Chapter 541 Wild rumours
"Just five taels?" Old madam Lin screeched as she looked at the five taels that Zhang Xiaohui gave to Lin Yunxi. She was most definitely upset at this treatment, she was her mother in law, no matter how badly she might have treated that woman, she should have listened to her and returned, and if she wasn't willing to return for her then she should have at least returned for her children, how can she wipe her hands after giving five taels to them? What about the rest of the money? What about those gold jewellery? What about the work that was still left to do in the fields who was going to do all of that? " What was she trying to do? Dismiss a beggar? Three taels are Che'er's academy fee and there is also money needed to buy pen and papers, how can she just give you guys five taels and be done with it? I mean she was the one who gave birth to you!"
Old madam Lin was surely funny, she was the one who wanted to cut off relationships with Zhang Xiaohui at first and because she was worried that Zhang Xioahui would cling to Lin Che after the latter made it big, she immediately pulled her two grandchildren away from Zhang Xiaohui and even had her write that document where she firmly stated that she will have no relation with the Lin family and her children but now that troubles were knocking on their door, Old madam Lin suddenly realised that Zhang Xiaohui was the birth mother of Lin Yunxi and Lin Che.
Lin Yunxi shrugged, her expression was full of discontentment. She too expected that her mother would return with them to the family and everything would be alright just like before but she never expected that her mother would be so selfish that she wouldn't even care about them, she just gave them the bare minimum and wiped her hands off the responsibilities that she has as their mother. " She only gave us this much if you want to ask more from her then you have to go and talk with mother, grandma, she wasn't willing to listen to us at all."
" that's right, Grandma," said Lin Che as he heaved a heavy sigh as if he was full of disappointment towards his mother. " We apologised and asked her to come back home with us but instead she gave us these five taels and asked us to return home saying that she wasn't the only parent that we had."
When Lin Ze heard this, his expression turned grim. He was both upset and angry with Zhang Xiaohui, no matter what they were still married for more than twenty years, how can she just brush him off her life just like that? If he didn't know his wife well, he would have thought that she had someone else just like him.
Grandma Lin was even more upset. What was the meaning of this? Did she mean to say that Lin Ze should alone take care of these two children of his? If he had the ability would they be living a life like that? Old madam Lin knew her son well and she knew that if she didn't bring Zhang Xiaohui back in these circumstances then she would really starve to death.
No, she couldn't allow that to happen, she needed to do something and fast!
———
No matter how fast old madam Lin was she was nowhere as fast as a certain someone.
The next day wild rumours started to spread around in the Dong Tong village.
Apparently, Xing Bengt has offended someone in the town and the person he offended was a big official because of his grave mistake —— the entire Xing family was punished to be executed and everyone working under the Xing family lost their jobs including Lin Ze who was acting like a nouveau rich from the past few days. Because of his sudden unemployment, the young lady called An Xia whom he had an affair ran away and she also stole a bunch of things including money and grains from the Lin family.
Nobody knew who twisted the rumours later on but then a new bunch of rumours started to flow and according to them, An Xia wasn't even pregnant with Lin Ze's child. She was pregnant with the child of her boss and made Lin Ze the scapegoat for her child but then Xing Bengt lost everything and Lin Ze lost everything as well, worried that she would be bullied in the future, An Xia ran away after making the top of Lin Ze's head green.
Old madam Lin who stepped out of the house to go and find trouble with Zhang Xiaohui heard the rumours and her entire vision turned woozy. If not for Lin Yunxi who was next to her, the old woman would have fallen to the ground and broken her spine... No wonder, No wonder that girl ran away like that she knew that with Xing Bengt around she and her child would live a proper life but with him facing execution how will he be able to give her a comfortable life?
" That slut!" shouted Old madam Lin as soon as her world stopped moving and she was able to stand up straight. The more she thought about it the angry she became, at first she thought that no matter what even if the money was lost, it will be spent on her grandchild but now that she knew that the kid didn't even belong to her son, she felt as if someone was cutting a part of her heart along with her flesh.
So much money! All went to a bastard's tummy!
She was so angry that she wished that An Xia's womb would get torn and ripped apart by a bunch of dogs!
" Grandma, are we going to bring mother back now?" asked Lin Yunxi her expression was even nastier. She was sixteen and yet such nonsense regarding her family was floating around already. What was she going to do now?
" Going, of course, we are going." gritted old madam Lin. " One bitch ran away so what? The other one is still here!"
To think that two women ripped her family off one after the other!
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Chapter 542 Get out!
" Zhang Xiaohui, get out of your hiding hole right now!"
Su Wan was happily snuggling with Lin Yan when she was woken up by a loud and unpleasant voice that sounded like hundreds of crows were cawing at once, she blinked her eyes and slowly sat up straight, as she looked around the room with an unhappy face. What was that? Who was screaming like a dying dog, so early in the morning?
" Zhang Xiaohui! Why are you hiding like a dead rat in the house? Get out here!"
Lin Yan who was sleeping beside Su Wan could no longer ignore the loud and annoying sound that was coming from the front door and woke up with a frown. He had many plans regarding what he was going to do after consummating his wedding night with Su Wan but whatever he had in mind this wasn't it, he slowly blinked away the sleepiness of his eyes and then sat up straight as he glanced at Su Wan before he picked up his clothes and sternly spoke to her, " Don't come out yet, I will go and take a look first. You stay here."
Just last night, Lin Yunxi and Lin Che came here to bring Zhang Xiaohui back to their house—— Even though they had no idea what An Xia did to the Lin family, after seeing their desperate attempts to bring Zhang Xiaohui back to their family, Lin Yan could more or less understand the situation of the old Lin family. Most probably they were robbed by An Xia before she ran away from the village, with no baking and no money a woman, Especially a widow would never try to run away. An Xia must have taken whatever she could from the Lin family and perhaps that was why the old Lin family was bent on bringing Zhang Xiaohui back since she still had fifteen taels in her hands.
Lin Yan knew his grandmother and knew what a petty miser and a greedy woman she was—— that old woman would definitely not sit still until she got her hands on the money that she had to fork out to pay Zhang Xiaohui for her dowry.
Though what Old grandma Lin had in her mind was completely wrong, in the end, she was now as broke as the village beggar. She wouldn't let go of the matter that easily.
Su Wan rolled her eyes and picked her clothes up as well before she started dressing up. She wasn't made of glass and she could definitely take on that old woman no matter what condition she was in——
When Grandma Lin saw Zhang Xiaohui who opened the door, she arrogantly huffed, " Zhang Xiaohui you really have grown a pair of wings, haven't you? How can you be so slow? Do you have any idea how long I —— your mother in law has been waiting for you?"
In Old Grandma Lin's eyes, Zhang Xiaohui was an abandoned woman and her son was the only man who would be willing to take her in as his wife again. There was no way, Zhang Xiaohui would be able to get another man at such an old age and she also had given birth to two kids. Zhang Xiaohui was what people would call a second-hand good, she was used and thrown—— if she was smart enough, she wouldn't try to fight her anymore.
Back then when Zhang Xiaohui was unmarried, even then no one was willing to marry her. She was too fat and her features were average, if not for her father taking out twenty taels as her dowry, even Old madam Lin wouldn't have agreed to Zhang Xiaohui marrying her son with her fatty looks.
After all her son might have a lot of flaws but he was good looking at least, if not for marrying Zhang Xiaohui because of the dowry given by her father, her son would have married a beautiful girl from their village back then they had a lot more option than Zhang Xiaohui can ever get in her life.
Therefore it was simply Zhang Xioahui's blessing that her son married her and was even willing to take her back even after she threw a tantrum like that.... The reason Old madam Lin was so confident now was very simple —— she was still linking the present Zhang Xiaohui with the past where her father would fork everything out that she and her son wanted... when Zhang Xiaohui was engaged to Lin Ze, Old madam Lin had gone around running her mouth as she asked for this and that, she even said that if the Zhang family didn't get her what she wanted then she wouldn't let her son get married to Zhang Xiaohui who was as fat as a rolling barrel.
At that time the Zhang family was incensed when old madam Lin asked for them to increase the dowry, but Zhang Xiaohui and Lin Ze were already engaged and they couldn't break the engagement because they were worried about Zhang Xiaohui's reputation.
So, even if they couldn't manage to get everything that old madam Lin asked for, the Zhang family tried their best because they didn't want Zhang Xiaohui to suffer because of a few silver taels but Old madam Lin took it as a sign of surrender. She started to believe that no matter what happens Zhang Xiaohui will never get a man better than her son. Therefore she was used to acting superior to Zhang Xiaohui and the same was the case now, though Old madam Lin knew that her son and she were in the wrong, she carefully thought about it.
As long as she was thick-skinned enough to suppress Zhang Xiaohui like she once used to then she would be able to get her hands on the money that was in Zhang Xiaohui's hands.
In the past, Zhang Xiaohui had never bothered to fight with her mother in law because she too thought that she was fortunate enough to marry someone like Lin Ze who was slim and looked good but after suffering so much under their hands and the incident from the last night, Zhang Xiaohui has washed away all the guilt and worry with her tears. No mother would like it if one day she woke up and realised that she was only worth a few silver taels to her children, last night Zhang Xiaohui has cried and cried a lot and Lin Zhi had been patient with her as she told her to let go....and Zhang Xiaohui had let go of everything else.
Now that she was free of the guilt she was feeling, she didn't want to be polite to Old grandma Lin!
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Chapter 543 What kind of mother are you?
Zhang Xiaohui looked at the arrogant appearance of her ex-mother in law and sneered, " Old madam Lin, are you the empress of this country that I need to hurry out of my house to welcome you? And have you forgotten that we have already broken ties with each other, with what right are you trying to scold me?"
Old madam Lin and Lin Yunxi: "....."
Just before old madam Lin could say anything, Su Wan who finished dressing up hurried out as she looked at the two women who came to her house to create trouble so early in the morning, she wasn't even fazed by the crowd that the crazy old hag has gathered around the house and shouted, " Old madam Lin, you and your family sure have a thick skin. Just two days ago you kicked aunt Zhang out of your house and even threatened her not to return ever again and now that you are in trouble, you are actually trying to bully her into returning?"
When Old madam Lin saw that Su Wan was rude to her she wasn't worried, it was something she has already expected but she was stunned when Zhang Xiaohui talked rudely to her. At first, she was confused after all no matter how rude and crude she was to Zhang Xiaohui, the latter hardly dared to say anything back but today she was actually giving her attitude like this?
After being ridiculed by her daughter in law whom she always suppressed in one way or another, Old madam Lin was instantly angered. " Zhang Xiaohui, have you gone mad? Are you really going to stay here and be a burden on these brats? Even if they are treating you nicely now, who knows how they might treat you in the future? Once their own kids our born do you think that they will be willing to take care of you? You are an abandoned woman who knows nothing!"
" Instead of acting all high and mighty why don't you put a stop to this drama and come back with me? I am telling you right now, this is your last chance. You better agree and come back with me or else —— or else I will never let you return! Don't forget that even when you were young, only my son was willing to marry someone ugly like you, do you think that you will have much of a choice left, now that you are so old and divorced?"
In the past old madam, Lin would always use this tactic to threaten Zhang Xiaohui and no matter how angry or upset the latter was, she would calm down.
But this time she wasn't willing to bow her head down, why would she return? In the Lin brothers' family, she was treated like a guest and even though she had to work to earn her daily meals at least no one snatched the good things from her bowl under the pretence that she was just a woman and she should leave everything nice and nutritious to her children and husband. And she has already broken ties with Lin Ze, why will she go back and under what relationship?
If she let this continue then the villagers will start to think that she really was desperate to have a man beside her, and everything that she did was nothing but a tantrum, in the future she might be able to have a man next to her but she wouldn't be able to raise her head in front of others.
Zhang Xiaohui chuckled sardonically. " You don't have to waste your breath by trying to fool me old madam Lin, I know that your family is in trouble. That woman An Xia, she must have taken quite a lot of money for you to act all jumpy like this, didn't she? If you think that I am still going to return after you have used me like a frustration relieving sack, you are wrong. I am not going to come back, never, no matter what happens—— and going by your situation it's you who are in a desperate condition now, not me. Why should I be worried? So, what if I won't have a man, at least I will have three meals and clothes to wear, that's something I can't say for your family."
Old madam Lin was stunned by Zhang Xiaohui's straightforwardness and so was Lin Yunxi, she was completely dazed as she looked at her mother who was shooting barbed arrows at them and was so shocked that she couldn't even bring herself to say anything, it was Old madam Lin who came back to her senses. She was really embarrassed when she noticed the gazes that were directed at her by the crowd. She gritted her teeth and glared at Zhang Xiaohui and clenched her fists—- fine, since she wasn't willing to listen to the soft coaxing then Zhang Xiaohui couldn't blame her for what she was going to do next.
The old woman plopped on the ground and even pulled Lin Yunxi with her as she slapped her chest and cried in a sharp and unpleasant voice, " Would you look at this daughter in law of mine? I just hit her lightly and she is acting like I have murdered her entire family! It was just a small squabble but she had to make a mountain out of a molehill! Now, she is even refusing to come with me it's fine after all I am already so old and my son is old enough to look after himself but what about the two children that you gave birth to? They came from your womb!"
"How can you be so selfish as to leave them behind? As their mother don't you need to take care of them? How can you act so selfish when your children are missing their mother so much? They even came to bring you back last night, going as far as secretly coming to find you behind my back! And yet you are turning your eyes away from them? What kind of mother are you?"
Since this woman wasn't listening to her nicely then she will suppress her listen by the public opinion!
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Chapter 544 Gossip.
Zhang Xiaohui turned silent this was exactly what she was worried about, she knew that what she was doing might be right in her eyes but that doesn't mean that it was right in the eyes of others as well. She looked at Lin Yunxi who timely ducked her head to look at her grandmother, Lin Yunxi already knew that what they were trying to do was nothing but forceful coercion, they were the ones who wronged her mother first but compared to her mother who was already so old and forlorn, she was still a young girl who was like a blooming flower in spring.
She needed to worry about her future as well, just like her mother was being selfish for her happiness, she too was selfish for the future that she wanted, her brother was useless and so was her father who was a good for nothing as well, if she left her future in the hands of these two then she wouldn't even know when she would end up getting sold. In fact with them in charge of her life, Lin Yunxi was even afraid to fall asleep in the house, who knows when her father and brother might get involved in a desperate situation and end up selling her to an old man for the sake of bride price!
Without her mother Lin Yunxi was really terrified—— if her family didn't get the money that was in her mother's hand then her grandmother would surely choose to give her up for the sake of her brother because compared to her, Her grandmother naturally favoured her brother more. If she knew that the Xing family would get involved in trouble like this, she would have left with her mother instead of staying with the Lin family!
Old madam Lin didn't know that her granddaughter had so many calculations in her mind, she was really pleased with her smart move. She thought that she was really the wise one here for playing this card, when she noticed that more and more people were gathering around she shouted once again, " Zhang Xiaohui, you can be as upset with my son as you want, I agree that he was the one who wronged you but the children are innocent! Lin Yunxi is sixteen and she is yet to marry how can you abandon her at such a juncture? When her future laws will learn about the situation of our family, will they still dare to marry her? They will take Lin Yunxi to be cut from the same cloth material as you, even an idiot would think twice before marrying our Yunxi."
The villagers were swayed by Old Madam Lin's words.
" That's right, the kids are innocent."
" For the sake of her kids, Zhang Xiaohui should return to her family."
" What's going on? this family always has drama lined up honestly."
" I think that Old madam Lin is right, even if the parents have a problem—— they should think about their kids and shouldn't divorce."
" Are you crazy? Haven't you seen what kind of person Old madam Lin is? Who here didn't see her beating Zhang Xiaohui like she was beating an ox or cow in her shed? Zhang Xiaohui might have been an unreasonable woman towards others but she was really sensible and caring for her family at the least. Old madam Lin asked Zhang Xiaohui to do the work of three people alone and Zhang Xiaohui never refused her and yet the woman was still not satisfied, if I was in her place even I would have run away."
" That's right! We have watched Zhang Xiaohui work in the fields from morning to evening—— that's obviously the work of men but the Lin family is really unique they asked their daughter in law and daughter to work for them. While the men stayed at home and enjoyed the comforts provided by the women of the house. If I was beaten after doing so much work, I would be pissed as well ."
" Isn't that right? The Lin family has always been relying on this and that first it was Father Lin, then his son and now Zhang Xiaohui and Lin Zhi, instead of learning to work harder they are simply learning how to dump work on this and that is why not learn how to stand on their own feet? Old madam Lin took advantage of Zhang Xiaohui and yet she is now dumping a load of bullshit on her ex daughter in law, isn't that preposterous?"
However, there were also villagers who were siding with the Old Madam Lin.
" You what do you know? You are still young! Back in my days' mothers in law used to beat their daughter in law until they were half dead but the daughters in law stayed put at the house like a tamed dog. There was no such drama as divorcing her man or leaving her family, whoever dared to do that was called a hussy!"
" Zhang Xiaohui was indeed a reasonable daughter in law, and what happened to her was definitely not right but we also have to consider the fact that there are two innocent kids involved. They were born from Zhang Xiaohui, if she abandoned them at such a crucial point who knows what might happen to them? After all, Lin Yunxi is sixteen and will soon be married, if her future in-laws found out that her mother divorced her father, don't you think it will damage her reputation? I think that by refusing to go back with the Lin family Zhang Xiaohui is being really selfish!"
Normally, the villagers would mind their tongues before wagging them but today they had the Lin family's backing and were completely lawless.
Su Wan immediately moved in front when she heard the villagers discussing the matter like they knew everything. With a darkened expression she scolded Old Madam Lin, " Damn, old woman who are you shedding crocodile tears for? Don't go spouting nonsense like you really care about your grandchildren or Aunt Zhang! The truth is that you don't care about anyone else and nor do your grandchildren! All you care about is the money! An Xia robbed you and left nothing behind, so you are wailing here like an old ghost. Your new daughter in law stole the money what does that have to do with Aunt Zhang or our family?"
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Chapter 545 Gossip part 2
She paused then added with a sneer that was full of contempt. " When you had a long comfortable future planned ahead of you, you guys were willing to kick Aunt Zhang out but now that all your comforts have been snatched, all of a sudden you seemed to have realised how important Aunt Zhang was to your family, before beating her and kicking her out why didn't you think what will the future in-laws of your granddaughter would think? Back then you didn't seem to worry about what people were going to say—— so why now? Instead of taking care of your own family with your hands, you want to once again leech on others. Old madam Lin, your family is really good."
The villagers were once again shocked as they all started to gossip once again.
" That girl An Xia —— she ran away?"
" She even stole the money from the Lin family?"
" So, this is why old madam Lin is bent on taking Zhang Xiaohui back with her. She is as rich as the village beggar now, hah!"
" This is unbelievable!"
" What's unbelievable? It's simply their Karma!"
"That's right!"
Old madam Lin was so angry that her face turned purple, seriously! Why can't this girl just stay put and shut her mouth? When she noticed the change in the gazes of the villagers who were supporting her in the beginning, her expression changed and she jumped to her feet as she glared at Su Wan. "So what? Even if I wanted the money in her hands, what about it? Su Wan, you bitch, what do you think about having kids and the efforts in raising them? You have been married to my grandsons for more than ten months and did your stomach make any movement? No! I am afraid that you are simply infertile and can't give birth! Just because you can't give birth, you are running your mouth? As a mother, it's her responsibility to raise her children until the very end, this is something an eggless chicken like you can never understand!"
When the Lin brothers heard Old madam Lin cursing their wife, they immediately shielded Su Wan behind them. Especially Lin YanLin Chen and Lin Yu... the three of them knew Su Wan's past and understood how badly that ' eggless chicken' phrase would have stung their wife.
Even Shen Junxi and Shen Zizhen went howling mad, if not for their wives who pulled them back on the time they would have fought with this old madam Lin without worrying a thing about losing their face!!
Lin Chen strode forward and fired back, " Old madam Lin, we are being kind by not slapping you in the face! I am telling you if not for your age! I would have smacked you so hard that you would have lost your remaining teeth!" He clenched his fists and waved them in front of Old madam Lin's face. " If you have gone crazy ask Uncle Lin to go and call a doctor for you! He and Aunt Zhang are already divorced and you agreed to their divorce as well, do you think that we are playing a game of toss here? That if you are in a bad mood you will toss someone out of your house and if you are in good mood you will take them back? You sighed the divorce document, if you didn't want the divorce to happen you should have thought this before signing the document! Why is it that you are scolding my wife now that the things aren't going your way?"
Old madam Lin shouted back, " Why will I not scold her? This is my family's matter but this bitch of yours is poking her nosy nose in my business! My Ze'er, your uncle is lying on the bed after being beaten so cruelly and she has no humanity left for him! Even if we have separated, he is still your uncle! How can you watch him suffer like this? I am not even talking to her but she is bent on intervening! I will not just scold her but also teach her a good lesson!"
Then she strode past the Lin brothers and she made a grab at Su Wan while cursing at her. " You little bitch, you sure have a dirty mouth! If you are a slut then be a good one and just jam your mouth with these brats' cocks! Why do you have to open your mouth and spit trash every time you speak? Let me tell you not only will Zhang Xiaohui not just come with us, but she also has to slave after my son until he recovers! That's what a good wife and woman is supposed to do! Unlike you who just sways her hips in the bed and opens her mouth to beg for men to solve her itch! I will take her back and even that money she took with her! What are you going to do huh?"
She sneered as she caught hold of Su Wan's hair. " Going to moan at me like a little slut, is that what you are going to do?"
" You old hag—-" Su Wan cursed as she raised her hand to smack Old madam Lin but someone was faster than her, Lin Jing pulled Old madam Lin away from Su Wan by clasping her wrist and throwing her away. He very much wanted to hit the old woman but he couldn't because of the crowd that has accumulated in front of his house, but even if Lin Jing couldn't slap Old madam Lin someone else could.
Madam Zhu rushed forward with Madam Hu, and the two of them smacked Old madam Lin squarely on the face one after another before Madam Zhu roared. " You old woman! We don't hit the elderly but you are being too much! Do you think that we —- The Shen family are a joke? I didn't take issue with you because you were an old woman but how dare you call my Wan Wan a bitch and a slut! Don't you want your mouth or your hand? Do you think that I and my niece is easily bullied! Do you think you are the empress here? I will wrench out your tongue if you dare to touch my Wan Wan again."
Shen Junxi who was behind Madam Zhu: Go wifey!!!
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Chapter 546 Lin Ze was taken by Yamen officers
Old madam Lin went mad after she was slapped, she collapsed on the ground and started rolling around as she wailed like a banshee, " These people are bullying the elderly! I didn't even say anything and yet they are coming at me like this! This is clearly our family matter, yet that girl is poking her nose. The younger one bullied me and the older one slapped me! They are plain horrible for treating me like this!"
" Oh my God! Why didn't you kill me before letting me see this day? I don't want to lie anymore! I can't live anymore! Just kill me in front of this little slut's house and let me take my dying breath here! I will come back as a ghost to haunt them!"
" My poor son..my poor grandchildren! Why is their fate so pitiful? Zhang Xiaohui, how can you close your eyes to my son and grandchildren's peril like this? No matter what they are still your family members as well! My son has been so good to you, no one was willing to marry you but my son took you in, you were so ugly with your tanned skinned and fat body! And this is how you are going to repay my son?'
" You are actually hiding behind that little slut and no longer care about me your old mother in law! How can you do this? Have you forgotten back then when you were at wit's end, it was me and my son who took you in and made you the daughter in law of the Lin family, now that we are like this, you are going to run away and hide?"
Lin Chen was so furious when he heard Old madam Lin calling his wife ' little slut this and that', Su Wan was their wife! They married her with all the gongs and bells, how come she was reduced to their slut? His anger that has calmed down flared up again and he was about to charge forward and beat the old lady. This good for nothing, greedy old woman —— she has always taken advantage of their family, back then they had no financial backing and nowhere to go, so he had allowed the old Lin family to take advantage of them. However, now times have changed, he was no longer the same helpless guy who has to worry about his sick mother and the consequences of his actions.
So what if he was called unfilial? He will happily live with that tag all his life but he wouldn't let this old bully slander his wife!
However, Su Wan immediately pulled her impulsive husband back. He was such a fool, if he was to hit, Old madam Lin then she will turn the situation around in her favour! " What are you getting angry for? I am your slut, what's wrong with that?"
Lin Chen immediately wanted to refute, that he didn't take his wife for his slut! She was the mistress of the house, how can such a dirty word even be connected to her? However, he stayed put when Su Wan put more pressure on her grip and pulled him back. Fine, he will teach this old woman a lesson someday else! He was being nice by letting her off but this woman was really too much!
Zhang Xiaohui had enough, Su Wan and her husbands had helped her a lot and even let her stay at their house. But now because of old madam Lin, the entire family was being humiliated like this—- for what exactly? She drew in a breath and stepped forward before loudly speaking, " Old madam Lin, back when I was living at your house—— you bullied me and hit me whenever you wanted, your son despite knowing the law that a commoner can't have more than two wives went ahead and had an affair, that alone is enough for me to sue you in the Yamen. But I won't because just as you said, I have two children with your son and they need their father by their side, and that's exactly why I didn't go to Yamen and made a complaint against your son. If I had done that forget about beating me you would have to treat me like a little ancestor while your son had to spend his time in the prison for breaking the law. I am already being merciful by not demanding punishment for your son at the Yamen, what else do you want?"
Then she thought about something and added, " The divorce document has already been signed and finalised by the village head if you think that I am in the wrong, then you can go to the village head and ask him to give you justice—— however, I am going to spell this out for you the last time, I am never going back... No matter what, if my children needed me then they should have thought about this before signing the 'No relationship' document with me."
Zhang Xiaohui explained what happened to the villagers very loudly, thus, who didn't know about the exact matter were enlightened at once.
" You are a stain, Zhang Xiaohui!" Old madam Lin roared, " You are a black stain on the name of mothers! Every mother would die for her child but you because of your own selfishness refuse to take care of your children! I am telling you one day Karma will strike you dead! I curse you! I curse you that you will have horrible nightmares every night! And if anything happens to my grandchildren in the future then remember it happened because of you—- you will be the one behind it, Zhang Xiaohui! Karma won't let you sleep——"
At this moment, a young village boy came running and shouted loudly, " Old madam Lin what are you creating ruckus here for? Quick go to your house and take a look, the officers of Yamen are here and they are taking Lin Ze to the town with them, hurry and see what's going on!"
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Chapter 547 Not over yet.
" What did you say, Xiao Ying? My son? The yamen officers are taking my son?" Old madam Lin who was howling on the ground immediately jumped up and stumbled to Xiao Ying, she clutched his arms and demanded, " Did you see it clearly? Was it really my son whom they were taking away?"
Si Ying was a young man in his teens, being shaken up like this by Old madam Lin made him uncomfortable as he hurriedly said, " That's right Grandma Lin. I can assure you that I saw the Yamen officers carrying Uncle Lin on their shoulders and taking him away with them, before coming here I asked the Yamen officers why they were taking uncle Lin away and they told me that Uncle Lin was a suspect of working with the criminal who is going to be executed. The officers also said that you better prepare a good sum to get Uncle Lin out of the prison as soon as possible. Or else the Yamen officers will permanently lock Uncle Lin up in the prison for his entire life. Even the village head is asking you to hurry up."
When the village head saw that the officers from the Yamen came to the village, he thought his life was going to end. Yamen officers in the village? Just a single visit from the Yamen officers was enough to taint his pristine reputation as well as the reputation of the village. Once the gossip about Yamen officers arriving at the village got spread his reputation was going to hit rock bottom!
The village head had worked for years to make the name of Dong Tong village flourish among the names of the other villages and yet all his years of hard work simply went down the drain.
And when the Village head realised that this horde of Yamen officers was invited because of the old Lin family he nearly lost his head, he was pent up with frustration and anger yet when he arrived at the Lin family house, he found out that Old madam Lin has taken her granddaughter to the Lin brothers house to create ruckus and Lin Che was nowhere to be found, most probably that cowardly boy went to hide the second he saw the Yamen officers.
Lin Ze would have done the same if not for his legs that were broken.
Thus, he had no other choice but to send Si Ying as the messenger to Old Madam Lin.
Old madam Lin swayed, she covered her forehead as her complexion went deathly pale. She was really frightened and uneasy, after hearing that her son was taken away by the yamen officers.
" Grandmother!"
Lin Yunxi hurriedly went ahead to help her grandmother up, she was worried that if the old woman fell to the ground and broke her back, it will be twice as troublesome for her. Her father was already taken to the prison, if her grandmother also became incapable then what was she supposed to do? At least with the old lady around, she won't die of starvation right?
Old Grandma Lin leaned against Lin Yunxi before she stabilised her footing and rushed towards Zhang Xiaohui, as she screamed shrilly, " Zhang Xiaohui you bitch, it was you wasn't it? You were the one who did this to my son right? You complained against him didnt you? Let me tell you, if something happened to my son, I will kill you! If my son dies then you have to die with him too! I will bury you in the grave with my son!"
Old madam Lin was like a madwoman now, Lin Ze was her lifeline and now someone has touched her lifeline, there was no way she would be able to calm herself down now. She grabbed Zhang Xiaohui's hair and smacked her left and right, left and right, left and right—— she kept slapping her until Zhang Xiaohui's entire face turned swollen like a pig and blood started to drip from the corner of her mouth.
" You bitch! I will make you pay with your life!" roared Old madam Lin as she pulled Zhang Xiaohui's hair and kicked her in the stomach ruthlessly.
The entire crowd that was once supporting Old madam Lin was shocked and stunned as they sucked in a collective breath, at the beginning they thought how bad an old woman can even hit but—- wasn't this just too cruel? It was like she was trying to kill Zhang Xiaohui right away!
Lin Jing strode forward and separated the two women apart as he shielded Zhang Xiaohui behind him. " Enough with your drama! Get lost! We didn't do anything!"
" You liar!" shouted Old madam Lin as she started scratching Lin Jing just like a mad bitch. " It was you guys! You guys were the ones who sent my Ze'er to the prison, I will kill you! I curse you! You will never have a good life!"
Su Wan originally didn't stop Old madam Lin from hitting Zhang Xiaohui because she wanted the villagers to see just how cruel the old woman was but when she saw that old madam Lin was hitting Lin Jing who went to stop her madness, her temper flared up —- she went inside and grabbed a bucket of cold water before she dumped it all on Old madam Lin who instantly stopped after getting drenched like a cat caught in the rain. "Are you done? Can't you understand human language? The man just said that your son was taken under the charges that he was entangled with a criminal? Has your memory gone so bad that you have forgotten with whom your son was working a few days ago?"
" That's right, Grandma Lin!" Si Ying who was anxiously scratching his head rushed forward and stopped old madam Lin from jumping at Lin Jing again. " You better hurry, the Yamen officers have already taken Uncle Lin away if you don't go back now, then you won't be able to bail Uncle Lin out."
Old madam Lin finally snapped back to her senses. That's right, she needed to hurry back to her son! Then she turned to the Lin family and Zhang Xiaohui before grunting fiercely. " This isn't over yet, I will be back!"
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Chapter 548 Pack my bags
The villagers of the Dong Tong village stayed behind while Old madam Lin took her leave with Lin Yunxi.
" Alright, what are you all waiting for now? It's time for you to disperse, go back! Don't you have work to do at home?" Lin Zhi saw that the crowd of onlookers were still watching Zhang Xiaohui and Lin Jing who was visibly shaken and hurt by Old madam Lin, thus she immediately broke the crowd up.
The villagers were curious about what exactly happened with An Xia, how in the world that woman who was willing to marry Lin Ze ran away and who was this criminal with whom Lin Ze was in contact with that he was taken to the Yamen, they all wanted to know what was happening but when Lin Zhi directly called them out and asked them to leave, all of them were too embarrassed to linger behind and ask what about the incident. They were being openly chased away will they still have the face to stay behind and ask about the incident?
The crowds immediately broke up and villagers all started to leave one by one. However, there were still some thick-skinned villagers like the old neighbour of the Lin family with whom Zhang Xiaohui didn't get along with, the woman walked towards Zhang Xiaohui who was wiping the blood off her face with the cloth that Lin Yan has handed and asked with a smile, " Zhang Xiaohui, are you okay? Were the hits too hard on you? Why didn't you tell us that An Xia was making things difficult for you like this? You should have told us and we would have definitely come to help you and what happened with that An Xia wasn't she marrying your ex-husband, how come she actually ran away? And why did the Yamen officers come—- did you really not complain about your husband? It's alright, you can tell me I won't tell anyone."
" Madam Dong, what are you talking about? Can't you see? My sister Zhang is bleeding so how can she be okay? And she did nothing wrong, it was Brother Lin who made friends with the wrong people and was entangled in a mess, why are you linking the two things together?" Lin Zhi hurried forward and interrupted Madam Dong who wolves nosing in the business of others. " No matter what happened, it's not your business so go back to your home!" She didn't even glance at the ugly expression on Madam Dong's face and chased away.
As thick-skinned as Madam Dong was she couldn't stay behind and poke around, so she sniffed and left.
After everyone left, Madam Zhu's expression changed as she dragged both Su Wan and Lin Jing inside while she motioned Lin Zhi to bring Zhang Xiaohui inside and close the door. She looked at Su Wan and Lin Jing sternly as she smacked both of them with the fan she always had in her hand. " Damn you two! Are you stupid who asked you to get out?" And then she turned to Zhang Xiaohui and smacked her lightly on the shoulder as well, " and you too, why didn't you fight back? Just because that woman is your elder, you let her beat you like this? Are you stupid? What if you ended up getting gravely hurt?"
That old madam Lin was worse than a shrew, she was simply an inhuman old devil. First, she called her niece names and then she hit her nephew in law and Zhang Xiaohui. Madam Zhu was so angry that she wanted to smack that woman's face right and left, if not for the crowd outside she would have given double the beating that she gave to the people of her house!
Shen Junxi worriedly called out to his wife and stopped her, afraid that she might hit someone really badly in her anger. "Wife, don't be mad."
He really didn't expect that the in-laws of his niece were such unreasonable people, his nephews in law must have suffered a great deal under that woman and her son. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that old woman fighting and slandering people with that old face of her, his mother was older than that Old madam Lin yet she was like an aristocratic lady of the capital, her bearings were simply incredible! This was his first time seeing a woman like Old madam Lin. " don't worry and don't waste your energy on that woman anymore. I will definitely settle scores with that old hag sooner or later, don't worry! I will make her pay for everything that she has done today."
Lin Chen shook his head and gritted out. " No, she insulted our wife and hit our eldest brother, if anything we will be the ones who will deal with her!"
The others didn't say any words of support but they didn't exactly stop Lin Chen either. It was clear from their stance that the brothers were all very upset with what happened today.
Zhang Xiaohui was helped by Lin Zhi who was wiping her face with a soft cotton cloth. " Damn that old woman, she has always been like that whenever money and brother were concerned, she would lose every bit of her rationality, it's so infuriating! Back when my brother wanted to send Che to the academy, she sold me after beating me day and night, now brother wanted to take another wife and was willing to entangle with this or that, instead of stopping him, she encouraged him and when things went wrong —— she still didn't blame him and came looking for trouble with us!"
Zhang Xiaohui's old face was badly bruised and with the shame and embarrassment creeping on her, her face turned even more uglier. After suffering so much her personality was now carved by the hard lessons she learned in such a small period of time. With these experiences, her wisdom has increased as well.
She sniffed as she looked at Su Wan and the others before choking out. " I will go and get my bags."
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Chapter 549 A sky high bail.
Zhang Xiaohui's words were like an explosion as the entire Lin family turned to look at her, it wasn't that they were extremely close with her but Zhang Xiaohui was indeed changed, she was no longer lazy and was a great addition to the family what was more she was a divorced woman where was she going to go if she left their house? The money that she had from the Lin family was nowhere enough to buy a house and the village currently had no empty houses... not anymore ever since Shen Zizhen bought the house that was next to the Lin brothers' house.
" Aunt Zhang are you feeling guilty because of what happened?" asked Lin Rui, he could more or less understand what was going on in Zhang Xiaohui's head, after what happened he would be just as upset as Zhang Xiaohui if it was him in her shoes.
Zhang Xiaohui wiped the snot off her nose with her sleeves and sniffed. " You heard what she said right? She will come back and create more trouble for you all. It would be all my fault if something like this happened to you guys again, I can't be a piece of baggage on your family."
She also knew the trouble of a lone woman living alone but she was afraid of Old madam Lin and her shrew-like behaviour, she knew that as long as she had the money and jewellery in her hands, Old madam Lin will definitely create trouble for her again and again, she didn't want a repetition of what happened today ever again.
Everyone exchanged a glance with each other and in the end, it was Su Wan who took a brave step forward and patted Aunt Zhang on her shoulder. She knew how Zhang Xiaohui was feeling at the moment when she got a divorce her parents would often barge at the house of her best friend with whom she was living with, demanding that she handed over the restaurant to her ex-husband since his name was on the property certificate. She sighed lightly, " Aunt Zhang, I won't force you to stay if you want to leave but you shouldn't worry about Old Madam Lin, I don't think that she will have the free time to pay us a visit anytime soon."
Zhang Xiaohui heard Su Wan's caring words and her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. " Thank you."
" Aunt Zhi, you should go and get Aunt Zhang to your room and treat her injuries," said Lin Yan as he ushered Lin Jing to his room as well. The two of them entered the room while the others were left behind, each of them having their own thoughts running through their heads, all of them were busy thinking about how to deal with Old grandma Lin who promised to come back and get her revenge.
However, turns out that they were thinking too much. Old madam Lin indeed got just as busy as Su Wan predicted, the second she arrived at the Yamen, she found out that Lord Xing, whom her son has befriended was a criminal who had offended an important official and was waiting for his execution. The second the Yamen officers heard that she was Lin Ze's mother, all of them sneered as the one in charge of Lin Ze's case coldly spat a few words, "Your son was in cahoots with the criminal named Xing, we found out that he helped him in planning and scheming against innocent people with Xing Bengt, since he was involved only in planning and directly didnt get involved in anything, he won't be imprisoned but you have to pay the penalty of fifty taels to bail him out."
" Fi—- fifty taels? Where will this old woman get fifty taels, my lord?" When Old madam Lin heard that the price to redeem her son was fifty taels she was stunned and then almost instantly she fell into an ice cellar. Fifty taels? From where the hell she will get fifty taels? This was just daytime robbery! They must be trying to rip her off by telling her such a sky-high price. Who here didn't know that the officers of the Yamen were corrupt, they were just using their power to fill their pockets!
However, no matter how angry Old madam Lin was with the Yamen officers, she still kept her thoughts to herself, she knew if she dared to spout any nonsense here, her son will be the one who will have to suffer.
For Old Madam Lin, her son was like her life. No one can replace him in her heart, she would definitely not do anything foolish to trouble her son.
The Yamen officer was annoyed by Old madam Lin's wailing and complaining now, he smacked the table and loudly scolded, " If you didn't have the money then your son shouldn't have used his little guts that he has to do something like this! He schemed against the innocent people and harmed them, for what? For filling his pockets! Did your son think about how many innocent people he was harming while doing such a thing? I will tell you he didn't! From what Xing Bengt has confessed your son was quite keen on warming his pockets and has done a lot of shopkeepers working in the town. You better pay the money or else—— humph."
Old madam Lin held her head and swayed as she plopped on the floor and cried, " But I am just an old woman, where will I get the money!" While she was throwing the tantrum, the rumours that were flying in the village flashed in her mind and she immediately sat up straight and wiped her eyes. "It's not my son, it's that Bitch! That widow who seduced my son—An Xia! She was Xing Bengt's mistress and is pregnant with his child, she is behind it, you should catch her."
The Yamen officer rolled his eyes with derision. He sneered, " That girl is already dead, we found her dead body in the middle of the junction between your village and another she was attacked by robbers and most likely fought back—- because we found nothing on her." Then he waved his hand and ordered. " Just leave and get the money, or else I will send your son directly to prison."
" No, my son is the head of his family, he can't go to the prison!" Old madam Lin anxiously shouted, she was so worried that she couldn't even relish the news of An Xia's death. " Officer please be kind and don't do this, I will raise the money soon!"
The officer huffed and snorted. " Then hurry up, go and raise the money then you can bail your son out."
—-
ps: my sister is getting married I will be travelling so chapters might be a bit short.
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Chapter 550 Happy birthday
" of course , right away." old madam Lin lowered her head and replied very politely. She wanted to fight some more but she knew that no matter how shrew like she behaved here. She wouldn't be able to make things go according to her will.
Lin Yunxi was not satisfied, fifty taels was a lot of money if they take out such a large amount what will happen to her dowry? Her mother no longer cared about her and if her grandmother was to take out fifty taels then what will happen to her?
She wanted to say something but Old madam Lin growled at her. " Shut up, do you want your father to be locked in the prison for his entire life?"
Old madam Lin then bowed her head and dragged Lin Yunxi with her. This incident was like a jolt that shocked her to her core, her son was the best man in the world, clearly he was so smart but why was it that everytime he tried to do something, he would get entangled in a mess?
She was anxious like ants on hot pan as she nibbled on her chapped lips, she wanted to rush to the Lin brothers family and demand that they pay Lin Ze's bail but somewhere in her heart knew that even if she tried to do that nothing would change.
Everyone in that family were nothing but white eyed wolf, she was obviously very nice to those brats back then when that bastard father of them was lost. She gave them a roof over their heads and fed them food so that they wouldn't starve. What else did they want?
People were selfish, of course with no backing behind them they would have been bullied at least she did not kick them out of the house !so
why was it that despite all her efforts that were turning a blind eye to her?
She didn't kill anyone nor did she inflicted torture on the!
Old madam Lin was obviously angry, she believed that despite her good treatment of them the Lin brothers were being too much.
But instead of wasting her time knocking on a hard wall, she decided to pay visits to soft focus but what was surprising that not a single relative of the Lin family was willing to lend her money!
" what! You too don't want to lend me money?" shrieked Old madam Lin as she looked at the old friend of Old man Lin. She gaped at the man in front of her in disbelief and shook her head before pulling a rueful smile. " Old man Xiao, do you have to be so cruel? My old man has always treated you kindly, have you forgotten back then when you wanted to buy a farm land and you were lacking two silver taels--it was my old man who lended it to you."
Old man Xiao solemnly sipped on his smoke pipe. Of course he remembered that but the ---
" it's not that we are not willing to lend you money Madam Lin." said the wife of old man Xiao as she patted her husband 's shoulder and hurried to answer in his stead. She was worried that if she was a step too late, her husband would agree to Old madam Lin. " You already know that we are poor farmers as well, from where will we be able to fork out fifty taels? If this was a matter of a hundred or two hundred cents we would have been able to help you at the moment but after our daughter got married, we don't even have two taels to rub together much less fifty."
Old madam Lin looked at Old Xiao's wife and then she looked at Old man Xiao who was sildnf throughout the entire time. He didn't say anything but he didn't refute his wife either, it was a silent agreement.
She understood that she wouldn't be able to get the money from the Xiao family and could only purse her lips and leave.
Once she left old man Xiao solely said, " I don't like this, when we were in trouble Old man Lin helped us a lot and now that we have money and his son, is in trouble we are turning his widow away."
" What do you know ?" snapped his wife as she shut the door close behind her and flared up. " Old man Lin married her as his second wife not as his first and who doesn't know how that woman married him? She was a song actress in the middle of the street after her first husband died and was taken in my first madam Lin who was her childhood friend. Before that woman arrived in the Lin family, the first wife was recovering from her illness but the second that woman arrived in the Lin family, the first wife passed away in the next six months? Don't you find it fishy?"
Then she harummphed as she spat on the floor and busied herself. " you men never see anything wrong because you all are too busy worrying about this and that, and never once worry about what's going on in your own home." then she rolled her eyes before puffing up the pillow that Old Xiao was using and placed it back. " In fact I'm still unsure whether that Lin Ze is really Old man Lin's son or nor. Old man Lin was a dashing man when he was young yet that Lin Ze? He looks like a baboon with clothes on,"
" But still---"
" No buts!" when Old man Xiao tried to convince her, she immediately became fierce as she glared at her husband. " you don't know that Lin Ze was in cahoots with a corrupted merchant who offended a big official. Our sons work in the town, if the news of us helping someone who was the criminal 's accomplice gets out what will happen to our sons? Who knows how that official would do to get back at us?"
Old man Xiao 's wife was very agitated at the thought of helping someone like Lin Ze and what was more important was that the man was shameless and his mother was no good either. If they lent fifty taels to them, who knows when they will refuse to pay back their debts?
So, what if Old man Lin helped them? The one who helped them was already gone and it wasn't like they didn't pay him back. But what about those mother and son pair can they pay them back?
Old man Xiao and his wife wasn't the only one who ruthlessly refused to help old madam Lin the others were just as heartless.
In the end old madam Lin was driven into a corner and she had to fork out the money to bail Lin Ze out by selling her farmlands.
When Su Wan found out that the matter of Lin Ze's bail was solved she sighed in relief. Fortunately, old madam Lin didn't come to their family, she wasn't scared of that old hag but she didn't want Zhang Xiaohui to feel awkward and guilty.
That woman was a real good help since she and Lin Zhi has been working in the farm, together they could take care of the farm lands where she was growing cantaloupes. Now she no longer needed to lift a finger and all the work was done by other before she had to order them to do it.
Life was comfortable.
Su Wan's comfortable days went on like that and Su Wan who has been enjoying her comfortable life got lazier day by day. Days turned to months and the cantaloupe seeds that were sown in the fields turned into green lush vines that bloomed with flowers.
In fact the vines were not the only thing that grew, Su Wan too grew up. And by growing up, one meant she grew fat. Her body turned into a soft chubby ball and get cheeks that were carved like a sculpture filled up and her sharp chin vanished into a round one.
" Wake up, sleepy head." Lin Chen who was done feeding the chicks and sweeping the courtyard clean poked Su Wan's cheek causing her to frown in her sleep. " Come on, wakey, wakey."
Su Wan who felt like she has hardly gotten any sleep rolled away from the teasing hand and covered her head with her pillow. " Go away! Let me sleep Chen,"
Lin Chen laughed as he crawled over Su Wan and draped his body over hers before he hotly whispered, " you better get up or else I'm going to give you a reason to sleep in, silly."
Silly wife, don't she know her voice did things to him?
Why did she have to tease him like this?
Su Wan who was sleeping immediately jolted awake as she opened her eyes and blamingly glared at Lin Chen. " Was that necessary ?"
Lin Chen smiled as he lightly pecked Su Wan on the lips. " Happy birthday, wifey."