Chapter 3 Chapter 3 The Self-Torture Strategy.
Lin Zhi had come up with this plan after thinking about the third young lady's matter. She had wanted to take it slowly, but she had never expected that Song Jiaoniang would react faster than herself and make a prompt decision and come up with this idea right away.
Lin Sen was stunned for a moment: "...Escape?"
Song Jiaoniang wiped her tears with a handkerchief and did not bother to talk to Lin Sen. Instead, she stood up and walked to the door of the house, closed both doors, and then returned to the inner room.
She slapped her own face with both hands, the sound so crisp and loud that Lin Zhi and Lin Sen's eyes widened. "I was confused just now. I just felt that Sister Zhi had been wronged, and I wanted to seek justice for her."
"Thinking about it now, it's really ridiculous."
"My dear, you're right. We have three children in our family. Do you have the right to say anything bad?"
"Who knows, tomorrow there might be rumors in the house saying that Sister Zhi has done something wrong, that we two are bullying others by taking advantage of our power, and that they'll accuse us of some crime and sell us out."
"Our family might be sold to different places, and our family might be broken up."
The prefectural government was in great splendor, with servants and maids all adorned with gold and silver, and outsiders looked up to them.
But Song Jiaoniang was well aware of the inner strategizing of flattery and demotion. She had seen it happen several times over the decades: one day he was a proud figure in front of his wife, and the next day he was slapped in the face, beaten with a stick, and sent to the countryside to marry.
When she appeared in front of him again, she was humble and timid, just like an ordinary village woman. There was no trace of her former high-spirited self.
Those who are like this are considered lucky. Some of them never heard of each other again after they left. It is unknown whether they died or were sold somewhere else.
Song Jiaoniang's words touched the hearts of Lin Sen and Lin Zhi. Lin Sen glanced at his daughter and wanted to pull Song Jiaoniang outside to talk, but Song Jiaoniang shook her head and hugged Lin Zhi, saying, "Sister Zhi, after experiencing life and death, I understand a little bit."
"We, as a family, must risk it all!"
"Think about it," Song Jiaoniang muttered, "where is Zhao Fei, your errand boy, now?"
"He made a mistake, accepted the money, and was..."
"Haven't you ever accepted other people's filial piety? When our family is sold out, people will say that you, me, and Sister Zhi have also made mistakes!" Song Jiaoniang raised her eyebrows and spat on the ground.
"I just said that, why are you so anxious?" Lin Sen saw this and quickly interrupted his wife: "I have this idea in mind. I just told Doctor Hu that if anyone asks, just tell them that Sister Zhi is seriously ill."
Lin Zhi's eyes lit up: "Dad, that's awesome."
Song Jiaoniang's expression brightened upon hearing this, but she still glanced at Lin Zhi before getting up and going outside to get some paper and pen. She placed a few things on the table and muttered, "You don't mind your throat being sore. If you have anything to say, just write it down. Got it?"
Linzhi nodded obediently, but she had no intention of writing by hand. Although she had a good handwriting in her past, she had never tried it and didn't know if she could write it.
After Song Jiaoniang had given her daughter her instructions, she continued talking to Lin Sen: "What did you originally want to do?"
"I originally thought that Sister Zhi had lost her memory, and this matter would be over after the third lady got married." Lin Sen answered frankly.
As a house-born child, he did not think of leaving immediately. It was not until Song Jiaoniang said it that Lin Sen realized that he had the same idea as his wife.
When Song Jiaoniang heard this, she smiled immediately.
However, Lin Sen changed the subject, his voice revealing a hint of worry: "But after we leave the prefectural government, how will our family survive?"
"When a car reaches the mountain, there will always be a way out. When a boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten itself out. We have hands and feet. Even if we have to be hired as servants, we can always get through it."
Lin Sen was speechless: "...That's right."
Lin Zhi played with a pen in her hand while listening to the conversation between the two. When she heard this, she narrowed her eyes and an idea came to her mind: "Dad, Mom, I, I have a solution."
"My son, I've told you everything. If you have something to say, just write it down—" Song Jiaoniang said coquettishly. When she looked up at Lin Zhi, she was stunned. She saw Lin Zhi holding the brush, fiddling with it for a while, and then dipping it in ink to write crookedly.
Song Jiaoniang's voice stopped abruptly.
Lin Sen looked over and his expression changed as well.
The couple looked at each other and felt heavy in their hearts. Could it be that although their daughter did not lose her memory, she had other sequelae?
Song Jiaoniang looked at it carefully and found that the handwriting was not only ugly, but also had one stroke extra here and one stroke missing there. At first glance, she thought it was written by a beginner who was just learning to write.
Song Jiaoniang held her breath and looked at her daughter again. She saw that Linzhi was writing seriously, as if she didn't notice anything strange about her handwriting.
She was nervous and grabbed Lin Sen tightly, causing him to grimace.
But he was also uneasy, and waited patiently for Lin Zhi to finish writing, not even daring to make a sound.
Lin Zhi observed the two of them from the corner of her eye and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she held up the paper and showed it to them excitedly: "This."
Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen tried hard to suppress their thoughts and looked up at the paper held in Lin Zhi's hand. The words on it were crooked and looked extremely difficult to write.
"A cruel...flesh...tactic?"
"Yes, I want to pretend to be stupid." Lin Zhi clenched his fists and said in a loud voice.
Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen stared at the three big words, then slowly shifted their gaze towards Lin Zhi, and after a while turned back to look at the big words.
Back and forth, repeatedly.
At the end, the couple looked at each other and communicated with their eyes frantically.
Is this child pretending, or is he really sick?
Putting aside other things, just by showing this word, I guarantee everyone will think she is stupid!
Lin Zhi didn't need to see to know what kind of eye contact dispute Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang were having.
Her cheeks flushed, and she thought to herself that she had never practiced calligraphy before she traveled through time. Although she had the memory of her previous life practicing writing when she picked up the pen, the feeling of writing was completely different.
So Linzhi simply went along with it and wrote these crooked characters. She acted as if nothing had happened, even carefully examining the paper with the three large characters once more, her face showing satisfaction as she asked, "What's wrong?"
Song Jiaoniang took a deep breath and used her hands to twist Lin Sen's arm tightly.
Lin Sen was sweating from the pain. Facing his daughter's puzzled eyes, he managed to hold up his lips and said, "Nothing, nothing."
After a pause, he added: "It's a good trick to inflict pain on one's self, it's a good trick to inflict pain on one's self."
Song Jiaoniang also nodded quickly and agreed repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."
"...I haven't said anything yet."
"I've known you for over ten years, how could I not know what you're thinking? I know. From now on, you'll be in charge of the acting, and I and your father will be in charge of the apology and complaining."
Song Jiaoniang agreed readily, and then pulled Lin Sen aside to whisper about her future plans.
Lin Zhi saw this and listened to the conversation between the two for a while before gradually feeling relieved.
From her original body's memory, she clearly knew that Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang were both capable people, each of them was very capable, and they also had a high status in the prefectural government. Therefore, Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen still had hope at the beginning.
Likewise, they wake up quickly.
This is also the case. Those who can get a certain status in a wealthy family are all smart people.
---
As the Linzhi family discussed their situation, Doctor Hu returned to the clinic. He had just taken out his key and opened the door when he saw two dark figures flash by out of the corner of his eye. Before he could react, they pushed him into the room, and he stumbled a few steps before he could regain his balance.
Then came the sound of the door being locked.
Doctor Hu was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. He subconsciously shouted, "You, who are you!"
"Doctor Hu."
"..." Doctor Hu looked over when he heard the voice and saw a man sitting at the top of the room, wearing a footless hat and a royal blue satin suit.
The fear on Doctor Hu's face faded away, and he asked doubtfully, "Huang? Manager Huang?"
Steward Huang smiled faintly, stood up, and bowed, saying, "This happened suddenly. I hope I'll forgive you for any offense you've caused, Doctor Hu."
Doctor Hu responded hesitantly, frozen in place, not even knowing where to put his hands.
If someone who didn't know the situation saw this, they would think that the house belonged to Manager Huang, not Doctor Hu.
Steward Huang smiled again and gently rebuked the two servants in green: "I asked you to invite Doctor Hu in, why are you so rude? You actually frightened Doctor Hu. Why don't you apologize to him right away!"
Upon hearing this, the two servants in blue clothes slapped him twice in the face and kowtowed to admit their mistakes. Doctor Hu was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly and quickly made half a space for him.
Seeing Doctor Hu's trembling posture, Huang Guanshi's eyes flashed with satisfaction. He kindly told Doctor Hu to take a seat and had a bulging purse placed on the side table next to Doctor Hu.
"Doctor Hu, there's no need to be nervous. I'm only here to ask a few questions on your orders."
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