Lin Hao led the way, and a large group of people followed grandly behind him.
Squeezed to the back, Aunt Chen felt sweat breaking out in her palms. Although that girl Shuangshuang had hinted to her that she would be fine, she still couldn’t help worrying. At the same time, she cursed Qin Hongwen in her heart.
*It’s all because that grandson of a turtle acts like a beast. You’ve already spawned a litter of puppies with your mistress, so why won’t you let our Huanong go? Did Huanong slaughter your entire family in her past life?*
The closer they got, the clearer the sounds inside the room became.
Those who were married couldn’t help but feel their cheeks burn upon hearing it.
Those who were unmarried felt it wasn’t anything good either, hastily dodging behind their elders.
Lin Chang put on an innocent act and pointed at the room door. “It’s right here. I saw Sister Shuangshuang go in with a man, and I don’t know what they’re trying to do.
I was afraid that man would bully Sister Shuangshuang, so I even tried to stop Sister, but she ignored me completely.” After finishing his words, he lowered his head, feigning sorrow.
Aunt Chen spat, “Bullshit! Don’t treat people like fools! Lin Chang, what good intentions can you brothers have, performing this little show in harmony?”
“Aren’t you two just trying to imply that the person inside is our Shuangshuang? Let me tell you, that’s impossible!”
“That child has always conducted herself with self-respect, just like her mother.”
“As for you two brothers, you’re truly worthy of being born to Zhou Qingman—you only know how to play underhanded, low-class tricks.”
Lin Chang concealed the sinister intent in his eyes and gave Lin Hao a glance.
Lin Hao was impulsive and easily angered, but he listened to his twin younger brother, Lin Chang, the most.
He immediately sneered, “Aunt Chen shouldn’t deflect the topic. We all know you have a good relationship with Lin Huanong, so defending her daughter is only reasonable.”
“However, Aunt Chen, Lin Shuang was raised by my eldest aunt for eight years. You must have heard about the conditions in that town: the security there is terrible, and local ruffians and hooligans abound.
There’s no telling what bad habits my Sister Shuangshuang might have picked up. Aren’t you afraid of defending the wrong person, Aunt Chen?”
Aunt Chen felt her hands itch.
“Lin Hao, Lin Chang taught you all these words, didn’t he?”
“Of course not! Aunt Chen, although Lin Shuang and Brother Linfeng had a childhood engagement set up since they were young, my Brother Linfeng doesn’t like her at all.”
“Presumably, because my Brother Linfeng broke off the engagement with Lin Shuang after she returned this time, and because she saw Brother Linfeng getting engaged to Sister Lanlan, Lin Shuang gave up on herself and threw caution to the wind tonight.”
“See? So what if there was a childhood engagement? My Sister Lanlan and Brother Linfeng are childhood sweethearts and a match made in Heaven. Lin Shuang is simply inviting her own humiliation.”
Some felt contempt for Lin Chang’s bandit logic, while others felt what he said made sense.
Aunt Chen felt it was necessary to throw oil on the fire.
“Lin Hao, just listening to you talk proves you’re no good bird either. As the saying goes, ‘If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be askew’—whatever kind of mother gives birth to whatever kind of child.”
“You and Li Shuangyu are clearly already engaged, yet you still went to watch a movie alone with Shen Linzhen. What’s more, while watching the movie, you even had her sit on your lap while you two kissed each other.”
Everyone’s eyes widened in excitement.
They had truly come to the right place tonight!
Lin Hao argued in a panic, “You’re spreading rumors, I didn’t!”
However, the guilty conscience on his face had already explained the problem.
Members of the Li family were right there at the scene. Li Shuangyu wept in humiliation, and Mother Li immediately declared they were breaking off the engagement.
“Bah! You think this old lady is like you lot, blurting out lies with open mouths? This old lady has an eyewitness witness, do you have one?”
“Don’t tell me it’s just based on you two spouting nonsense? I don’t believe a word from the dog pups spawned by Zhou Qingman. From childhood to now, have you slandered Lin Shuang any less?”
The twins merely thought Aunt Chen was putting up a deathbed struggle. They didn’t bother knocking on the door anymore, since no one answered anyway.
Simply shedding their polite disguise, they kicked the room door open with one foot.
Only when they saw clearly who the people inside were, the twins grew so angry that their eyes looked ready to split open.
“Brother-in-law, what are you doing?”
The scene fell into a burst of chaos.
Shan Hanyu was scared out of her mind. After coming to her senses, she lifted her foot and was about to step forward to clean up the mess for Shen Linfeng, but a large hand grabbed her to the side.
“Sister, Linfeng isn’t your son.”
The newcomer was precisely Bo Jin.
Of the sister and brother, one took their father’s surname, while the other took their mother’s surname.
After listening to this, Shan Hanyu was unexpectedly calm.
Zhou Qingman was tottering on her feet, knowing that the marriage alliance between the Shen and Lin families was ruined.
Where did things go wrong?
No, where was Lanlan?
Zhou Qingman’s left eyelid twitched wildly, a bad premonition rising in her heart.
“Hey! Zhou Qingman, why are you running?”
“Your two sons were making vows just now saying the person inside was Shuangshuang. Tell us, why were they so certain?”
Zhou Qingman’s face looked unsightly, inwardly cursing Aunt Chen for meddling in other people’s business.
“They sure play quite wildly—could it be that the young couple each play their own games?”
Some people were originally still completely bewildered, but reminded by Aunt Chen’s words, they immediately let their thoughts wander: *where was Lin Lanlan?*
Just as this question arose.
A scream of “Ah!” came from behind.
Everyone looked at one another, immediately swarming toward the sound in a crowd.
The door of another place was wide open.
Who else could the person inside be if not Lin Lanlan?
Everyone gasped and tsked.
*This man must be about the same age as Qin Hongwen, right?*
Just as they were about to ask who this person was, Father Shen walked out of the crowd with a dark, somber face.
“Xiong Lie? Care to explain.”
Xiong Lie, having put on his clothes, raised his eyelids slightly and unhurriedly straightened his sleeves.
“You’ll have to ask this mother and daughter.” Xiong Lie raised his chin, pointing at Lin Lanlan, who was hiding under the bed.
“I promised Zhou Qingman to give your two families benefits. Don’t tell me you’re breaking your word?”
Everyone found it utterly unbelievable.
However, some people had fast-moving minds and realized instantly that this was a case of insufficient skill suffering a backlash.
Suddenly, Zhou Qingman pounced toward Xiong Lie like a madwoman.
“I’ll beat you to death, I’ll beat you to death, you beast! You ruined my daughter.”
The scene instantly fell into chaos.
It was precisely at this moment that someone barged in from outside.
Those with sharp eyes recognized right away that they were people from the High Authority Office, instantly not daring to make a sound.
“Who are Lin Lanlan and Shen Linfeng? Someone reported that you are engaging in improper male-female relationships.”
When the four of them were about to be taken away, they all tacitly claimed that they were in a romantic relationship.
“What I said is true, I like Shi Dongyun.”
“What I said is true as well. Brother Linfeng and I only have a brother-sister relationship; the person I like is Xiong Lie.”
It was simply astonishing.
Everyone fell into a weird silence.
Yet regardless of how they quibbled, they were still taken away altogether.
Lin Shuang was squatting by the roadside, finally waiting for Aunt Chen to arrive.
She trailed her continuously until Aunt Chen separated from the others, only then stepping forward to call out to her.
“Aunt Chen.”
Seeing that Lin Shuang was safe and sound, Aunt Chen’s suspended heart finally settled down.
“You silly girl, don’t be so impulsive next time. Don’t forget you still have Aunt Chen—at worst, I’ll call your Uncle Yan and your two elder brothers to see if we can’t beat them to death.”
Lin Shuang could feel Aunt Chen’s care and protection toward her, her heart feeling warm as well.
“Thank you, Aunt Chen.”
“You silly girl, still standing on ceremony with your Aunt Chen?”
“Yes, Aunt Chen is the best!”
Aunt Chen helplessly tapped the space between Lin Shuang’s eyebrows.
“You child.”
“By the way, you should move to my house to stay tonight.”
With such an incident having just occurred, Zhou Qingman wished she could tear Lin Shuang apart with her own hands; it was better to stay out of her way.
Lin Shuang hurriedly declined, “Aunt Chen, I can handle it. You don’t need to worry.”
Afraid that Aunt Chen would continue trying to persuade her, Lin Shuang quickly spoke out the purpose of looking for her.