Chapter 231 Following the Clues
Wang Jinhua coughed twice and deliberately stepped back, afraid of passing on her illness to Lin Yuesha.
Before the Lunar New Year, she had fallen seriously ill because of Chen Dahua. Fortunately, her eldest daughter was exonerated, and with Xiaohua by her side and the family doing some business, she had hope and recovered.
Unexpectedly, the good times didn't last long, and trouble came to the family again.
"Auntie, is Granny Wang's youngest son really stupid?"
Lin Yuesha asked this question again, and it was crucial.
"I don't know. Granny Wang always curses Wang Tiezhu as a big fool. She tells everyone that her son is stupid and can't even understand eating, drinking, and defecating."
Wang Jinhua shook her head. Anyway, Wang Tiezhu rarely went out and was still single in his twenties. Wang's mother hadn't mentioned finding a wife for her son.
Such a fool, who doesn't even know what a toilet is, and still goes to the kitchen to relieve himself, how can someone so dim-witted be worthy of Xiaohua!
Mentioning this incident only made Wang Jinhua angrier.
“My mother said that when we go to the prefectural city, we will take Sister Xiaohua with us.”
The city is very large, and I don't know many people in the family. Changing the environment helps to make the bad things that happened fade away.
"But Xiaohua is going to cause trouble for your parents again."
Wang Jinhua felt very embarrassed. Her daughter was so old and was being raised at her aunt's house. She was afraid that Xiao Chenggui would have some ideas about her.
My sister-in-law has had a tough time these past few years, and she's such a good-natured person. If the couple ever have a disagreement about this, Chen will definitely keep quiet about it.
"It's alright, my parents have discussed it and they both agree."
Lin Yuesha had to speak up for her father. He was truly open-minded and didn't discriminate against girls. He treated her even better than he treated her stepbrother, just like her own father.
“My dad is so nice, he won’t hold a grudge about this. Besides, it was my dad and mom who suggested that Sister Xiaohua stay.”
If given the chance, Lin Yuesha must improve Xiao Chenggui's image, since his father is not considered a live-in son-in-law.
"Yes, yes, you little rascal, we were just being petty. Your father is the best!"
Lin Yuesha's witty remarks brought a smile to Wang Jinhua's face. The little girl had seen the world in town and was quite different from before; she had become much more sensible.
Speaking of building a house, it would only take ten days to half a month. My parents wanted to start as early as possible, once the ground thawed, around the first day of the third lunar month.
If I do the math, it's been about half a month.
Although Jiang Huai's whereabouts are unknown, the stone workshop they contacted before is still there, and the Chen family has already ordered the materials to build the sturdiest stone house.
“Once the house is built, your eldest uncle and I will move out to take care of your cousin’s family.”
Chen Tieniu and Wang Jinhua had already discussed it. As the eldest son in the family, he had to take care of the elderly and see them off in their final days. Previously, Chen had lived with her parents' home, but they had to move out to live separately out of necessity. However, they would always be family.
After leaving her maternal uncle's house, Lin Yuesha and Xiao Qi went straight to the clan chief's house. They needed to give the clan chief a gift regarding the homestead in order to ask for his help.
"Brother, I've discovered a problem."
Lin Yuesha walked forward, stroking her chin, lost in thought. She wasn't looking where she was going and took a diagonal path, bumping into a large tree with a thud.
"What's the problem?"
Xiao Qi calmly followed behind her without offering a single word of advice.
"Hey, brother, why didn't you tell me!"
Lin Yuesha rubbed her temples, turned around and glared at Xiao Qi. Was this kind-hearted man holding a grudge over their disagreement?
"I didn't see it."
Xiao Qi waved his hand apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, little sister. I'll definitely remind you next time."
After he finished speaking, a smile appeared in his eyes, but fearing that the little girl would notice, he lowered his head and pretended to humbly admit his mistake.
Lin Yuesha was even angrier. "Will there be a next time?"
"Little sister, what problem have you discovered?"
Xiao Qi appropriately brought up the previous topic and asked.
The little girl doesn't watch where she's going; she should learn her lesson. It's alright in the village, but in the city, carriages don't avoid people, which could be dangerous.
"It's Granny Wang. Even if she's stupid, she shouldn't have called her son a complete idiot, right?"
Lin Yuesha couldn't understand it. Granny Wang was so protective of her own, unless the child wasn't her biological son. But if the child wasn't her biological son, Granny Wang wouldn't care about Wang Tiezhu and would deliberately scheme against the Chen family to secure a good marriage.
Furthermore, to prove it, they even brought up embarrassing stories about Wang Tiezhu, which was already bad enough.
"Using the kitchen as a latrine, this is..."
Is this really something a mother would say? Lin Yuesha found it strange, and felt that Granny Wang was doing it on purpose.
It's as if there's something good about being a complete fool.
"It does have benefits."
Xiao Qi stopped and stared at his younger sister, saying, "Little sister, you don't know the laws of the Great Qi, do you?"
The laws of the Great Qi Dynasty covered all aspects, including those concerning taxes. If a male member of a household, a able-bodied laborer, had an intellectual disability and was unable to work, the household could have its taxes reduced or exempted.
Therefore, Wang Pozi's family must not have paid taxes for many years.
"tax?"
Lin Yuesha was unaware of this law, and presumably the villagers were also unaware of it; this must be asked of the clan chief.
If that's the case, it does fit Wang Pozi's opportunistic nature; in order to save on taxes, she goes around saying that her own son is a complete idiot.
The two arrived at the clan chief's house with doubts in their hearts. Before they had exchanged more than a few words, Lin Yuesha asked her question.
"Indeed, Wang Pozi's family has not paid taxes for more than ten years."
The clan chief stroked his beard. The villagers didn't know about this, and the clan chief had never mentioned it to anyone. After all, the Wang family had a mentally challenged son, which was already heartbreaking.
Having received the answer, Lin Yuesha became even more suspicious.
Wang Tiezhu was considered stupid, but the villagers didn't realize he was stupid and didn't talk to him much.
Chen Xiaohua said that Wang Tiezhu was clean-cut that day, and his actions were very barbaric.
"It seems that Wang Tiezhu stole a chicken from Gou Dan's mother. Later, Wang Pozi came to apologize and returned the chicken to Gou Dan's mother."
Before the two left, the village chief's daughter-in-law provided an important clue.
This clue made Lin Yuesha even more suspicious. Maybe Gou Dan's mother had something on Wang Pozi, otherwise why would Wang Pozi obediently give back what she had gotten her hands on!
After much deliberation, Lin Yuesha decided to follow the clues from Gou Dan's mother to find out that Wang Tiezhu wasn't stupid, and then take immediate revenge.
"Big brother, you go home and sit for a while, I'll go find Gou Dan's mother."
Lin Yuesha waved her hand and ran off to Gou Dan's mother's house. The truth soon came to light.
"Little girl's here, come in and sit down quickly."
When Gou Dan's mother saw Lin Yuesha, her face was full of smiles. When she saw that Lin Yuesha hadn't come empty-handed, her smile became even more genuine.
"Auntie, these are some spiced melon seeds and roasted peanuts that my family made. Keep them for Little Dog Egg."
Lin Yuesha talked about her business, which could have grown big and brought prosperity to her people, but the barbarians caused trouble and her business failed.
Granny Wang stirs up trouble everywhere, saying bad things about her own family, and Lin Yuesha always has to say a few words in her defense.
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