Goudan felt uncomfortable whenever someone mentioned his mother.
“Your second uncle called her out. She still hasn’t come back.”
Goudan stood up, originally intending to take the bowl from Lin Doudou.
But Lin Doudou noticed his bandaged hand was inconvenient, so she quickly ran into the kitchen herself, placed down a bowl of dried tofu, and then happily ran back out.
“Uncle Goudan, you’re injured so you need more rest, just like my second sister stay in bed and recover,” Doudou said like a little grown-up, helping him sit back down on the reclining chair.
“Is your second sister seriously hurt? I heard there was a big hole in her head.”
“My second sister is super strong she can eat and sleep just fine,” Lin Doudou said, her eyes darting around. She was also feeling very annoyed inside.
Her small head was full of complicated thoughts.
She didn’t even know whether she should call Granny Zhang “Grandma” or “Auntie” anymore. Zhang Granny kept thinking about marrying her second uncle, and many villagers disliked her and gossiped about her behind her back.
Her second sister also said that people like Zhang Granny had a kind of “bug” in their brain, which was why she liked the second uncle. It was said this illness couldn’t be cured and would only get worse.
Blinking her eyes, Doudou curiously asked:
“Didn’t my second uncle get injured? How dare he still go looking for Zhang Granny? Why did Zhang Granny go with him? Didn’t she want you anymore?”
She fired off four sharp questions in a row.
“What else could it be? Your second uncle got beaten up by me and had his leg broken,” Goudan said weakly, leaning back and staring at the sky. “Zhang Granny felt guilty, so she went to the county to take care of him.”
Hearing this, Lin Doudou immediately widened her eyes in admiration.
“Uncle Goudan, you’re amazing!”
Being praised, Goudan straightened his back.
Well… it wasn’t bad. He had actually wanted to beat Lin Lao’er for a long time he just never had a good excuse before.
“So it means my second uncle got his leg injured by you, and Zhang Granny went with him to the county to take care of his leg?”
Goudan nodded. “Mm.”
Inside a room: three people, one square table.
Each side was occupied by Lin Qimo, Qin Wenying, and Si Chongguang.
Lin Doudou ran over and sat in her seat.
“If Uncle Goudan hadn’t accidentally discovered the snake and gotten bitten, it would’ve bitten us instead…”
She relayed everything she had just learned to the three adults.
Their expressions varied after listening.
Lin Qimo frowned deeply.
She had already suspected something, and now she was even more certain.
The snake had been placed in their home. Because the two courtyards were separated only by a low earth wall, the snake had crossed over into the neighboring yard.
“Your Uncle Goudan said he was bitten while carrying firewood in the morning?” Qin Wenying confirmed again.
Lin Doudou nodded obediently like a little chick pecking rice.
“Yes, that’s what he said. He thought it was done by my second uncle, so he beat him up. That’s why Zhang Granny felt guilty and went to the county to take care of him.”
“I think the snake was placed by my third uncle to scare us. He’s the most vicious one,” Doudou added, then started picking at her bowl of snake congee.
She took a small sip.
Mm. Really tasty.
“Report it to the authorities,” Qin Wenying said coldly, putting down her chopsticks.
Si Chongguang patiently tried to persuade her.
“Even if you report it, it won’t be filed as a case. At most it’ll be treated as a civil dispute. Finish your meal first.”
Qin Wenying frowned. “Logically speaking, little sister, your family’s grandparents shouldn’t be that bad-looking people. But that old woman has such a harsh attitude, narrow eyes, and she looks like a troublemaker and she’s so biased. Could she be your step-grandmother?”
“No. Maybe my dad was adopted,” Lin Qimo answered without hesitation.
Ever since she could remember, her grandparents had never liked their family.
Before they split households, even eating a single egg meant her mother had to argue with her grandmother for a long time.
Good things were always picked first by the grandparents and others; whatever was left went to their family.
When Qin Wenying had time earlier, she had walked around the village and heard plenty of gossip from the women there, also learning a lot about the family’s troubles.
After thinking about it, she concluded that the good traits of the four sisters must have been inherited from their mother.
Lin Qimo picked up her chopsticks and placed some food into Lin Doudou’s bowl.
“As for the snake incident, it’s almost certain my third uncle arranged it. But without witnesses or proof, just words won’t convince anyone.”
Si Chongguang added while serving Qin Wenying some food, “Unless there’s solid evidence to file a case, at most they’ll be sent to labor reform for a few months. People like that will still be trouble after they come out.”
Qin Wenying nodded approvingly.
“My husband is right. People like this should be sent to jail and fed until they’re full.”
Si Chongguang lowered his head awkwardly, his ears turning red.
At home, when it was just the two of them, he liked hearing her call him “husband.” But in front of others, he still felt shy.
Qin Wenying, on the other hand, was carefree. She glanced at him strangely.
They were an old married couple already what was there to be shy about?