Chapter 7, "Our chickens are missing," was Lin Qing's line...
This was a line Lin Qing'an had prepared long ago. Although he didn't know what the other party would think, this was something that really needed to be discussed quickly.
His words stunned everyone present.
Chen Gengnian was the first to react and immediately asked, "Qing-ge, what do you think is a suitable amount?"
Chen Yuetao quickly chimed in, "Yes, Qing-ge'er, you decide."
Lin Qing'an remained silent for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "How about five taels of silver?"
Chen Gengnian and Chen Yuetao were speechless for a moment; this was indeed somewhat beyond their expectations.
Based on the current dowry standards, the highest dowry for an ordinary family like theirs was only two taels of silver, and more often it was a little over one tael.
It was this brief moment of silence that made Lin Qing'an's heart leap into his throat. He knew that five taels was indeed too little. Chen Gengnian was such a good person and had married into the family, so he should have received more. However, all that money was left by his parents, and one portion belonged to Lin Yanfeng. He couldn't touch his share.
Although he could use the spiritual spring and the bag to start making money, it's not the right time yet, and he doesn't dare to use them casually.
Lin Qing'an was at a loss for words. He couldn't help but recall the news cases he had seen before about wedding dowry negotiations falling apart, and his heart pounded with anxiety.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he said, "Then six taels!"
Chen Gengnian and Chen Yuetao were taken aback for a second, but Chen Gengnian blurted out, "Okay!"
Over the years, Chen Gengnian has made a lot of money from the game he hunted. He and Chen Yuetao don't spend much on themselves. At most, they give Chen Yuetao two doses of medicine each month and some living expenses, so taking these six taels of silver is not a burden for them.
Qingge'er deserves it, and we'll all be family from now on, so Chen Gengnian feels he has no objection to how much he gives.
Lin Qing'an said somewhat embarrassedly, "Mother, Brother Nian, this is really all I can offer. The rest belongs to Ayan. I can't touch his things, I..."
Upon hearing this, Chen Gengnian and Chen Yuetao exchanged a glance, as if they had grasped the truth behind his words.
"You mean you'll give us betrothal gifts?"
Chen Gengnian's surprised voice interrupted Lin Qingan's words.
"Hmm!" Lin Qingan looked at him. "Did you think I was asking you for a betrothal gift?"
The three looked at each other in bewilderment, and then Lin Qing'an and Chen Yuetao burst into laughter.
"Hahaha...Turns out we weren't even on the same wavelength!"
Chen Yuetao laughed and chimed in, "Yes, everyone's talking past each other."
The mother and son laughed so hard they almost fell over. Apart from Lin Yanfeng, who was playing happily with the dog, Chen Gengnian remained silent, his expression growing increasingly serious.
The kerosene lamp made his healthy skin appear even more sallow, and his whole face looked very stern.
Lin Qingan noticed this too, and gradually stopped smiling as he looked over and asked, "Brother Nian, what's wrong with you?"
Chen Yuetao also scolded, "That's right, why are you suddenly putting on such a long face!"
The two stared at Chen Gengnian, who said decisively as his thin lips moved: "Only I can give you the betrothal gifts!"
"Huh?" Lin Qingan was puzzled. "Why? Logically, I should be the one to give it to you!"
“No.” Chen Gengnian then looked up at Lin Qingan, his eyes gradually becoming deep. “Even if it’s a marriage into the family, I will give you the betrothal gifts, and you won’t need to contribute anything.”
Just as Lin Qingan was about to speak, Chen Gengnian said again, "This time, please listen to me, okay? I'll listen to you from now on."
Lin Qing'an truly realized at this moment that the ancients' ideas were indeed deeply ingrained.
Chen Gengnian's eyes seemed to hold a tornado, and Lin Qing'an unknowingly fell into it and was swept along.
All the words he had prepared stuck in his throat, and in the end he could only stammer out a single "okay".
Lin Qing'an felt his ears burning and secretly rejoiced that the kerosene lamp was dim enough, otherwise his strange fetish would have been exposed.
Finally, at Lin Qing'an's insistence, the betrothal gift was reduced to two taels of silver, and Lin Qing'an was responsible for the banquet and all the necessary supplies.
That's what they say, but almost everything has already been prepared, and Chen Gengnian paid for most of the things we went out with today.
Lin Qing'an thought, "Never mind, there's still a long road ahead. I won't let them suffer."
After agreeing on everything, Chen Yuetao asked for Lin Qing'an's birth date and time, explaining that she would find someone to help them choose an auspicious date the next day. It was getting late, so Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng said goodbye to Chen Yuetao, and Chen Gengnian escorted them home.
Bai Fu and Lin Yanfeng walked at the front, while Lin Qing'an walked in front of Chen Gengnian. Chen Gengnian held a torch in his hand, and the torchlight cast the shadows of the three people and a dog into the wheat field. The quiet night was occasionally broken by the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs, but it did not frighten anyone. Instead, it added a touch of liveliness.
Lin Qing'an grew up in the fields with his grandmother and often walked at night. He was not afraid of the dark, especially with Chen Gengnian behind him.
When I passed through the village, most people had already turned off their lights and gone to sleep. Only a very few people had a faint oil lamp still lit in their windows, but all of them had their doors and windows tightly closed.
Only one family member was awake, and they were shouting loudly, hurling insults.
Lin Qing'an knew that some things were better left unattended. Even an upright official would find it difficult to settle family disputes, let alone someone like him who had just transmigrated and was unarmed.
"Why don't you die outside? Wouldn't it be better if you died outside?"
"You've gone too far, you worthless piece of trash! I'll beat you to death!"
"Go ahead and hit me! You'd better kill me, or one day I'll definitely kill you!"
The path Lin Qing'an and his group took circled around the house. From the back of the house to the front, the noise could be heard clearly.
Chen Gengnian stood silently behind, illuminating the way, but his steps were much lighter.
They could have easily passed by the front yard gate, but a loud bang made them stop in their tracks.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian's eyes met in the firelight, and they instantly understood the meaning in each other's eyes.
Chen Gengnian handed over the torch and pulled Lin Qing'an aside, instructing him, "You and Ayan wait for me at the door, don't come in."
Without waiting for Lin Qing'an's agreement, Chen Gengnian pushed open the courtyard gate and ran inside.
Chen Gengnian's voice came out quickly.
"Uncle Lin, you can't keep hitting Lin Jing. She's still a young woman, how can she withstand being hit like this!"
"What's it to you? What are you doing interfering in my family's affairs, you outsider? Get out of my house!"
Then another round of smashing and looting began. Lin Qing'an couldn't wait any longer, and he, Lin Yanfeng, and Baifu rushed in with torches in hand.
As soon as Baifu stepped into the courtyard, he rushed out, while Lin Qingan saw Chen Gengnian wrestling with a middle-aged man.
It was described as a scuffle, but in reality, Chen Gengnian was brutally beating the other party.
Baifu rushed over and grabbed the man's trouser leg, pulling it outwards with all his might.
After seeing the situation clearly, Lin Qing'an was no longer worried. He and Lin Yanfeng went over to help Lin Jing, who had fallen by the stone bench and was unable to get up.
Lin Qingan helped her sit down in a chair and hurriedly asked, "Sister Jing, are you alright?"
Lin Jing shook her head and forced a smile. "It's nothing, just a minor injury. That old geezer didn't get away with anything anyway."
"Why did he suddenly come back?" Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng brushed the dust off Lin Jing.
Lin Jing sighed and said, "I've lost it all. I'll come back for more money."
Lin Qing'an had no way to respond to this, as he had seen everything about Lin Jing in the original owner's memories.
The man Chen Gengnian beat to the ground, unable to get up, was named Lin Li. He was a notorious gambler in the village. Before he was even married, his parents and brother disowned him and separated him from his family. His wife was someone he won through gambling. Chen Li was addicted to gambling every day, and his wife took care of the children and the family. When he lost money, he would come back and ransack the place. When Lin Jing was a little over two years old, he was caught stealing and forced to work as a slave for ten years. After he was released, he went home once and took Lin Jing's mother with him. He never brought her back.
Twelve-year-old Lin Jing supports herself at home with occasional subsidies from her grandparents and by working. Lin Jing has never been to school. This girl has taken on the work that men should do, and her personality is just like a man's. No one, even those around Chen Gengnian's age, has come to propose marriage. It's not that Lin Jing is bad, but no one wants to get involved with her shameless father.
Her father was rarely home, only returning to rummage through his belongings after gambling away all his money. Several times he tried to take Lin Jing out to sell her, but Chen Gengnian beat him up many times and threatened to beat him to death if Lin Jing was sold. Lin Li, terrified by the beatings, dared not have any more crooked thoughts.
"Stop hitting me...stop hitting me..."
Lin Li held his head and begged for mercy repeatedly, his strong smell of alcohol wafting throughout the courtyard.
Lin Jing called out, "Brother Nian, don't let this kind of person dirty your feet!"
"You brat! Pay up... ah!"
Chen Gengnian kicked again, and Lin Li was beaten so badly that he curled up and screamed, forgetting even to curse.
Seeing that Lin Li had no room to resist, Chen Gengnian stopped his punches and walked towards Lin Qing'an.
He took the torch from Lin Qing'an and asked Lin Jing, "Are you injured anywhere?"
"No, he was very drunk. I dodged quickly, so it's nothing," Lin Jing said, forcing a big smile.
It's extremely distressing to watch.
While the group was talking, Lin Li crouched down and stumbled out of the courtyard gate.
No one could stop him if he wanted to run away; once he left, Lin Jing could live a peaceful life.
Chen Gengnian instructed, "Lock the door. If anything happens, remember to run first and then call me!"
Lin Jing neither nodded nor agreed. She looked at Lin Qing'an and said with a smile, "I heard that you and Brother Nian are getting married. I'll give you both a big red envelope when the time comes."
Lin Qingan shook her head, "No need, Sister Jing, just come to the wedding banquet."
Chen Gengnian said, "Alright, get some rest. We're leaving."
Lin Yanfeng then finished picking up the last few weeds from Lin Jing's back before the group left Lin Jing's yard.
After walking quite a distance, Lin Qing'an asked Chen Gengnian, "Aren't you afraid of Lin Li's retaliation every time you beat him up?"
Chen Gengnian thought for a moment before answering, "I haven't thought about it."
Lin Qing'an was both angry and amused. Although this person was an ordinary citizen, he had a chivalrous spirit. Even though his own family was isolated and helpless in the village, he still went to help Lin Jing without hesitation.
"Brother Nian," Lin Qing'an suddenly called out. Chen Gengnian hummed in response, and then Lin Qing'an lowered his voice and said, "Do you know how charming you really are?"
"Cough cough cough..."
Chen Gengnian suddenly choked and coughed incessantly. Lin Yanfeng, who was walking in front, pretended not to hear it, pressed his lips to his mouth, and quickened his pace with Baifu.
In the deep darkness, the torchlight illuminated Chen Gengnian's face, making it glow. Was it the torchlight? Was it? But why was his heart pounding in the night?
Lin Qing'an's low laughter reached the ears of the person behind him, causing a few small goosebumps to rise on their earlobes.
After a long delay, the group finally arrived at Lin Qing'an's house. After safely escorting Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng into the house, Chen Gengnian immediately turned back.
Lin Qing'an watched him limp as he ran, and leaned against the door, laughing even harder.
He certainly saw Chen Gengnian's face, which was as red as a monkey's bottom, so after entering the house, he deliberately said to Chen Gengnian, "Brother Nian, why don't you stay here tonight?"
Chen Gengnian retreated repeatedly, and after a long while I still couldn't come up with a reason, he picked up the torch outside and ran outside, so fast that even Baifu couldn't react.
Lin Qing'an closed the courtyard gate and saw Lin Yanfeng carrying an oil lamp, about to go to the backyard.
"Ayan, wait for me!" Lin Qingan called out before running over.
Patrolling the backyard every night and morning is a must, because we keep chickens there and are afraid that the Weasel spirit will come and take them away.
Because this had happened before, Lin's mother's chickens were decreasing day by day. Unable to find the reason, she could only blame it on Wong Tai Sin. After that, she developed the habit of checking on him every night before bed and every morning.
When Lin's mother was alive, she often had to get up in the middle of the night to check.
Even after their parents passed away, the two brothers still maintained this habit.
One, two, three, four, five...
Lin Qing'an raised the lamp high, and Lin Yanfeng counted it over and over again.
I counted three times in a row and it was still wrong.
"Why is one missing?" Lin Yanfeng asked anxiously, opening the chicken coop and taking the chickens out one by one.
I was afraid I'd made a mistake, but now it seems there really is one missing, and it's the fattest old hen!
"Brother, our chickens are gone!" Lin Yanfeng was so anxious that his face turned red and his eyes turned red.
A note from the author:
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