In the Lin family's courtyard.
As Lin Changsheng lay on the bed, Madam Lin rubbed his back with snake oil.
"Didn't you bring the county magistrate to see Lin Luo? Why did you come back with injuries?" Madam Lin's words were filled with disdain and she was very rough.
Lin Changsheng cried out.
He had not worked for too many years, so after working so hard today, his back ached.
"You still stink. Wipe it off yourself." After Madam Lin held her breath for a while, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She wanted to open the window, but now that the weather was cold, Lin Changsheng hurriedly stopped her. Madam Lin was unwilling to do this anymore.
Lin Changsheng pursed his lips, but when he saw Madam Lin's displeased look, he didn't dare to say anything.
He had a scrawny appearance, but Madam Lin was different. Before this old woman got married, she was the eldest sister of the family. She had worked since she was young to take care of her siblings, so she had developed a strong frame, and her hands were large enough to wrap around Lin Changsheng's hands.
She had sparse eyebrows, drooping eyes, thick lips, and buck teeth.
To put it nicely, she looked gallant, but to put it bluntly, she looked fierce.
"Tell me, where did you go? How did you end up like this?" Madam Lin wiped her snot with a handkerchief as she asked.
Lin Changsheng stammered.
As an old man, he had his pride. How embarrassing would it be if he told Yang Zheng about how he was forced to clean the latrine?
"If you're unwilling, forget it. You're such a sissy." Madam Lin rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you serious business. Rumor has it that you chased the county magistrate away? With that retarded girl around, our family can get ten taels of silver from the government subsidy every year. If you chase her away, how will our family survive without this money?"
Lin Changsheng remained silent.
"If you have something to say, say it. If you don't say it, what is the purpose of your mouth?" Madam Lin said impatiently, "With your cowardice, how did you become the village chief?"
"No, we can't let go of this money. The children are already old, so there's a lot of areas to spend money on." Madam Lin pondered. "I'll bring the girl to the government office tomorrow. I'll have to get the county magistrate to watch over her. The girl is a fool."
When Lin Changsheng thought of Lin Luo's rational appearance today, he smacked his lips.
"Old lady, if you want to go, go, but don't offend her. I'm afraid Lin Luo isn't stupid anymore."
Madam Lin didn't believe it. "She's been stupid for almost 18 years, how can she suddenly change so drastically?"
That was ten taels of silver.
Their family couldn't even spend three taels of silver in an entire year, so how could Madam Lin watch the ten taels of silver slip away from her grasp?
The next day, Madam Lin kicked open Lin Luo's courtyard door aggressively.
It was already an exaggeration to say that it was a courtyard door, since it was just two broken wooden boards placed together.
"Luo'er, go to town with Grandma."
Madam Lin saw a group of men sitting in the courtyard. All of them looked vigorous as they stuffed flatbread into their mouths.
Six to seven pairs of eyes stared at Madam Lin.
"Alright, I was wondering why Luo'er actually dared to disobey her grandfather. So it was you bastards who instigated it!"
Madam Lin's eyes burned with anger.
The village wasn't big, so on the way here, Madam Lin had also found out that Lin Luo had embarrassed Lin Changsheng in front of the county magistrate yesterday. She was already filled with anger, so when she saw so many men in Lin Luo's courtyard, she beat them up.
She slapped her thigh and said, "Our family is so unlucky!"
Yan Su was among them. When he heard this, he frowned and stood up to explain to Madam Lin, "Old Madam Lin, I entrusted Miss Lin to help us cook, so it's a transaction of money and labor. Other than that, there's nothing else going on. Miss Lin is your granddaughter, so you can't say such a thing."
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin was in a good mood. "So that's what happened. I knew that Luo'er had always been capable. Hurry up and give me the money. I'll keep it for her."
Lin Herong gritted his teeth as he complained to Qi Zhou, "If she gets money, she says that her granddaughter is capable. If she doesn't get money, she curses her for hanging out with bastards. How double-faced." His voice wasn't soft at all, so everyone in the courtyard could hear him.
Madam Lin was speechless.
"Herong." Yan Su looked at Lin Herong.
After Lin Herong took a bite of the flatbread, he lowered his head.
Yan Su suddenly smiled. "What did you say just now? Your voice was too soft, so I didn't hear you clearly. Why don't you say it louder?"
Since his words hit the nail on the head, he naturally had to say a few more words.
Madam Lin's expression froze.
Lin Herong and his brothers laughed.
They knew that Yan Su was very protective of Miss Lin!
Lin Herong poked Ao Yun's elbow. "Brother Ao Yun, what do you think will happen to such an evil-hearted old woman in the end?"
"Such a person deserves to be unlucky. If she dies in an accident some day, she can't blame others. It's probably karma."
Ao Yun was happy. Usually, everyone despised him for being a jinx and refused to talk to him. Today, Lin Herong actually took the initiative to chat with him, so shouldn't he seize the chance to talk more?
Madam Lin's expression darkened.
This woman was sharp-tongued and vicious, but when men wanted to be sharp-tongued, they were not inferior either.
If there were one or two women opposite her, Madam Lin would have scratched their faces. However, there were six to seven men opposite her. Madam Lin knew that she couldn't beat them, so she endured it and wanted to enter the living room to look for Lin Luo.
However, after she took two steps, her vision darkened and she coughed violently. After she spun around, she accidentally hit the door and immediately felt dizzy.
Lin Herong said to Ao Yun with a warm expression, "The old lady isn't feeling well, so we can't just watch. We have to send her back!"
The two of them carried Madam Lin to the feces pile outside like they were carrying a chick.
Madam Lin was originally about to walk forward, but for some reason, her foot spasmed and she fell to the side.
She fell straight into the pile of feces.
Lin Herong kicked the stone away from Madam Lin's feet and brought Ao Yun back to the courtyard.
Before he left, he glanced at the groggy Madam Lin and sneered.
She wanted to bully Miss Lin?
Dream on!
Lin Luo came out after changing and asked Yan Su, "I think I heard something just now. Is someone coming?"
"It's nothing." Yan Su said seriously, "Herong accidentally kicked your door down. He has always been careless. I'll get him to compensate you for the new door later."
Lin Herong was speechless.
Lin Luo glanced at the courtyard door and said, "It's still usable."
"We have to change the door. This door can't guard against thieves." Yan Su's expression darkened slightly. They were not around all the time, so they couldn't let a young lady like Lin Luo be bullied by a scoundrel like Madam Lin.
Lin Herong nodded seriously. "Yes, we have to change the door!"
"Then I'll have to trouble you guys." Lin Luo smiled as she stretched. Then, she turned around and entered the kitchen to look at her Feather Clams.
When Yan Su passed by Lin Herong, he patted his shoulder and said, "I heard that you took money to look for Miss Lin for special treatment. It seems that you have a lot of savings. The money for buying the door will be deducted from your monthly salary."
Lin Herong was speechless.
There was no one living or cooking nearby, so why did he smell vinegar?