sjar Chapter 125 A box of face cream made her jump for joy.
Chapter 125 A box of face cream made her jump for joy.
Li Ju'an knelt on Lin Mei's neck and kissed her until her face turned bright red.
Even though she was wearing an embroidered cotton-padded jacket, he could still feel her slender figure through the thick fabric. He didn't particularly like skinny women; he preferred women with a bit of flesh, preferably slightly plump, because they felt especially good to hold. But in this era of supply according to demand, everyone was well-off, and every girl in every household was thin and slender, lacking in "fat."
He looked down at the shy Lin Mei, whispered in her ear, "Such a pitiful girl, too thin. She needs to be given a chance to work hard. I need to make a good impression and send her more fatty meat."
Lin Mei shyly pushed against his chest, but couldn't budge him at all; his chest was as hard as a rock. She said, "We haven't finished the venison you sent last time. If you keep sending it every day, my parents will find out soon."
"So what if they found out? I just happened to bring some canned fruit when I came to visit. It's been a while since I've seen your parents."
Lin Mei's eyes shone brightly as she happily skipped around, holding the face cream he had given her. Her gaze conveyed almost the same message: she was waiting for him to come to her door.
It was cold outside in winter, so he put on the hand warmers that Lin Mei had made for him, and held her soft little hands, laughing. The two then hugged and cuddled for a while. In those days, it was quite bold for young lovers to be so affectionate.
Li Ju'an escorted Lin Mei back to the Lin family home, then returned to the Lu family's old house. As soon as he entered, Lu Zhiqiang waved him down to sit and play cards. He didn't want to play, but the Lu brothers insisted on dragging him down to play.
After the Lu family and villagers finished their meal, some left one after another, while some elderly men and women stayed to play mahjong and watch the game. Lu Zhiqiang, having drunk quite a bit, sat down to play cards with Li Ju'an and Lu Jinyang. After three rounds, Lu Jinyang had lost 8 yuan, and Lu Zhiqiang had lost 13 yuan. Li Ju'an watched him with a sly smile.
After the game ended, Lu Zhiqiang behaved himself from then on, stood up, spread his hands, and shouted, "I'm not playing anymore."
The old master of the Lu family asked Li Ju'an what his plans were. Li Ju'an truthfully replied that he would sell the tiger cubs' hides, then go to the forest farm to see if there were any jobs available. In the dead of winter, even going into the mountains to hunt traps would have to avoid the heavy rains and smoke. He would also stock up on wild boar meat for the New Year.
The old man of the Lu family nodded repeatedly, felt under the bed, and pulled out a leather pouch. He opened the pouch, revealing an oil paper package inside, and inside that was a 16-gauge hook-and-loop pistol.
Li Ju'an paused, taken aback when he saw the hook-and-barrel shotgun. It was a modified hook-and-barrel shotgun from the 1980s. The barrel of the No. 16 gun was replaced with a semi-automatic barrel, firing 7.62mm bullets. The main body was a snap-barrel shotgun, capable of only single shots. Because of its shortest range, if he were in a group, he had to be at the very front to use this close-range single-shot hook-and-barrel shotgun.
He was taken aback, already pondering what was going on, but still deliberately asked, "Grandpa, what does this mean?"
The old man of the Lu family solemnly placed the modified No. 16 hook-barreled pistol into his palm, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "We've watched Lu Zhiqiang grow up since he was a child. He's ambitious, but not very capable. When you two go into the mountains in the future, you'll have to put in a lot of effort and be more considerate."
The old man took out a bundle of firecrackers from his pocket and handed them over. These were all treasures that the old man of the Lu family had kept before he retired from his life of crime. He couldn't bear to throw them away, but he also didn't want his descendants to see them, so he secretly hid them under the bed. Now these treasures had all come to Li Ju'an and were in his hands.
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "I can't accept it. If Lu Zhiqiang knew that I was fighting him for my grandfather, he would fight me to the death."
The old man of the Lu family put on a stern face and spoke frankly: "I don't trust the other gunners. Lu Zhiqiang has a bad temper. What if he gets abandoned in the mountains by the gunners? Ju'an, you and Lu Zhiqiang grew up together. From now on, he can only go into the mountains with you."
Knowing the concerns of the Lu family patriarch, Li Ju'an didn't refuse and said, "Don't worry, as long as Lu Zhiqiang doesn't wander around, I guarantee he'll come down the mountain in good health."
He pondered to himself. Knowing Lu Zhiqiang's nature—cowardly as a woman, he'd run away incredibly fast, disappearing before the hunting dogs even got going. What danger could he possibly be in? Besides, wasn't that what Old Master Lu intended when he gave him the 16-gauge pistol? Short range, meant to send him to the front. Both father and son are quite cunning.
The old man of the Lu family smiled warmly, "You brat, if you ever get into any trouble, just come to me. I'll take care of it for you."
"Of course! Even if you hadn't said anything, I would have been troubling you a lot in the future."
Li Ju'an carried a leather bag full of his harvest, helped his mother Song Lanhua and his sister Li Xiao onto the sled, and led the mule straight home.
……
At this time, the Lin family members also returned to the old Lin family house, and Lin Jiadong took off his mittens and sat by the kang (a heated brick bed) to warm himself by the fire.
He looked up and saw his sister, Lin Mei, holding a face cream. Her eyes were filled with a happy smile as she looked at the cream; she looked like she could jump around excitedly. Lin Jiadong called out, "Sis, did Brother Li give this to you?"
Lin Mei was so frightened that she quickly covered his mouth, saying, "What are you saying? Mom and Dad are still inside."
The room smelled wonderfully of face cream, which Lin's mother knew perfectly well. She quietly turned her head to peek inside and saw the siblings whispering to each other, with Lin Jiadong calling out "Brother Ju'an." Lin's mother glanced at Lin's father, who seemed oblivious to everything, then turned to her sister-in-law and whispered, "What's wrong with our daughter?"
Lin's younger sister-in-law, sensing the situation at the table, said, "Sending a box of face cream, that's the implication, isn't it? It's possible that Meimei has really taken a liking to Li Ju'an."
Lin's mother silently boiled water, her expression very serious.
Lin's sister-in-law advised her, "What do you think we should do? Meimei is so honest. She even chased away Zhang Xiangqian, the driver who came to propose marriage last time. I think Zhang Xiangqian is an honest, reliable, and down-to-earth man. He's a driver for a leader! His salary could support a whole family and leave him with some money. But now, the matchmaker shakes his head as soon as he hears Meimei's name, and it's hard to find someone to act as a go-between for her."
Lin's mother sighed and said, "Zhang Xiangqian is a good worker and has a good character. The matchmakers say that many girls are eager to marry him. It's just that this girl is so stubborn. Whenever this matter is mentioned, my head spins. It's driving me crazy."
After packing his things, Lin's father came into the house and called out, "What are you all standing around for? Zhang, the matchmaker from last time, I think he's a good young man. Tell the matchmaker to talk to him. The young people should meet and talk more. It's most important that they get along."
Lin's mother and her sister-in-law immediately shut up. The girl hadn't gone on a blind date with Zhang Xiangqian, the driver from the county town, but instead had gotten together with Li Ju'an, a local hoodlum, and had even accepted face cream from him. If her husband found out about this, he'd probably break her legs.
Lin's younger sister-in-law quickly said, "Brother, let's all get ready for bed. We can talk about it tomorrow."
After Lin's father entered the house, Lin's mother gave her sister-in-law a wink.
Lin's sister-in-law called Lin Mei over for a private chat, asking her what she thought. She suggested that Lin Mei arrange to meet Zhang Xiangqian again this week to continue their blind date and get to know each other better.
Lin Mei refused outright, saying, "Don't interfere in my affairs."
She crumpled the movie tickets in her pocket. She thought about the face cream Li Ju'an had given her, and how they were going to see a movie together this week; her heart was filled with sweetness.