away.

“Cursed husband? What cursed husband?”

Three middle-aged women heard this and came out. Seeing Jia Zhang, they seemed to understand something.

The three instinctively stepped back, afraid to catch bad luck.

“What are you doing?” Jia Zhang angrily demanded.

“Nothing, nothing,” the three women waved their hands in unison and quickly returned home.