As darkness fell, every household closed their doors to guests and prepared to rest. Only the sounds of clanging and banging, along with the chanting of sutras by the geomancers, could be heard from the Lin and Li families.
In Lin Qinghuan's courtyard, Uncle Lin and several relatives stayed behind to help keep watch. They sat together chatting about all sorts of things to pass the long, cold, and lonely night.
Lin Qinghuan sat idly to the side, yawning lazily. Just as she was about to go back to her room to rest, she saw Li Changqing, the village chief, and the village party secretary walk into the courtyard. They greeted Lin's father and grandfather with ingratiating smiles.
"You can't hit someone who's smiling," Lin's father said with a stern face as he looked at Li Changqing in the courtyard. "What are you doing here?"
Li Changqing said awkwardly, "I would like to ask you to be lenient and forgive Cuihua, so that she can go home and see Xiaojian one last time."
"Impossible!" Lin's father refused outright.
Seeing that Lin's father had no room for negotiation and his face was filled with indescribable pain, Li Jianchangqing bent down and apologized to Lin's father, "Cuihua was just worried about her son and acted impulsively, which is why she hurt him. She didn't mean to hurt him. Please forgive her!"
Looking at Li Changqing's humble appearance, Lin's father was stunned for a moment, then hardened his heart and said, "Piaoxue was killed by Li Jian, and the second son almost lost his life at Wang Cuihua's hands. I cannot agree to a settlement."
Li Changqing choked up as he said, "Lin Lao Er, your Piaoxue was seriously injured by Lin Yu and a critical condition notice has been issued. If my Xiaojian hadn't intervened, she most likely wouldn't have survived either. Besides, my Xiaojian gave his life for her, so why are you still holding on to this?"
"Lin Lao Er, you and I both know how much Xiao Jian likes Piao Xue. If it weren't for Piao Xue giving him hope only to dash it in despair, Xiao Jian wouldn't have gone to such lengths to kidnap Lin Piao Xue. Lin Lao Er, ask yourself honestly, if Xiao Jian is wrong, isn't your Piao Xue also wrong?"
Lin's father said with grief and indignation, "My daughter Piaoxue may have made mistakes, but she doesn't deserve to die."
Li Changqing retorted in grief, "My Xiaojian is dead too, one life for another, what more do you want? Besides, Qiangzi also ran away from home heartbroken. Both of my sons were ruined by Lin Piaoxue. How can my wife not hate him?"
Seeing that Lin's father and Li Changqing were like mortal enemies, the village chief quickly tried to mediate, saying, "Stop arguing, calm down and talk it out. Arguing won't solve anything."
The village secretary sighed, "The two children were too impulsive and handled things poorly, which led to an irreparable situation. As parents, you did not teach your children properly, and you are also at fault. But now that the two children are dead, you are the ones who suffer the most."
“The dead are dead, but the living must live on. We’re all from the same village, we see each other all the time, there’s no need to make things so tense.”
The village chief quickly added, "Cuihua does have some minor flaws, but she's not a particularly wicked person. It was indeed wrong of her to hurt Lin Feng in a moment of impulsiveness."
The village chief then looked at Grandpa Lin and said, "Uncle Lin, how about this? Lin Feng's injury was caused by Cuihua, so Cuihua should pay for the medical expenses and also compensate Lin Feng for some lost wages. Is that alright?"
Grandpa Lin kept a cold face, neither saying yes nor no.
The village chief said, "Uncle Lin, I know you're not short of money. The medical expenses and lost wages are just Cuihua's way of expressing her sincerity in apologizing."
Li Changqing nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, the medical expenses and lost wages are just a token of my apology." As he spoke, he took out five hundred yuan from his pocket, "Xiao Jian's medical expenses at the hospital have cost a lot of money. This money is all I have left. Please accept it and forgive my wife!"
Lin Qinghuan nudged Lin Feng with her elbow. Lin Feng understood, took the money from Li Changqing, and said generously, "For the sake of our neighbor, I will forgive Aunt Cuihua."
Lin Feng touched the wound on his forehead and said with lingering fear, "I'm lucky to have survived. I hope Aunt Cuihua won't be so impulsive next time. If you kill someone, you'll get shot."
When Lin Feng's father saw him accept Li Changqing's money, he scolded him, "Second son, what are you doing? Are you short of five hundred yuan?"
"Father, it's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. For Qiangzi's sake, let's just let this go and call it quits," Lin Feng said.
"But Li Jian killed Piaoxue?" Lin's father roared furiously.
Lin Feng said, "Father, Li Jian did kill Piaoxue, but Piaoxue killed Lin Yu, and Li Jian also atones with his death. The person who harmed her is dead. Moreover, Aunt Cuihua injured me, so I have the right to forgive her."
Enraged, Lin's father slapped Lin Feng across the face, yelling, "You unfilial and disobedient beast! How could I have given birth to such a thing as you?"
Lin Feng was beaten by his father, and the resentment hidden deep in his heart erupted. "Dad, I know that all four of us siblings combined are not as important as Lin Piaoxue, but your precious darling is dead. From now on, you can only rely on the four of us siblings."
After saying that, Lin Feng ran back to his room.
Lin Qing gave her father a deep look and then ran to comfort Lin Feng.
Lin's father angrily cursed, "Beast, beast..."
Seeing her father trembling with anger, Lin Qinghuan worried that he would fall ill from anger, so she quickly said, "Dad, calm down. Don't get sick from anger. My mother still needs your care!"
"Alright, let's leave it at that. No one is allowed to mention it again." Grandpa Lin said, looking at Li Changqing and warning, "I'll let Wang Cuihua go this time. If she dares to come here again, I guarantee she'll be in jail."
"No, never again. I will definitely keep an eye on her and prevent her from doing anything reckless," Li Changqing promised.
...
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