Chapter 90 Kick them out of the family tree
The medicine was still dripping steadily from the IV tube. Ling Huanwu leaned against the headboard with her eyes closed, resting. A slight tingling sensation came over the needle mark on the back of her hand.
Suddenly, the long whistle of a ship docking came from outside the window, and her eyelashes trembled.
The doctor said this morning that a batch of urgently needed medicines was to be shipped from the dock today, and he's probably already gone to pick them up. She's the only one left in the clinic.
The silence didn't last long before a jumble of footsteps echoed outside the courtyard gate, interspersed with a few familiar yet jarring words in the local dialect.
Ling Huanwu suddenly opened her eyes, and before she could sit up straight, the ward door was slammed open.
A group of well-dressed men and women, exuding an air of sophistication, poured in.
The second uncle, who was in the lead, leaned on a jujube wood cane. His cloudy eyes swept over her and finally landed on the half-worn leather suitcase in the corner.
That was Ling Huanwu's suitcase from the old house; Zhou Jiuzhen had just brought it over to pack her things.
At this moment, it seemed to them as if it contained countless treasures.
What are you doing here?
Ling Huanwu pressed down on the beads of blood that had just appeared on the back of her hand, and forced herself to stand up, her eyes full of vigilance.
I had just finished digesting the bowl of noodles the doctor left for me this morning, and my strength had only returned to about 30%, but my back was ramrod straight.
When I ran into my second uncle and his family in the city last time, I thought that after she made such a scene, they would be too scared to come again.
Little did they expect that they were going to call for reinforcements.
Ever since my grandfather passed away, I've never stopped trying to find out about the family fortune.
They never expected that Ling's parents would be so foolish as to take them by ship to this remote island.
"Are you here to steal the inheritance left by my grandfather?"
She coldly swept her gaze across the faces, some eager, some greedy. Her question was blunt, like a block of ice thrown into a pot of boiling oil.
These elders of the Ling family were already furious from the seasickness, and these words provoked them into a complete uproar.
The eldest uncle slammed his cane on the ground, the jujube wood tip hitting the cement floor with a loud thud.
"My dear niece, how could you send your adopted sister to prison?" He was heartbroken, spittle flying from his mouth as he roared. "Her parents saved your parents' lives! How can the Ling family hold their heads high in literary circles after this?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the other elders, like firecrackers that had been lit, bombarded her with a barrage of reprimands.
"That's right! Yao Yao has been sensible since she was little, how could she slander you for no reason?"
"I think the problem lies with the rice you planted, yet you're blaming Yao Yao!"
The clinic was deserted; there wasn't even anyone to break up the fight.
Surrounded in the middle, with her back against the cold wall, Ling Huanwu exuded a sense of solitary courage.
Suddenly, a small, thin figure emerged from behind the crowd, carrying oyster pancakes wrapped in oil paper.
Er Ya spread her arms to shield her, her eyes red as she yelled at the group, "Didn't you say you came to see Auntie? Auntie is still sick, how can you scold her?"
She shoved the oil paper package into Ling Huanwu's hand, then tilted her head back and continued shouting, "That wicked woman surnamed Song did something wrong! The police officers said she should be arrested!"
The child's clear, innocent voice left the adults speechless.
Er Ya turned to look at Ling Huanwu, tears falling onto the oil paper package. "Auntie, it's my fault... They said they knew you, so I brought them in. I thought they were good people... Waaah..."
Ling Huanwu looked at her tear-streaked face and felt a pang of heartache. Just as she was about to reach out and hug her, her third uncle, the most impatient man in the crowd, suddenly rushed up and pushed her backward, causing her to stumble.
"How dare you interrupt your elders?" He pointed at Ling Huanwu's nose and scolded, "You even dare to incite a child to talk back? Believe me or not, we'll remove you from the family tree and make you a rootless person!"
Caught off guard, Ling Huanwu's lower back slammed hard against the corner of the table, causing her to gasp in pain.
When he braced himself on the ground, the wound that had just stopped bleeding reopened, and drops of blood dripped from between his fingers onto the ground.
Er Ya cried and tried to rush over to help her, but was tripped by her cousin who was about the same height as her.
The little girl fell to the ground with a thud and didn't cry for a long time.
Ling Huanwu remembered that Er Ya's leg had just been healed to about 80% recovery thanks to the spiritual spring water when she fell...
Her eyes suddenly reddened, and she slapped her cousin across the face, her voice trembling: "Apologize to her!"
That slap was like stirring up a hornet's nest.
Those elders who had only been talking just moments before suddenly rolled up their sleeves, as if they wanted to pounce on her and tear her apart.
Ling's parents hurriedly stopped her, but turned to her and shouted angrily: "You unfilial daughter! Why don't you drop the charges against Yao Yao? Just say that the rice is a poisonous crop, that you planted it badly, and that it has nothing to do with Yao Yao!"
"Yes, hand over your grandfather's property to us for safekeeping, and release Yao Yao. Then we'll persuade them to go back."
Ling's mother shrank behind Ling's father, her voice shrill, "Otherwise, just wait to be kicked out of the Ling family!"
Looking at her parents, Ling Huanwu felt a chill run through her body.
"If you ask me to drop the charges, that's the same as me making a false accusation, and I'll go to jail!"
She had thought they still had some family ties, but she never imagined they would force her to go to jail for the sake of their adopted daughter.
But she didn't expect that the "reinforcements" she had invited were actually a pack of even hungrier wolves.
"So what if you go to jail? Who told you to go against Yao Yao since you were a child? She's the daughter of our benefactor. Helping her is like repaying our kindness. When Yao Yao gets out, give her your property to manage as atonement!"
Ling's father didn't think he had said anything wrong and continued talking to himself.
But some people were not happy about it and were even angrier than Ling Huanwu.
"What are you two saying?" the second uncle interrupted abruptly, slamming his cane on the ground. "The eldest son's family has no sons, so how can they inherit the family property? It should go to the second son's family, who have descendants!"
"Why should we give it to you?" the uncle immediately glared back. "Our eldest grandson from the third branch of the family works at a bank; it's safest to entrust the property to him!"
In the blink of an eye, the uncles and their descendants were arguing and pushing each other until their faces were red.
Ling's parents huddled in the corner, their faces pale with fright.
They had intended to ask someone to pressure their daughter, but little did they know that this group of people had come to seize their family property.
"Do you have any conscience?" Ling's father trembled with rage. "Back then, when you were starving in the countryside, it was my father who paid and worked to bring you to the city! Now you want to take advantage of our family's extinction?"
These words were like a bucket of cold water; the arguing crowd instantly stopped talking and turned to look at them. The unfriendly look in their eyes made Ling's father shut up abruptly.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ling Huanwu picked up Er Ya from the ground, touched her knee to make sure no bones were broken, and then whispered in her ear, "Go to the dock and find the doctor uncle. Tell him that bad people have come to our house and ask him to bring some people back."
Er Ya sniffed, gripped her clothes tightly, nodded, and crouched down to slip through the gaps in the crowd.
The second uncle didn't care that the person had run away. He just slammed the yellowed family genealogy book on the table and raised his chin at Ling Huanwu: "Don't try anything funny! Hand over the property right now, or I'll remove you from the family!"
Ling Huanwu hastily wrapped the bleeding back of her hand with gauze. When she looked up, her eyes were devoid of any warmth, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her mouth: "Fine, if you want to be expelled, then do it sooner rather than later—but it's you who should be expelled."
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