Chapter 301: Finally Took the Bait

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Finally Took the Bait

While the whole family was busy fussing over Lu Cheng, Lu Tingting quietly opened the red envelope in her hand to take a peek.

Yang Chunxiang and Ding Yuzhen had given her 1.8 yuan and 1.2 yuan, respectively—not a small sum in the countryside.

In Plum Valley, lucky money for children was typically just ten or twenty cents.

Jiang Dahai, however, had been generous, giving her six yuan.

"Finished counting the money?"

Looking at Jiang Moli, who had sidled up next to her, Lu Tingting—for the sake of the lucky money—for once held back from bickering with her.

Including the Silver Ingot, she had made a nice little profit of over ten yuan today.

"Come on, I’ll take you out to have some fun."

Lu Tingting loved to have fun, and since it was her first time in Plum Valley, she couldn’t help but follow Jiang Moli out the door.

...

Outside Jiang Dashan’s home stood a red tangerine tree, its branches laden with fiery red fruit, each one as charming as a small red lantern.

Jiang Moli stopped under the tree and told Jiang Peng to pick a couple of tangerines for them to try.

The tangerine tree was about five or six meters tall, its trunk covered in thorns over an inch long, making it impossible to climb.

Jiang Peng went back to fetch a ladder, then climbed up, picked a tangerine, and tossed it down to Jiang Moli.

Jiang Moli broke the tangerine in half, tasted a segment, then offered the other half to Lu Tingting.

Lu Tingting didn’t take it. "I don’t want it."

’Knowing that wench, there’s no way she’d give me something that actually tastes good.’

Jiang Peng hopped down from the ladder. "If she doesn’t want it, fine by me. I’ll have it."

With that, he took the tangerine from Jiang Moli, peeled off two segments, and tossed them into his mouth.

"Mmm, so sweet!"

Jiang Peng nodded as he ate, his expression as resolute as if he were pledging an oath.

Lu Tingting eyed the brother and sister suspiciously, her doubts lingering.

Just then, Lu Cheng emerged from the Jiangs’ house. Seeing the siblings eating tangerines, he walked over to Jiang Moli. "Let me have a bite."

Jiang Moli casually broke off a segment and fed it to him.

"Sweet?"

Lu Cheng nodded. "Sweet."

Lu Tingting hesitated no longer. She climbed the ladder, clambered into the tree, and picked a big, red tangerine.

She peeled it and took a bite, and her face instantly scrunched into a ball.

"Oh my god, it’s so sour!"

The moment she bit into the tangerine, Jiang Moli and Jiang Peng, who were under the tree, hastily spat out the segments in their mouths.

Jiang Moli cackled. "You finally fell for it!"

Jiang Peng also laughed, gloating, "These tangerines are ridiculously sour!"

Lu Tingting was furious. "Third Uncle, you’ve learned to be bad from them too! You all ganged up to trick me!"

Lu Cheng put his hands on his hips and looked at her. "Why don’t you use your head? If they were any good, would they still be on the tree waiting for you to come pick them?"

"I don’t believe every single one is sour!"

Unconvinced, Lu Tingting picked another fine-looking tangerine, peeled it, and took a bite. It was still unbearably sour.

"If the fruit from this stupid tree is so sour, why don’t you just chop it down?!"

Jiang Moli enlightened her. "You silly goose, these tangerines aren’t for eating. They’re grown for their peels. Once you peel them and let them dry, they become high-quality Dried Orange Peel. You should pick a bunch to take back with you. You can dry them or make candied orange peel, so your trip won’t be a total waste."

Hearing this, Lu Tingting forgot all about being angry and found a basket to start picking tangerines.

Jiang Peng climbed the ladder to pick them while she stood under the tree to catch them.

Dried Orange Peel was a wonderful thing, after all.

Ever since she was a child, whenever she or her siblings had a cough, Fan Wenfang would brew a drink with Dried Orange Peel for them, and it always stopped the coughing.

Jiang Moli and Lu Cheng moved a long bench to the side of the tree and began peeling the harvested tangerines.

Half a tree’s worth of tangerines yielded five or six pounds of fresh peels, filling an entire basket.

After they returned and washed their hands, Yang Chunxiang attentively brought Jiang Moli a bowl of water.

Lu Cheng was also a little thirsty. "Let me have a sip after you," he said to Jiang Moli.

Yang Chunxiang quickly intervened. "Oh no, you can’t drink that!"

Jiang Moli had just taken a sip and was about to swallow. Hearing this, she quickly looked up at Yang Chunxiang.

Yang Chunxiang said, "This is the ’childbirth water’ I went to Shaman Ma to get..."

"PFFT—"

Jiang Moli sprayed a mouthful of water right in Yang Chunxiang’s face.

Yang Chunxiang wiped the water from her face with a reproachful look. "This childbirth water is very potent. Don’t waste it."

Jiang Moli handed the bowl back to Yang Chunxiang. "This water has a strange taste."

Yang Chunxiang took a sip, smacking her lips. "It doesn’t taste strange to me."

Jiang Moli beamed. "Then you should drink it all, Auntie. Give Hehua and the others a little brother."

"What nonsense are you spouting? At my age? How could I possibly have another child!"

Seeing that Jiang Moli really wouldn’t drink it, Yang Chunxiang didn’t press the issue. She turned and gave the childbirth water to her daughter-in-law instead.

They had lunch at Jiang Dachuan’s house, where they also caught up on the latest gossip.

Before the New Year, Ge Yue’e had been caught having an affair in the village by the man’s wife. The Guo Family was furious but could only turn a blind eye.

After all, Guo Dawei had become a prisoner in a labor camp for blinding one of Zhang Tiesheng’s eyes.

If Ge Yue’e were to run off, Guo Dawei would likely never be able to find another wife and would remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.

After recounting Ge Yue’e’s scandalous affair, Ding Yuzhen casually moved on to Wei Qing.

"After the New Year, Wei Qing should be sentenced, right? I wonder how many years she’ll get. She’s truly black-hearted, to dare to commit murder."

Jiang Dachuan glared at his wife. "It’s the middle of the New Year celebration. Why bring up such grim topics?"

Ding Yuzhen quickly put on an apologetic smile. "Fine, fine, we won’t talk about her. Xiao Lu, I heard from Yu Lan that Jia Ming is up for promotion to platoon leader. Is that true?"

Lu Cheng had already discussed Zhang Jia Ming’s promotion with Zhong Weiguo, who had no objections. However, the matter still had to go through the organization’s formal review and evaluation, so it was too early to say for sure if the promotion would happen.

"Whether or not he gets promoted depends on his own merit," Lu Cheng said diplomatically.

Ding Yuzhen got the message. "Well, here’s the thing. I have a niece from my side of the family who just turned twenty. I was thinking, since Zhang Jia Ming is still single, I could try to set them up. My niece is a decent, honest girl—hardworking, too, and she even has a middle school education."

Jiang Moli spoke up. "Second Aunt, if you want to play matchmaker for Zhang Jia Ming, you should go to the Zhang Family directly. This has nothing to do with us."

Ding Yuzhen laughed. "But Xiao Lu is Jia Ming’s commanding officer. If he’s willing to act as the go-between, it’s practically a sure thing."

Jiang Moli said bluntly, "Lu Cheng has four or five hundred soldiers under his command. If every single one of them asked him to be their matchmaker, he might as well quit being a battalion commander and become a professional matchmaker instead."

Jiang Dahai stepped in to ease the tension. "Second Sister-in-law, Xiao Lu is an amateur at this sort of thing; he wouldn’t be any good at matchmaking. You’d be better off finding a proper matchmaker to handle it."

"If you can’t find a good matchmaker, Yuzhen, I’d be happy to lend a hand," Yang Chunxiang chimed in teasingly.

Even though it would be Zhang Jia Ming’s second marriage, with a promotion to platoon leader on the horizon, he was still a hot commodity. Matchmakers were practically beating down the door to his family’s home.

Ding Yuzhen was just trying to use her connection to Lu Cheng to get an inside track.

"No need to trouble you, Eldest Sister-in-law."

Ding Yuzhen gave an embarrassed laugh and changed the subject. "Since everyone’s here, I have some good news to share. Our Dachuan has been given the job of guarding the production brigade’s granary."

Jiang Dashan and Jiang Dahai both looked toward Jiang Dachuan.

"That’s great news!"

"It’s decent. We’ll have a little extra income each month now."

As he spoke, Jiang Dachuan picked up the liquor bottle and poured drinks for Jiang Dashan and Jiang Dahai.

Jiang Moli suddenly remembered something and spoke up—