While the family was eating with great enjoyment, another quarrel broke out next door.
Old Mrs. Lin was advanced in years, but her voice remained exceptionally loud.
Li’s expression tightened, and she quickly snatched a piece of meat to put in her bowl. “You all eat slowly. Mother is going over to see what’s happening next door.”
With that, she picked up her bowl and walked briskly toward the door.
When it came to watching drama unfold, Li always approached it with immense enthusiasm.
Before long, a whole string of people was squatting right behind Li.
Li:
Actually, there was no need to listen; the villagers could easily guess what was happening. If the Lin family was stirring up trouble, most of the time it was because Lin Qu and Lin Lao-san’s family were clashing, or because Lin Qiong and Old Mrs. Lin were arguing. A small portion of the time, it was a conflict between the eldest son’s branch and Lin Lao-san’s family.
The status of the eldest son’s branch in the Lin family was lower than Lin Qiong’s, but compared to Lin Qiong’s parents, Lin Lao-san and his wife, it wasn’t low at all.
After all, they were the eldest branch, and Old Mrs. Lin would eventually rely on them to support her in her old age.
To a certain extent, Old Mrs. Lin still had to show some consideration for the eldest son.
Sometimes, when Lin Lao-san and his wife tried to take advantage of the eldest son’s family, the eldest daughter-in-law would kick up a fuss.
This time, the center of attention was Lin Qu.
After listening for a short while, the group realized this round of fighting was not particularly surprising. The root cause was once again that Lin Lao-san’s wife had pushed her cooking and dishwashing duties onto Lin Qu’s mother for the umpteenth time. Cooking duties in the Lin family were originally supposed to be rotated among the three daughters-in-law, but ever since marrying into the family, Lin Lao-san’s wife had dragged her feet and failed to do a single thing right.
Almost every time it was her turn to cook, something went wrong.
Either the food turned out unpalatable, with the rice undercooked, burnt, or overly salted, so that by the time the whole family returned from working in the fields, she still hadn’t finished making dinner; or else she claimed her body ached everywhere.
Then she would rope Lin Qu’s mother in to help.
Since Lin Lao-san’s wife was a relative from Old Mrs. Lin’s maternal family, Old Mrs. Lin usually turned a blind eye to her antics. With the entire family working hard all day, no one wanted to eat poorly prepared food, so just to keep up appearances, Lin Lao-san’s wife and Lin Qu’s mother were paired up in the kitchen.
That was how the arrangement went, and it sounded like it should allow them to return earlier to cook and spend less time at it.
Lin Qu had endured this for the sake of peace in the past.
However, this time, while out working in the fields, Lin Lao-san and his wife had once again found an excuse to slip away, leaving all the physical labor to Lin Qu’s parents. When they returned, Lin Qu’s mother was busy cooking and cleaning up, while Lin Lao-san’s wife merely sat by the stove to tend the fire, and even then, she didn’t stay put, wandering away from the stove two or three times during a single meal.
Once a dozen family members finished eating and it was time to wash the bowls, Lin Lao-san’s wife slammed a bowl down, squatted down to pick up the shards, and then stood right back up while clutching her hand, claiming she was injured.
Just like that, the dishes couldn’t be washed.
Watching every single chore fall upon his mother’s shoulders yet again, Lin Qu naturally felt deeply unsettled. Having spent years dealing with Lin Lao-san and his wife’s endless tricks to shirk work, he stepped forward and demanded to inspect Lin Lao-san’s wife’s wound.
After all, faking an injury to take a few days off was something this couple was entirely capable of pulling off.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t done it before.
Naturally, Lin Lao-san’s wife refused. Furthermore, she held a strong animosity toward Lin Qu. The heads of the household, including the eldest branch, basically tacitly acquiesced to her and her husband’s behavior at home, leaving only Lin Qu, who had continued to nitpick over these matters ever since he was old enough to understand things.
Time and time again, he had turned the household into a noisy mess, and with villagers already whispering that their third branch was full of good-for-nothings, there was no way she could possibly like Lin Qu.
Possessing a sharp tongue and a prickly personality, Lin Lao-san’s wife immediately cursed Lin Qu right back into silence, then began accusing Lin Qu’s mother of secretly pocketing choice food items while cooking.
If anyone else had been accused, the charge might actually have held true. For instance, the eldest daughter-in-law, Qi, frequently hid portions of food during cooking to feed her own son, and would even skim off a bit of rice to save and take back to her maternal family. But leveling such a claim against Lin Qu’s mother, Wang, was entirely a case of judging a noble heart with a petty mind.
Wang would never dare pull such a stunt.
Besides, Old Mrs. Lin kept a tight guard; whenever any of the daughters-in-law returned to cook, the old lady would tag along, frequently appearing silently at the kitchen doorway to stare them down.
Furious, Lin Qu argued back, and the Lin household erupted into a full-scale shouting match once more.
Since he was a junior and Lin Lao-san’s wife was his elder, Old Mrs. Lin seized upon the fact that he was disrespecting his elders to tear into him.
Somehow, the argument escalated to the topic of dividing the family property, which instantly drove Old Mrs. Lin into a rage against Lin Qu.
“Your grandmother is still breathing, and already you’re plotting to split up the family! With an unfilial wretch like you, your mother should have drowned you the moment you were born!”
“Wang, Lao-er, is this how you two usually teach your Ge’er?”
The old lady glared angrily at her son and daughter-in-law with her sharp, triangular eyes.
Terrified out of their wits, Lin Guangfu and Wang nearly dropped to their knees. “Mother, no, we never even thought about splitting the family. Xiao Qu was just running his mouth; he didn’t mean it.”
Old Mrs. Lin bellowed, “If you two hadn’t been whispering about it in front of him, how would he even know the phrase split the family?”
Lin Guangfu and Wang could only shake their heads, lacking the eloquence to figure out how to explain themselves.
The topic of dividing the family was something their Ge’er had brought up ever since he was small. As for why, it was entirely because he felt heartbroken seeing his parents suffer such hardship at home, thinking how wonderful it would be if they could live independently.
They guessed he must have picked the phrase up from hearing the villagers talk.
Seeing the terrified expressions on the couple’s faces, Old Mrs. Lin roughly understood that dividing the family wasn’t actually Lao-er and his wife’s idea. Thinking this, the anger in her chest subsided slightly.
When she first heard Lin Qu say those words, she had assumed the second branch had grown too ambitious.
Still, she delivered a stern warning: “Whether you want it or not, as long as your father and I are still breathing, don’t even dream about dividing the family.”
She sneered coldly, “And as for you, just a mere Ge’er who will be married off sooner rather than later, yet you dare instigate your parents to split the household. Ever since you were little, you’ve been the one turning this family upside down, and today you even dare to talk back to your elders and commit unfilial acts.”
“Third branch’s wife, go invite the clan leader and elders over right now. I want to see what kind of reasoning allows a little Ge’er to instigate his parents into dividing a family.”
Splitting a family was no minor matter. According to traditional ethics and laws, a family could not be divided while the parents were still alive. Since she, the elder, hadn’t uttered a word about it, yet a junior had proposed it, no matter how anyone tried to spin it, the fault lay squarely with Lin Qu.
Li, eavesdropping from the side, let out a sigh. “Looks like that little Ge’er Lin Qu is in big trouble today. The old lady finally caught a golden opportunity and won’t let him off easily.”
Xu Qiu’s heart sank slightly as well.
In the Lin household, while Lin Lao-er’s family and Lin Qu enjoyed plenty of sympathy from the villagers, once the issue of dividing the family was brought out into the open by Lin Qu, even those who sympathized with him would largely feel he had crossed a line.
Moreover, the collective attitude toward the matter was extremely stern.
Interests were deeply intertwined; once a precedent for dividing a family was set, things would become immensely difficult to manage.
Breaking established rules was never easy, especially in an era like this.
Having memories of his past life, Xu Qiu naturally wouldn’t take these rigid frameworks seriously, and seeing Lin Qu cornered like this made him genuinely pity the boy.
And in the future, the boy would only suffer even more misery.
Over at the Lin family’s yard, upon hearing this instruction, Lin Lao-san’s wife brightened up instantly and announced loudly, “Understood, Mother! I’ll go right now.”
Seeing this, Lin Qiong secretly tugged at his mother’s sleeve with a feeling of quiet embarrassment. He knew very well that in this household, his own parents were the ultimate vile characters, and naturally, he was counted among them. While his actions fell short of fairness and justice, refusing to join his peers in heavy farm labor, he at least retained enough sense to tell right from wrong.
Today’s incident was entirely his mother’s fault. He was willing to bet everything that his mother’s hand had never even been scratched by a broken bowl shard; she had simply manufactured an excuse to get out of working.
If he were Lin Qu, enduring that kind of treatment day after day, let alone suggesting a family split, he’d feel like grabbing a knife and hacking someone to pieces. What Lin Qu did was entirely reasonable.
“Mother, don’t go,” he whispered under his breath.
Zhao yanked her sleeve away, filled with inner admiration for how kind-hearted her precious son was, yet she had no intention of abandoning her plan.
She immediately turned and bolted toward the village.
Wang lunged forward in panic, dropping heavily onto her knees and wrapping both arms around Zhao’s thighs as she wailed tearfully to Old Mrs. Lin, “Mother, please don’t invite the clan leader and elders! We know we were wrong. You can make us do anything you want, just please don’t call the clan leaders over!”
Lin Guangfu dropped to his knees right beside her, both adults weeping uncontrollably.
The two younger children they had raised were also frightened into kneeling down, sobbing aloud together.
Watching his parents and younger brother kneeling on the ground, Lin Qu felt his eyes burn red with a fierce, suppressed wave of injustice, yet in the end, held back only by Wang’s frantic tugging, he too sank onto his knees.
He kept his head bowed as large tears rolled down his face.
However, the miserable scene of a family hugging each other and crying begged no sympathy from the onlookers. Zhao seized the opportunity and sprinted out of the yard.
Meanwhile, Old Mrs. Lin looked on with cold indifference, offering no sign of relenting.
Watching from afar, Li found her own eyes stinging with sympathy. How could wicked people continuously crush the good ones? Thinking of Zhao’s greedy face bullying others once more only fueled her irritation. “Dawan, hurry over to…”
Turning her head, she found her two elder sons still squatting beside her, but the youngest son had already vanished.
Li’s unfinished sentence choked off in her throat as she asked in puzzlement, “Where’s Sanwa?”
She distinctly remembered Xu Qiu squatting right behind her a moment ago.
Xu Sen calmly continued chewing on his food. “He left just a moment ago. Probably went to find Granduncle.”
Granduncle referred to the elder of their grandfather’s generation within the same clan, who also served as the village clan leader.
Xu Sen thought to himself that he never realized his younger brother was such a busybody who loved sticking his nose into other people’s affairs.
Li blinked in surprise. “Sanwa knows Lin Qu’s family?”
The two brothers shook their heads in unison. “No idea.”
“Maybe he just can’t stand injustice.”
Finding anyone in the entire village who could stomach Lin Lao-san’s family would truly be a miracle.
Li nodded, half-convinced, still unclear about what was actually happening. Even so, since the boy had already gone, that settled it.
When speaking before the clan leader, having Sanwa go was undoubtedly far more effective than sending Dawan. The only reason she had initially called for Dawan was because she worried Xu Qiu’s frail health wouldn’t hold up if he rushed over. But since Xu Qiu had already darted off ahead of time, it worked out even better.
Ever since Sanwa had helped regulate the clan leader’s health previously, the old clan leader clearly held a deep fondness for him, frequently sending gifts over to their house.
Even without that favor, the clan leader belonged to the Xu clan, sharing the same patriarchal lineage. Since their household also worked directly under the main clan branch, their relationship was considerably closer than that of ordinary villagers.
A short while later, Lin Lao-san’s wife returned with the clan leader and several respected clan elders in tow, accompanied by a chattering crowd of villagers who had caught wind of the commotion at the Lin residence and spent the entire walk discussing it in hushed tones. Seeing this, Li debated briefly with herself before trailing after the group; after all, watching drama up close made for a clearer view.
Xu Qiu, who had already returned from his errand, also walked over to join the gathering.
The group of elders arrived in front of the Lin family’s yard.
Advanced in age, with white hair and beards, clad in heavy traditional garments, they stood there and instantly projected an overwhelming, invisible pressure that silenced every whisper among the crowd. Even Old Mrs. Lin shed her previous arrogant demeanor, quickly motioning for someone to bring out a chair for the clan leader while she stood off to the side.
At the head of the group stood the clan leader, his expression stern with deep furrows carved between his brows, radiating an unapproachable severity. He broke the silence by demanding, “What is the meaning of all this commotion?”
Old Mrs. Lin instantly revived her performance, adopting the posture of a matriarch deeply wounded by unfilial descendants as she burst into tears and recounted the incident. “He is wishing for this old bag of bones to drop dead right now! Look at my age, I raised these children through all kinds of bitter hardships, and now that my sons have taken wives and given me grandchildren, this old wreck is suddenly considered useless!”
After finishing her tearful speech with choked sobs, she continued to whine softly.
To give credit where it was due, her tears were genuine, and she certainly looked pitiful. Had anyone not known her true character, Xu Qiu might genuinely have believed an innocent old woman was being bullied.
Seeing her weep so pitifully, many villagers instantly forgot how hateful she had been all these years, concluding that driving an old woman to such lengths was indeed a grave offense.
The clan leader frowned heavily. “Enough. Speak properly.”
Old Mrs. Lin gave a start, switching her performance to silent, mournful weeping.
“Let the rest of you speak.”
Wang raised her head, parting her lips to defend Lin Qu, but her jaw trembled so violently that not a single coherent word managed to pass her lips.
Lin Guangfu wore the exact same expression of helpless terror.
In the end, it was Lin Qu himself who spoke up. His face was stained with dried tear tracks, yet the young teenager knelt with his spine held rigidly straight, his gaze resolute. “The matter of splitting the family is something I blurted out only because Third Aunt drove me to my absolute limit.”
He succinctly summarized the events of the day. “In the past, Third Aunt frequently suffered from sprained ankles, injured hands, headaches, or general discomfort. Whenever work needed to be done, she and her husband would always vanish shortly after. Today, I simply noticed that there appeared to be no wound whatsoever on her hand, which was why I wanted to take a look.”
“After all, even though Third Aunt is an elder, who among us doesn’t feel heartache seeing their own parents pushed to the breaking point?”
At these words, Lin Qu’s tear-reddened eyes overflowed once more. His display of genuine, raw emotion carried far more authenticity and emotional impact than Old Mrs. Lin’s theatrical sobbing.