The couple pushed the handcart along, chatting as they walked. Their entire conversation revolved around Rat.
Ye Yaodong rarely talked to her about all the odds and ends involving his friends, but now that he had started, he got rather carried away.
"If he doesn't sort things out with his wife's family, he won't have anything left no matter how much he earns. They've calculated exactly how to bleed him dry. Earn less, they suck out less; earn more, they suck out more."
"You can't quite put it that way. Some social obligations are only right..."
"They are, but those things are usually supposed to go both ways, aren't they? I've never heard of anything coming back his way. Whatever, they haven't come knocking on our door. We'll ask A-Guang when he comes over."
"A-Guang looked pretty helpless to me, suddenly having someone tagging along everywhere."
"I wonder how many times he's been over since he delivered those pears?"
"Oh? Has Rat taken anything to your other friends?"
"No idea. Ever since they bought boats, every one of them has been busier than an official, earning money to pay off debts. We hardly ever get together to drink and play cards anymore."
Lin Xiuqing smiled. "That's how it should be. You lot shouldn't be allowed any idle time. The moment you have nothing to do, you get up to all sorts of nonsense, like drinking and playing cards and coming home in the middle of the night."
"Listen to you. How is that nonsense?"
Lin Xiuqing gave him a sidelong look and said no more. They were home.
The Old Lady usually sat at the entrance. Whether it was sunny, overcast, or raining, whenever she wasn't chanting scriptures, she liked sitting outside with the radio on.
She sat either outside