When people are deeply in love, everything about the other person seems wonderful. They bring excitement, novelty, and make you feel proud to be a man.
But once money became the source of conflict between them, Yang Wen couldn’t help overthinking things. Inevitably, he began comparing Lin Ni to Lin Zhaoyang.
Sensing the change in his expression, Lin Ni felt a lump in her throat.
“Wen-ge… are you regretting being with me?” She gently touched her stomach. “I’ve only become a burden to you. Zhaoyang is such a wonderful person. If you were with her, everyone would be blessing your relationship.”
As she spoke, her eyes reddened.
“Wen-ge… maybe we should just end this. If…”
Her voice caught in her throat. After a moment of hesitation, she seemed to make up her mind.
“I’ll get rid of the baby.”
“My life is already ruined—that’s enough. I was too greedy. I shouldn’t have dragged you down with me. I thought…”
She left half her thoughts unsaid before continuing,
“Wen-ge, go see Zhaoyang tomorrow. Beg her to forgive you. Don’t worry about me. I’ll find somewhere quiet to die. I won’t let myself or this child become a burden to you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Ni turned and ran.
Hearing her words, Yang Wen’s heart immediately softened. He was filled with guilt for even having those thoughts.
He knew perfectly well that Lin Ni had never been valued by her family. How could he compare such a pitiful girl to someone as universally admired as Lin Zhaoyang?
He hurried after her.
The two of them, both with empty stomachs, spent the evening pulling each other back and forth on the street, breaking up and reconciling several times, until they finally embraced each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces, unable to part.
If Lin Zhaoyang had seen the whole scene from Qinghe Street, she probably would have summed it up in just two words:
“They’re crazy.”
After dinner, Zou Zhengting and Lin Xinhua carried the dishes into the kitchen to wash them.
Zou Zhengting brought out a rattan lounge chair and placed it in the courtyard for Lin Zhaoyang to relax in the evening breeze.
Lin Zhaoyang accepted it without the slightest hesitation.
Everyone in her family knew she hated doing housework, and she never pretended otherwise.
At home, those chores were never expected of her.
If Wang Fenglan wasn’t busy, she would do them herself. If she was busy, she’d simply call Lin Xinhua over to help. After all, he wasn’t a little kid anymore and should share the household responsibilities.
Of course, if everyone in the family happened to be busy, Lin Zhaoyang wouldn’t just leave dirty dishes sitting there until they stank. She would still wash them herself.
Lin Daheng and Wang Fenglan doted on their daughter, while Lin Xinhua always gave in to his older sister. In their eyes, their family lived happily—without arguments or quarrels.
But Lin Rende, Du Hongying, and the others genuinely couldn’t stand how unbelievably lazy Lin Zhaoyang was. They constantly repeated that a girl who was this lazy would never find a husband.
Even so, none of them had ever managed to make her do any work.
When Lin Zhaoyang was little, if anyone dared tell her to work, Wang Fenglan didn’t even need to speak up.
Her father, Lin Daheng, would object first.
“There are plenty of adults in this house who can work. Why should you order such a little child around while the grown-ups sit there doing nothing?”
After Lin Zhaoyang got older, she no longer needed her parents to defend her.
Whether it was her grandfather Lin Rende, her step-grandmother Du Hongying, her uncle Lin Rongzong, or her aunt Ma Xiaofang asking her to work, she’d simply pick up a book and say she needed to study.
She had only one response:
“I’m busy. Don’t interfere with me getting first place.”
Du Hongying and the others were driven nearly mad by her excuse.
Unfortunately for them, Lin Zhaoyang always backed it up.
She really did come in first every single time.
Eventually, they all realized there was no point asking her to do housework.
Calling her was a waste of breath.
Thanks to Du Hongying and Ma Xiaofang’s constant gossip, everyone in the neighborhood knew Lin Zhaoyang as “that lazy girl.”
Yet that famously lazy girl became the first person on the entire street to get into university.
And not just any university.
She was admitted to a genuine top-tier university—not merely a junior college.
In the kitchen, Zou Zhengting said something to Lin Xinhua that suddenly made the young man cry out excitedly several times.
A little later, after they finished washing the dishes, Lin Xinhua hurried over to Lin Zhaoyang.
“Sis, Brother Zou said he’s delivering goods to the countryside tomorrow. He’ll be passing through Auntie’s village, so he said he can take me there on the way.”
Lin Xinhua looked at her expectantly.
“Brother Zou comes home every evening after work anyway. If you need anything while I’m gone, just call him.”
Before he even finished, Lin Zhaoyang already knew exactly what he wanted.
“If you want to go, then go.”
She nodded in agreement.
Lin Zhaoyang had always gotten along well with her relatives on her grandmother’s side.
Well…
Everyone except her eldest aunt’s family.
Her younger aunt, Wang Fengyun, had married into a village not far from the provincial capital.
Every summer and winter vacation, Lin Xinhua would spend a couple of days there.
Their cousins were about his age, so they always had fun together.
There were cats to tease, dogs to chase, rivers to swim in, and mountains to climb.
For a city boy like Lin Xinhua, those were temptations he could never resist.
Lin Zhaoyang herself had often gone there when she was younger.
“Here, take five yuan.”
She pulled some money from her pocket and handed it to him.
“Don’t show up empty-handed. Buy some meat and fruit. If Auntie and Uncle ask about my marriage, just tell them the truth. Tell them not to worry about me. I’ll visit them when I have time.”
“Thanks, Sis!”
Knowing it was only proper to bring gifts when visiting relatives, Lin Xinhua happily accepted the money.
“I’ll go home and put this away first, then hang out with some classmates nearby. I’ll be back before nine-thirty.”
With his sister’s permission, Lin Xinhua bounced away, waving the money happily in his hand.
Zou Zhengting carried out two chairs.
He sat in one, while placing a bag of sunflower seeds on the other.
Lin Zhaoyang shot him a sideways glance.
“You deliberately sent my brother away. What are you plotting?”
Lin Xinhua, who hadn’t yet experienced the tricks of the adult world, really believed it was just a coincidence.
Lin Zhaoyang, however, wasn’t fooled for a second.
Zou Zhengting merely chuckled softly.
He neither denied it nor explained.
Of course he had deliberately sent Lin Xinhua away.
If he didn’t, how else was he supposed to create an opportunity for a romantic evening alone with Lin Zhaoyang?
“I won’t make it back by noon tomorrow. Just reheat tonight’s leftovers for lunch. What do you want to eat tomorrow evening? I’ll cook for you.”
As he spoke, he slipped the key to his house into the pocket of Lin Zhaoyang’s pants before casually shelling sunflower seeds.
He didn’t eat the kernels himself.
Instead, he neatly placed them onto a clean little plate.
Lin Zhaoyang watched him for two seconds before reaching over and eating all the shelled sunflower seeds.
The moment he asked what she wanted for dinner tomorrow, she immediately understood why he had arranged for Lin Xinhua to go to the countryside.
If Lin Xinhua stayed home, he’d cook for her.
If she had someone to cook for her, she would never have a reason to come over to Zou Zhengting’s place.
Before Lin Zhaoyang could answer, Wang Fenglan’s voice suddenly came from the neighboring courtyard.
“Zhaoyang!”
Lin Zhaoyang quickly stood up, opened the gate, and answered,
“Mom, I’m over here. Why did you come?”
Wang Fenglan instinctively glanced toward the neighboring yard.
“Were you just with Zou Zhengting?”
“Yeah. Xinhua and I had dinner at his place tonight.”
Wang Fenglan took her daughter’s hand and led her toward the living room.
As they walked, she said,
“Zou Zhengting hasn’t divorced Lin Ni yet. He’s still your cousin-in-law. It’s not appropriate for you two to be getting so close.”
“You’re right, Mom.”
Lin Zhaoyang was always obedient in front of Wang Fenglan.
Whatever her mother said, she agreed with.
Next door, Zou Zhengting had been secretly listening the whole time.
The words hit him like a knife to the heart.
He immediately made up his mind.
Later tonight, he’d go inform Lin Ni that for every extra day she delayed the divorce…
the price would go up by another one hundred yuan.