"What did you buy?"
"So much meat!"
Xia Xue smelled a fishy odor and opened the bag to find good quality pork belly and ribs.
"You're showing off just because you have a little money, don't you have enough to spend?"
She poked Lin Fan's forehead repeatedly, "Doesn't the house need renovating?"
"Sister-in-law, we really don't lack money, I... I can earn it."
Lin Fan almost let slip about the one million. If his sister-in-law found out, she would definitely grill him! At that point, he might accidentally reveal something else, and he'd be finished!
He took out the remaining money from his pocket and said, "Sister-in-law, here."
"Oh my, where did you get so much money?"
Xia Xue was astonished, staring intently at the thick stack of bills.
"I earned it from treating patients. This is a town, not the countryside. I can't charge the poor villagers exorbitant prices."
"People in town are different, they're all wealthy, I can ask for more."
Lin Fan thought for a moment, then put away a thousand yuan. "I'll keep some for spending money, you keep the rest, sister-in-law."
Xia Xue was overjoyed. "This is wonderful!"
The house was being built, and there were huge expenses every day. She felt pained, but couldn't not spend.
"Sister-in-law, am I amazing?"
Seeing his sister-in-law's happy face, Lin Fan was also delighted from the bottom of his heart. What was the point of living if not to make oneself and family happy!
"Yes, yes, you are amazing!"
Xia Xue gave Lin Fan a sidelong glance. "In Luofeng Village, you're the most amazing!"
When she was happy, she exuded charm.
In that instant!
Lin Fan was lost in her beauty.
"Uh, I'll take the meat back first."
Xia Xue noticed his strange look and turned away, not looking at him, nor letting him look at her.
"Sister-in-law."
Lin Fan called out in a low voice, as if he had a thousand words to say.
"Xiao Fan, don't overthink things for now. Wait... wait a couple more years."
"Sister-in-law, I can't wait two years!"
Lin Fan clenched his fists and shouted.
"What do you mean you can't wait two years? Are you trying to reach the heavens or the earth?"
Xia Xue turned back, looked at Lin Fan, and said seriously, "If... if it's really... to..."
She stammered, never finishing her sentence. She actually wanted to say, "If Lin Feng really doesn't come back, I'll live with you."
"Sigh~"
Lin Fan sighed heavily. In the past, when reciting lines from Tang and Song poems like "Your pearl tears fall down, regretting we didn't meet when you were unmarried!" he felt no sadness. But now, he truly understood that feeling of helpless yearning for something unobtainable.
"Don't sigh. Our lives are getting better now, aren't they?"
Xia Xue smiled helplessly. "The clinic is thriving, the new house is being built, what else do you need..."
"I need you. I want you to be my wife."
Lin Fan interrupted her, speaking in a muffled voice.
"You..."
Upon hearing this, Xia Xue immediately looked around, afraid someone might overhear Lin Fan's words.
"It's daytime, and we're in the clinic. Don't talk nonsense."
"What are you afraid of? They'll know sooner or later, I..."
Lin Fan saw a flicker of anger in his sister-in-law's beautiful eyes and swallowed his words.
"Alright, look at you, acting like you haven't grown up."
Xia Xue waved her hand and said, "I'm going back to soak the ribs first."
She bent down, lifted the bags with her hands, and suddenly stumbled, almost falling.
"Xiao Fan, why is this so heavy?"
Xia Xue felt something was wrong. It looked like no more than twenty catties, but when she grabbed the left bag, it felt significantly heavier.
"Oh, that, that..."
Lin Fan suddenly remembered he had thrown away the conspicuous briefcase on his way back. Then he picked up some newspapers, wrapped the golden compass, and put it together with the pork belly.
"I found a piece of scrap metal on the road. I don't know if it fell off someone's car. It's worth more than ten yuan, so I picked it up."
As he spoke, he took out the golden compass.
"Scrap metal?"
Xia Xue still felt something was off. The heavy, sinking feeling was much more substantial than scrap metal.
"There's copper inside. I'll take it apart and sell it separately."
Lin Fan held the golden compass tightly and added, "Sister-in-law, aren't you going back to soak the ribs? Bring my meal over too, I'm hungry."
"Oh." Xia Xue saw his mysterious demeanor and knew there was something fishy about the newspapers. However, he was usually honest, so she didn't think too much of it.
"I'll be back soon."
Xia Xue suddenly remembered something and instructed, "Right, Secretary Tian is coming. Don't forget to apologize to him."
"Got it."
Lin Fan replied. Seeing his sister-in-law turn and leave, his heart finally relaxed. Damn it, he felt like he was hiding more and more things from his sister-in-law lately. No, he had to find an opportunity to confess to her to avoid future troubles, otherwise, who knows what might happen down the line.
As Lin Fan pondered these thoughts, he went into the back room and found a hidden spot to stash the golden compass.
"Lin Fan!"
"Where the hell have you been?"
"Get out here!"
As soon as Lin Fan hid the golden compass, he heard Tian Mengyao's angry voice from outside. Then, as he came out, he saw Tian Mengyao's beautiful eyes filled with fury. Wu Lei stood beside her with his head lowered, looking indifferent as if it had nothing to do with him.
Tian Mengyao stepped forward, glared at Lin Fan, and demanded, "I asked you to come to the village committee meeting, why didn't you come?"
Lin Fan retorted righteously, "I'm not a village official, why should I go?"
"You!" Tian Mengyao's anger intensified. "Didn't you promise to attend the village committee meetings as an observer?"
Lin Fan raised a hand and chuckled, "Then at least pay me a salary. I have a whole family to support. If the clinic isn't open, I'm not the only one who can't eat."
"You... you..."
Tian Mengyao was speechless. She genuinely couldn't afford to pay Lin Fan. Even she, the village secretary, only received a small salary each month thanks to her father's influence. The village committee, on the other hand, was incredibly poor! There were so many long-standing debts that she was in a constant state of distress, unable to find a solution.
"Alright, alright, I'll go with you now."
Seeing her look of distress, Lin Fan's heart softened, and his attitude became more lenient. Otherwise, if she ran off crying, and Wu Lei caused more trouble, who knows what rumors would spread.
"Go or don't go, I don't believe Luofeng Village can't function without you!"
Tian Mengyao said a parting shot filled with anger and then turned to leave. Wu Lei gave Lin Fan a meaningful glance, a hint of smugness in his eyes.
"That old geezer!"
Lin Fan thought to himself, "No, I have to go and see. Arguing with that young girl doesn't make any sense."