Chapter Twelve: Old Lady You's Secret Rendezvous with Someone in the Middle of the Night
But right now, the most important thing is to fill our stomachs first. We can talk to the kids later about how to deal with that bastard Bi Yuntao.
"Mom, is dinner ready?" Lin's father rubbed his hands together, the aroma of meat filling his nostrils.
"Alright, alright! My sweetie specially picked out a piece of pork belly with the skin on, and it's been stewing in the pot for a while now, it's so tender!" Lin's mother lifted the pot lid, and the steam carrying the aroma of meat filled her face.
"Alright, alright, let's eat first!"
At the dinner table, Lin Baozhu picked up a trembling piece of pork belly and put it in her father's bowl, then put one in her mother's bowl as well. She said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, please eat more. You've been working so hard these past few days. I was foolish before, and I was blinded by that kind of thing. From now on, I promise to live a good life with the family."
Lin's mother's eyes reddened, and she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief: "Good child, it's good that you've figured it out. Eat your food."
"My little sister has finally figured it out!" Lin Erlang pushed up his glasses and raised his glass to his father. "Dad, we need to have a couple of drinks to celebrate!"
"You brat, just say you want a drink!" Lin's father laughed and scolded. "Go and get that bottle of loose sweet potato liquor. We really should have a couple of drinks today!"
Watching the father and his two sons clinking glasses and exchanging toasts, Lin Baozhu's appetite also whetted, and she unknowingly ate two more bowls of corn porridge amidst the aroma of meat.
After the meal, she rubbed her round belly and said, "Father, Mother, Second Brother, Third Brother, please eat slowly. I'm going out for a walk to digest."
"Don't go too far, it's not safe after dark!" Lin's mother warned.
"Okay!"
Only after Lin Baozhu's figure disappeared through the door did the smile on Lin's father's face fade. He looked at his two sons and said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for Baozhu risking her life to hunt this wild boar today, we don't know when we would have been able to eat meat. Your little sister has sacrificed so much for our family. From now on, if anyone dares to bully your little sister, I'll beat them to a pulp!"
He paused, then said, "Your mother and I have discussed it. If Baozhu doesn't want to marry out in the future, we'll clean up the east courtyard and find her a husband. Don't feel wronged. If it weren't for the money and two bags of sorghum left by Baozhu's biological parents, our whole family would have starved to death on the road of fleeing famine."
I just discussed it with your mother. If Baozhu doesn't want to marry out in the future, we'll keep the neighboring courtyard for her to find a husband. Don't feel wronged. If it weren't for Baozhu's biological parents giving us money and food back then, our whole family would have starved to death.
Lin Erlang adjusted his glasses and slowly said, "Father, my little sister's background is a family secret. Don't mention it outside. As for the Bi family..."
Although the third brother beat up Bi Yuntao, it was at most just him venting his anger for his little sister. I'll take a piece of meat to the brigade leader's house later—it's time to fertilize the team's cornfields these days, and the brigade leader was wondering who to send. Perfect, Bi Yuntao and Zhao Xiaoyu not only have an affair but also steal other people's property; sending them to do the manure isn't unreasonable, and the villagers are happy to see it."
As for Bi Yuntao not having time because he has to go to work? That's none of his business.
"You're quick-witted, so I'll leave this to you," Lin's father nodded.
At this time, Qin Haifeng had finished changing his bandages and was leaning against the kang (a heated brick bed) eating cornbread. Shi Hanqiao brought over a glass of warm water, and her eyes reddened again as she looked at the bandages wrapped around her son's body.
“Xiaofeng, it’s all my fault for being so weak that you had to go up the mountain to hunt wild game… otherwise you wouldn’t have run into the bear.”
Qin Haifeng grasped his mother's hand, crumbs of biscuit falling all over him: "Mom, it has nothing to do with you, I wanted to go myself. Besides, that ointment you put on me is a treasured item, it'll be better in a couple of days."
Which injury he sustained in the army wasn't more serious than this?
"You still dare to talk!"
Shi Hanqiao poked his forehead, sighed, and said, "If it weren't for Baozhu today, your life... sigh! That girl carried you down the mountain, and the whole village saw it! She had just broken off her engagement with the Bi family, and her reputation was already affected; now it's even worse..."
She sighed: "What did the Bi family say when they broke off the engagement? They said your relationship was ambiguous! Baozhu was so wronged. In a fit of anger, she banged her head against the wall and almost didn't make it back. You're a man, you have to take responsibility."
Qin Haifeng was taken aback, his voice turning slightly colder: "Is that so?"
He went straight up the mountain after taking Lin Baozhu home today, unaware that the Bi family had caused this commotion.
Those bastards, the Bi family, used him as a scapegoat when they wanted to break off the engagement. He's retired from the military, not dead.
Shi Hanqiao saw that her son's nostrils were flared and regretted telling him all this.
She knew her son's temper; he seemed gentle and mild-mannered at first, but he was actually quite cunning.
He's injured now, so he definitely won't do anything to Bi Yuntao, but once he recovers, that kid Bi Yuntao will definitely be in trouble.
Thinking of this, she held Qin Haifeng's hand and earnestly advised him, "Son, now you're in deep trouble, even if it's not shit, it's still shit. Plus, Baozhu carried you back today, so even if there's nothing between you two, the villagers can still imagine things."
"How about I go to the Bi family tomorrow? Baozhu is an honest girl, not at all like the Bi family says. I'll feel at ease knowing you'll have a strong-willed wife to keep you in check."
Qin Haifeng rubbed his forehead and sighed, "Mother, I know what I'm doing. Don't worry about it anymore, go to sleep."
Shi Hanqiao looked at Qin Haifeng's injuries, sighed helplessly, and turned to leave.
Qin Haifeng lay on the bed, his eyes seemingly open, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.
An image of a little girl chasing a bear with a bamboo pole flashed into his mind.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
*
On the other side, Lin Baozhu was perched on the old locust tree outside the Bi family's courtyard wall, her eyes wide open. She could see Bi Yuntao, but she could only see Old Lady You talking to a short, fat man inside the house. Old Lady You was gritting her teeth and saying something to the man, and although her voice was very low, it still drifted into Lin Baozhu's ears on the wind.
"Brother Shuanzi, look what that shrew from the Lin family did to me!"
Lin Baozhu leaned on the tree, watching the tall and strong Old Lady You nestled in the arms of a man who was less than 1.5 meters tall. While others would lean on a woman like a little bird, Old Lady You was like an ostrich leaning on a man.
Especially that old face, with wrinkles that could trap flies, yet she still puts on a shy, girlish expression.
Lin Baozhu gagged twice from disgust. She stayed in the tree for a while. Apart from confiding in the man named Shuanzi, Old Lady You talked most about how to deal with the Lin family.
"What a fine Lin Baozhu, what a fine Guo Cuicui! Don't worry, my dear sister, as long as I'm alive, I won't let you suffer these injustices for nothing. Guo Cuicui, I will find a way to ruin her reputation."
As he spoke, he pouted and kissed Old Lady You's swollen, sausage-like lips, while a pair of large, dark, and dirty hands moved from behind Old Lady You to her chest...
Lin Baozhu's eyes instantly turned icy—did she want to ruin her mother's reputation?
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