The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

Chapter 115 Rare Species

After Scarface left, Li Ruoxue brought out the steamed buns.

Steam rose from the steamer, enveloping her entirely in its mist.

Li Ruoxue wore a faded blue apron around her waist, the belt accentuating her slender figure in a gentle curve.

"That person just now..." Li Ruoxue began, but then didn't know how to continue.

Lin Dachun sat down, picked up a steamed bun and started eating: "Oh, his nickname is Scarface, he does business in town."

"I know, I saw him when he was selling tofu in town." Li Ruoxue lowered her head and wiped her hands with her apron. "His shop... has a bad reputation."

Lin Dachun paused for a moment.

Lin Dachun had not told Li Ruoxue about his relationship with Scarface.

"He came today," Lin Dachun said in a low voice, "saying the shop is short-staffed and asking me to help find women."

Once the words are out, they don't sound so bad anymore.

He repeated Scarface's words verbatim—three or five yuan per session, quick money, better than farming; those widows would do anything for their children; and there's that ten-yuan "consultation fee."

As he said this, he didn't look at Li Ruoxue; his eyes were fixed on the yellow steamed buns.

"Isn't that forcing women into prostitution? Making women do that kind of work, aren't they ashamed? It's utterly shameful."

Li Ruoxue's face turned bright red.

It wasn't the kind of redness from being steamed earlier; it was a redness that started from the base of her neck and spread all the way up, even her earlobes were red, so red they were almost transparent, and you could see the fine veins.

"He..." she began, her voice barely audible, "How could he... how could he let you say something like that?"

"Then what do you become? In ancient times, this job was called a brothel madam; now it's called a pimp." Li Ruoxue was quite knowledgeable; she even knew these terms.

His words carried a mixture of shame, anger, and a sense of grievance that Lin Dachun couldn't quite articulate.

It seemed that Scarface's words had tainted her ears and her as a person.

"He said some people are willing," Lin Dachun added. For some reason, he felt he had to tell the whole story and not keep anything to himself.

"Either her family is too poor, or she just really wants a man," Li Ruoxue joked.

"Hehe, both, I guess. Didn't you say that sometimes the urge to think about men is as strong as the urge to survive? That makes sense, right?" Lin Dachun joked.

Li Ruoxue blushed even more and said shyly, "Eat quickly, then we'll go work on the mountain. I haven't seen the sea buckthorn and jujube trees in a long time. Aren't you afraid they'll wither? You still have time to laugh at me. I'm not that dramatic."

"Haha, it's normal for you to be a woman with a strong sex drive at that age."

"I'm not a lustful woman."

Li Ruoxue stuffed a steamed bun into Lin Dachun's mouth.

After eating.

Lin Dachun and Li Ruoxue then went back to the mountain to get busy.

Even on the mountain, the two were still flirting and teasing each other, just like a happy young couple.

Thanks to Lin Dachun's diligent care, the sea buckthorn is growing very well.

"Why does this sea buckthorn look different?"

At this moment, Li Ruoxue discovered several different types of sea buckthorn.

Lin Dachun examined it carefully and it took him a long time to recognize it. He said, "This is a rare variety. It's a sea buckthorn with ridge fruit."

"What is sea buckthorn berries?" Li Ruoxue clearly didn't know.

"Let me put it this way, 90% of the sea buckthorn in our Loess Plateau is local, also called Chinese sea buckthorn, with a small amount of Mongolian sea buckthorn, while this ribbed sea buckthorn is a natural hybrid variety," Lin Dachun explained.