CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 23: BONUS

As for whether it’s written by the leader himself, Lin Xiang thinks it’s probably not.

The leader has so many things to worry about every day, how would he have time to write a letter to someone like her?

Lin Xiang happily opened the letter and started reading it word by word.

Just as she finished reading, Mrs. Lin came back.

"Girl, you came back so early today? Have you fried the river prawns?"

"Fried them, fried them, and not only do we have river prawns today, but also potato-braised meat."

"There’s meat?" Mrs. Lin’s little eyes widened, "Did you buy the meat? How much did you spend? We don’t have meat tickets!"

"Chef Shen gave it, only three liang, I used potatoes to braise it, and you eat more later."

Mrs. Lin pursed her lips, "So stingy, if giving, why not give more, just three liang, who’s that enough for?"

"Mom!" Lin Xiang said with a stern face, correcting Mrs. Lin’s attitude, "Chef Shen gave me a salary and allowed me to use the kitchen spices to fry river prawns for you, which is within his duty. Giving me pork is his generosity, not something he must do. Your words sound unpleasant to the ears."

Mrs. Lin rarely saw Lin Xiang speaking with a stern face, she couldn’t help but defend herself quietly, "I was just saying, didn’t mean anything else."

"Even if it was just a casual remark, it’s still not okay! Mom, we need to know how to be grateful, or it’ll be really annoying."

"But wasn’t it always like this before..."

"You also said that it was before. In the past, our reputation in the village wasn’t great, don’t you know? Now, after working hard to earn some goodwill by laying phone lines, don’t spoil it by saying something wrong."

Mrs. Lin understood the logic Lin Xiang was talking about, but she had been living like this for decades and couldn’t change instantly.

And she didn’t plan to change.

As they say, only a daughter knows her mother well, one look at Mrs. Lin’s expression and Lin Xiang knew what she was thinking.

Lin Xiang had to use her marriage prospects to threaten again.

"Mom, did you forget what I told you a few days ago? I’m someone who has been noticed by the town leaders, and there’s a high probability I could find a good suitor. If these trivial matters ruin my reputation, which good family would be willing to marry me? Do you want me to marry just anyone?"

"That won’t do!" Mrs. Lin pursed her lips, "Alright, alright, I know, in the future, I’ll be more careful with my words and try not to say such things, okay?"

Only then did Lin Xiang smile, "Alright, then let’s go eat."

It’s not that Lin Xiang wants to make a big deal out of a few words, but Mrs. Lin is used to being carefree, and if she continues like this, she could easily say something inappropriate.

Now, by constantly reminding her, after enough times, when Mrs. Lin wants to say something improper, she’ll remember Lin Xiang’s warnings and hold her tongue.

Three liang of meat isn’t much, mixed with potatoes, the meat pieces are pitifully few.

Mrs. Lin took two bowls, first gave Lin Xiang two bigger pieces of meat, looking at the few remaining pieces in the bowl, she pained over them, "Today just give Lin Yun one piece of meat, today’s meat pieces are big, one should be enough for him!"

Lin Xiang just "educated" Mrs. Lin, if she goes against her now, it might make her rebellious.

"Giving him one piece is enough, leaving him more potatoes will be the same."

Lin Xiang then took the two pieces of meat from her bowl and gave them to Mrs. Lin.

"You have more."

"You’re not eating?"

"I ate a lot in the back kitchen today, I’m not hungry now, you eat more."

Mrs. Lin didn’t hold back, took a piece of pork and ate it happily.

"So delicious!"

Seeing how satisfied Mrs. Lin was eating, Lin Xiang asked, "Mom, can I talk to you about something?"

"Go ahead." Mrs. Lin said indistinctly with meat in her mouth.

Lin Xiang adjusted her sitting posture, leaning closer to Mrs. Lin, "Today the foreign guests signed a contract with the textile factory, even though it’s only more than twenty thousand US Dollars this first time, it’s a qualitative breakthrough for the whole of Mianyang Town. The leader said my translation work was well done, that the cooperation succeeded in part because of my efforts, so they decided to reward me."

Mrs. Lin’s eyes sparkled, "Reward? How much money is it?"

Lin Xiang raised two fingers.

Mrs. Lin exclaimed, "Two hundred? We’re rich! With this two hundred, we won’t lack for money, and when you get married, I can prepare a generous dowry for you!"

Lin Xiang tugged at the corner of her mouth, "Could it be, it’s twenty?"

Mrs. Lin’s smile immediately drooped.

The gap between two hundred and twenty is really quite big.

She was about to say the leader was too stingy, such a big contract yet only a twenty-dollar reward.

But remembering Lin Xiang’s earlier reminders, she swallowed those unsaid words back down.

"It’s nice, twenty’s still quite a lot, our family’s savings only have two dollars."

The daughter’s dowry has to be simple.

"The bonus is secondary, the important thing is, the leader gave me a choice."

Mrs. Lin was still lamenting the lost two hundred dollars, absent-mindedly asking, "What choice?"

"One, a position as a female worker at the textile factory. Another..."

"Take this one! Take this one!"

Lin Xiang hadn’t finished speaking when Mrs. Lin eagerly made a decision for her, "Girl, if you become a female worker, and have a formal job, the potential suitors could be from leadership families!"

Lin Xiang felt helpless, Mrs. Lin is always worried that she won’t find a good suitor!

"Mom, I haven’t even said the second one yet."

"Could anything be better than the textile factory female worker quota?"

"The leader said, if I want, I can go back to school. With my age, I could start from senior year two."

Even though this December marks the first nationwide exam since the resumption of the college entrance exam, Lin Xiang hasn’t touched the seventies textbooks, doesn’t know how much they differ from what she learned in her previous life.

Moreover, she has left the classroom for many years, many knowledge points were returned to the teachers, she needs time to properly reabsorb everything, so starting from senior year two is most suitable.

After Lin Xiang finished talking, Mrs. Lin looked at her with eyes that seemed to see a fool.

"Do these two even need consideration? Definitely choose the female worker! You report tomorrow, and by next month, the latest the month after, you’ll have wages! Going to school, whether you learn it or not is one thing, how much does a year of tuition cost, not mentioning if you can’t pass the college entrance, if you do, you’ll have to study for several more years, earning money will take a few more years!"

"Mom’s not unwilling to spend this money on you, but think about it, you’re almost eighteen, quite a few your age are already married, with children. You’d be twenty-something after several years in college! At such an age, will well-to-do families still be willing to marry you?"