Lin Qionghua initially wanted to rush to the county seat to stop her parents, but there were no more buses going there at this time of day. It was better to just wait for them at home.
Perhaps because she had something on her mind, her heart felt heavy, and she couldn’t even swallow her food.
When Qingqing came over to ask her to play, Lin Qionghua was in no mood to deal with her. “Go play by yourself.”
Qingqing couldn’t budge her, and since she was in a hurry to watch someone’s blind date anyway, she didn’t persist and left on her own.
An unknown amount of time passed, and just as the sky was turning completely dark, Lin Weisen and the other two finally returned home under the moonlight.
Lin Qionghua had long since washed up and had even prepared dinner. The moment she saw them return, she immediately went to reheat the food, acting like a little sycophant.
She had to be on her best behavior so her parents would forgive her!
As she brought the dishes to the table, she peeked at her parents’ expressions, which didn’t look good at all. Then again, the gold shop hadn’t sold fake goods, so how could they possibly admit to it?
She said with a forced laugh, “Dad, Mom, Grandma, I made dinner. You’ve been hungry all day, please eat.”
Lin Weisen was surprised that his daughter actually knew how to cook. He turned to his wife and mother-in-law. “Lanfang, Mom, stop being angry. Let’s eat first.”
Old Madam Zhou was not one to suffer a loss in silence. She pulled out a stool, plonked herself down, and began to eat in large mouthfuls.
Song Lanfang picked up her chopsticks, took a bite of rice, and then picked up a piece of the side dish.
Lin Qionghua watched her parents expectantly. “How does my stir-fry taste?”
Song Lanfang was in a terrible mood. The food tasted like cardboard, and she couldn’t perceive any flavor at all.
Lin Weisen gave her face. “Not bad. As expected of my good daughter, you have a natural talent for cooking just like your dad.”
Seeing her father praise her, Lin Qionghua steeled herself. She opened her mouth, wanting to confess that she had swapped the gold jewelry to secure a lenient punishment.
But before she could speak, Song Lanfang suddenly threw down her chopsticks, slumped onto the table, and burst into a loud wail.
Lin Qionghua was a bit stunned. “Mom? Are you okay?”
Old Madam Zhou snorted. “Leave her alone. She brought it on herself. Setting aside the fact that she bought fake gold, she actually managed to let someone steal the fake goods! Don’t tell anyone you’re my daughter in the future; I’ve never seen anyone stupider than you.”
Lin Qionghua’s mouth fell open in disbelief. Ah! Stolen? Those fake gold pieces were stolen?!
A lump formed in her throat, but a trace of relief actually bloomed in her heart. Patting her chest, she asked tentatively, “What happened?”
Old Madam Zhou had been suppressing her fury for too long. She had thought that by confronting the gold shop they could get a threefold compensation. Who could have known that the bus would be so crowded that the fake gold was actually stolen right out of her bag?
Now they were in trouble. Without the fake gold and without the receipt, the gold shop would definitely refuse to acknowledge it!
They had no choice but to go to the police station to file a report, and the officers told them to go home and wait for news. That would be a long wait.
Lin Qionghua hadn’t expected such an unexpected turn of events. She had thought she would definitely take a beating today, but now the fake gold was stolen. She was completely off the hook!
She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. Seeing her mother crying so heartbrokenly, she quickly spoke up for her. “You can’t blame Mom for this. Those thieves are just too detestable!”
Old Madam Zhou gave a snort.
Fearing that her father would also blame her mother, Lin Qionghua comforted them, “Maybe in a few days, the police will catch the thief.”
Old Madam Zhou let out a mocking laugh, mocking her for being a naive child. “Those pieces were fake gold, which doesn’t even meet the standard for filing a formal criminal case. How could they seriously help catch the thief? Besides, we don’t even know what the thief looks like, so how do we search?!”
Song Lanfang cried even harder. She had been so focused on how to argue with the gold shop staff that she hadn’t even noticed someone slashing her cloth bag open.
Lin Qionghua felt increasingly guilty. “Mom, don’t cry. I’ll study hard from now on, make money in the future, and buy you real gold jewelry.”
Since the gold jewelry was already lost, she would not confess to her parents that she had swapped it. It wasn’t out of fear of a beating, but rather because she couldn’t do it just yet.
If she told the truth, her mother would certainly be happy, but her parents would also think her character was corrupt and would never trust her again. After all, who would believe the words of a thief? Besides, she still had important matters at hand. She had to get her parents to spend the money quickly so they wouldn’t think about investing it to make a fortune.
Wiping away her tears, Song Lanfang held her daughter close. “Good child, Mom is fine. Mom is just sad.”
Lin Weisen sighed and urged her to eat some food. “Just be careful in the future.”
The matter was considered settled. Without the gold and without the receipt, going to the gold shop was useless anyway! As for scolding his wife—well, even if he did, those things wouldn’t come back! What difference would it make?!
Old Madam Zhou, however, had no reservations and kept scolding relentlessly. Lin Qionghua couldn’t bear to listen anymore. “Grandma, do you want my parents to get a divorce?!”
Old Madam Zhou was choked up. Of course she didn’t want that, but what kind of mess had her daughter made?! Why hadn’t she managed to lose herself instead!
Old Madam Zhou had arrived full of anger, and the next morning she returned home packed with another stomachful of rage.
Lin Qionghua was a girl of her word. Early the next morning, she ran to her eldest uncle’s house to borrow books.
Her eldest aunt rummaged through trunks and chests to help find the books Xinghua used when she went to school. When she found them, they were covered in a thick layer of dust. She wiped all the books clean. “You’ll be in the second grade when school starts in September. Why do you want third, fourth, and fifth-grade books?”
“I want to study ahead.” Lin Qionghua held the books securely and bid her eldest aunt goodbye. “I’ll head back first.”
“Alright!”
Lin Qionghua carried the stack of books home. Seeing her holding so many books, Song Lanfang asked, “What’s this for?”
“I want to preview the material ahead of time.”
Song Lanfang patted her head with satisfaction and reminded her not to forget to do her summer vacation homework.
Lin Qionghua agreed obediently.
For the next period of time, Lin Qionghua stayed at home writing her homework and previewing the higher-grade curriculum.
Seeing that her daughter was no longer running outside all day long, Song Lanfang was also full of relief.
Days spent studying repeatedly were always particularly monotonous, and time passed very quickly.
On this day, while Lin Qionghua was writing her homework under a tree in the courtyard, someone called her name from outside. She answered, and a person walked in from the entrance.
Lin Qionghua looked up, her face filled with surprise. “Sister Xinghua? You’re back?”
Lin Qionghua had thought she wouldn’t return home until the Mid-Autumn Festival, so she hadn’t expected her to be back so soon.
Xinghua said with a beaming smile, “I heard our village is being relocated and my parents bought a house in town, so I came back to help them pack their things.”
Lin Qionghua nodded. “They’ve already bought the house and are just waiting to move.”
Xinghua knew about this. She sat down opposite her, looking at Lin Qionghua with a sweet smile. “My dad went to the market to sell popsicles. I heard from my mom that it was your idea. I didn’t expect you to understand how to do business at such a young age. Impressive.”
Lin Qionghua giggled. She glanced at Sister Xinghua and asked tentatively, “Did Eldest Aunt say anything to you?”
Xinghua was completely bewildered. “Say what?”
“You’ve reached the right age, shouldn’t you be dating someone?” Lin Qionghua probed.
As expected, at the mention of dating, Xinghua blushed a deep crimson. She lightly tapped Lin Qionghua’s back. “Who did you hear that from? What does a little child like you know.”
Seeing her reaction, Lin Qionghua guessed that her eldest aunt hadn’t mentioned the matter of a matrilocal husband yet, so she didn’t meddle further. She suggested tentatively, “Actually, Eldest Uncle could buy a house in the county seat. That way, you could go straight home for dinner after work. How wonderful would that be? Business in the county seat is also better than in town.”
Xinghua didn’t even dare to dream of it. “They certainly wouldn’t be willing to spend so much money to buy a house in the county seat.”
Lin Qionghua thought to herself: If you were willing to take in a matrilocal husband, Eldest Uncle would definitely be willing to spend it.
After chatting idly for a few more moments, Xinghua went home.
In the afternoon, while Lin Qionghua was sitting down to eat with her family, Lin Weimu walked into the courtyard in a huff. Seeing them eating, he turned right around to leave.
How could Lin Weisen let him leave? He called out to stop him, “Eldest Brother, what’s wrong?”
Lin Weimu waved his hand. “It’s nothing. You guys eat first, I’ll come back later.”
Lin Weisen grabbed his arm. “Why leave? Sit down and eat together. It’s just a matter of adding another pair of chopsticks.” He told his daughter to go fetch a pair of chopsticks.
Lin Qionghua scurried off to get the chopsticks and helped serve a bowl of rice.
Once Lin Weimu sat down, he began to complain to Lin Weisen. Xinghua had found a boyfriend in the county seat and was going to bring him back for them to meet during her next days off.
Lin Weisen wasn’t surprised in the slightest. “Xinghua is good-looking and hardworking. It’s perfectly normal for her to find a boyfriend out there.”
“I didn’t say it’s not normal, but I wanted to keep her at home to take in a matrilocal husband. She found a guy from the city, and his family only has one son. How could he possibly marry into our family!” Lin Weimu had planned everything perfectly, but his plans were disrupted by his daughter’s actions. It would be strange if he weren’t angry.
Lin Weisen glanced at his eldest brother and advised him to be more open-minded. “The more you oppose it, the less Xinghua will want to stay at home. When a daughter grows up, she shouldn’t be kept at home forcefully, or it will turn into resentment!”
Lin Weimu slapped the table in anger. “Am I not doing this for her own good? If she marries out and has to look at her mother-in-law’s expressions to eat, can her life be pleasant?! I want to keep her at home to take in a matrilocal husband and give her all the family property in the future, yet she isn’t even grateful. Utterly foolish!”
Song Lanfang urged him to eat some food. “Eldest Brother, I’m not trying to speak on Xinghua’s behalf, but I feel that taking in a matrilocal husband is unreliable.”
Lin Weimu glanced at her. “Why?”
Song Lanfang then brought up an incident from her own village where “a man married in matrilocally, but the moment his father-in-law died, the children’s surname was changed.” She added, “Xinghua lacks a strong will. If it were your Juhua staying behind to take in a matrilocal husband, I think it would work. That child has had her own mind since she was little and can take charge.”
How could Lin Weimu not know that Xinghua had a soft personality? But—”Juhua is already married, I can’t possibly make her get a divorce, can I? I certainly couldn’t commit such an act.”
Lin Weisen said with a chuckle, “If Juhua and Xinghua won’t do, then only Lihua is left.”
Lin Weimu instantly exploded upon hearing this, bounding up abruptly. “Third Brother, what are you thinking? Lihua is even more out of the question.”
If he really let Lihua stay at home to take in a matrilocal husband, that would be truly foolish. Who would willingly spend their entire life with a foolish person? Once he and his wife passed away, Lihua would be completely at the mercy of the matrilocal husband. Forget about the children changing their surname—whether Lihua could even survive would be a question.
Besides, Lihua was mentally disabled. What if she gave birth to another disabled child? He couldn’t take that gamble!
Lin Weisen pulled his eldest brother back down into his seat. “I didn’t say let Lihua take in a matrilocal husband. I think you can adopt a granddaughter to act as Lihua’s daughter. When the child grows up in the future, Lihua will have someone to look after her, and your family property will have an heir. Xinghua won’t have to stay behind to take in a matrilocal husband either. Let me tell you, taking in a matrilocal husband really isn’t proper. It’s unsafe.”
Lin Weimu had been selling popsicles with Liu Guoqing for the past few days and quite liked the boy. Although the boy avoided heavy labor and preferred light tasks, his personality was quite good, and he had a sweet tongue, which helped with selling goods. He wasn’t the ungrateful type.
If Xinghua married him, he could live a stable life.
But Xinghua refused.
What a fool! Rushing to marry into another family just to be a free maid!
Hearing his third brother’s words, Lin Weimu’s brow furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly. “Adopt someone else’s child? I have three children of my own, yet I should leave my family property to an outsider?! I can’t bring myself to do it.”
When a conversation was disagreeable, even half a sentence was too much. He stopped eating entirely, set down his chopsticks, and walked out of the courtyard gate.
Lin Weisen and Song Lanfang looked at each other, finding themselves unable to offer any further advice.