Chapter 18 Can We Adopt Abao? The crowd roared with voices…
The crowd raised their voices, and the usually proud teacher could no longer lift his head. He picked up the two children from the ground and walked towards Lin Yanfeng.
Before he could even speak, the two men knelt down in front of Lin Yanfeng and apologized repeatedly.
The two men that Chen Gengnian was carrying were also thrown over. They not only knelt down before Lin Yanfeng, but also kowtowed repeatedly, saying sorry as they kowtowed.
The melancholy and sorrow on Lin Yanfeng's face had long since disappeared, replaced by admiration and gratitude for his older brother.
No one dared to bully him anymore; he had his brother, his brother-in-law, and...
He turned to look at A-Meng in the tree, his eyes filled with gratitude.
Lin Yanfeng didn't say anything to forgive him; he couldn't be that magnanimous.
The teacher returned the full tuition fee to Lin Qing'an and wanted to say something polite, but Lin Qing'an interrupted him.
"Since you've done it, you have to admit it. Even I, a country farmer, know this principle. How could you, a teacher who educates and nurtures people, not know it?"
The Master was so choked up that he could no longer speak.
Chen Gengnian, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, pointing at the two people he had been carrying and asking, "Ayan, did these two people hit you?"
Lin Yanfeng glanced at the two men and nodded without hesitation.
"Fight back!"
Chen Gengnian's words stunned everyone present. Lin Qing'an looked up at Chen Gengnian, never expecting that his husband would share the same vision in education.
Lin Yanfeng stood there blankly, not reacting. Chen Gengnian spoke again: "If you are humiliated, you should get back at them. Even if you are beaten, it's the same. Only in this way will others not bully you easily."
"What are you waiting for? Let the children handle their own affairs. If any fool dares to interfere, we will not stand idly by."
Seeing his family members defending him so fiercely, Lin Yanfeng, who was always polite and gentle, finally raised his hand, gritted his teeth, and slapped them.
Snap snap snap snap—
Four resounding slaps averted Lin Yanfeng's humiliation.
Having gotten back everything they were owed, and with nothing left to do here, Lin Qing'an prepared to leave with Lin Yanfeng and Chen Gengnian.
A soft, sweet voice sounded beside me, "Brother Yan, will we meet again in the future?"
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian looked over and saw the thin boy who had bravely stepped forward to help identify the boy.
The boy looked much younger than Lin Yanfeng. He held Lin Yanfeng's arm tightly with both hands, and his face was covered in tears like a river that had burst its banks, which was extremely heartbreaking to see.
Lin Yanfeng didn't speak, but gently touched the child's head.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian exchanged glances, both noticing Lin Yanfeng's predicament.
Lin Qing'an looked at the thin, small person and suddenly began to worry about his future situation. Judging from his appearance, he was also a student of the academy. After all, he had helped Lin Yanfeng today, and who knows how he would be bullied in the academy in the future.
He was also at a loss, and just as he was thinking about how to solve the problem, Lin Yanfeng suddenly raised his head and looked at Lin Qing'an very seriously and asked.
"Brother, we can...we can..."
Lin Yanfeng stammered for a long time before finally managing to say something.
Lin Qingan was extremely anxious, "Just tell me what's wrong!"
Lin Yanfeng swallowed hard, looked at Lin Qing'an and then at Chen Gengnian, before stammering, "Brother, brother-in-law, can we adopt Abao?"
"ah?"
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian were both shocked.
“I’ll eat less from now on, and Abao will eat less too. I’ll help with the chores, and he’ll help with the chores too. Brother, Abao doesn’t have parents. He was sold to the academy to do odd jobs and is always hungry and bullied. He’s really pitiful…”
Lin Yanfeng spoke quickly and urgently, his voice becoming increasingly hoarse as he spoke.
Ah Bao hurriedly waved his hand, "No need, Brother Yan, really no need..."
The little child was flustered, his face showing both gratitude and shame.
Lin Qingan felt a tightness in his chest as he watched.
Lin Qing'an didn't answer immediately. Actually, this wasn't a problem for him. He could easily raise ten, let alone one. His treasure bag contained countless foods, so they wouldn't go hungry. But what about Brother Nian...?
Lin Qingan slowly looked at Chen Gengnian. Their eyes met briefly, and Chen Gengnian understood the meaning in his eyes. In order not to make things difficult for Lin Qingan, he said, "I will support whatever decision you make. We are family."
Lin Qing'an's heart tightened and ached instantly. How long had they known each other? How many pieces of dog poop had he stepped in to have this stroke of luck?
Lin Qingan nodded gratefully, then asked Abao, "Abao, would you like to live with us?"
Just as Abao was about to speak, Lin Qing'an said, word by word, "Have you thought it through? Your brother is capable of supporting you and will also handle things here. You are not a burden to your brothers. I'm only asking you this once. If you are unwilling, your brother will never let Ayan see you again."
Every word sounded like a threat, but little Bao understood its meaning.
Lin Yanfeng held A Bao's hand tightly, his palms even sweating with nervousness.
After waiting for two seconds, instead of Ah Bao opening his mouth, he suddenly knelt down at the feet of Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian.
Before the others could react, he kowtowed three times and then raised his head and called out in a clear voice, "Brothers, I'm willing to follow you! From now on, you will be A Bao's saviors and A Bao's most important family."
Almost everyone present was a parent, and seeing such a scene was heartbreaking for all of them.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian bent down to help the little Abao, who looked like a little adult, up. Then they turned to the sullen-faced teacher and his family and said, "Teacher, I want to take Abao back with me. How much do you want?"
"Not for sale!" The teacher no longer cared about saving face and refused to buy it.
"Then I'm going to report this to the authorities!" Lin Qing'an shouted. "My younger brother is being bullied at your academy, and the teacher not only ignores it but also condones his child's long-term bullying of his classmates."
"You dare!"
A powerful roar came from behind the crowd. Looking in the direction of the sound, a bearded man dressed in a coarse dark blue shirt squeezed through the crowd.
"Let's see who dares to report this to the authorities!"
The man rushed over angrily, pulled his son into his arms, and examined him thoroughly. Even though it was just some superficial injuries, it still pained him deeply.
That's right, this person is the village chief of Liujia Village.
This man came from a large and prestigious family in the village, so when he appeared, the villagers who had been watching dared not discuss him anymore.
You can offend the teacher's family, since your own children don't study there, but you can't afford to offend the village chief and his family. If you're not careful, you might get into trouble.
The man asked his child, "Tell Daddy, who beat you up like this?"
The boy trembled and dared not speak, only looking at Lin Qing'an and the others.
When he arrived, he heard these people say they were going to report him to the authorities. He wanted to see who dared to run wild on his turf and report him to the authorities!
"You assaulted someone and then went to report it to the authorities?"
The village chief angrily walked towards Lin Qing'an, but Chen Gengnian stepped forward and blocked Lin Qing'an and his group.
“Yes, we’re going to report this to the authorities.” Chen Gengnian looked down at the man and said slowly, “Your child, along with other students, has been bullying my younger brother for a long time. They all confessed just now, and everyone present heard it, so don’t try to deny it.”
Upon hearing Chen Gengnian's words, the village chief's expression did not change much; on the contrary, he became even more arrogant, spreading his hands and asking the crowd with a helpless look.
"Did you hear that?"
No one spoke.
He then asked, "So you saw it with your own eyes?"
The crowd remained silent.
The village chief clapped his hands and laughed arrogantly: "Hahaha, who can testify? Who dares to testify?"
The once timid and submissive family of the Master changed their attitude completely the moment the situation took a turn. They turned to the village chief and said, "Brother Liu, our child is so innocent. Not only was he wronged, but he was also beaten like this in public by these people. They have no respect for the law at all!"
The more the Master said that, the angrier the village chief became. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to take action, but before he could do anything, Lin Qing'an stepped forward, grabbed Chen Gengnian, and whispered something to the village chief.
The village chief's hand, with its bulging veins, went limp in an instant.
No one knew what had happened except for Chen Gengnian and the village chief, who heard it clearly.
"You, you, you..." The village chief stammered for a long time before finally letting out a deep sigh and giving in, "Forget it, it's just children playing around. There's no need to alarm the higher-ups."
The Fu family, who had just begun to gain some confidence: ?
The villagers began to whisper among themselves, wondering if the young man had some kind of leverage over the village chief!
As a teacher, how could I not see something that everyone else could see?
Lin Qing'an raised his head and said lazily, "Village Chief, I want to redeem this little Abao. I wonder if the Village Chief could ask the Master for a favor?"
Without saying a word, the village chief turned to the teacher and said, "Oh dear, let him have the child. If he stays at home, we'll have to feed and care for him, and if he dies, we'll have to collect his body."
"this..."
As the scholar hesitated, the village chief smiled and said to Lin Qing'an, "Alright, give him one tael of silver and you can take him away."
Lin Qingan didn't rush to respond, but instead said, "Let's write a written agreement first."
The village chief chuckled and said, "Right, right, look at me, I almost forgot, just a moment..."
After he finished speaking, he pulled the teacher aside, and the two of them lowered their heads and discussed something in hushed tones.
Everyone present was astonished by this scene.
Everyone was speculating about what the young man had done to the village chief.
The village chief himself had no powerful backing; he relied entirely on the influence of his wife and father-in-law. His wife was the apple of the eye of a wealthy man in the neighboring town. Because she ran a shop in town, she rarely stayed in the village. If the two of them hadn't gotten together back then, the village chief, a toad, would never have been able to climb up to such a swan.
Of course, everyone knows how the raw rice was cooked, since Chief Liu has always been despicable.
Lin Yanfeng and Abao knew they shouldn't ask any more questions at this moment, so they just obediently waited for their brother to handle the situation, their eyes brimming with admiration for their brother.
It's unclear how the village chief persuaded the teacher, but after discussing it for a while, the teacher went home and returned shortly afterward with a written agreement and A Bao's indenture.
He didn't look well, but there was nothing he could do.
In the village, he was in the same boat as the village chief, and he also had to rely on his father-in-law in every way. Even if he was dissatisfied, he dared not say a word.
The section chief handed both papers to Lin Qing'an. Lin Qing'an couldn't understand the traditional Chinese characters and was about to show them to Lin Yanfeng when Chen Gengnian took them first and read them for him. After nodding to confirm that they were correct, both parties pressed their fingerprints.
With the written agreement in hand and his great revenge achieved, Lin Qing'an didn't even have time to think about why Chen Gengnian could also read before grabbing Lin Yanfeng and A Bao and leaving without looking back.
They came furtively, but left swaggering away, leaving behind a group of people with unanswered questions.
And of course, there were those resentful and calculating glances.
However, none of this mattered to Lin Qing'an and his group. They would figure things out in the end, and they would focus on taking the first step.
When the village chief arrived, panting, this was the scene he saw.
A note from the author:
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