Reborn as a Rich Woman in the Eighties
Chapter 138 - 137: Hoodwinked

Chapter 138: Chapter 137: Hoodwinked

Lin Xia had fallen hard this time; she landed directly on the back of her head!

She could even hear the sound of her head making contact with the ground!

Afterward, Lin Xia saw the deep blue sky and a young man looking down at her with a frown as she lay on the ground.

"Are you all right?"

Lin Xia blinked rapidly, wondering whether she should admit she was hurt or not.

She steeled herself, unable to escape anyway, and with not much goods outside, she decided to see what the man would say.

"No big deal!" she said as she sat up with a grunt and rubbed the back of her head, which genuinely hurt. If she hadn’t been wearing a hat, she probably would have cracked a big bump right there.

She struggled to get up because her cotton pants were too thick.

The man frowned again as he watched her and asked, "How many times have you set up a stall?"

"First time!" Lin Xia stood up, shaking the snow off herself. She couldn’t admit that she did this often.

"You don’t look like it’s your first time! Why else would you run?" the man’s voice was calm, lacking any significant inflection.

Lin Xia decided to appeal to reason and emotion, softening her tone, "Comrade! I heard they were checking on vendors! Seeing you guys made me panic!

If there weren’t hardships at home, who would suffer like this in such cold weather! I don’t even make that much money..."

She trailed off toward the end, realizing she was indeed speaking the truth. If she didn’t have only two dollars in her pocket, would she resort to such risks?

It was all because she had no money!

The man looked at her lowered head, then at the hairclips scattered on the ground, a flicker of sympathy crossing his eyes, "Don’t let it happen again! We have leaders checking these days, so be careful!"

With those words, he left, which completely baffled Lin Xia. Was she just let off, just like that?

She watched the man’s retreating figure, not bothering to ponder the why, quickly gathering the red cloth and scattered items, and stashing everything in Jade’s room.

She figured out the direction and promptly left the area.

She had been chased by two people just a moment ago; who knew if they might change their minds and complicate matters?

It wasn’t until Lin Xia had walked away that she felt her heart completely relax. She had been so nervous earlier that she had drained all her energy; even walking made her legs feel weak and listless.

Lin Xia slowly walked home, pondering along the way; she really didn’t understand why the man had let her off so easily.

Lin Xia recalled his face; she didn’t even recognize him! Perhaps it was her pitiful story that had touched his sympathetic heart?

If that was the case, then he was indeed a good person.

Anyway, no matter what, it was ultimately a good thing. If she had actually been fined or her goods confiscated, she would have been heartbroken.

When she got home and just opened the door, she saw Lin Qiu and Lin Dong rush out, both looking anxious.

Lin Dong quickly asked, "Big Sister! Where did you go?"

Lin Qiu sized up Lin Xia, "Sister! Are you okay?"

Lin Xia smiled and waved her hand as if nothing was wrong, "I’m fine! Look at how worried you are! I just went for a stroll!"

She definitely couldn’t talk about what she had done; otherwise, her younger siblings wouldn’t miss the chance to lecture her.

"We thought you had gone out to sell goods!"

"Yeah, Sister! We didn’t see you at home as soon as we arrived!"

Lin Qiu and Lin Dong had both panicked when they arrived home and saw the cooked food but not Lin Xia. They were afraid she had gone out to sell goods and got caught, resulting in confiscated merchandise.

Only now, when they saw Lin Xia looking unharmed, did they finally feel at ease.

"No! I just went out for a stroll," Lin Xia put down her bag and asked them, "Have you eaten yet?"

Both of them answered in unison, "No, we haven’t!"

"How could we have the mood to eat!"

Lin Xia called out to them, "You two silly kids! Hurry up and eat! After eating, go do whatever you need to do! If I had gone to sell goods, I would have definitely left a note for you!

I didn’t say anything; I just went out for a stroll! I surely still have the right to go out for a walk, don’t I?"

Lin Qiu and Lin Dong were half-convinced, but seeing Lin Xia back safely, they let their hearts settle.

It was already the middle of noon; even if they wanted to say anything, there was no time left, so they hurriedly left the house.

After they left, Lin Xia breathed a huge sigh of relief, finally alone at home.

She locked the front door and wasn’t in a hurry to wash the dishes, but instead took out the money she’d hastily placed in Jade’s room to count.

At that moment, highly strung, she wasn’t in a state to consider how much money she had made.

Only now did she recall that in her haste, she had lost at least one or two hairpins.

She consoled herself, well, it’s gone, and perhaps if she hadn’t run, more than just a few items might have been lost.

After counting the money, excluding the two dollars she had earlier, she had sold a total of twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents.

She thought that was alright; at least that amount would be enough for them to live on for a few days.

As for when to set up her stall again, it looked like she would have to stay home for several more days.

She really didn’t want to experience that desperate rush to escape again, and who knew if she would be so lucky to be let go next time.

Lin Xia touched the back of her head and still felt pain; she had indeed hit her head hard on the frozen ground.

Because she hid it from her siblings, she couldn’t cry out in pain, and could only quietly wait for it to get better.

Over the next few days, although Lin Xia said she would rest at home, she couldn’t sit still; she began to collect firewood for the house using the ice plow.

They needed a lot of fire to keep the house warm in winter.

They had only bought a little coal, so they burned firewood all the time.

The firewood her older brother had collected before he left was almost gone, and several times Lin Dong had come home from school to collect firewood, Lin Xia had stopped him.

With the magical room called Jade’s room, how could she bear to let her younger brother exhaust himself?

So she took these few days to get started on this task.

She would go up the mountain and haul the wood, placing it all into Jade’s room.

Then she would put some on the ice plow just for show, so Lin Qiu and Lin Dong wouldn’t know how much she really brought back each day.

They had quite a bit of wood in the house; after Lin Qiu and Lin Dong had their meal, they started to work—Lin Qiu and Lin Xia sawed the wood, while Lin Dong split and stacked it; the three of them worked together with clear roles.

By the time they heard they could set up stalls again, there was enough firewood at home to last for a while.

This time, setting up the stall to sell goods, Lin Xia thought that she would rest as soon as she sold out her stock; until the end of the year, that was it, and any further plans would have to wait until after the new year.

Sister He saw Lin Xia wrapped up like a big bear, her face covered tightly, only revealing a pair of expressive eyes.

She couldn’t help but laugh, "Xiaolin, have you been suffocating at home these days!"