Chapter 35 I can take care of her. "What?"...
"What?"
Those listening couldn't believe it. When they tried to ask Lin Jing again, they saw the woman behind her, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, with disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes.
"Young lady of the Lin family, are you telling the truth?"
Having just heard about Lin Ligan's absurd deeds, the village chief rushed back from the fields and witnessed this scene.
Upon seeing that it was the village chief, Lin Jing immediately burst into tears and sobbed.
"Village chief, you must help my stepmother! Lin Erzhu, Lin Xiang, and a few other accomplices from the village got my father drunk and were about to assault my stepmother. I fought them to the death and managed to escape. Please go and arrest them all!"
Upon hearing that it was Lin Erzhu, the village's notorious troublemaker, the village chief instantly believed him and shouted, "All you men here, come with me! I want to see who has the audacity to do such despicable things in Linjia Village!"
In an instant, seven or eight men followed the village chief into the house.
Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan also appeared at this time.
As soon as Chen Gengnian arrived, he ran inside with the village chief, while Lin Qingan went over to help Lin Jing and Liu Yiyi.
Then several sisters-in-law and aunts came over to help her, and some kind-hearted people even went home to get their coats to put on Liu Yiyi.
Soon, a man came out of Lin Jing's courtyard and shouted, "Lin Li is dead!"
"What?" Lin Jing feigned panic and ran into the house.
Before Lin Qing'an and his group even stepped into the courtyard, they heard Lin Jing's heart-wrenching cries and curses.
"Old man, what am I supposed to do now that you've suddenly died! Before, when you were here, even though you didn't care about me, at least I had a father to call upon and something to look forward to. Now that you're suddenly gone, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do with my stepmother!"
Lin Jing's cries were so heart-wrenching that everyone present couldn't help but wipe away their tears as well.
They weren't crying for Lin Li, but for Lin Jing.
"Sigh! This girl has suffered so much." Unaware of the situation, Chen Yuetao sighed, wiping away her tears.
The others also began to sympathize with Lin Jing.
The dead are an unlucky thing, let alone someone like Lin Li. Who knows what dirty things he's been up to outside?
So everyone stopped before they even stepped across the threshold and retreated to the side, chattering about the cause of Lin Li's death.
As soon as Lin Qing'an and Liu Yiyi entered, they heard the village chief anxiously questioning Lin Erzhu and the others.
"What exactly did you do to him?"
Lin Erzhu and the others, who were being held down, were all covered in wounds and their hair was in a mess.
He cried out, trembling, "We really don't know, village chief. We just put him on the bed and haven't moved him since."
"Yes." Lin Xiang was suppressed and couldn't raise his hand, so he propped his chin on Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing's head. "If you don't believe me, ask them. Isn't it Ah Nian kid?"
"Uncle Lin, why are you asking me? I just got here." Chen Gengnian shook his head, looking completely unaware.
"How could that be? If you weren't here, who hit us?" Another man with us immediately chimed in, pointing the finger at them.
Lin Jing suddenly stopped crying, turned around, and pointed fiercely at Lin Erzhu and the others, "It's only you guys from beginning to end. If Brother Nian were here, would you still let me bully you like this?"
"It was you! You got my dad drunk and that's why he died! It was all your doing!"
As Lin Jing spoke, she broke down in tears again.
The group was also somewhat confused. Could they have seen wrong?
"It wasn't me! It really wasn't us, we don't know why he suddenly died!" Lin Erzhu and the others didn't care whether Chen Gengnian was present or not, and hurriedly waved their hands to prove themselves. Seeing this, the village chief couldn't figure it out either, so he said to Chen Gengnian, "Young man, you're reliable. Take the oxcart and report to the authorities. I think this matter should be left to the officials to handle."
Upon hearing this, the men trembled and begged for mercy.
"Village chief, please, don't report it to the authorities. We really didn't harm Lin Li. What if we report it to the authorities and they can't find the real culprit, and then they make us the murderers?"
"Yes, yes, please, village chief, have mercy on us this once! We'll definitely help out whenever we need anything in the future..."
Please...please...
Everyone was pleading with the village chief; if they weren't being held captive, they probably would have knelt down and begged for mercy.
"Sigh!" The village chief sighed deeply and looked at Chen Gengnian, the most capable man, and asked, "Young man, what do you think we should do?"
Chen Gengnian turned to Lin Jing and asked, "Are you going to report this to the authorities?"
After waiting for a while, Lin Jing kept her lips curved downwards and didn't say anything.
Lin Erzhu and the others then realized that the initiative was in the hands of this little girl, and they all begged Lin Jing for mercy.
"Lin girl, your father's death really has nothing to do with us. Don't report it to the authorities. Besides reporting it to the authorities, we are willing to do free work for your family and even compensate you with some money. How about that?"
Lin Jing remained silent, and the village chief asked her, "Lin girl, you should make the decision about this."
After waiting a while, Lin Jing slowly spoke, "Let's call Doctor Chen over to see what's wrong before we talk about it!"
Those present then realized this and nodded in agreement.
After all, everyone wanted to know the cause of Lin Li's death.
The group waited in the house for a while before Dr. Shen hurriedly arrived.
He didn't hold back and proceeded to thoroughly inspect the forest official.
After the examination, someone brought him water to wash his hands, and then the cause of Lin Li's death was mentioned.
"In my opinion, Lin Li died from respiratory shock caused by excessive drinking. At the time, no one noticed that he might have suffocated before he could catch his breath."
He then pointed to Lin Li's face, "Look, his face is all red from suffocation and his lips are blue. This is a common sign of suffocation, but this is just my initial assessment. After all, I'm not an expert in this. If you want a more detailed explanation, you can have a coroner examine the body, and then the truth will be revealed."
"Even if the autopsy shows that it was caused by drunkenness, the person who drank with him is still involved, right?" Lin Qingan suddenly reminded him.
The village chief nodded, "Indeed, this matter needs to be reported to the authorities."
"No! Don't report this to the authorities!"
A scream followed by a flurry of footsteps burst in from outside.
Several people arrived, including the wives and mothers of the main culprits.
They all grabbed Lin Jing and kept pleading with her.
"Stop shouting!" Lin Jing suddenly yelled angrily, "I don't mind not reporting to the authorities, but..."
"As long as we don't report it to the authorities, we'll do whatever you want." After Lin Erzhu's mother finished speaking, everyone else nodded in agreement.
Lin Jing quickly pulled away the people holding her, stepped aside, and pointed at Lin Erzhu and the others, saying, "You deliberately got my father drunk, causing his death, that's one crime. You tried to assault my stepmother while my father was drunk, that's the second crime. Either one is enough to send you to jail."
The group looked dejected and hung their heads.
Snap—
A loud slap suddenly rang out. "We were wrong, I was bewitched, I'm not human, I'll never do it again, I'm sorry to you and to your stepmother... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Once one started, the others followed suit, fearing that they might take the blame themselves if they were found guilty.
For a moment, the narrow room was filled with deafening slaps and sounds of repentance.
One by one, middle-aged men were crying with tears and snot streaming down their faces.
Lin Jing walked over to Liu Yiyi and asked her, "What do you think we should do?"
Liu Yiyi didn't offer any opinions, only saying to Lin Jing, "You can decide, I'll listen to you."
"Okay!" Lin Jing responded and then turned to the section chief and said loudly, "Village chief, for the sake of our fellow villagers, I don't want them to pay compensation or report this to the authorities, but they must be responsible for my father's funeral. I want the biggest and best funeral ever!"
Hearing Lin Jing say this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, yes, yes! We're willing!"
But then Lin Jing suddenly changed her mind.
She said, "However, from now on, don't harass me and my concubine anymore, otherwise I will definitely report today's events to the county magistrate again."
The group breathed a sigh of relief at Lin Jing's decision not to pursue the matter and all agreed.
Since the host had already spoken, everyone naturally had no objections.
Lin Jing had no objections. She knew better than anyone that her father's death was indirectly caused by her. Her actions today were only to seek justice for Liu Yiyi, and this old man would only benefit from it!
Just then, the village chief suddenly spoke up: "Lin's family's farmland has also been contracted to you. She's a young woman and can't manage it all by herself, so this year it's all yours to cultivate. If you don't do a good job, I will hold you accountable."
The village chief gave the order, and no one dared to object; they all readily agreed. For them, anything was acceptable as long as it didn't get reported to higher authorities, especially since it was just manual labor.
"Little girl from the Lin family, although your father was kicked out of the Lin family a long time ago, he is still a member of the Lin family. Should we inform your grandmother?"
Someone suddenly brought it up.
Lin Jing suddenly laughed, her face still bearing traces of wet tears, looking utterly desolate.
"If they really cared about me and my dad, they would have done so long ago. They wouldn't have remained silent until now."
When she was little, her grandparents would help her out, but after they became able to work, they never cared about her again. At first, Lin Jing would deliver some things to her during holidays, but she was thrown out several times. After that, the two families never contacted each other again.
Both the village chief and Chen Gengnian felt it was inappropriate, so they finally decided to send someone to invite the Lin family to come and take a look.
But after waiting for a while, only the person who had been sent out returned alone.
"The Lin family said they had long since severed ties with Lin Li, and whether he lives or dies is none of their business."
Lin Jing gave a barely audible laugh; she knew this would be the outcome.
Although those present had already predicted it, they were still deeply saddened to see the Lin family so heartless towards their own son.
Chen Gengnian reminded the village chief, "Then let's do as Lin Jing said, village chief. The deceased should be respected, and it's good to bury them as soon as possible."
The village chief nodded, asked Lin Jing again, and gave her the same answer. He didn't bother to think about it anymore and told people to handle the matter.
As per Lin Jing's request, Lin Li's funeral was held in a grand manner, taking two whole days from procurement to burial.
After everyone had left, Lin Jing looked at Lin Li's grave, feeling a mix of emotions.
From the moment he died suddenly until now, she has been in a daze. Now that she has calmed down, Lin Jing feels incredibly fortunate.
She stared silently at the tomb, which was even more luxurious than her mother's, her heart filled with extreme anger.
She suddenly stepped forward and kicked Lin Li's newly built grave mound with all her might.
"Why? Why is someone like you not left to rot in the wilderness for wild dogs to devour, but instead enjoying such good treatment? Someone like you deserves to be torn apart by five horses and shattered to pieces!"
Lin Jing roared angrily in the silent mountains, and Liu Yiyi wanted to go forward to persuade her, but Lin Qing'an held her back.
"Let her vent!" Lin Qingan said. "She has endured too much over the years. If she doesn't vent, she won't be able to resolve this knot in her heart."
So Lin Qingan, Chen Gengnian, and Liu Yiyi stood aside and waited for Lin Jing to finish venting.
Lin Jing didn't stop kicking until the stones on Lin Li's grave mound started to loosen.
She spat at him, then turned and walked away resolutely.
After returning home, Lin Jing went to her room for a nap. Chen Gengnian and the others were worried, but Liu Yiyi persuaded them to leave.
She said, "I can take good care of her."
Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan also asked Liu Yiyi. Now that Lin Li is dead, she can leave. She is beautiful and doesn't need to waste her wonderful life here.
But Liu Yiyi shook her head, looked at Lin Jing's closed door and said gently, "I'm not leaving. She'll be so lonely if I leave!"
Then she added, "Those years alone must have been incredibly difficult..."
The last sentence was murmured several times, but Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian heard it clearly.
The two didn't say anything more, closed the courtyard gate, and went home.
Lin Jing needs rest and time to calm down.
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Author's Note: From now on, our dashing Jing-jie will finally have someone to truly accompany her. [heart emoji]
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