“Dad, Big Brother, I want to see Xiao Ya,” Zhao Tianlei said. Right now, all he wanted was to see his wife with his own eyes. Only after knowing how she truly was would he be at ease.
He had been rushing about all day and was already exhausted, yet he still could not stop worrying about Lin Siya.
“Xiao Ya is already asleep. She will not see you,” Lin Jianshe said in a low voice, afraid that speaking too loudly would wake his sister. Ever since she had woken up, she had wanted to return to the Zhao family. What did that mean? It meant that Xiao Ya still held Zhao Tianlei in her heart. That made him extremely uncomfortable. His sister was such a good person. Look at how the Zhao family had ruined her.
“Dad, Big Brother, just let me see Xiao Ya once. I rushed back the moment I received the telegram. I have not rested at all. I am truly worried about Xiao Ya,” Zhao Tianlei said, still expressionless, though a trace of sorrow flickered in his eyes.
“You should go back. We will not let you see Xiao Ya. Right now, Xiao Ya is not well,” Father Lin said firmly.
Lin Jianshe added, “Zhao Tianlei, Xiao Ya has only been married into your Zhao family for two months. I will give you two choices. Either you live separately from your parents, or you divorce Xiao Ya. Our Lin family can afford to support her.”
Father Lin had not expected his son to speak so bluntly.
“Dad, Big Brother, I want to see Xiao Ya. As for divorce, that is impossible. And living separately is also impossible. My parents only have me as their son,” Zhao Tianlei replied.
Lin Jianshe looked at Zhao Tianlei with undisguised sarcasm and said to his father, “Dad, did you hear that? We should never have agreed in the first place. Our Lin family saved their Zhao family back then, and this is how they treat their benefactors? Dad, I say we report this to the county. Have Wang Cuihua and Zhao Meiyun thrown into jail.”
“Leave,” Father Lin said coldly, turning his back with the oil lamp in hand. “Jianshe, see him out.”
With that, he went inside without another glance.
Lin Jianshe found fault with Zhao Tianlei in every way.
“Big Brother, I want to see Xiao Ya one time,” Zhao Tianlei insisted.
“See her for what? Your Zhao family nearly drove Xiao Ya to death, yet you do not even seek justice for her. Then again, that makes sense. The Zhao family are your blood relatives, while Xiao Ya is just an outsider. You side with kin over right and wrong. Go. Divorce her. Even if our Lin family supports Xiao Ya for the rest of her life, we will never let her return to that wolf’s den.”
Inside the house, Lin Siya’s heart warmed. After her parents had passed away, even her grandfather had only cared about her because she was a cultivation genius who could bring glory to the family. But here, she was slowly feeling the warmth of true familial affection.
If divorce was an option, she was more than willing.
The next instant, a burst of pressure struck Zhao Tianlei, forcing him back several steps and making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
Even Lin Jianshe froze. He had only said a few words. Why had Zhao Tianlei suddenly coughed up blood?
Zhao Tianlei pressed a hand to his chest and looked around in confusion. What had happened? What had attacked him? He could not tell.
“Go,” Lin Jianshe said. His heart softened for only a moment before the image of Xiao Ya lying motionless on the ox cart flashed in his mind. His resolve hardened again.
This had to be Zhao Tianlei trying to play the pity card.
He pushed Zhao Tianlei out of the courtyard and slammed the gate shut. Then he hurried to Lin Siya’s window and peered inside a few times. Seeing that she did not seem to have been woken by the commotion, he finally relaxed and returned to his room.
Lin Siya sat up, thinking about the man she had just seen.
She felt nothing but disdain for what he had said earlier.
He was unwilling to divorce and unwilling to live separately.
This Zhao Tianlei was truly domineering.
His mother and sister had forced the original owner of this body to drink poison and seek death, yet he did nothing to avenge her.
Then again, one was his beloved sister, the other his birth mother. Which mattered more was obvious.
Since that was the case, then divorce it was.
Yet if they divorced, the Lin family would become the target of gossip, and her brother, who was still unmarried, would be implicated and might never find a wife.
But if she did not divorce, this was a loss she would never accept.
The Zhao family had caused the death of the original Lin Siya. They owed her a life.
So how should she make them repay it?
Everyone in the village worked for the production team and only received grain at the end of the year. A worker’s wages were only twenty or thirty yuan a month. An egg cost two cents, a jin of meat was fifty cents, and rice was about ten cents per jin.
Hearing the steady breathing outside and sensing that the man still had not left and was sitting by the gate, Lin Siya felt puzzled. In this season, nights were still quite cold for ordinary people.
She did not believe that Zhao Tianlei felt deep affection for Lin Siya.
More likely, he did not want the Zhao family to bear the stigma of having driven their daughter in law to death and was hoping to obtain forgiveness.
But she was no longer the Lin Siya of the past.
This Lin Siya was someone entirely new.
In her world, the word “loss” did not exist.
There was cause and effect. If one committed wrongdoing, one had to pay the price.
Since you insist on guarding the Lin family gate, then guard it.
Through the window, Lin Siya flicked her fingers lightly. Let it be adding insult to injury.
Zhao Tianlei, who was sitting outside, suddenly felt a wave of cold envelop him, making his teeth chatter.
He could not understand it. It had not been this cold before. Why had it suddenly turned so freezing?
Seeing that the man outside was enduring the cold, Lin Siya smiled mischievously and flicked her fingers again. The chill deepened. Zhao Tianlei instinctively wrapped his arms around himself, his whole body nearly frozen stiff.
It was colder than winter ice.
Lin Siya was very satisfied with her handiwork. She pulled up the quilt and drifted off to sleep with a smile.
Outside, Zhao Tianlei stood up and began moving around, trying to ward off the cold. Yet it was useless. The chill seemed to seep into his bones. Even so, he stubbornly remained at the Lin family gate.
A streak of white light appeared in the sky.
Mother Lin got up to cook.
Father Lin tended to his medicinal herbs.
Lin Jianshe prepared to open the gate, tidy the yard, and feed the chickens and pigs.
The moment he opened the gate, he saw Zhao Tianlei, nearly frozen stiff, his lips tinged purple.
“Zhao Tianlei, hurry back. Do not stay at my house gate,” Lin Jianshe said in a low voice. If Xiao Ya saw Zhao Tianlei like this, she might soften and even go back with him. That was something he would never allow.
Zhao Tianlei moved his lips with difficulty. “Big Brother.”
“Zhao Tianlei, let me be clear. If you do not give our Lin family an explanation, then let us part ways peacefully. You can pretend this never happened, but our Lin family cannot. This time, she nearly lost her life. What about next time? Would it be a direct death sentence? Are the lives of your Zhao family precious, while my sister’s life is worthless? So go, Zhao Tianlei. Do not force me to chase you away with a broom,” Lin Jianshe said bluntly.