The moment Lin Yujiao said those words, everyone around her felt a chill run down their backs.
Auntie Cuihua looked at her with heartache.
“Poor child, you’ve suffered so much. The heavens have eyes. May they take away every one of these rotten-hearted people!”
Lin Yujiao gave her a grateful look.
Auntie Cuihua had truly done her a great favor.
Sure enough, the surrounding villagers were now looking at Lin Yujiao with sympathy.
It wasn’t that this girl had no respect for her elders.
Her elders simply weren’t behaving like decent human beings.
“Make way! Make way! The village head is here!”
As the shouts rang out, the village head of Linjia Village arrived.
Village Chief Lin immediately noticed the kitchen cleaver in Lin Yujiao’s hand.
They had already reached the point of drawing a blade.
This was going to be troublesome.
“Someone tell me what happened here.”
Lin Yujiao didn’t even need to speak.
Auntie Cuihua and the surrounding villagers immediately began explaining everything, each person adding a few words here and there.
Before long, Village Chief Lin understood the situation.
He looked at the two women on the ground with undisguised distaste.
“You two, get up.”
The eldest and youngest aunts-in-law glanced nervously at Lin Yujiao.
They scrambled to their feet and immediately retreated several steps, putting as much distance between themselves and Lin Yujiao as possible.
Village Chief Lin turned to her.
“Yujiao, put the cleaver down. Whatever happened, we can talk it through.”
Lin Yujiao saw the genuine concern in his eyes, and some of the tension in her heart eased.
From the original owner’s memories, Village Chief Lin had been on good terms with Lin Dajun.
He probably wouldn’t try to harm her.
Still, Lin Yujiao merely lowered the cleaver.
She did not hand it over.
Village Chief Lin frowned slightly.
It seemed the child no longer trusted him very much.
He sighed.
Then again, he could hardly blame her.
When even her own relatives were treating her this way, how could anyone expect her to trust others so easily?
Village Chief Lin turned toward the two women.
“You two, tell me. Is what Yujiao said true? Did you try to force her to give up her house and marry someone against her will?”
The youngest aunt-in-law clutched her bleeding arm and shrank back, not daring to speak.
The eldest aunt-in-law immediately burst into tears.
“Village Head, that’s not what happened! I only asked her to lend the house to her elder cousin so he could get married. I never told her to give it away.”
Auntie Cuihua spat in disgust.
“Bah! Who are you trying to fool? You call that borrowing? It’s only borrowing if you actually intend to return it!”
The surrounding villagers nodded.
Everyone understood perfectly well how much trickery was hidden behind that single word, “borrow.”
The eldest aunt-in-law saw that her excuse wasn’t working and hardened her expression.
“So what if we want the house for him? Her elder cousin is Dajun’s nephew. He’s a male descendant of the Lin family! Are you saying this house should be left to some little girl instead?”
“Whose family leaves a house to a daughter who’s going to marry out?”
This time, the villagers fell silent.
They couldn’t really argue with that.
In their experience, families truly did not leave houses to daughters.
Lin Yujiao stared at her eldest aunt-in-law.
This woman was much cleverer than the youngest aunt-in-law.
With only a few sentences, she had already managed to shift the mood of the crowd.
“Eldest Aunt, this is a new society now. Men and women are equal. No matter what you say, I have the right to inherit my father’s house.”
Lin Yujiao paused before continuing.
“Besides, when did I ever say I was going to take this house and marry into someone else’s family? I’ve already said I can find a man willing to marry into mine. Our children can carry the Lin surname. Wouldn’t that make them my father’s descendants?”
Lin Yujiao had always been good at adapting to her surroundings.
There was no point arguing over ideas these people wouldn’t accept.
Their entire argument rested on the assumption that she would eventually marry out of the Lin family.
Fine.
Then she simply wouldn’t marry out.
She could have a husband marry into her household instead.
What could they say to that?
“No!”
Her eldest aunt-in-law immediately objected.
“Who knows whether the man you bring in will try to swallow up everything your family owns…”
Her words suddenly stopped.
Lin Yujiao looked at her with a half smile.
The meaning in her eyes couldn’t have been clearer.
Aren’t you trying to do exactly that?
Her eldest aunt-in-law’s face stiffened.
“In any case, it won’t do!”
Lin Yujiao stopped arguing with her and turned toward the person who could actually settle the matter.
“Village Chief Lin, what do you think?”
Village Chief Lin looked at her with a hint of admiration.
This girl was clever.
“If I remember correctly, your three households divided the family property more than ten years ago, didn’t you?”
He looked at the Lin women.
“You’re separate households. What does Lin Dajun’s house have to do with either of your families?”
The eldest aunt-in-law hurriedly said, “That’s not how you should look at it…”
“You don’t need to give me any of that.”
Village Chief Lin cut her off.
“The nation has its laws, and every family has its rules. As long as Lin Yujiao’s household registration remains in Linjia Village, this house belongs to her. No one is allowed to seize it.”
Lin Yujiao immediately followed up.
“Village Chief Lin, what about my marriage? Isn’t marriage supposed to be freely chosen now? No one can force me to marry, right?”
Village Chief Lin nodded.
Then he looked sternly at the two women.
“That’s right. No matter who it is, forcing someone into marriage is against the law.”
Lin Yujiao continued, “Village Chief Lin, I don’t want to marry Li Demin. But what if my youngest aunt goes around telling everyone that something happened between him and me? Wouldn’t that be another way of forcing me?”
The eldest and youngest aunts-in-law simultaneously raised their heads and stared at her.
This wretched girl!
She had even thought of that?
They had already discussed it.
Even though Lin Yujiao had escaped yesterday, as long as rumors spread that her chastity had been compromised, what other choice would she have?
In their minds, she would eventually be forced to marry Li Demin anyway.
Village Chief Lin saw their expressions.
That alone told him Lin Yujiao’s concern was very likely justified.
His gaze turned cold.
“If anyone deliberately spreads malicious rumors, I absolutely will not tolerate it!”
He rarely spoke so harshly.
The two women, who had still been harboring schemes in their hearts, immediately lowered their heads.
Village Chief Lin then looked around at the gathered villagers.
“Dajun and his wife are gone. Yujiao is a young woman left all alone. This is exactly when our village should be looking after her.”
“As the village head, I will never stand by and allow anyone to bully her.”
His expression became grave.
“And all of you should think carefully. Bullying an orphaned young woman, forcing her into marriage, spreading rumors about her reputation, if word of something like this gets out, who would still dare arrange a marriage with a family from our village?”
The villagers immediately came to their senses.
“That’s right. This is too ugly. If people outside hear about it, what will happen to our village’s reputation?”
“My son is about to start discussing marriage with another family. We can’t let something like this ruin his prospects!”
Auntie Cuihua immediately joined in.
“Exactly! Imagine going outside and someone asks me, ‘Aren’t you from that Linjia Village?’ Aiya, I’d be too ashamed to admit it!”
Lin Yujiao silently praised her.
Auntie Cuihua, wonderful!
The other villagers immediately became anxious.
“That won’t do!”
“Village Head, we absolutely can’t let this spread outside!”
Village Chief Lin looked around at everyone’s expressions with satisfaction.
Now that the matter affected the reputation and marriage prospects of the entire village, his point had been made.
He turned back toward the two Lin daughters-in-law and gave them a stern reprimand.
“Forget about Yujiao’s house. Neither of you is getting it. As for whom she marries, neither of you has any right to decide.”
“Now, apologize to Yujiao!”
“If Yujiao is willing to let this matter go, then we’ll end it here. If she refuses, I’ll report this matter to the higher authorities. Then the two of you can go and undergo labor reform!”
The two women paled when they heard that he intended to report them.
They had no idea whether what they had done was truly serious enough to break the law.
But since the village head himself had said so, they were genuinely frightened.
The two women turned toward Lin Yujiao.
Their teeth were practically grinding with resentment.
“Sorry.”
Lin Yujiao looked at them calmly.
“I hope you truly understand what you did wrong. For my parents’ sake, I won’t pursue the matter any further.”
Of course, the real reason was that there wasn’t much she could pursue.
She knew Village Chief Lin was deliberately frightening them.
Even the most upright official would struggle to settle every dispute within a family.
The affairs of the Lin clan were too tangled to be resolved so easily.
Before long, the villagers began dispersing.
Before leaving, Village Chief Lin looked back at Lin Yujiao.
“If anything happens, come find me.”
Lin Yujiao nodded.
“I understand. Thank you, Village Chief Lin.”
Village Chief Lin shook his head and sighed.
“Take good care of yourself. If your parents are watching from the heavens, they would want to see you living well.”
There was only so much he could do for Lin Yujiao.
Even as village head, he couldn’t remain beside her every moment of the day.
Who knew what would become of this child?
As he walked away, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
He had three sons at home.
Perhaps…
He could send one of them to marry into Yujiao’s household?
The more he considered it, the more reasonable it seemed.
He would have to discuss it with his old wife when he returned home.
Lin Yujiao had no idea that Village Chief Lin was already making plans for her future.
She was busy thinking about her own next steps.
There was no possibility of giving the house to those people.
As for finding a husband to marry into her household, she had only said that to shut them up.
She had absolutely no intention of getting married.
There was also Lin Dajun’s factory position to consider.
He had been a skilled technician at the machinery factory.
Lin Yujiao doubted she could perform that kind of work.
More importantly, she had no interest in it.
Perhaps she could exchange the position with someone else?
If she handled it properly, maybe she could obtain a job she actually liked.
By the time Lin Yujiao returned home, Old Madam Lin was already gone.
She had just closed the door when a voice suddenly came from outside.
“Yujiao?”
“Yujiao, are you home?”