Chapter 341 My Stepbrother is Too Good

Liu Quan took a shortcut, and the carriage swayed and bumped its way from the prefectural city to the town, and back to the courtyard.

Tomorrow is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, an auspicious day according to the Chinese calendar. Chen Xiaohua will be getting married from the town. The courtyard has already been decorated, and a large red double happiness symbol is pasted on the gate.

"Little girl, you're finally back!"

Chen Lin was about to leave with the food box when he saw the carriage at the door and froze. He first nodded to Xiao Qi in greeting, then looked at Lin Yuesha and said with a smile, "Your second cousin has been talking about you!"

"Cousin, where is my cousin Xiaohua?"

The name "Xiao Ya" was rarely used after leaving Chenjia Village. Usually, only Chen Shi used it. When Lin Yuesha heard the familiar tone, she felt extremely warm and fuzzy.

"Xiaohua went to the wedding shop and will be back in a bit."

Chen Lin entered first and poured tea for Lin Yuesha and Xiao Qi.

Because the marriage was arranged in a hurry, the Chen family didn't even have time to make the wedding clothes. Both shops were doing very well, and the family members were so busy that they had no choice but to hand over the wedding clothes to the wedding shop to make. The dowry was also hastily put together.

"I see. Then I'll wait for her at home."

The ceiling was decorated with streamers, and large red "double happiness" characters were pasted on Korean paper. A string of red lanterns hung under the eaves, making it look very festive.

The furniture in the room has been replaced, and even the pots and pans in the kitchen are new.

“These are all tokens of the Xiao family’s appreciation. Xiao Dazhuang is a blacksmith. Back then, he sent us many pots and pans as part of the engagement ceremony.”

Chen Lin couldn't help but laugh. Xiao Dazhuang was a simpleton and didn't know how to please Chen Xiaohua. He gave her a big iron pot, then a small iron pot, then a kitchen knife. Finally, when he didn't know what to give her, he gave her two wood-chopping knives.

Those who know the Xiao family are in the blacksmithing business; those who don't might think they've come seeking revenge with machetes.

"Haha, brother-in-law is so honest."

Lin Yuesha smiled as she listened to Chen Lin's description. It is said that one thing can subdue another. Chen Xiaohua has a fiery temper, so she should be paired with an honest and simple man. If both husband and wife have fiery tempers, it is not easy for them to live together.

"Little girl, it's been a while since I've seen you, and you seem different."

Chen Lin sighed. He had watched his little cousin grow up from childhood. Lin Yuesha was different after she came to the city. She no longer acted as haphazardly as before and looked more and more like a young lady from a wealthy family.

“Cousin, that’s because I was trained at the girls’ school.”

Lin Yuesha also wanted to act nonchalantly, but having just left the girls' school, she couldn't relax yet, so she had to remain like a puppet, putting on a show.

"Xiaohua is getting married tomorrow. Her grandparents and relatives from the village will all have to travel to town before dawn, so we need to prepare a few tables to entertain them."

Chen Lin glanced at the sky; he still needed to go out and get the firecrackers.

Many families are getting married on auspicious days, and the shopkeeper and his assistants are too busy to handle it all, so he has to go and get the items himself.

"Cousin, you go ahead and do your work."

Lin Yuesha waved her hand, indicating that she wasn't a guest and didn't need any special treatment. Moreover, she was back to help, so any tasks could be assigned to her.

Chen Lin glanced at Xiao Qi and Lin Yuesha's attire and hesitated for a moment.

“Other chores are all taken care of, but there are about twenty hens in the yard, all in the chicken coop. We need to kill them for the feast tomorrow.”

Chen Lin no longer expected anything from his little cousin. In the village, Lin Yuesha was the laziest person, unable to do anything. Although she had some skills in cooking, she was still not capable of doing rough work like killing chickens. Xiao Qi was even less capable, being a scholar who was weak and frail.

"I'll go get the firecrackers first, then I'll make them."

Chen Lin made the decision, then quickly left.

Killing a chicken? It's a piece of cake for Lin Yuesha, but this dress is too expensive and the color is too light. If chicken blood splatters on it, it will be difficult to wash it off. She needs to change into a different dress.

Lin Yuesha turned around and went back to the back room to change her clothes. When she came out, she found that no one was home and her stepbrother was gone.

"Qi'er, where is my eldest brother?"

Lin Yuesha looked around but couldn't see Xiao Qi anywhere.

Qi'er pinched her cheeks to try to stop her mouth from twitching. She pointed to the door and said, "Young Master just took a chicken coop outside."

Since it wasn't appropriate to kill chickens in the yard for a celebratory occasion, Xiao Qi carried the chicken coop to a nearby riverbank. There was a platform there where many people slaughtered chickens and ducks on weekdays. Nearby merchants could provide hot water, but in exchange, they would have to give away chicken blood, feathers, and internal organs.

"My older brother went to kill a chicken?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuesha disregarded the rules and left Qi'er to watch the house. She took Qingxing and ran to the riverbank, where she saw Xiao Qi holding a kitchen knife. With a swift stroke, he chopped off the chicken's head, leaving only a layer of skin.

The chicken's eyes were open, seemingly in shock and terror, but it was already lifeless.

Lin Yuesha was stunned by the cruelty.

It wasn't that she was overthinking it; killing chickens was a skill, because the chicken heads had to be kept on the table at the wedding banquet, otherwise it was considered unlucky. Usually, people would bleed the chickens first, which would take a while, and then in that short time, all ten chickens in a cage would die.

That's so cruel!

Lin Yuesha inspected all the chickens that had been killed. All of them had their necks still attached to a layer of skin; if she used a little more force, their heads would be chopped off.

It is said that everyone has a side that is not known to others. If the stepbrother has been suppressing his feelings for too long and resorts to killing chickens to vent, that is very dangerous.

Lin Yuesha touched her neck and instantly felt a chill.

"Little sister, you've arrived?"

Xiao Qi simply didn't want to waste time, so he handed the killed chicken to a nearby merchant to help pluck its feathers and gut it, not letting his younger sister take over.

"Big brother, you killed them all?"

Lin Yuesha stared in disbelief, unable to process what she was seeing. It took her a long while to compose herself before she said, "In my eyes, you've always been a kind-hearted person. I never imagined you..."

Cruel, too cruel!

"Um."

When Xiao Qi realized that his younger sister had caught him in the act, he immediately found an excuse to defend himself, "Little sister, it's not that I'm cruel, but these chickens have to be killed sooner or later. It's better to have a short pain than a long one."

With a swift and decisive stroke, he cut the chickens down, sparing them much suffering. They were able to ascend to the Western Paradise sooner, free from the agony of trembling and dying. There was no one more benevolent than him.

“But… Brother, you are a scholar, these things should be done by me.”

Lin Yuesha's lips moved slightly. What her stepbrother said made a lot of sense. She thought to herself, "I knew it. He wouldn't even step on an ant normally, so how could he be so cruel as to kill a living creature? It turns out he was thinking of the chicken."

"Do you know that killing is a sin? Committing sins is inherently wrong, and I should bear the consequences."

Xiao Qi shook his head, looked compassionately into the distance, and sighed, as if to say, "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

In this situation, Lin Yuesha almost burst into tears. Her stepbrother was truly too kind; he considered her even in such a simple matter. No one had ever been so good to her, always thinking of her needs. The seven hundred taels of silver she spent on buying books for her stepbrother were definitely worth it!