Chapter 47 - Two People Combining to Treat Her as a Victim's Child? Dream on...
The next morning, Lin Chunxing got up early as usual and cooked porridge.
Last night, she heard low voices coming from the next room. Knowing that Lin Chuntao and the others slept late and would be hungry when they woke up, she made some food in advance.
Lin Chuntao slept very soundly in the latter half of the night, not even noticing when Pei Ying woke up, and slept until lunchtime.
Lin Chunxing had already steamed the rice and washed and prepared the vegetables, but Lin Chuntao hadn't gotten up yet.
She looked at Pei Ying and asked, "Brother-in-law, shall we call my sister to get up for dinner?"
Pei Ying nodded slightly and walked into the house. Lin Chunxing took out a pot to prepare to stir-fry vegetables.
Lin Chuntao woke up as soon as Pei Ying entered the room. She yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes to see Pei Ying, who had just come in.
"You're up? What time is it?"
Pei Ying noticed that her complexion had improved considerably and asked with a smile, "Are you feeling better?"
Lin Chuntao looked at him, thinking of the heartbreaking crying she had endured the previous night, and slowly sat up.
"I'm much better. Thank you for these past two days."
"There's no need for thanks between us." Pei Ying finished speaking and then added, "Chunxing is already cooking. Would you like some steamed egg custard?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head slightly, "No need to trouble yourself, I'll eat with you."
Pei Ying smiled and said, "Then I'll go get you some water to wash your face."
With that, Pei Ying turned and left the room, and Lin Chuntao also lifted the quilt and climbed to the bedside to put on her shoes.
The sun was shining brightly outside. Lin Chuntao's eyes were still a little uncomfortable from coming out of the house, so she gently rubbed them.
Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er, who had been waiting all morning, rushed over when they saw her.
"Sister, are you feeling better? Are you still feeling unwell?"
"I feel much better, I don't feel uncomfortable anymore."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Duo'er asked, "Sister, can you come back to sleep tonight now that you're all better?"
Upon hearing this, Pei Ying paused for a moment, then looked up. Lin Chuntao also glanced at Pei Ying subconsciously. The two looked at each other, and Lin Chuntao pursed her lips slightly. Lin Chunxing was cooking, and after seeing the expressions of Pei Ying and Lin Chuntao, she understood. She gave Lin Chunhe a wink, and Lin Chunhe abruptly called Lin Duo'er away.
"Duo'er, I just saw a really beautiful stone outside. I'll take you to see it."
Without waiting for Lin Duo'er's reply, he grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
Lin Chuntao watched the two sisters leave the courtyard, then glanced at Pei Ying, and lowered her eyes with a soft smile.
Pei Ying brought her the water to wash her face and handed her the willow branch for rinsing her mouth.
Lin Chuntao took it and squatted under the bamboo fence to wash up.
Outside the courtyard, Lin Duo'er was still asking innocently where the stones were. Lin Chunhe looked at her and softly replied, "There are no pretty stones."
"Then why did you trick me into coming out?"
Lin Chunhe pursed her lips and pondered for a while before saying, "My sister and brother-in-law are married now, and they will be living together from now on. Don't say anything about asking my sister to come back to sleep."
Lin Duo'er was still young and somewhat confused, "Why?"
Lin Chunhe couldn't explain it either, and only said, "Why are there so many questions? Married people have to sleep together. Only when they sleep together can they have children. Do you want to be an aunt?"
Lin Duo'er's eyes widened: "Is my sister going to have a baby?"
Lin Chunhe was speechless. She patted Lin Duo'er and said, "Are you stupid? You have to get pregnant before you can have a big belly. I don't have a big belly yet, so I have to wait."
Lin Duo'er nodded thoughtfully, "Oh, I understand."
Lin Chunhe and the other sister were talking outside the bamboo fence. Although they were speaking softly, the bamboo fence was not soundproof. Lin Chuntao happened to be washing up under the bamboo fence, so it sounded as if the two sisters were talking right in front of her.
Lin Chuntao didn't know when women in ancient times would come into contact with biological knowledge, or who would be their teacher? Perhaps their own mother? But Xu Xiu had already passed away.
She can only tell her younger sisters about this when she has some free time, right?
Thinking about this, Lin Chuntao suddenly realized that she had been here for more than a month and hadn't gotten her period yet.
Lin Chuntao searched the original owner's memories but found nothing related. She was almost twenty years old and still hadn't started menstruating? This really surprised her. She should probably go to the clinic to see a doctor.
After Lin Chuntao finished washing up, Chunxing had already cooked the dishes.
After lunch, Lin Chuntao drank another bowl of dark, bitter medicine.
After resting for a while in the afternoon, Lin Chunxing said she was going to cut pig feed and left with her two younger sisters.
They had only been gone a short while when Lin Chuntao picked up a bamboo basket and called to Pei Ying, "Let's go for a walk in the fields."
Pei Ying nodded slightly, and the two went to the field. Under the pretense of checking the corn, they retrieved the silver and kitchen knife that had been buried earlier.
On the way, Lin Chuntao met Li Honghua and her mother-in-law, and greeted them.
Li Honghua smiled and said, "Chuntao, I haven't seen you for the past two days. What have you been up to?"
"I caught a cold from being caught in the rain that day and stayed home to rest. What are Aunt and Fourth Grandmother doing here?"
The old lady said, "It's been raining these past two days, let's go check on the fields."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly and then prepared to leave.
Li Honghua suddenly called out to her and asked, "Did you know that Miaomiao and the others are back?"
Lin Chuntao had no idea what she was up to, and simply replied, "I know."
Her tone was calm, unlike before when Lin Chuntao would become unhappy when talking about the fifth branch of the family.
Li Honghua couldn't figure out what she was thinking and assumed that she had let go of the past grievances.
"Why don't you move back? That house is empty now and no one lives there. It'll be enough room for you all. The adults are gone, and you're the eldest sister, so you should take care of your younger sisters."
Lin Chuntao looked at Li Honghua and asked calmly, "Who sent your aunt to tell me this?"
Li Honghua twitched the corners of her mouth and smiled, "No, it's just what I think. Aren't you all living in your great-grandfather's old house now? You couldn't do it before, but now you have a place to live, right? It's always more convenient to live in your own home than in someone else's."
Lin Chuntao understood what she meant, chuckled softly, and stared intently at Li Honghua.
“When my sisters and I were kicked out, my aunt didn’t seem to care about us and ask us to come to her house. It’s been so long, and I only now realize that my aunt is such a kind-hearted person. Thank you for thinking of us, but we don’t really need it.”
Li Honghua blushed upon hearing this, and was about to continue when her mother-in-law stopped her.
Lin Chuntao glanced at the old lady and said calmly, "Fourth Grandmother, if there's nothing else, we'll head back."
After saying that, she left with Pei Ying.
After they walked away, the old lady frowned at Li Honghua: "What are you doing? Your uncle and the others didn't step forward, why are you so eager to do so?"
Li Honghua dismissed her mother-in-law's words, saying, "My uncle and his family would never be such a bad person. They even want to squeeze those six little brats into our families."
The old lady chuckled silently upon hearing this.
"You know your uncle wouldn't be a bad person, but you insist on doing it anyway? Can't you shut your mouth?"
Li Honghua said, "But I'm still worried that one day those six little brats might be desperate and end up sending two of them to our house."
"If we had persuaded Chuntao to go back sooner, that day would never have come."
The old lady sighed deeply and shook her head helplessly.
"You're dreaming! Do you think Chun Tao is that stupid?"
Li Honghua chuckled lightly: "She's probably not stupid, but I think she's somewhat like Xu Xiu. If she has Xu Xiu's personality and heart, she'll go back sooner or later."
The old lady looked at her in disbelief. "That was Chun Tao from before. Where is there even a trace of Xu Xiu now?"
She snorted coldly as she spoke: "If it were really like Xu Xiu, your fifth uncle's family wouldn't be in this situation."
Lin Chuntao had already been married off to Zhang Bao, and Lin Laowu's family continued to live happily with the dowry. Why would they have made such a fuss and gone to the government? If they hadn't gone to the government, how could they have suffered such a devastating disaster?
After the old lady finished speaking, Li Honghua said, "Isn't Fifth Uncle's family like this because Changhai and his gang robbed tombs?"
Hearing this, the old lady shook her head helplessly and said, "Don't worry about this. It has nothing to do with our family. Even if we can't make ends meet in the future, and your uncle wants to divide them among the families, we don't need them."
Li Honghua nodded slightly, but it was unclear whether she had truly taken it to heart or simply ignored it.
When Lin Chuntao returned home, she found Li Honghua's words increasingly ridiculous.
She looked at the old house, then at the money in the bamboo basket, and said to Pei Ying, "Let's inquire about the price of bricks and carpentry work soon. If it's feasible, let's start building the house. We'll build the living quarters first and move in, and then we can build the pigsty and chicken coop later."
Pei Ying nodded, "Okay, actually, making adobe bricks for pigsties and chicken coops will be quick, it can be completed in two or three days."
You want her to raise Lin Miaomiao and the other six? What kind of pipe dream is that?
They are pitiful, but their pitifulness is not caused by her.
Lin Miaomiao and her siblings spent the night in fear and trembling. Every time they closed their eyes, they saw the image of their parents and uncles being dragged away. The youngest, Xiao Dujuan, even had nightmares and cried twice in the middle of the night. She finally cried herself to sleep after being scolded by Lin Miaomiao.
When they got up, it was already afternoon. There were no roosters crowing, no old lady cursing, and no parents shouting. The whole courtyard was quiet, so quiet that Lin Miaomiao felt uneasy.
But she wasn't the only one who was panicking; the younger ones were even more panicked.
Lin Jialang looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue, with clouds drifting by. He thought of the time his mother was dragged away. The sunlight felt blinding, and he felt a surge of sadness, almost to the point of tears.
Mother told him to take his younger siblings to find Lin Chuntao and apologize to her on his behalf.
"Jialang, remember to go and tell your sister Chuntao that your mother is sorry to her! Please ask her to forgive your mother!"
Lin Jialang knew that his mother probably wanted them to apologize and then beg Lin Chuntao to discipline them.
An apology is necessary, but don't even think about anything else. People always have to pay the price for their actions, and they are no exception.
"Sister Miaomiao, I'm planning to go to Sister Chuntao's house, are you coming?"
As soon as Lin Jialang finished speaking, Lin Miaomiao turned to look at him, her brows furrowed and her eyes scrutinizing him.
"You think kneeling down and apologizing like your mother said will make her take care of us? Don't dream about it!"
Lin Miaomiao's disdainful tone made Lin Jialang feel a tightness in his chest. He said, "I know, but my mother told us to go apologize, so we have to go."
“Then you can go,” Lin Miaomiao said.
Lin Jialang nodded. "Sister, we'll be back in a bit."
Lin Miaomiao didn't say anything. She watched as Lin Jialang led Lin Jiarong and Xiao Dujuan out of the yard.
Lin Jiacai ran to the courtyard gate and took a look. He turned back to Lin Miaomiao and said, "Sister, if they really went, will Sister Chuntao take care of them?"
I don't think so.
Although Lin Miaomiao said this, she still hoped that Lin Chuntao would keep Lin Jialang and the others, so that they would have someone to rely on.
Lin Jiacai said, "Then what should we do? Should we go find Grandpa?"
"Let's talk about it after we finish eating," Lin Miaomiao said as she went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook lunch.
Just as Lin Chuntao had hidden the money, she heard a knock at the door. Pei Ying opened the gate and saw the three Lin brothers.
Lin Jialang gave himself a pep talk several times before knocking on the door, expecting Lin Chuntao to open it. But it was Pei Ying who opened the door. He looked up at Pei Ying, swallowed hard, and called out, "Brother-in-law, is Sister Chuntao home?"
"At home." Pei Ying said, but didn't call them into the yard. Lin Chuntao, who had heard voices inside, came out. "Who is it?"
She tilted her head and saw Lin Jialang and Lin Jiarong standing at the door, her expression turning slightly somber.
Pei Ying said, "They're looking for you."
Lin Chuntao walked over and asked in a cold voice, "Do you need something from me?"
Lin Jialang saw the displeasure in Lin Chuntao's eyes. He pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and managed an awkward smile.
"Sister Chuntao, my mother said before she passed away that she was sorry to you and asked you to forgive her. She asked me to come to you so that I could apologize on her behalf."
Upon hearing this, Pei Ying frowned slightly.
Lin Chuntao glanced at Xiao Dujuan behind Lin Jialang, who was staring at her expectantly. But it was only for a moment before she looked away and asked Lin Jialang, "Is there anything else?"
Lin Jialang shook his head slightly, "No, that's all."
"I understand, go back now."
As soon as Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Jialang pursed his lips and nodded. Looking down, he saw the cloth shoes on his feet and the straw sandals on Lin Chuntao's feet.
"Sis, we're leaving now."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Chuntao pulled the courtyard gate over and closed it without hesitation.
Lin Jialang took a deep breath before turning to his younger siblings and saying, "Let's go back."
Lin Jiarong and Xiao Dujuan followed closely behind him without saying a word.
Just then, Lin Miaomiao had started the fire and prepared the dough, and was about to make buckwheat pancakes when Lin Jialang and the others returned.
She felt a pang of disappointment.
"Did she respond to you?" Lin Jiacai asked.
Lin Jialang replied, "I've sorted it out."
Lin Miaomiao hurriedly asked, "What did she say?"
Lin Jialang shook his head. "He didn't say anything, he just told us to come back."
Lin Miaomiao sighed deeply, turned around and went back to the kitchen. She made two pancakes, one for the three of them to share, and the other for Lin Jialang and his siblings. The two pancakes looked the same size, but the one in her hand was thick, while the one for Lin Jialang and his siblings was thin.
Lin Jialang seemed not to see it, and took the cake and shared it with his younger siblings.
After finishing the pancakes, Lin Miaomiao looked at them and said, "Let's go to Grandpa's house."
Lin Jialang looked up at her, biting his lip: "Sister, have you thought about what to say?"
Lin Miaomiao noticed Lin Jialang's expression froze. She frowned, thinking about how Lin Chuntao and the others had been kicked out. She had heard that the old house was offered to them by her great-grandmother, and her great-grandfather had said last night that he would discuss it today. So, when she went today, there should be arrangements made.
"Let's go first."
Lin Jialang nodded and followed Lin Miaomiao out of the courtyard.
In the past, they would play in the village, become familiar with the children, and the adults would always treat them kindly.
But today was different. They ran into Lin Jiaye and his group on the road. The group just glanced at them coldly, said nothing, and didn't invite them to play together. Lin Jialang wanted to call out to them, but when he met their subtle gazes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Lin Miaomiao didn't notice the change in Lin Jiaye and the others. She even called out to Lin Qingqing and asked, "Qingqing, where are you going?"
Lin Qingqing only vaguely said, "Let's go downstairs."
They didn't say what they were going to do, nor did they say where they were going.
The adults they encountered along the way either gave them a faint glance or whispered among themselves. This was the first time Lin Jialang had ever experienced such a feeling in his life.
When their parents were taken away, their eldest uncle was still comforting them, saying that things would be alright once they returned to the village, where their great-grandfather and other relatives would be there. They had nowhere else to turn and were hoping that someone would be their safe haven once they came back.
But a night passed, and the great-grandfather came to help them pack their things, but left after he finished.
Only now, seeing the expressions on the villagers' faces, has he gradually come to understand that there is no one they can rely on.
From now on, they will have to rely on themselves.
But they don't even have land, how can they rely on themselves?
Thinking this, the siblings had already arrived at the entrance of the village head's courtyard.
Lin Cunzheng and Sun Shi were both at home. After their trip to prison, everyone was affected to some extent. They couldn't sleep or eat well and needed a couple of days to recover, so they didn't go out to work in the fields.
Lin Miaomiao leaned against the courtyard wall and peeked inside; Sun was the first to see them.
"Grandma," Lin Miaomiao called out. Madam Sun said calmly, "Oh, it's you. Come in."
Lin Miaomiao then led Lin Jialang and the others inside. There were many people in the courtyard, but everyone was silent, including the children. The siblings stood in the courtyard, and Sun said, "Bring yourselves a chair and sit down."
The siblings had just moved over and sat down on small stools when Chen Dongniang looked at them and asked, "Have you eaten?"
Lin Miaomiao replied, "Auntie, we've already eaten."
Chen Dongniang smiled and nodded, "That's good then."
Sun was picking beans with a winnowing basket, but Lin Miaomiao didn't see Lin Cunzheng.
"Grandma, isn't Grandpa home?"
Sun said, "Your great-grandfather and the others went to the cemetery. Weren't the ancestral graves dug up by the officials? They went to see how to repair them."
Lin Miaomiao was puzzled and asked, "Why would our ancestral graves be dug up?"
Lin Jiahui snorted coldly, "You still have the nerve to ask? If your family hadn't stolen and hidden silver, would the officials have gone to our ancestral graves to search for stolen silver?"
"How dare you even go out? Can't you see that your family has made us so ashamed that we're hiding at home?"
Hearing Lin Jiahui's words, Lin Miaomiao and her siblings felt their faces burning with embarrassment, turning bright red. They lowered their heads, not daring to say a word.
Looking at the way they all looked, Mrs. Sun sighed deeply. She looked at Lin Jiahui and said, "Go back to your room and play."
She simply told Lam Ka-fai to go back to his room and play, without reprimanding him for saying something wrong.
Lin Miaomiao sensed that Sun's attitude towards them had changed.
But after pursing her lips, she could only sit there shamelessly.
As she picked up the beans, Mrs. Sun said, "You haven't been feeling well these past few days, have you?"
A seemingly caring remark brought tears to Lin Miaomiao's eyes. Just as she was about to talk about the sadness and heartache she had felt these past two days, she heard Sun Shi say again, "It's okay to feel sad, but you're all grown up now. You still have to stand on your own two feet to make a living."
"Although your parents have been demoted, at least they are still alive. When you grow up and start your own families, you can go and find them."
Lin Miaomiao's emotions, which had just surged up, were immediately suppressed by the old lady's words.
She bit her lip and said, "Grandma, we can take care of ourselves, but the government has taken away our land. We have no land to cultivate. How will we survive in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun raised her eyebrows slightly, then sighed and said in a deep voice, "Actually, your great-grandfather and the others discussed with your second and third grandfathers and other families last night, wondering if you and your siblings could..." Madam Sun paused, noticing the hopeful look in Lin Miaomiao and the others' eyes, she gritted her teeth and continued, "But they didn't agree."
"Miaomiao, although Grandma wants to help you, you know that we have a lot of family members and we really can't do much. Please don't blame Grandma, okay?"
Before Lin Miaomiao could speak, Lin Jialang took over the conversation.
"Grandma, you're too kind. We can take good care of ourselves."
Sun smiled and nodded: "Don't be afraid. Look at Chun Tao and the others. They only had a tattered quilt when they were kicked out, but they're still doing fine. You're much better off than them now. I heard from your great-grandfather that the officials left you some buckwheat noodles. Chun Tao and the others didn't even have dinner at the time, so they had to ask me to buy some sweet potatoes and potatoes."
Lin Miaomiao was momentarily dazed upon hearing this, and somewhat doubted Sun's words. Did they really pay for those sweet potatoes and potatoes?
But she didn't say what was on her mind; she just listened quietly.
Lin Jialang looked at Madam Sun. After all, she was an old woman who had seen more than they had. He thought for a while before saying, "Grandma, is there any way we can find some land to cultivate? Or is there any work we can do to earn a living?"
Sun sighed deeply. There was a way to farm, but everyone needed to survive, and farming was for food, not just for the sake of farming.
You could rent land from wealthy families, but that would mean becoming a tenant farmer and losing your independent household registration. You would have to depend on a wealthy family, and you would need to redeem your registration to get it back. Many tenant farmers couldn't redeem themselves. At least half of the Liang family's harvest would be taken away each year. If the harvest was bad, they would have to borrow grain from the landlord, and it wouldn't be for free; there would be interest.
In the end, not only would they not have enough to eat, but they would also be heavily in debt, forced to farm for others indefinitely. It was no different from being reduced to slavery.
Looking at the children, she felt even more that Lin Changhai and his family were hateful. They not only ruined the family, but also left behind so many teenagers. It would be better if they were older, but they were all around ten years old, neither too young nor too old.
"You can rent land from wealthy families, but your household registration will also be under their name, which is no different from becoming slaves. If you want to leave later, you will have to pay money to redeem your household registration. Don't rush, wait and see if there is a better way."
Hearing Sun's words, Lin Jialang nodded and thanked her.
Sun smiled and said, "It's alright, let me ask your great-grandfather first."
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