Lady Li felt she had good intentions. As the two children slowly grew up, even though she felt Lin Qiong was somewhat lazy and overly pampered, because of the filter of her friendship with a lifelong confidante, she felt Lin Qiong was still quite good no matter how she looked at her.
The children were still young and would grow up slowly, after all.
Even if farm work was not his forte, the young couple could just do a little less farm work in the future. Her son had also been arranged to learn things from someone, giving him a way to earn a living in the future. As long as they were not extravagant and wasteful, they should be able to live a good life.
However, she never expected that while she poured her heart and soul out for Lin Qiong’s mother, the other party simply regarded her as a tool.
A few days ago, when her eldest son went hunting in the mountains and brought back some meat, she stewed it and thought about sending a portion over. But when she walked behind the window of Third Uncle Lin’s house and before she even had a chance to speak, she heard people talking inside. Because the conversation involved her own son, Lady Li did not make a sound.
And the result? Before she could even find fault with Lin Qiong, the couple was actually finding fault with her son for having a weak constitution, plotting to call off the engagement once they found a better match.
They claimed that their own ge’er was blessed and should have something much better in the future.
Not only that, when Lin Qiong’s mother mentioned her—her lifelong confidante—it was with the attitude that she was stupid, easy to manipulate, and deserved it.
Lady Li was instantly consumed with anger, marched right inside, and gave them a piece of her mind. She was not a fiery person by nature, and after scolding them for a while, she ran out of words, leaving behind only a single sentence calling off the engagement before returning home. Originally, this matter had merely been an oral agreement between the two sides, and while the entire village knew about it, no actual betrothal gifts or tokens had been deliberately exchanged.
However, Third Uncle Lin and his wife were unwilling to accept this statement. After all, they knew their own child well; finding a suitable partner was not easy, and Xu Qiu was practically the best option within their current reach.
Therefore, Lin Qiong’s mother hurried over to speak with Lady Li. The mouths of the Lin family couple were truly as eloquent as lotus flowers blooming from their tongues, and they were exceptionally smooth talkers.
Lady Li was not someone skilled in these matters, and she was talked into a dizzy spell by their continuous chatter. Before she knew it, she had flusteredly agreed not to call off the engagement, listening to arguments like “adults are adults and children are children; the two shouldn’t be lumped together,” and so on.
She regretted it the moment she agreed, but Third Uncle Lin and his wife hurried away the second she gave her consent, leaving her no chance to retract it.
Lady Li felt stifled inside, knowing she had been fooled once more. But after the anger subsided, she still cared about the fact that the other party was a young ge’er whose reputation would suffer if the engagement were easily broken off. Therefore, she didn’t publicize the matter. Yet she still hadn’t figured out what to do next—marrying him into the family was now absolute out of the question.
Xu Qiu was well aware of all these occurrences, which was why he wasn’t in a rush regarding his marriage to Lin Qiong. Deep down, he knew clearly that this arrangement could never work out.
Nor did he need to take the initiative to shoulder the blame himself.
First of all, his mother would never agree to marry Lin Qiong. Secondly, the protagonist crossed over, and as the fiancé, he held no positive feelings whatsoever for Lin Qiong. Moreover, he had already met the protagonist, experienced love at first sight with him, and both sides held mutual affection—though it hadn’t yet reached complete mutual devotion, it probably wouldn’t take long.
When that time came, the marriage would naturally be called off.
While mother and son were talking, the battle on the Lin family’s side also escalated. Old Madam Lin was not someone easy to mess with; furthermore, there was a saying in the village that “under the stick grows a filial child,” making beating children far too common. Even Xu Qiu had been beaten several times when he was mischievous as a child. Over there, Old Madam Lin was furious that Lin Qu actually dared to criticize her precious darling grandson, so she immediately went to grab a stick.
She said angrily, “Your third uncle’s family has only one child—your cousin. He is a ge’er and will sooner or later be married off; he has less than two years left at home now. What’s wrong with him eating something good? Won’t your third uncle’s family assets be left to you all in the future?”
“In the entire family, your household has the most children and eats the most. Xiao Qiong is just one person and eats very little; now that he’s like this, doesn’t it just balance out with the three of you?”
“At such a young age, you fail to learn well, your mind is as narrow as a needle’s eye, and you’re filled with calculations. Why don’t you calculate whether your third uncle and his wife will spend the decades of their future earnings entirely on your two younger brothers after Xiao Qiong marries out?”
Lin Qu sneered, “Who would believe that kind of talk? For so many years, the physical labor Third Uncle and Third Aunt put in might not even be enough to support themselves, let alone feed a son who lives like a young master from town.”
“Besides, Lin Qiong eats plenty! From childhood until now, an egg every single day is an absolute must, and he’s the only one who frequently gets to eat white rice. New clothes, new hair ribbons, and new jewelry—every year they are different without repeating. With just his expenses, I reckon my two younger brothers and I wouldn’t eat that much even if we ate to our hearts’ content.”
“What’s more, Big Uncle has children in this family too. Why must Third Uncle and Third Aunt’s savings from their later years go to my younger cousin?”
“With those two personalities, could they even have savings? It’s a blessing if they don’t desperately squeeze money out of us to subsidize Lin Qiong. The burden of supporting them in their old age will most likely fall on my brothers anyway.”
Lin Qu had let go of his inhibitions during this period. He knew the family was preparing to find a match for him in marriage, but he didn’t want to be married off casually.
He already had someone he liked.
Even though that person was his cousin’s fiancé.
Yet, why on earth did his cousin deserve such a wonderful person?
Of course, he didn’t feel worthy of him either.
He simply added this to his list of reasons for disliking Lin Qiong.
He didn’t know what he should do, but instinctively, he didn’t want to get married off this early. As for his reputation—if he wasn’t marrying that person, what importance did a reputation hold? At the very least, this could allow him to stay in the village a little longer and gaze at the other person for a while more.
Watching the person he detested joyfully marry the object of his own affection was something he simply could not do.
He also couldn’t understand why there were such people in the world. Clearly, they belonged to the same family, yet Lin Qiong never had to do anything or learn anything since childhood; it seemed as though everything was automatically brought and offered to him on a silver platter.
While he himself had nothing.
His words were utterly piercing. The villagers nearby who had come to watch the commotion at the Lin family household nodded along, feeling deep internal agreement. In truth, the villagers also found Old Madam Lin’s extreme pampering of a single ge’er completely incomprehensible. As for Old Madam Lin’s claim that Lin Qiong was a blessed person, they felt none of it whatsoever.
They didn’t see how the Lin family was blessed in any way.
Though Lin Qiong himself was probably blessed; if anyone lived in an ordinary family like this, never having to work their entire life while being completely provided for, that truly would be quite blessed.
Old Madam Lin had always used this rhetoric to brainwash her family members, having already brought both of her sons into complete obedience. Now, having her facade pierced straight through by Lin Qu, she was truly flying into a rage, snatching up her stick and rushing forward to beat him.
“I’ll teach you to talk nonsense and talk back to your elders!”
“Is an elder someone whose actions you can casually judge? I, this old woman, worked hard to raise three sons, and now I can’t even let a grandson eat a little better?”
Lin Qu wasn’t stupid, of course; he certainly wouldn’t stand there and refuse to dodge. He knew his words lacked the proper respect, but if the other party hadn’t gone too far, he wouldn’t have acted this way either.
Stubborn as he was, he wasn’t someone devoid of conscience.
The houses in the village did not have front courtyards built to block the view—that was far too extravagant—so Lin Qu bolted straight outside. Running halfway, he saw ahead was the Xu family’s house and instantly reacted, wanting to change direction.
He did not want Xu Qiu to see him looking so pathetic.
Yet the next moment, his gaze locked with Xu Qiu’s. Lin Qu’s face flushed bright red in an instant. Behind him was the brawling old woman brandishing a stick to beat him, while ahead of him was the object of his affection.
He liked the other person, yet the other person probably only regarded him as an acquaintance he wasn’t very familiar with.
Overwhelmed with mortification, Lin Qu shed a tear, turned his head away, and quickly ran off.