“Enough. Don’t bother saying any more biased things. It’ll only make me feel worse.” Lin Daheng sneered. “Let’s go. We’ll head to the neighborhood committee.”
With that, Lin Daheng took the lead and walked out.
Once he had made up his mind, he wasn’t going to change it.
His wife and children had suffered countless grievances living in that household. Year after year, he had endured, compromised, and given in, only to find himself forced to keep enduring.
It wasn’t as if he couldn’t support his own family. There was no reason to keep living under the same roof and let his family continue to suffer such humiliation.
Du Hongying pushed Lin Rende gently.
“Rende, don’t worry. Rongzong and Xiaofang will definitely take good care of you.”
Seeing the family about to leave, Zou Zhengting stopped Lin Rende.
“My matter hasn’t been settled yet. You’re just leaving?”
Lin Rende turned around at the doorway, puzzled.
“You and Nini are getting divorced, aren’t you? What else is there to settle?”
To Lin Rende, it was obvious. Nini had already slept with Yang Wen. Zou Zhengting wasn’t a coward, so how could he possibly still want her? Surely divorce was the only solution.
“Grandpa Lin, you’re quite an interesting person.” Zou Zhengting let out a cold laugh.
“If I had been the one cheating, and had even schemed to have Nini caught in bed with another man, would a simple divorce be enough?”
“When it comes to things that benefit Lin Rongzong’s family, Grandpa Lin is a very clever elder. But the moment something doesn’t benefit them, he suddenly becomes completely confused.”
Since Lin Daheng was about to sever ties with his father anyway, Zou Zhengting no longer felt any need to show Lin Rende respect.
“Zou Zhengting, what exactly do you want?” Nini asked in confusion. “I’m willing to divorce you. Shouldn’t you be secretly celebrating?”
“What do I want?” Zou Zhengting curled his lips into a smile.
He wanted nothing more than to make Nini’s family miserable.
“If you want a divorce…” He lowered his head, casually turning the watch on his wrist. “Give me five hundred yuan.”
He said it casually, his tone light and unconcerned.
But everyone in the Lin family was stunned.
“Zou Zhengting, you’re a man!” Lin Rende almost roared.
“So a man’s time isn’t valuable? Men deserve to be plotted against by your family?”
Just thinking about how five hundred yuan would empty their pockets and make them suffer was enough to make Zou Zhengting happy.
“When you’ve got the money, come find me, and then we’ll handle the divorce.”
After saying that, Zou Zhengting stepped aside.
“I’m done talking. Grandpa Lin is in a hurry to sever ties with his biological son, and Lin Rongzong is in a hurry to grab the Lin family’s property. Everyone’s busy, so I won’t waste any more of your time.”
He delivered the cruelest truths in the calmest tone.
“Zou Zhengting, stop talking nonsense!” Lin Rongzong exploded. “My dad raised me, helped me get married, and helped raise my children all these years. I’m grateful to him. Why would I covet anything that belongs to him?”
Du Hongying shot Zou Zhengting a cold look, worried he might say something even more unpleasant. She quickly pulled Lin Rende outside to catch up with Lin Daheng.
Lin Rongzong stared at Zou Zhengting. Seeing there was no room for negotiation, he could only drag Nini away while calling for Nini’s mother to follow.
At the moment, the most important thing was making sure Lin Rende and Lin Daheng successfully severed their relationship.
Nini and Zou Zhengting’s divorce could wait.
“Xinhua, your sister isn’t feeling well. Take her home. I need to go check on your father,” Wang Fenglan instructed her son before hurrying after the others.
The Lin family’s aunt stomped her foot and chased after them as well.
The moment Aunt Chen realized the drama over the severance papers would be even more entertaining, she called everyone over and hurried after them too.
The once lively courtyard instantly fell silent.
Only Lin Zhaoyang, Lin Xinhua, and Zou Zhengting remained.
“Why are you still here?” Lin Zhaoyang asked, looking at Zou Zhengting.
“I’ll walk you home before I leave.”
The expression on Zou Zhengting’s face changed instantly. Once the irrelevant people were gone, he became an entirely different person.
It was hard to believe he was the same arrogant man who had practically been looking down on everyone moments ago.
“You don’t need to.”
By now, Lin Zhaoyang had mostly recovered. She grabbed Lin Xinhua’s hand and walked away.
She had assumed Zou Zhengting would leave after being rejected.
Instead, he quietly followed behind them, keeping a distance of about five paces.
“Sis, Zou Zhengting’s still following us,” Lin Xinhua said after glancing back.
“Ignore him.”
She didn’t own the road. She couldn’t exactly forbid him from walking there.
“Sis, is Dad really going to sever ties with Grandpa? Does that mean we’ll have to move out this afternoon?”
Lin Xinhua looked genuinely upset.
“Why is Grandpa always so biased? Nini already stole your fiancé twice. This time she even tried to ruin you. Why won’t Grandpa kick Nini out?”
In Lin Xinhua’s mind, even if Grandpa didn’t drive Second Uncle’s family away, he should at least cut ties with Nini.
“Then we’ll move.” Lin Zhaoyang shrugged. “My house is big enough for all of us.”
She had grown thoroughly disgusted with Nini’s family.
“Last time, Second Uncle’s entire family helped Nini scheme against Zou Zhengting. This time, who’s to say they didn’t all help her scheme against Yang Wen again?”
So Lin Zhaoyang completely understood why her father wanted to cut Lin Rongzong’s family out of their lives.
“There are some things you don’t know.”
She pursed her lips.
The truth was simply too disgusting, so the family had never told Lin Xinhua.
“What else don’t I know? I’m already grown up. Stop hiding everything from me.”
Lin Xinhua tugged at her sleeve.
“Sis, tell me. I can’t keep living in the dark. Just now, I actually thought Second Uncle and Second Aunt might not have known about this.”
Since he insisted, Lin Zhaoyang finally stopped keeping it from him.
“Back when the college entrance exams ended, Grandma Du wanted Nini to take my place at university.”
“She said my grades were good enough that I could take the exam again the following year using Nini’s identity and still get in. That way both Nini and I could attend university.”
Du Hongying’s plan was simple.
If Nini graduated from university, the state would assign her a government job. She’d become a cadre with a high salary and be able to support her maternal family.
“Grandpa actually thought it was a good idea. He even went to Dad personally to discuss it. Dad had a huge fight with Grandpa and refused. Then Grandpa and Grandma Du secretly came to me and tried to persuade me to agree.”
But Lin Zhaoyang wasn’t stupid.
Why would she ever agree?
Nini hadn’t saved her life or her parents’ lives.
Why should she sacrifice her own future for someone else’s benefit?
Back then, she had publicly exposed the whole plan, embarrassing Lin Rende in front of everyone.
Afterward, Lin Rende often complained that his eldest granddaughter was disobedient, while his younger granddaughter was much more well-behaved.
“Nini has already stolen my fiancé twice.”
“Dad’s afraid Second Uncle’s family will try a third or even a fourth time.”
Lin Zhaoyang understood exactly what her parents were worried about.
“You’re going into your final year of high school next year. Your grades are good. You’ll definitely get into university. Once you’re a university student, people will start introducing potential marriage partners to you.”
“Mom and Dad are afraid what happened to me will happen to you too.”
She pouted.
“Neither Lin Liwu nor Lin Liwen has found a wife yet.”
“If you’re a university student, the people introduced to you will definitely have good backgrounds. Lin Liwu and Lin Liwen might copy what Nini did and try to steal your future wife the same way she stole my fiancé.”
That was why Lin Daheng no longer wanted anything to do with Lin Rongzong’s family.
Even living next door, separated by only one wall, was too much.
“We don’t rely on Grandpa’s pension to support our family anyway.”
“It’s better if Dad severs ties. Our lives will be much more peaceful.”
“At least during holidays we won’t have to listen to that old woman making sarcastic remarks, or sit at the same dinner table with them anymore.”