Linxia

Chapter 86, Gambling Dog

It snowed for two days, and the sky and the earth were covered in silver. When I went out for a walk in the morning, I could see elementary school children picking icicles from the trees and putting them in their mouths.

There was nothing much to do in the store, and it was Fang Lin's turn to rest that day.

Back home, under the osmanthus tree, Mrs. Ou, Fang's mother, Tian Xuan, Su Xiaoqing, Sister Guihua, Chuntao and others were chatting and laughing, and doing needlework.

Fang Lin didn't know when they became so close.

"My husband always goes to the grain shop to buy grain and comes back exhausted. He looks like a corpse after every trip. In your family, Linzi works in a bookstore and Uncle Fang works at the dock. He has become a manager now. Their lives are getting better and better. It's really enviable!" said Su Xiaoqing.

"Nothing special, just a small clerk who checks the numbers. Our head of the household doesn't actually have that ability. It's Linzi..." Fang's mother said with a beaming smile.

However, when she saw Fang Lin coming back, she immediately left the group of women behind, pulled Fang Lin to look at him curiously, waved her hand, and said to them, "Let's stop here today. My son is back, and I have to go cook."

"Okay, now that Linzi is back, we won't be an eyesore here anymore. Let's go." Sister Guihua said with a smile, and she and Su Xiaoqing went home. Chuntao and Mrs. Ou also got up to cook.

Fang Lin didn't go back, but stayed here and chatted with Master Ou who came out.

Coincidentally, as soon as the two of them sat down, they saw Man Gensheng coming back.

"Dang-ge-li-dang-dang!" He was humming a little tune, holding something in his hand. From the smell, it seemed to be some food, and his feet were moving fast.

The phrase "wind underfoot" is not an adjective but a literal meaning. The shoes this guy wore today had two strips of cloth sewn on the heels, one red and one green. When he walked, it was really cool. There were also bells hanging on the shoe straps, which made crisp sounds when he walked.

"From the looks of it, I must have won money," Fang Lin thought to himself.

"Stop!" Master Ou called out to Man Gensheng and frowned at his shoes: "Man Gensheng, what's wrong with you being so flashy?"

"Master, you don't know this. This is called fashion. All those young masters do this!"

Man Gensheng tried to explain it to Master Ou, saying with great interest: "Take Mr. Zou for example. He wore a red scarf on his head, underwear outside, and high heels. Whenever he came out of the brothel, he would fan himself with a palm-leaf fan, hold up his face which was covered with lip prints from the sisters, and sway his heels and his buttocks... He was really cool, and everyone looked at him sideways wherever he went..."

Fang Lin listened and found it interesting and couldn't help laughing.

However, Mr. Ou's eyes twitched as he listened, and he took off his shoes before he finished listening.

This time Man Gensheng was smart and ran away without waiting for Master Ou to take action.

"This kid runs fast."

Mr. Ou put on his shoes, still fuming with anger: "It's just like now. If it was in the early years of the founding of the country, this kid would have his head chopped off for doing this!"

"Oh? Teacher, please tell me about it!" Fang Lin handed over the bamboo tube.

Master Ou was already used to this kind of "service". He sipped his tea and slowly said, "In the early years of the founding of the country, Taizu allowed the people to wear boots, but forbad them to decorate the boots with patterns, just like clothes..."

Fang Lin nodded, simply wanting to use this to distinguish people from different classes.

"However, everyone loves beauty, so some merchants started to embroider simple patterns on the tops of their boots. After they tasted the sweetness, they became more and more rampant, with more and more complicated patterns and styles. When Taizu heard about it, he was furious and simply banned people from wearing boots."

"If you can't wear boots, how can you keep warm in winter?" Fang Lin asked.

"You've thought of Taizu, and he's not without humanity. People in the bitter cold north are allowed to wear boots, while people in other areas wear leather boots. The so-called leather boots are made by tying the boots to the calves first, and then putting on the shoes."

"It's so troublesome, but it doesn't violate the law?"

"How not?"

Master Ou snorted, "There is no shortage of people who break the law in this world. After the ban was issued, a businessman named Yan defied the law and opened a workshop, selling a lot of boots. In the end, the Five Cities Military Commission was alerted to the case, and he was executed in the autumn, and his entire family was exiled to Lingnan."

"The laws are relaxed now, but look at people like Man Gensheng. What do they look like? Not only their shoes, but also their clothes. They think it's fashionable to wear women's clothes. This is simply... insulting!"

"Yes!"

Fang Lin nodded, somewhat understanding the current period: "The material abundance is matched by extreme spiritual confusion. After being suppressed for so long, the policy is gradually relaxed. People pursue fashion, but don't know how to do it. When it comes to practice, it changes its nature. The pursuit of novelty and originality has reached a level that is unprecedented and unparalleled, and can even be described as unruly."

'With such a social environment and urgent spiritual needs, the popularity of popular novels will surely come soon.'

As they were talking, Grandma Man came out and said to Fang's mother who was peeling garlic at the door, "Sister Fang, your Linzi is back. What delicious food are you going to make today? What, the fragrance from my house? Those are the pig's trotters and roast goose that my Gensheng brought back from Youranju! Don't you think eating these is much better than watching a play?"

This was obviously a response to what Fang's mother said last time, 'Man Gensheng is a second-rate guy who does nothing all day, let alone taking his mother to see a play.'

On this side, Fang Lin heard the grandma Man's boasting and shook his head secretly: "You can be proud for the time being, I watched you build a tall building, watched you entertain guests, and watched your building collapse."

He is extremely sober. Anyone who gets addicted to gambling will surely have a tragic ending.

Fang Lin didn't care, but Fang's mother was different. She was not willing to be outdone and launched a counterattack.

"My son gave his father a coat!" "Our boss is now the manager at the dock!"

"We all have jobs to do, unlike that certain family who are full of dishonest people!"

"you you you!"

Grandma Man's defenses were broken. Under the stimulation of Fang's mother, she began to speak without restraint: "This is nothing. My son Gensheng can win more than ten taels of silver in a night in the gambling house. One person earns more than your family earns in a month..."

"How dare you say that! This is going to be a good show." Fang Lin looked at Master Ou.

Sure enough, when Master Ou heard this, he stood up with a gloomy face and said, "Grandma Man, what are you talking about? Man Gensheng went to the gambling house? As a mother, you not only did not persuade him, you did not feel ashamed, but you were proud of it?
Man Gensheng, you come out too. You do irresponsible things all day long. It’s ok to not do your job properly, but you are also involved in gambling?
You guys are full of…"

Grandma Man was scolded like her grandson. She lowered her head and dared not speak, but she didn't take it seriously in her heart.

It's full of roots, but it hasn't come out at all.

In the past, at times like this, Chuntao would always come out to persuade Master Ou to calm down, but today she just stood aside, lowered her head and said nothing.

The whole family was too slow to notice Chuntao's change as they were in the dark about it, but Fang Lin saw it clearly.

In this regard, he had only one thought: "Sister Guihua, you are amazing, you are worthy of it!"

"That's all."

Master Ou scolded until his mouth was dry, but he only saw Grandma Man lowering her head and letting you talk. He also saw that Man Gensheng didn't come out at all, so he felt bored and lost interest. He waved his hands in disappointment: "Even if the rain is heavy, it can't moisten the rootless grass. It's up to you!"

He shook his head and sighed, looking desolate and lonely, and went back.

"Sure enough, no matter what kind of person you are, once you get involved in gambling, you become a gambling dog. Since you are a dog, you can't stop eating shit. No matter how much you persuade or scold, you can't wake up."

Fang Lin was pondering inwardly, when Fang's father came back and also went home with him.

……

"Linzi, gambling is not a good thing. You can't learn it from Man Gensheng." Fang's mother said as she served the rice.

"Okay." Fang Lin agreed and started serving the meal.

Tonight, the Fang family had dinner, a bowl of stir-fried pork with beans, a plate of cold beef, and dry rice.

"Brother Lin, try this beef." Tian Xuan picked up a big piece of beef with chopsticks and gave it to Fang Lin.

"Yeah, you guys eat too. Mom, Sister Xuan, did you grab the beef?" Fang Lin asked in surprise.

In this era, although the price of beef is lower than that of pork, it is generally difficult for ordinary people to get it. It doesn’t matter to the rich, but when they want to eat beef, a cow will break its leg.

"How can that be possible? You can't even get it. This beef was brought back by your father."

"Yesterday, Mr. Xu from the dock gave us two kilograms of beef." Fang's father knew that this was thanks to his son.

Actually, he was a bit competitive. After becoming the manager these two days, he worked diligently and seriously. However, he soon discovered that there was no room for him to display his talents in this job. He just had to watch people work and check the numbers. It was very easy for him every day.

On the contrary, every time someone comes to get close to him, they keep saying "you have a good son", which completely ignores his efforts and makes him very depressed. It's okay once or twice, but eight or ten times... He simply doesn't explain and just lies down and lets people make fun of him. I just rely on my son, so what?

Once my mindset changed, I lay down and gradually discovered - wow, it smells so good!

Fang Lin didn't know what his father was thinking. He tasted the beef and found it to be chewy and tasty. The fragrance lingered in his mouth after he swallowed it.

It can be said to be the best beef I have ever eaten in two lifetimes. I don’t know whether the beef of this era is better, or the beef given by Mr. Xu Kuo is better.

"Linzi, your father took the clothes I made for you a few days ago. Do they fit you well? Why don't you wear them?" asked Fang's mother.

"It's fine. I wore it. When it got dirty, I changed it and washed it. Why isn't my dad wearing that one?"

"Your father treasured that cotton-padded jacket so much that he took it off when he came back, saying that he was afraid of getting it dirty. Oh, that day, he wore it on his first day as a steward. After he wore it out, before anyone asked, your father said, 'This new jacket is really warm. My son gave it to me.'"

"Why are you talking so much!" Fang's father couldn't stand it anymore and retorted to Fang's mother.

Tian Xuan listened and giggled secretly. She and Fang Lin looked at each other inadvertently, and they could see the smiles on each other's mouths and eyes.

Woo——woo——

At this time, the wind outside was howling and freezing, while the brazier inside the house was burning fiercely. The orange-red light enveloped the family of four, making it as warm as spring. Laughter could be heard from time to time, along with the crackling of the firewood in the brazier.

……

(End of this chapter)