While Lin Qionghua was busy watching the gossip at the Dong family home, Lin Weisen and Song Lanfang were also chatting about Dong Liang.
Lin Weisen stir-fried a dish and sat down to eat.
Song Lanfang wanted to fetch their daughter back, but Lin Weisen stopped her. “The child hasn’t stopped eating at the market; she’s long since full. Let’s call her later.”
Song Lanfang grew a bit anxious and blamed him. “Why didn’t you keep an eye on her? The food at the market isn’t hygienic.”
Lin Weisen found it somewhat amusing. “Who said it’s unhygienic? Have you forgotten that I’m the one in the food business?”
Song Lanfang froze for a moment, then laughed along. “I’m talking about the deep-fry stalls. With people coming and going, all that dust gets right into the oil pot. It’s filthy.”
“Eat dirty, live sturdy. Don’t be so particular,” Lin Weisen chatted casually before steering back to the main topic. “I bumped into Eldest Brother, and I heard from him that Dong Liang has taken on a small construction project.”
Song Lanfang realized what was going on. “No wonder he led several strong laborers out of the village early this morning. So he went to work.”
Seeing Dong Liang lead so many people out looking jubilant this morning, she had assumed he was treating those people to drinks.
Lin Weisen fetched a bottle of Erguotou left over from before, poured a small cup, and took a shallow sip. “I heard that undertaking construction projects requires advancing the project funds. By seeking out the villagers, he likely wants them to chip in and advance money along with him.”
Song Lanfang noticed his expression looked a bit off. “Are you envious of him?”
Lin Weisen sneered. “What is there for me to envy? Earning money is well and good, but if he loses money, it’s bound to throw everyone into chaos.”
Song Lanfang breathed a sigh of relief. “Who cares whether he takes on a project or not? The two of you have already broken off your friendship, so don’t you go poking your nose in. That man is like a venomous snake; he can’t bear to see others do well. I certainly don’t want to deal with that kind of person.”
Lin Weisen and Dong Liang were childhood friends with a very deep bond. She was just afraid that Lin Weisen would forget the pain once the wound healed, so she had to tighten the reins on him from time to time.
Lin Weisen guaranteed repeatedly, “Rest assured, just on account of the designs he harbored toward you, it’s impossible for me to pay him any heed.”
Song Lanfang nodded with a smile. “It’s good that you know.”
She advised him not to envy others. “You run a stall to do business now and can also earn quite a bit of money a month. Crucially, this money is steady and carries no risk. He earns more by taking on projects, but the risk is high too. Furthermore, going to the construction site every day means bake under the blazing sun and doing the hardest, most exhausting labor, which ruins one’s health. I can’t bear to see you suffer through that torment.”
Lin Weisen giggled foolishly. His wife was not only beautiful but also knew how to dote on her man.
Song Lanfang thought for a moment. “Don’t take Qionghua to the market in the future. There’s only one month left before school starts, and she hasn’t even written her summer vacation homework yet. She’s never home all day long, so when is she going to pick up her pen? Don’t let her wait until the very last day to frantically rush through it. That wouldn’t be good.”
Lin Weisen was just about to speak when a commotion suddenly came from outside. Song Lanfang poked her head out to take a look and immediately stood up. “Mom! Why have you come?”
She rose to greet her, while Lin Weisen, a step behind, also came out to welcome her. “Mom, you’re here? Come on in! We’re just eating.”
Old Madam Zhou was advanced in years and didn’t know how to ride a bicycle, so she had walked all the way here.
Before Old Madam Zhou even entered the house, she launched into a tirade upon seeing her daughter. “You still have the nerve to ask why I came to your house. I previously thought you were a filial daughter, and whenever I ran into anyone in the village, I would boast that I gave birth to a good daughter. After suffering for most of my life, I could finally enjoy my daughter’s blessings and wear a gold necklace. But what did you do?!”
At the thought of yesterday’s incident, she wished she could choke this daughter to death. She had truly lost face significantly, and moreover, it was right in front of her arch-rival, making an utter fool of herself. Her reputation for the half of her life had been completely thrown away.
Song Lanfang listened with complete bewilderment. What on earth was this about? She wanted to support the old lady into the house to let her drink a cup of cooled boiled water before speaking slowly.
However, Old Madam Zhou at this moment was like a kettle about to boil, steaming with fury. She slapped her daughter’s hand away, refusing to let her support her, and even gave her daughter a fierce glare. “I haven’t reached the point of being old and senile yet, but you actually dared to fool me. You…” She pointed at Song Lanfang and cursed, “You truly lack any basic decency.”
Lin Weisen grew displeased. “Mom, why are you speaking about Lanfang that way? If there’s something she did wrong, I’ll speak to her on your behalf, but you can’t just launch into a tirade right off the bat! It looks terrible if someone sees.”
He was terrified of attracting the neighbors and becoming a laughingstock.
In particular, his second brother and second sister-in-law lived right next door. The moment there was the slightest stir in his house, they were sure to appear.
Seeing her son-in-law shielding her daughter, Old Madam Zhou stared at him for a long while. Her daughter was her own flesh and blood and was the most honest person; how could she possibly commit such an act? It must be her son-in-law!
She slapped her thigh and pointed at him, cursing, “Fine, just fine, Lin Weisen. I wondered how Lanfang could have the audacity to make a fool of her own mother; it turns out you directed it. Lin Weisen, I haven’t treated you poorly, have I?! I married my gorgeous daughter to you. Back then, so many people were begging to marry Lanfang. Who was the one who made the final decision to agree to this marriage?”
She shook with rage. “Is this how you repay me?! You ungrateful creature. Fine, I see now. This is because your land was relocated and you have money, so you look down on us poor relatives. You act generous on the surface, but in reality, you don’t want to spend a single penny, do you? Lin Weisen, you are far too wicked!”
Lin Weisen was left utterly baffled by the scolding. What had he done? Hadn’t he just asked her to help water the concrete floor of their new house? Although he hadn’t given the old lady money, he had given her a gold necklace; wasn’t that enough?!
His face darkened. “Mom! If you didn’t want to water it, then just don’t water it. Cursing people like this is uncalled for, isn’t it?”
Even his own biological mother had never scolded him this way. His mother-in-law was scolding him this fiercely?! Was this reasonable?!
Old Madam Zhou paced around in circles from anger. Water it? Trash! Who was talking to him about watering! What she was talking about was fake gold! She entered the house, pulled the gold necklace from her pocket, slammed it heavily onto the table, and pointed at it as she looked toward her daughter. “You gave me this last time, didn’t you?”
Song Lanfang didn’t understand why her mother was so angry. Could it be that she was furious because she refused to give her the gold bracelet as well? Hadn’t she explained? This gold jewelry was bought for her by Qionghua’s father, and he would be displeased if she gave away two pieces. Why was her mother acting this way? She wasn’t considerate of her at all.
Feeling resentful in her heart, she also looked displeased. “I gave it to you. What about it?!”
Seeing her daughter’s expression, Old Madam Zhou went mad with rage and forcefully tugged at the clasp of the gold necklace. “Look, look closely, is this gold necklace made of gold? No matter how I pull it, it doesn’t deform at all.”
It was Song Lanfang’s first time buying gold jewelry, and she didn’t know much about gold, so she was completely bewildered. “Who says a gold necklace has to deform?”
Seeing that her daughter still refused to admit it, Old Madam Zhou said, “Everyone knows that gold is very soft, especially gold with such high purity like this; it will be very soft.”
She pointed at the gold necklace. “Furthermore, there is no hallmark stamp on this gold necklace of yours. This isn’t gold at all. It’s copper.”
Seeing her daughter’s attitude of a dead pig not fearing boiling water, she pulled a small knife directly from her pocket—the kind used for sharpening pencils. She scraped it with the knife. “Look, the color inside isn’t golden-yellow at all. This is darker; it’s purple copper.”
She bombarded her like a rapid-fire cannon, leaving Song Lanfang completely stunned. Taking it over, she took a close look, and it truly was! Recalling the gold shop she had visited, she thought, Surely not? Such a large gold shop would dare to sell fake goods?!
She went back to her room to fetch her own gold jewelry.
Lin Weisen took it, looking at it over and over. There indeed was no hallmark stamp, and this gold necklace was indeed very hard.
Song Lanfang emerged from the room and brought her own gold jewelry for Old Madam Zhou to look at. “Mom, I bought this set of jewelry together. The receipt is still right here, look!”
Gold was so expensive that a receipt was essential. Old Madam Zhou took a glance; it indeed was a regular receipt. The price was certainly not cheap either.
She took the gold bracelet in her hand and weighed it, unable to tell any difference. She then bit it with her teeth, but it was hard, completely unyielding to her bite, so she threw it directly onto the table.
She snorted with anger, “Hmph, fake goods again!”
Although her tone wasn’t great, the fact that these three pieces were also fake meant her daughter hadn’t intentionally fooled her. Her mood improved quite a bit.
Song Lanfang found it hard to believe. “How can that be? I bought it at the county seat mall. It’s a branded item endorsed by a celebrity; how could the mall sell fake gold?”
Lin Weisen inspected the four pieces of gold jewelry one by one but failed to find a hallmark stamp.
After a moment’s thought, he went to the kitchen to light the fire. Using the fire to roast it, gold wouldn’t change color, but copper would oxidize and turn black.
Leaving him to verify it, Song Lanfang looked toward Old Madam Zhou. “Mom, who did you hear this from?”
“Tian Yanyan’s mother. You don’t get along with her daughter, and I don’t get along with her. I flaunted your filial piety to her, and she said my gold necklace was fake. She even explained it so logically that I couldn’t find a single word to refute her.” At the thought of losing face significantly in front of the entire village yesterday, Old Madam Zhou shook with rage.
Song Lanfang poured her a cup of cooled boiled water. “Mom, I’ll take you to the county seat to settle scores with them. They sold fake goods, so they have to provide a threefold compensation for fraud.”
Old Madam Zhou grew even angrier. “Threefold compensation? Give me three more fakes? That’s not a good deal either.”
Song Lanfang was stunned by these words. Upon recovering her wits, she explained to her that “threefold compensation” didn’t mean compensating with three fake items, but rather compensating with three times the price.
Hearing this, Old Madam Zhou beamed with joy. “If the gold shop is willing to compensate the money, can you buy me another gold bracelet?”
Before Song Lanfang could answer, Lin Weisen emerged from the kitchen, letting the two of them look. “The gold bracelet has turned black; it truly is fake.”
Having received confirmation, Song Lanfang put all the gold jewelry away, including the receipt, and said grimly, “I’m going to settle scores with her!”
Old Madam Zhou glanced at the sky. “Let’s go tomorrow instead. A round trip to the county seat takes so long; it will probably be dark by the time we return. It’s unsafe to travel at night.”
Song Lanfang, however, couldn’t wait for a single moment. “No! We go right now. Otherwise, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Old Madam Zhou stood up without hesitation. “Fine, then I’ll go along with you. You young people are thin-skinned and embarrassed to argue with them. I’m different; even if I have to throw away this old face of mine, I will make this gold shop compensate the money!”
Such a large gold shop actually dared to sell fake goods; they were too arrogant! It was simply lawless, and she must teach them a lesson. If they didn’t compensate the money, she would make a scene until the entire county knew about it.
Seeing her mother supporting her so firmly, Song Lanfang smiled. “If we really can get a threefold compensation, I’ll use the compensation funds to buy you a gold bracelet!”
Old Madam Zhou grew even more energized. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go quickly!”
Song Lanfang wanted Lin Weisen to stay at home, but he felt uneasy. For such a large gold shop to openly sell fake goods, would they dare to do so without a background? His mother-in-law knew how to argue, but she didn’t know how to fight. What if she ended up getting beaten?
He immediately said, “I’ll leave a note for Qionghua to let her reheat the food herself, and I’ll accompany you all.”
Song Lanfang thought about it and agreed. Her daughter was just staying in the village, so she wouldn’t get lost anyway. They would go and return quickly.
After finishing watching the entertainment, Lin Qionghua felt a bit hungry. Bidding farewell to Qingqing, she returned home only to find the main gate locked. Assuming her parents had gone to another house for a stroll, she didn’t think much of it. She had her own key, so she unlocked the gate. The house was dead quiet inside.
She went to the kitchen to reheat the dishes, brought them to the main room, and was just about to sit down to eat when she suddenly noticed a note pressed flat on the table.
She picked up the note and scanned it rapidly, but upon reading just the beginning, her expression changed drastically, and she bounded up abruptly.