Lin Ying's face turned pale. She didn't want to go against Lin Luo all alone, so she lowered her head and hurriedly went to look for the villagers.
"Heh." Qiao Xiaohua sneered. "Wasn't Lin Ying very arrogant in the past? Why is she acting like a chick who has seen a big bad wolf now?"
Lin Luo looked at Qiao Xiaohua.
"Were you looking for me just now?"
Qiao Xiaohua froze, but then she said ingratiatingly, "Sister Lin Luo, I want to tell you that we can finish painting this wall in a while. Your wall will definitely be finished today. Don't worry."
Qiao Dahua and Qiao Sheng glared at her angrily.
What a coward.
"Well done."
With that, Lin Luo turned around.
She recalled some things.
Previously, when she said that it wasn't illegal for a mental retard to kill someone, she wasn't bluffing. Three years ago, when the new emperor ascended the throne, the first decree he issued had nothing to do with economics or politics. It said that it wasn't illegal for a mental retard to kill someone.
After that, the new emperor issued a few more decrees related to mental retards.
One of them was that the local parents had to check on the condition of all the local mental retards on time and provide care and support to families with mental retards.
In the memories of the original host, every few months, a group of people in official uniforms would come to see her under Lin Changsheng's lead. As long as the original host performed what Lin Changsheng had taught her, she could get some food from Lin Changsheng.
As for the government's care and support for mental retards, the original host had not seen any of it.
Coupled with the Lin family's increasingly high living standards in the past few years and their increasingly good reputation, Lin Luo connected the dots and sneered.
The Lin family treated the original host as a stepping stone, but they were unwilling to give her even a little bit of the gains. They only sent some rotten fish and prawns every few days to ensure that the original host, this "cash cow", wouldn't die. Did they really think that there was free lunch in the world? Weren't they afraid of retribution?
At the other end of the courtyard, the villagers approached the ruins of Yan Su's former home.
"I don't see Yan Su. Could he be crushed under the ruins?"
"Yan Su is quite pitiful. He only has one neighbor, and she's a mental retard. If something happens, no one will be able to help him."
"Stop gossiping. Hurry up and dig, in case he's really buried underneath."
Although Yan Su lived in a remote place and had an aloof personality, he was a scholar and usually didn't refuse small requests. Therefore, the residents of Little Bay Village had a good impression of Yan Su.
Just as everyone was about to make a move and someone moved a stone, someone else stopped them. "Look, isn't that Yan Su?"
Yan Su came over with five to six people with unfamiliar faces. When he saw how many people were crowded around the ruins of his home, he was stunned.
"Yan Su, you didn't get crushed?"
This person had just finished speaking when he was slapped. "What nonsense are you talking about? Are you cursing him?"
Yan Su didn't greet everyone. He only asked coldly, "I'm fine. You guys should stay away from the ruins."
"The foundation is unstable. If it collapses again, it will hurt people."
When the villagers who came to join in the fun heard this, they all retreated.
They were here to join in the fun and see if there was anything they could help with, but they wouldn't risk their lives. That wouldn't be worth it.
"Who are these juniors?" The villagers looked at the people Yan Su had brought. They were all unfamiliar faces of people ranging in age from teens to thirties.
"They're my friends. They heard that my house had collapsed and came to help me rebuild it."
The crowd nodded.
"Yan Su, if you need help, just let us know. We can all help."
The old people in the village said that there would be a storm soon and had not taken a boat out to sea, so recently, the people in the village were all free. If Yan Su wanted people to help, many people could.
Yan Su shook his head.
There was a secret under his house. He definitely couldn't let the villagers discover it.
Someone shouted, "The village chief is back." Then, everyone's attention was on Lin Changsheng again.
"Village Chief, the county magistrate isn't unhappy, is he?"
"We won't be blamed for this, will we?"
Lin Changsheng walked through the crowd with his hands behind his back and an impassive expression on his face. When he saw that the Su family's house collapsed, he only glanced at it. Then, he turned into Lin Luo's courtyard and closed the courtyard door.
"Luo Luo, come here!" Lin Changsheng roared in anger.
The new county magistrate was a difficult person to deal with. After Lin Changsheng begged profusely, he was finally willing to give the Lin family another chance. He went to the neighboring village first and would pass by this place on his way back. If Lin Luo didn't act like a mental retard at that time, the Lin family wouldn't be able to get any benefits.
Lin Luo sat in the west of the courtyard as she poured the dried prawns into the basket.
The prawns she caught were not small. Each of them was as long as her index finger.
After growing in unpolluted seas, dried prawns had a rich and mellow prawn scent.
If she sold these dried prawns at the farmer's market, she could sell them for a good price. However, this wasn't necessary for Lin Luo. She didn't even spend a fraction of the payment she got from selling the silverfish last time.
Using them to cook noodles was a good idea.
"Are you deaf?" Lin Changsheng had never been ignored like this before and his frown deepened.
He walked to Lin Luo and said, "When the county magistrate returns later, greet him properly."
"I'm not going. Since you're so willing to put on a monkey show for others, you can do it yourself or look for my uncle's children. They're all very filial, so they definitely won't reject you."
"You're really getting more and more insensible. Without the support of the government, how can our family survive?"
"The benefits won't fall into my hands, so how the Lin family lives has nothing to do with me."
Lin Changsheng stared at her for a long time. "I see. You're not retarded anymore."
"At least you're not so senile that you've become slow-witted," Lin Luo said as she slapped the prawn skin off her hand.
Since she was no longer retarded, she naturally couldn't pretend to be, especially for the Lin family.
Lin Changsheng remained silent.
Eighteen years ago, he didn't want a mental retard to appear in the Lin family, so he chased his youngest son and daughter-in-law out.
But now, the Lin family needed a mental retard. If this mental retard was unwilling to be one, he had to convince her.
Lin Changsheng walked around Lin Luo and took off his belt to strangle Lin Luo's neck. However, Yang Zheng appeared out of nowhere and pressed him to the ground. He swept him a few times with the broom as he said disdainfully, "You can sweep away the dirt on your body, but you can't sweep away the dirt on your heart."
Lin Changsheng was stunned for a moment. Then, the first thing he said was, "You're hooking up with an old man?"
Yang Zheng punched Lin Changsheng's front teeth and knocked out two of them.
"We have a platonic relationship. If you dare to spout nonsense again, the consequences won't be as simple as just getting two front teeth knocked out."
Fighting violence with violence was what Yang Zheng was best at.
Lin Changsheng covered his mouth and didn't dare to speak anymore.