Chapter 35 [VIP]
Meanwhile, Lin Changbin was unaware that his family had discovered his shameful affair and was currently enjoying a passionate moment with his new lover, playing with their child.
"Who do you think our Fugui looks like?"
The woman said, "Of course she looks more like her husband. Look at her eyebrows, eyes and nose, they're just like his."
Lin Changbin smiled and picked up the child, pinching his son's little face with affection. "Sigh, I never thought I would have such a precious child in my old age, filling the regret of not having a son. Even for his sake, I will try my best to live a few more decades and save money for him to get married and have children."
The woman's husband's surname was Yu. She was a widow, twenty-six years old this year. Her husband died early, and because she had no income, she started a brothel at home.
One day, Lin Changbin was drinking with a friend when he was unexpectedly led to this place. He fell in love with the young widow at first sight, and the two began an affair.
In June of this year, Widow Yu said she was pregnant. After calculating the dates, it happened to be around the time she met Lin Changbin. Upon hearing this, he told Widow Yu to keep the child, and the two began living as husband and wife.
"Husband, when will that thing you mentioned come to fruition?"
"It'll be soon; we'll finalize the wedding arrangements after the New Year."
"Can the Fang family really give us a shop?"
"Of course he can! I'm his father-in-law. If I ask him for it, would he dare refuse?"
The woman chuckled, "That's good. Our Fugui is a lucky man. I'll be a shop owner's wife then, taking care of the children and running the shop every day."
Lin Changbin was captivated by her charming and innocent appearance and tried to embrace her intimately. The woman, though disgusted, had to feign a fawning expression. Just then, the child woke up, and she quickly pushed him away.
"You've been so diligent these past few days, doesn't your shrew get suspicious?"
Lin Changbin lay on his back on the bed, watching her breastfeed the baby. "Don't worry, we have guests at home these days, so she won't have time to take care of me."
"So you're planning to keep me hidden outside forever?"
"Don't rush, we have to wait until after she marries the eldest son. Otherwise, if she finds out now, she might stop the marriage."
The woman snorted and turned her head to continue feeding the child, but in her heart she was calculating how much benefit she could get from Lin Xiucai. If she could really afford to marry a rich man, why would she be with this old scholar who was about the same age as her father?
But they've finally made it through the tough times. Once they get their hands on the Fang family shop, they won't have to worry about making a living anymore.
After waiting for an hour, Lin Changbin took out two strings of cash from his pocket and prepared to leave. "I'm going to work at the pawnshop to take good care of my son."
"Don't worry, I'm his mother, would I mistreat him?"
*
As dusk approached, Chen Rong was about to cook soup dumplings for them when Wang Ying stopped her.
"Third Aunt, don't do that. Neither of us can eat. Let's finish this matter first."
Since the decision has been made to divorce, the rules for this matter need to be discussed. Divorce in ancient times was different from that in modern times. Divorce was not allowed without a reason, and even if there was no longer any affection between husband and wife, they could not divorce at will.
Although they all knew that Lin Changbin was keeping a mistress outside, they didn't know where the woman was or what her name was. If she denied it to the authorities, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to get a divorce.
Chen Rong had never experienced anything like this before and didn't know what to do.
Wang Ying said, "He went out last night and must have slept over there. When he comes back later, Third Aunt, you should find an opportunity to have another argument with him to force him to leave. Qingyan and I will secretly follow him to take a look."
"Will it work?"
"Once we know where that woman lives, things will be much easier. As the saying goes, 'Catch the thief red-handed, catch the adulterers in the act.' When we catch the two of them in the house, he won't have a chance to argue back."
"good!"
Lin Qiu woke up from a nap in the west room, her emotions calming down. Upon learning that her mother wanted to divorce her father, hope gradually rekindled in her eyes. "Mother, are you really going to divorce Father?"
Chen Rong hugged her son, her face full of heartache, "After the divorce, I'm afraid your marriage will be even more difficult."
“My son would rather stay by your side and never marry than marry someone like that.”
"Mother knows, but you mustn't do anything foolish again. No matter what he wants to do, it won't go his way. Mother is here for you!"
"Um!"
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan exchanged a glance, and half of the weight in their hearts was finally lifted.
*
In the evening, Lin Changbin came out of the pawnshop, humming a little tune as he walked back, stopping at the roast chicken shop as he passed by.
After thinking about it, I decided against it. A roast chicken costs fifty coins, it would be too wasteful to give it to them. I'd rather save it for my precious son.
Upon entering the house, he went to the outhouse as usual. When he got inside, he found that everyone else had already finished eating, and there were still some leftovers on the table, which made him furious.
He turned and went to the kitchen, pulling Chen Rong aside and saying, "Why did you eat before I got back?"
Chen Rong, barely suppressing his anger, said, "Who knows if you'll even be back for dinner today?"
"I haven't eaten anything yet, make me a bowl of soup noodles."
"We're out of flour at home."
"Then can you at least cook me a bowl of porridge?"
“The rice bin is almost empty. You haven’t brought any household supplies home for four months. Where am I going to get the money to buy rice and flour?”
"You and your two children both weave cloth, so surely you don't even have money to buy rice and flour?"
Chen Rong threw down the rag in her hand. "How dare you ask for money? A grown man like you being supported by a woman? People will laugh their heads off if they hear about it! I'm asking you, how much did you earn this month? It's almost Chinese New Year, and there are expenses everywhere in the house. Give me two strings of cash."
Lin Changbin's monthly wage is 350 wen. He just gave his mistress two strings of cash this morning, and now he only has a little over 100 wen left in his pocket. How could he bear to give it to Chen Rong?
"No, I need money for all my meals and business dinners. What would I do if I gave it all to you?"
Chen Rong sneered, "So outsiders are more important than your family? You make money and then rush to treat others to food and drink, while your wife and children go hungry at home?"
"Keep your voice down..." Lin Changbin glanced at the east room, "When are they leaving?"
"Keep your voice down? You still have any shame!" Chen Rong raised her voice and said, "You go out to work all day and don't even get a penny back, and you still have to rely on me and our son to support you? Bah, why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror and see how shameless you are!"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Lin Changbin dared not argue with her. He was so angry that he blew his beard. "You unreasonable woman!" he said, and stormed off.
Chen Qingyan and Wang Ying had been waiting inside for a long time. When they saw him go out, they quickly followed him out.
Chen Rong, still worried, pulled the two of them aside and said, "Be careful."
"Don't worry, you stay home and look after your two younger cousins. We'll be back in a bit."
The moon was bright and the stars were few tonight, and the road was made bright by the white snow. The two dared to follow at a distance so as not to be discovered.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lin Changbin turned the corner in the alley ahead, and the two quickly quickened their pace to catch up.
He knocked on the door of a house. "Cuixia, open the door, it's me."
A moment later, the lights came on inside, and the woman, wearing a cotton coat, came out. "Why are you here again so late?"
"Don't even mention it, I had another fight with that shrew."
"My lord has been wronged."
"Oh, never mind, I haven't had dinner yet. Cook me something to eat."
After the two entered the house, they emerged from the shadows, carefully memorized the location of the courtyard, and hurriedly returned to their aunt's house.
Auntie San waited anxiously at the gate. When she saw the two return, she rushed to greet them. "Well, did you find where that mistress is staying?"
"Found it. It's not far from here. Go west, go through three alleys, turn left, and the second house is where that woman lives."
"That heartless bastard!" Chen Rong was completely disheartened this time. She had previously held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps Fang Erlang was just making things up. No matter how bad Lin Changbin was, the two of them had been husband and wife for eighteen years; he couldn't possibly be so cold-hearted.
Unexpectedly, he really did as that person said, and didn't care about him and his two children at all.
"It's getting late, go and get some rest."
"Third Aunt..." Wang Ying saw that her face looked pale and was worried that she couldn't bear it.
Chen Rong patted his arm, "Don't worry, I still have two sons. I have to hold on for their sake."
A mother's heart is full of love and compassion; she can endure any hardship, but not her child. If anyone dares to mistreat her son, she'll fight to the death to tear a piece of their flesh from them.
The next morning, before dawn, the lights in the Lin family's house were turned on.
Chen Qingyan helped his aunt write a divorce agreement, clearly stating the reasons for their separation on the paper, including her keeping a mistress, neglecting her wife and children, and even planning to use her son's marriage to exchange for a shop, among other disgusting things.
Wang Ying stood to the side watching, occasionally praising, "Your handwriting is so beautiful," which made Chen Qingyan's ears turn bright red.
Wang Ying originally planned to make Lin Changbin leave with nothing, since a shameless person like him couldn't be tolerated. However, ancient laws differed from modern ones; even in divorce cases, the law usually favored the man. The aunt could only take her dowry from the wedding; she couldn't take anything else with her.
According to custom, the two children should have stayed at the Lin family's house, but Auntie San would never leave them there. That's why the two of them followed Lin Changbin last night, hoping to catch him off guard.
Chen Qingyan blew the ink dry, handed the divorce papers to his third aunt to read, and added a sentence at the bottom: "We are severing all ties and will never see each other again until death."
"That's settled then, let's hurry over there."
The group went out the door.
Uncle Chen walked ahead carrying a lantern, while Chen Rong followed hurriedly behind.
She looked incredibly dashing today, wearing a dark red jacket over a satin cotton coat that she had always been reluctant to wear. Her hair was pulled up high and adorned with silver and jade hairpins, and her face was made up, making her look several years younger than usual, somewhat resembling the eldest daughter of the Chen family in her younger days.
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan followed behind, their hearts racing and their hands and feet sweating with nervousness at the thought of catching their husbands cheating.
In her previous life, Wang Ying had only seen such plots in TV dramas. She never expected that she would experience it firsthand after time-traveling.
They soon arrived at the place where the adulterous couple lived. "Is this the place?"
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan said in unison, "That's right, it's this family."
Uncle Chen went up and knocked on the door, "Knock knock knock!"
After knocking for a while, a sound finally came from inside. A woman came out shortly after and asked, "Who is it? Knocking on the door so early in the morning, not letting people get a peaceful sleep."
"I am a friend of Lin Xiucai, and I have come to see him about something."
The woman was quite wary. "What Scholar Lin? You've got the wrong person."
"How could it be wrong? He even brought me here last time."
Upon hearing this, Widow Yu felt relieved, buttoned up her clothes, and went to open the door. But when the door opened, she froze, stunned to see four men standing outside, each glaring at her menacingly!
"Who...who are you?"
Chen Rong shoved the woman aside and walked inside, shouting, "Lin Changbin, get out here! You shameless old beast, how dare you keep a mistress behind my back!"
A note from the author:
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