Yan Su took a new pen, but broke it again after writing a few words.
He stared at the large patch of ink on the paper with his almond-shaped eyes lowered in dejection.
It was a cold winter day, but the frustration in his heart couldn't be dispelled by the cold.
Yan Su sighed slightly, then he put down his pen and left.
After opening the courtyard door, Yan Su saw Lin Ying, who was biting her lower lip.
"Brother Yan." Lin Ying looked like she was about to cry. Her eyes sparkled as she approached Yan Su and said, "Brother Yan, how have you been these past few days?"
Yan Su's expression turned cold.
"Miss Lin Ying, my business has nothing to do with you."
Lin Ying's eyes turned red. Then, she rolled up her sleeves and let Yan Su look at her arm. "My grandpa and grandma forced me to find a husband, but Brother Yan, you know that you're the only one in my heart. These days, I've been suffering."
"I wanted to look for you, but my family was watching me too closely."
Lin Ying felt extremely aggrieved. "Brother Yan, I've been so worried that my eyes became wrinkled." With that, she raised her head slightly for Yan Su to see.
Yan Su lowered his eyes, but didn't say anything. He didn't look at Lin Ying's exposed forearm or her face.
On the other hand, Qi Zhou, who was in the dark, frowned when he saw Lin Ying's eyes. This troublesome girl used to have single eyelids, but now, she had double eyelids.
Qi Zhou thought to himself, 'She was probably very worried, since even her appearance has changed.'
"Miss Lin Ying, if there's nothing else, please leave." Yan Su frowned as he took another step back.
Lin Ying blinked as tears fell. "Brother Yan, I'm not afraid of making a fool of myself. I came to you in order to pursue my happiness."
"Brother Yan, I don't want to marry anyone else. I only want to marry you!"
-
Lin Luo told Madam Fang that her expectations weren't high. She just wanted a man with a simple family.
She was getting married in order to get the officials off her back, so Lin Luo didn't care what kind of person she found.
Lin Luo would get through this first, then think about how to resolve it in the future.
Madam Fang took a sip of water and cleared her throat before saying, "If you weren't from the Lin family, there would still be room for discussion. But now… you have to consider the family you are from."
"Madam Fang, what kind of family do you think I am from?" Lin Luo tilted her head and asked.
Madam Fang looked at Lin Luo, who was a fool with an extremely bad reputation and had such a big birthmark on her face. She was thin, so it was obvious that she couldn't do rough work. Who would take a fancy to her?
Moreover, in recent days, rumor had it that Lin Luo was no longer stupid. Now, the rumors said that Lin Luo was a lunatic!
"Did you knock out the village chief's two front teeth?" Madam Fang sighed. If she even dared to hit her grandfather after she went crazy, how could she fear her in-laws in the future?
Other than those outlaws and troublemakers, no one dared to marry Lin Luo.
However, although Madam Fang was a matchmaker, she wasn't without principles. She didn't matchmake troublemakers, because no matter what kind of women married into such a family, there would be no way out for them.
They were all women, so why make things difficult for each other?
Lin Luo shook his head and said firmly, "I didn't do it. Look at my body. How can I have that kind of strength?"
She didn't hit him. Yang Zheng did.
Lin Luo wouldn't take the blame.
"Whether it's true or not, this matter has already spread." Madam Fang said with a frown, "I really can't help you. You should hire someone else."
"I still have something on, so I won't keep you."
She was basically shooing Lin Luo.
After Lin Luo touched the back of her ear, she turned around and planned to leave.
As Madam Fang stared at her thin and straight figure, she shook her head.
Among the two girls of the Lin family, one had good conditions, but she looked down on all the suitors. The other didn't have high requirements, but no one fancied her.
Despite being from the same family, they really had different lives.
"Mom! Mom! Ah Xu has fish bones stuck in his throat!"
When Lin Luo reached the courtyard door, she heard a woman's panicked voice coming from inside the house. She turned around and saw a young woman sweating profusely as she rushed out barefooted with a seven or eight-year-old boy.
The young woman had a thick scarf wrapped around her head and her clothes were very loose. She was probably Madam Fang's daughter-in-law who was in postpartum confinement.
Madam Fang was shocked. After she got up to check the situation and let the boy open his mouth, she saw a huge fish bone stuck in the boy's throat.
It was almost stuck in his flesh!
The boy, Meng Xu, said uncomfortably, "It hurts."
"Don't fret! I'm here!" Seeing that her eldest grandson was suffering, Madam Fang tensed up.
There was no barefoot doctor in this village, so they had to bring the child to the town to see a doctor, but there were fish bones in his throat, so it wasn't suitable for him to ride an ox cart. If there was any bumpiness on the road, the bone might really get stuck in his flesh…
"I have some medical skills. Why don't you let me take a look at him?" Lin Luo returned.
"Bring me a pair of chopsticks."
The young woman hurriedly went to get chopsticks and handed them to Lin Luo.
After she walked to the boy without hesitation, she smiled at the boy, who was at a loss. "Don't be afraid. It won't hurt anymore after the fish bones are taken out."
The boy was a little nervous, and his muscles were tense.
Lin Luo asked him, "Do you remember what you ate the night before yesterday?"
The boy blinked. What… what did he eat the night before yesterday?
As soon as the boy was distracted, his body relaxed. Lin Luo took the chance to extend the chopsticks and took out the fish bones with a slight slick of her fingers.
When she saw the fish bones, Madam Fang's heart skipped a beat. This fishbone was as long as her pinky!
The boy relaxed and said with a smile, "Mom, Grandma, it doesn't hurt anymore!"
Before he could be happy for long, Madam Fang smacked him on the back of the head. "You naughty kid. How can a fisherman's child have fish bones stuck in his throat? If word gets out, other people will probably laugh their heads off!"
The young woman wiped her cold sweat, but her body was still trembling. "Mother, it's all my fault. I thought about how delicious the carp you brought back was and how Ah Xu had never eaten this rare river fish before, so I let Ah Xu eat a little. Ah Xu read and ate at the same time. I didn't expect there to be so many bones in this carp…"
"That's for you to nourish your body. Why did you give it to him?" Madam Fang smacked the boy again. "You're quite something. Instead of following your father out to fish, you only hide at home and read. Now, you even dare to snatch your mother's food!"
The boy gritted his teeth. His grandmother was really ruthless.
Lin Luo said to the young woman, "It's better not to walk barefoot during the postpartum period. You can soak your feet later."
"That's right!" When Madam Fang looked down and realized that her daughter-in-law had run into the house barefoot, she wanted to beat the boy up again.
The child had learned his lesson. Seeing that the situation was bad, he hid behind Lin Luo.
Lin Luo touched the boy's little head as she said to Madam Fang, "Since this child likes to study, he will definitely be promising in the future. You have to be gentle with him. Don't ruin the child's future."
"In this day and age, what's the use of studying? The imperial examinations aren't even held anymore. Those who can become officials are all relatives of the royal family." Madam Fang shook her head, but she was still quite happy that her child was praised. "But this child is indeed diligent. I don't give him schooling, but he reads his father's old books."
"Studying is for the sake of obtaining wisdom. You don't have to become an official to be successful." Lin Luo smiled and said, "Look at those accountants in town. Which one of them doesn't know how to read?"
After Madam Fang thought about it, she agreed. Literate people had more chances to stand out than illiterate people.
She relaxed and let the boy play while she personally sent Lin Luo out. As she walked, she said affectionately, "You live at the edge of our village all alone, so you have to be careful."
"I just came back from town. I heard that someone died on the street. That person was killed by pirates."
"The one who died was also a girl. Those pirates specifically target weak girls like you. You have to be careful."
Madam Fang only said these superfluous words on account of Lin Luo helping her eldest grandson.
Lin Luo nodded in agreement.
-
At the entrance of the Su family's courtyard.
As Yan Su looked at Lin Ying, who was ogling him, he thought of someone else.