Wang Xiuqin lifted her dirty face, wiped her eyes with her hand, and exclaimed in surprise, "Congcong, it's Congcong! Gou Dan, your older brother is back!"
Hearing Lin Cong's call, Lin Gou Dan's fantasy vanished, and he forced a bitter smile: "Big brother, did you bring back meat? I want to eat meat."
Lin Cong sighed, wondering what these two were up to.
He glanced a little embarrassedly at his comrade next to him and said, "Xiuwu, I'm sorry, this is my mother and younger brother. This is the old brigade headquarters. Go and ask around yourself."
Lu Xiuwu was worried about him and asked anxiously, "Are you alright? Do you need any help? Your brother seems a little confused."
"It's alright, I'll carry him home right now," Lin Cong refused.
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiuqin became displeased and said with a dark face, "Congcong, you can't just leave like this. Your brother's injury was caused by Lin Ye's house falling on him, so you have to pay compensation!"
She grabbed Lin Cong's arm, as if suddenly gaining strength, and shouted into the house, "Lin Ye, you coward, come out here and pay me a hundred yuan, or I'll have my son beat you to death!"
Lin Cong served in the army for many years and was named a model soldier every year. He was very skilled. When they were children, Lin Ye was no match for Lin Cong. In their fights, Lin Cong always won.
"Mom, what are you doing? I didn't come back to fight, why are you causing trouble for Brother Linye? Gou Dan is freezing, let's take him home and warm him up!"
Lin Cong was utterly humiliated in front of his comrades. He helped Lin Gou Dan up, trying to get him to walk a few steps on his own, but Gou Dan was delirious and had started trembling, making it impossible for him to walk by himself.
Wang Xiuqin, however, persisted and continued shouting.
Inside the house, Lin Ye laughed when he heard Wang Xiuqin say that her son should beat him to death. Lin Gou Dan was so weak that he couldn't even touch him, yet he dared to make such a fuss.
Lu Wanqing, however, received information from Xueqiu that two young men dressed in military uniforms had arrived at the door.
"Ah Ye, I hear it's quite lively outside. Could it be that your older brother Lin Cong is back?" she wondered.
Lin Ye listened carefully and indeed heard other people talking. He quickly said, "I'll go take a look."
Lin Ye went outside and realized that it was indeed Lin Cong who had returned.
He walked out of the courtyard gate, his face cold, and said, "Brother Cong, it's good that you're back. Take them away quickly. If they continue to cause trouble, I really won't be polite."
Hearing Lin Ye's words, Lin Cong immediately became a little unhappy. "Ye, how can you talk like that? My mother and brother are coming. You should at least invite them into the house. With such heavy snow, you're just going to leave them lying at the door?"
Lin Ye chuckled: "Otherwise what? If they had even a shred of family ties, they wouldn't have made such a mess of things. They're so disliked, shouldn't we ask them what good deeds they've done?"
“What good can we do? Congcong, Lin Ye has been bullying us terribly these days. You have to stand on your mother’s side!” Wang Xiuqin retorted.
Just then, Lin Xiaocui returned after delivering the glutinous rice cakes. Upon seeing Lin Cong, she happily ran over and shouted, "Big brother, you're back!"
After she finished shouting, tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked pitiful.
"Xiao Cui, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Lin Cong reached out to wipe away her tears. He had always been quite fond of this younger sister.
Seeing Lin Xiaocui's affected manner, Wang Xiuqin spat on the ground and said fiercely, "Lin Xiaocui, stop pretending. You unfilial daughter, I had a high fever and you didn't even come home to see me. Your second brother was hospitalized and you didn't even go to take care of him. You're always colluding with Lin Ye and his wife to bully the family. You're an ungrateful wretch."
Lin Ye couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled Lin Xiaocui behind him and said in a disdainful tone, "How can you twist the truth like this! If someone hadn't protected her, Xiaocui would have been beaten to death by you. How dare you say such things!"
Lin Cong was completely confused by their statements. Each of them had their own reasons, so what was going on?
He didn't want to remain confused any longer, so he took Xiao Cui's hand and urged her to tell him the whole story, without just listening to Wang Xiuqin's side of the story.
Lin Xiaocui then recounted everything that had happened recently.
It was like being struck by lightning. It turned out that my mother and brother had brought this upon themselves!
"Mom, I really can't stay here any longer. I'm going home now."
Knowing the reason for what happened, Lin Cong hurriedly said goodbye to his comrades, took the bag off his back and put it on his chest, then carried Lin Gou Dan on his back and headed home.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Wang Xiuqin caught up and anxiously asked, "Congcong, you don't want Lin Ye to compensate you anymore? Why did you leave?"
Lin Cong quickened his pace. "Mom, if you don't leave soon, I'm really going to lose my temper."
Wang Xiuqin reluctantly followed, feeling extremely unwilling.
After walking for a while, Lin Cong turned around and asked Lin Xiaocui if she was going home.
Lin Xiaocui waved at him, "Brother, I have nowhere to stay if I go back, so I'm not going. From now on, just pretend you don't have a sister like me!"
Lin Cong sighed, gave Wang Xiuqin a sharp look, and continued walking towards the river.
What could he do with such parents and brother? He was the eldest son and couldn't run away.
After Lin Cong and his group left, Lin Ye and Lin Xiaocui remained at the courtyard gate.
Just as the two were about to turn and head home, Lu Xiuwu called out to them, "Excuse me, does Lu Wanqing live here?"
Lin Ye stopped and called out to him, then gave him a cold look before slowly asking, "What do you want with my wife?"
Just then, Lu Wanqing went to the studio to pick something up and saw her second brother standing upright next to Lin Ye with a backpack on his back. She exclaimed in surprise, "Second brother, what brings you here?"
Afterwards, Lin Ye realized that his initial reaction was too wary. He thought the man was an admirer of his wife, and his attitude towards her second brother was far too sour.
Lu Xiuwu entered the room, put down his backpack, and after getting to know the people inside, he learned that the dramatic scene at the door was actually a messy fight at his brother-in-law's house.
He couldn't help but feel worried that his sister was marrying into such a family.
He couldn't say anything in front of Lin Ye, so he could only stay there for now.
"Second brother, have you had breakfast? This is some freshly made glutinous rice cake. Have some first, we'll make lunch soon." Lu Wanqing handed him the glutinous rice cake as if it were a treasure.
Seeing his sister so happy with the glutinous rice cake, Lu Xiuwu shook his head and said, "I bought meat buns at the station, so I won't eat the glutinous rice cake. You should eat less too, it's hard to digest."
“Okay, you must be tired from your journey. Take a rest first,” Lu Wanqing said.
Hearing her say that, Lu Xiuwu didn't mince words, saying, "This place is really remote. First, I took a train to the provincial capital, then a bus to the county town, and then a ride to the brigade. It was a very arduous journey. If it weren't for Lin Cong leading the way, I probably wouldn't have been able to find my way around."
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