“Hongwen, you need to discipline your daughter! I’m still her mother, after all, but look at her—does she have even an ounce of respect for me?”
Qin Hongwen’s face was already dark and sullen. With Zhou Qingman stoking the flames like this, his anger soared straight through the roof.
Looking at the bulging veins on the back of her scumbag father’s hand, Lin Shuang knew full well how he planned to greet her.
“You unfilial girl, just look at what a mess you’ve made of this household!”
“Today, I’m going to teach you a proper lesson so you don’t go out and cause trouble elsewhere.”
Qin Hongwen looked around for a handy weapon.
Lin Hao immediately handed over a horsewhip he had prepared long ago, the malice at the corners of his mouth impossible to conceal.
Lin Shuang had already collected the Lin family’s whip into her spatial dimension yesterday. As for this one… Lin Shuang’s sharp eyes caught a flame emblem on the handle.
She had seen it just a few hours ago.
So it belonged to Shen Linfeng!
That bastard really was a ruthless piece of work!
“You’re mistaken, Mr. Qin. The one causing trouble isn’t me, but your precious son over here.”
Seeing Lin Shuang’s gaze fixed on him, Lin Hao inexplicably took a step back.
“No way, Lin Shuang, are you out of your mind?”
“Dad is scolding you, yet you actually dare to deflect the blame! As expected of someone born from a bitch…”
*Crack!*
Before Lin Hao could finish his sentence, a whip lashed solidly across his body.
Qin Hongwen was horrified. Lin Shuang was too fast and strong; even though he had already swung the whip out, the dead girl had snatched it away by force.
“Keep swearing! Go on! Who’s a bitch? You’re swearing at your own mother, aren’t you? Consciously becoming a mistress—are all the men in the world dead? Zhou Qingman is a bitch, which is why she gave birth to you three lowborn scum! Biting the hand that feeds you, you don’t have a shred of shame left!”
Another machine-gun barrage of words left Qin Hongwen’s head throbbing with pain.
“Dad, look at her! This bitch is completely lawless! Hurry up and marry her off to some old man so he can torment her to death early!”
Listen to that—just listen! The bastard simply hadn’t been beaten hard enough.
*Crack!* The whip in Lin Shuang’s hand darted out like a silver snake, and Lin Hao let out a string of bloodcurdling screams.
This time, Lin Shuang didn’t hold back her strength at all. Strike after strike descended as if she had gone mad.
Lin Hao was terrified out of his wits, the burning pain making him forget to dodge.
Lin Chang, however, sensed something unusual about Lin Shuang and quickly dragged Lin Hao away.
“Hurry, run downstairs!”
“Sister Lin Shuang, we’re family. Don’t treat us like enemies! Hurry up and put the whip down!”
Lin Chang had never expected that the whip he borrowed from his future brother-in-law to teach Lin Shuang a lesson would ultimately be used on themselves.
“You said it yourself—we’re family.”
“Family should share blessings and face hardships together. Since Lin Hao took a beating, you should come take a few lashes from me, too. Why are you dodging? Aren’t you two the best of brothers?”
“Or are you just insincere? Saying nice things with your mouth while treating people like total fools—handed over the whip at your instigation, didn’t he? A barking dog never bites, and you’re the exact opposite!”
Lin Chang’s face turned alternating shades of blue and white.
He had never had his skin publicly ripped off like this before.
“Hongwen, you see it now, too. It’s not that I, as her stepmother, am mistreating her. Lin Shuang’s temper is simply too violent. I heard people say that this is a mental illness, and only Qingshan can cure it.”
Qingshan? Wasn’t that the mental asylum?
“What a vicious heart! Whether I have a mental illness depends on a doctor, not on your flapping jaws.”
“Though I do suggest you go ahead and report this to the police.”
Lin Lanlan’s eyes lit up. If Lin Shuang went to prison, she would find a way to make her die inside.
Only by pulling out this thorn in her heart could she truly feel relieved when going to Hong Kong.
“Yes! Third Brother, go report it to the police quickly! Lin Shuang injured Second Brother, we must demand an explanation!”
Lin Chang’s eyes brightened, and he immediately dashed toward the door.
“Just you wait! Sister Lin Shuang, you really need someone to discipline you. This lawless personality of yours is bound to harm others and yourself sooner or later!”
“Pfft! A group of disgusting creatures, stop acting like high-and-mighty saints in front of me. Your inner calculations are practically slapping me in the face, yet you’re still putting on an act. Do you take people for fools?”
“Though you’d better hurry, Lin Chang! Coincidentally, I have a few things to report to the police myself.”
An unexplained sense of unease washed over Lin Chang.
Yet Lin Shuang’s eyes remained fixed on him.
He felt even more uneasy!
“Six years ago, when Old Man Wu’s dog accidentally fell into the water and managed to scramble up to the shore, you smashed its head with a brick. You’re the one who killed Heiwa. Old Man Wu had no other relatives, and Heiwa was his most loyal companion, yet he was brutally killed by you little brute. Old Man Wu grew despondent because of it and passed away a month later. Tell me, aren’t you a murderer?”
Lin Chang felt as if thunder had crashed over his head.
The old man’s face suddenly became crystal clear in his mind. Lin Chang shuddered and shrank behind Lin Lanlan.
“Lin Shuang, what nonsense are you talking about? Stop defaming people!”
“Third Brother, don’t listen to Lin Shuang’s wild babbling! She harbors malicious intent! That dead old man died on his own—what does it have to do with you?”
“Is it nonsense?” Lin Shuang took step after step closer, her voice echoing like a devil’s whisper. “Three years ago, you three siblings went to your grandmother’s home, and your cousin brought back a pretty classmate. Just because Lin Chang said he wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a girl, the three of you went completely insane…”
Born rotten to the core—every single one of them deserved to die!
“Ah! Stop talking!”
Memories buried deep in their hearts were suddenly dug out, causing all three siblings’ faces to turn pale.
It wasn’t that their consciences were feeling remorse, but rather that they were terrified as to how Lin Shuang knew.
“You… you’re talking nonsense! Nothing like that happened!”
“Right, you’re talking nonsense!”
“Lin Shuang, believe it or not, I’ll sue you for defamation!”
With such a guilty, over-reactive response, what was there left not to understand?
This time, it was Qin Hongwen’s turn to feel a chill in his heart.
He knew best the children he had raised; it was just that his rose-tinted glasses had been too thick before.
Once a crack appeared in trust, it could never be repaired.
“Lin Hao, speak up! Did Li Sanni’s matter have anything to do with you guys?”
If this was real, he couldn’t expect them to be filial toward him anymore; they might even plot against his old life.
“Oh, Hongwen! How could you believe this dead girl Lin Shuang’s words, too? It’s not like you don’t know that this dead girl is full of lies; nothing she says can be taken seriously.”
“Lanlan, come tell your dad.”
Zhou Qingman winked at Lin Lanlan, and Lin Lanlan caught her meaning right away.
“Dad, have you forgotten? Li Sanni’s own mother said her daughter always loved to slack off and didn’t want to work in the fields, which was why she hanged herself.”
“Bullshit! If I guessed correctly, Li Sanni’s mother was bribed by you guys, wasn’t she?”
“With someone so profit-driven, do you think if I offered ten times the money, she’d change her statement?”
“Haha… Lin Hao, you’re panicked, aren’t you? You know deep down what kind of horrific, malicious deeds you three did to that innocent girl.”
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll sit by your bedside in the middle of the night?”
If she hadn’t been so sleepy, she would have liked to continue.
“So, do you still want to call the police now?”
“You… are you threatening us?”
Breaking free from her fear, Lin Lanlan glared viciously at Lin Shuang.
“So what if I am? Did you not commit those evil deeds? Do you want me to help you recall a few more?”
The whole family stared at Lin Shuang in collective terror.
It was as if they were looking at a monster.
“What? Scared now?”
“A pack of pests!”
“Don’t disturb me, or else…”
Whatever “or else” meant, the consequences of offending Lin Shuang were bound to be severe.
The family looked at one another, before ultimately slinking downstairs in disgrace.
“It’s all your fault, Sister! You shouldn’t have called her up early in the morning to cook breakfast! Dad and Mom took the day off today anyway.”
Lin Hao’s whining seemed to flip a certain switch.