Chapter 25 Suspicion, the Origin of the Fish Soup

The patriarch looked at the fish soup in his hand, and then at Lin Luoxi, who was staring at him expectantly, unable to say no. He nodded, repeatedly praising Lin Luoxi's filial piety, and took a small sip.

"Hmm, not bad." It didn't have the muddy taste I expected; it tasted quite good.

The main thing is the fish soup I drank; it warmed my whole body.

Old people his age naturally have less yang energy, so even though it's early summer, he still feels a bit chilly.

Now, after drinking this bowl of fish soup, I feel like I've returned to the lightness and energy I had when I was young.

The clan elder felt that after drinking this bowl of fish soup, he could pick a fight and not lose.

"It tastes so good! Where did you catch these fish?" The fish from the east side of the village don't taste this good.

“It’s right on the east side of the village…!” Lin Luoxi answered honestly.

If it weren't for the fear that they would guess that the money thrown out by the Lin family was related to Lin Luoxi, and the fear of being scolded for revealing her series of feats last night, after all, the filth she expelled last night had woken up the whole village.

Therefore, he could only choose some simple words to answer the old man's questions.

Unfortunately, the clan elder was shrewd and cunning, and suspected that Lin Luoxi didn't want to tell him where they had caught such delicious fish.

"Impossible. We've eaten fish there before, and it definitely doesn't taste like this." No matter how the fish there is cooked, it always has a fishy and muddy taste.

“Grandpa, we’re not lying to you. My eldest brother is the most honest. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.”

Lin Luoxi knew, of course, that the fish there couldn't be cooked to that flavor, but in her hands, it would definitely taste different.

“Grandpa, we really found it on the east side of the village…” Lin Wenqian received a look from his sister and immediately stepped forward.

"Could it be that we didn't use the right methods before?" Lin Wenqian was someone they had watched grow up; he was an honest and kind child who would never lie.

Therefore, when Lin Wenqian stood up to speak, the clan elder truly believed that they had caught the fish from the east side of the village.

“Yes, Grandfather, we were all wrong before…” Lin Wenqian told the great-grandfather all the methods Lin Luoxi had taught him last night.

"I see." After finishing the fish soup in his bowl, the clan elder said a few words of comfort to Lin Dayou, then turned and headed home with his hands behind his back.

Following Lin Luoxi's instructions, Lin Dayou stayed in his room and did not show his face even when the elders of the Lin family came. He wanted to give outsiders the impression that he was still unable to get out of bed because he was angered by the Lin family.

Lin Luoxi was very good at interpersonal relationships and even presented several large fish to the clan elder.

They also gave the village chief a few big fish, which made them feel good and more willing to help in the future.

"Father, Mother, you two rest at home. My brother and I are going up the mountain to take a look."

After seeing the village chief and the clan elder off, Lin Luoxi greeted Lin Dayou and the others, slung her basket over her shoulder in the courtyard, and pulled Lin Wenqian to head out.

"Second sister, I want to go too..." Lin Luoning saw Lin Luoxi about to leave and also made a fuss about going out.

"Little sister, do you still want to eat something as delicious as today?" Lin Luoxi looked at Lin Luoning, who was blinking her big, wet eyes and staring at her. She didn't know how to refuse Lin Luoning, so she could only use food to entice her.

"Yes!" Lin Luoning couldn't understand why her desire to eat delicious food conflicted with her desire to go to the mountains.

“I want to stay at home. My older brother and I are heading into the mountains. It’s a long way. If you come with us, we’ll have to take care of you, and we won’t be able to walk that far.”

"Besides, you've seen it yourself these past few days. Those shameless members of the Lin family are always trying to take things from us and bullying our parents. Your job at home is to protect our home, understand?"

Judging from the Lin family's frustrated state today, they definitely won't let this go easily. Therefore, it's better for Lu to leave Lin Luoning at home to look after the house.

"Okay!" Lin Luoning, feeling a heavy weight on her shoulders, answered Lin Luoxi's question with a strong sense of responsibility.

"Okay, little sister, you stay home and watch the house. We'll be back soon." She pulled Lin Wenqian along and hurried out the door.

"Second sister, you haven't even left the house yet, and you're already making promises to your younger sister. Aren't you afraid you'll come back empty-handed?" The old folks often say that you shouldn't make any big promises before you've even left the house, or you'll end up coming back empty-handed.

His father was a typical example. Every time he went out, he would make grand promises to them, but he would always come back empty-handed. They had gotten used to being disappointed.

"Hmph, just you wait and see." Lin Luoxi was unwilling to explain further and went ahead first.

"Sigh, her stubborn temper won't listen to advice again." Lin Wenqian sighed as he looked at Lin Luoxi's slightly arrogant expression and chased after her.

"Oh my, it's Wenqian and Luoxi! Are you going up the mountain?" On the way, they also encountered villagers coming down from the mountain, who all greeted Lin Luoxi and her companion warmly.

Lin Luoxi knew that these people weren't genuinely concerned about them; they just found it ridiculous to learn everything about their family from a child.

"Well, we're out of food at home right now, so we can only go up the mountain to see if there are any wild vegetables or anything like that..." This is exactly the kind of gossipy women that Lin Luoxi needs, with their great ability to spread rumors.

Not afraid of airing their dirty laundry in public, she deliberately played the victim in front of these people, implying that the Lin family always took things from her house and that they had no choice but to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.

When the villagers heard Lin Luoxi's pitiful words, their eyes lit up with a fright. While they comforted Lin Luoxi and her brother, they secretly longed to fly back to the village and gossip about the news they had heard.

"It's alright. As long as our family is alive, things will get better and better. Auntie, it's getting late, we should go up the mountain first, otherwise we won't find anything later."

Lin Luoxi saw the glint in the eyes of the aunties across the way and knew what they were up to.

Without further ado, she adjusted her backpack, which was even taller than herself, and pulled Lin Wenqian away, leaving them with a pitiful and heartbreaking silhouette.

"Lin Luoxi, why did you tell those aunties how our family treated your family? Don't you know that the village will start spreading rumors about how our family abused your family?"

Lin Luodan, who had just overheard Lin Luoxi and the other women playing the victim, didn't dare to step forward to defend her family. After they left, she immediately came out from behind the big tree and stood in front of Lin Luoxi and Lin Wenqian.

"Hmph, murderer, I haven't even told them how you tricked me to the riverbank and how you pushed me into the river yet."

When Lin Luoxi saw that Lin Luodan still dared to appear in front of her, she glared at Lin Luodan and retorted without any politeness.