Lin Yujiao’s voice trembled as she spoke.
“I, I’m not hurt. There… there are thieves in the house.”
Village Chief Lin hurried over. Seeing how frightened and unsettled Lin Yujiao looked, he quickly asked, “Yujiao, where are the thieves?”
Lin Yujiao raised her eyes and glanced toward Eldest Aunt Lin and Youngest Aunt Lin, who were standing among the villagers.
That single glance made both women’s hearts lurch.
They had been waiting all night for a signal from Li Demin and Lin Shengli, ready to rush over as soon as the time was right.
But what was going on now?
This was nothing like the plan!
Youngest Aunt Lin had a sinking feeling. Just like their scheme to make Lin Yujiao fall into the water that day, tonight’s plan had probably failed as well.
What she didn’t know was that things were about to get much worse.
A provocative smile flickered across Lin Yujiao’s lips, so faint that only the two women noticed it. Then she turned to the villagers.
“I, I’ll take you inside… I didn’t dare light the lamp, so I don’t know how many thieves there are.”
Everyone immediately nodded.
“Quickly, take us inside. Thieves like that deserve a good beating!”
Auntie Cuihua spoke anxiously, “Lin Dajun and his wife have only just passed away. Someone must have realized Yujiao was alone and decided to target her family. Village Chief, you have to help Yujiao.”
Village Chief Lin nodded solemnly. “I will.”
As Eldest Aunt Lin and Youngest Aunt Lin listened to the villagers condemning the thieves, their unease grew stronger.
Both women desperately wanted to get inside and see whether the men lying in wait were Li Demin and Lin Shengli.
They soon got their answer.
The moment everyone saw the two men lying on the ground, cries of shock rang out.
Two men lay sprawled across the floor. Each had a wound on his head nearly as wide as the mouth of a bowl, with blood still trickling from it. There were also several bloodstains on their bodies, making it impossible to tell where else they might have been injured.
One of the rooms in Lin Yujiao’s house stood wide open.
Everything inside had been thrown across the floor. At a glance, anyone could tell that thieves had rummaged through the room.
Lin Yujiao’s room, however, had only been opened halfway. Nothing inside appeared disturbed.
The villagers began forming their own conclusions.
They looked at Lin Yujiao in astonishment.
“Did… did you beat them like this?”
Lin Yujiao lowered her gaze toward the two men.
Before she could answer, Eldest Aunt Lin and Youngest Aunt Lin had already rushed forward.
“Shengli!”
“Demin! What happened to you?”
The two women turned the unconscious men over, revealing their faces.
Only then did the villagers recognize them.
“Isn’t that Lin Shengli?”
“Wait, what’s going on? Lin Shengli came to Lin Yujiao’s house to steal?”
“Li Demin is here too! Why are the two of them together?”
Village Chief Lin frowned.
Whatever else had happened, the two men appeared badly injured. He immediately sent someone to fetch the village’s barefoot doctor.
Auntie Cuihua planted her hands on her hips and began cursing at the top of her lungs.
“You rotten, black-hearted people! What kind of cousin sneaks into his own younger cousin’s house to steal from her? So this is how your Lin family treats Yujiao? I’ve truly seen everything now!”
With every curse Auntie Cuihua hurled at them, the contempt in the villagers’ eyes grew stronger.
Stealing from one’s own kin?
It would already have been shameful enough if the thieves were outsiders, but Lin Shengli was Yujiao’s own paternal cousin!
Eldest Aunt Lin and Youngest Aunt Lin, however, had no attention to spare for the villagers’ condemnation.
Eldest Aunt Lin glared viciously at Lin Yujiao, her eyes nearly bulging with rage.
“What did you do to our Shengli? You tried to kill him!”
Youngest Aunt Lin immediately joined in, shrieking, “You little wretch! How dare you beat Demin like this!”
Village Chief Lin glanced at the two unconscious men.
Their injuries did appear serious.
He turned to Lin Yujiao with a puzzled expression.
“Yujiao, what happened here?”
Lin Yujiao had already expected them to question her.
The wounds on the men’s heads had been deliberately inflicted with a teapot to conceal any signs that they had been incapacitated by an electric shock.
“I, I don’t know either. I didn’t light the lamp. I didn’t know it was them.”
Lin Yujiao put on a frightened expression.
“I hit them a couple of times with the teapot, and then… then they fainted. I was so scared. Village Chief Lin, Auntie Cuihua…”
Village Chief Lin believed her.
Lin Yujiao was only a young woman. Faced with two men breaking into her home in the middle of the night, being able to protect herself was already remarkable.
He had no intention of blaming her for it.
Instead, Village Chief Lin’s expression turned cold as he addressed Eldest Aunt Lin and Youngest Aunt Lin.
“We all saw that there wasn’t a single lamp burning when we came in. How could she possibly have known who the thieves were? What you should be doing now is explaining why these two were inside her house in the middle of the night.”
Eldest Aunt Lin clenched her teeth.
“This is Shengli’s Second Uncle’s house. Why shouldn’t he be allowed to come here? Lin Yujiao deliberately attacked him! If anything happens to Shengli, I’ll make her pay!”
Youngest Aunt Lin immediately echoed the same argument.
Auntie Cuihua was so furious that her face turned pale.
“Good, very good! You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you? Who comes to his younger cousin’s house in the middle of the night and rummages through her belongings? If that doesn’t make him a thief, then what does?”
Lin Yujiao knew perfectly well that no one would believe Eldest Aunt Lin’s ridiculous excuse, so there was no reason for her to become angry.
She gently patted Auntie Cuihua’s hand before stepping forward.
“Village Chief Lin, let’s report this to the Public Security Bureau. I need to clear my name.”
Village Chief Lin stared at her.
“Are you certain?”
“I’m certain.”
The determination in Lin Yujiao’s eyes made Village Chief Lin pause.
This child truly intended to sever all ties with the Lin family.
He looked at the four people before him and understood that Lin Yujiao’s decision was not wrong.
Even if they didn’t report the matter to Public Security, the grudge between them had already grown too deep to resolve.
“All right. Since you’ve made up your mind, then we’ll…”
“No!”
Youngest Aunt Lin hurriedly interrupted him.
“We can’t report this to Public Security!”
She knew exactly why Li Demin had come here tonight.
If Public Security truly investigated the matter, he might end up being locked away.
Li Demin was the only male heir of their Li family.
Nothing could happen to him!
Eldest Aunt Lin was equally opposed to involving Public Security.
Village Chief Lin shook his head.
“That isn’t for the two of you to decide.”
“Village Chief, you can’t! We cannot report this to Public Security!”
An elderly man’s voice suddenly came from behind the crowd.
An old man walked forward, staring at Lin Yujiao with undisguised disgust.
Lin Yujiao narrowed her eyes.
She recognized him.
This old man was Lin Yujiao’s grandfather.
Two middle-aged men and three younger men followed behind him.
They were Lin Yujiao’s eldest paternal uncle and youngest paternal uncle, Eldest Uncle Lin’s eldest son, and Youngest Uncle Lin’s two sons.
Auntie Cuihua immediately sneered.
“Oh, so the moment someone mentions reporting this to Public Security, all of you suddenly appear? Where were you earlier?”
If the situation had not been so serious, Lin Yujiao would have gladly waved a banner and cheered for Auntie Cuihua.
Well said!
Wasn’t that exactly what had happened?
Lin Yujiao refused to believe that these people knew nothing about everything that had happened over the past few days.
When she was the one in trouble, not one of them had appeared.
Yet the moment she wanted to report the matter to Public Security, every last one of them suddenly emerged.
So these were the Lin family’s so-called relatives.
Lin Yujiao couldn’t help feeling that the original owner and her father had been terribly wronged.
When Lin Dajun was alive, he had always been a filial son.
He had never failed to provide money for his parents’ support, and during festivals and important occasions, he had never been stingy with gifts or filial offerings.
Whenever his two brothers needed help, he had helped whenever he could.
Yet the moment he died, these people swarmed toward everything he had left behind like maggots crawling over rotting flesh.
Old Master Lin was a rigid, old-fashioned man.
He stared sternly at Lin Yujiao.
“We are all one family. There is no need to involve Public Security. I will make the decision. This matter ends here.”
“Father, we can’t just let this go!”
Eldest Aunt Lin gritted her teeth.
Lin Yujiao had dared to beat Shengli so badly. There was no chance she would simply forget about it.
Old Master Lin glanced at Lin Yujiao.
“Indeed. As the younger cousin, Lin Yujiao should not have beaten her elder cousin so severely. Take out some money and compensate your Cousin Shengli.”
Youngest Aunt Lin’s eyes darted around before she suddenly called out, “What about Demin, Father?”
Old Master Lin had never thought much of someone like Li Demin and had no desire to answer.
But Youngest Aunt Lin didn’t even wait for his response.
She continued making her demands.
“Demin was found lying inside her house in the middle of the night, so she has to take responsibility. Our Demin will reluctantly agree to marry her.”
Even now, Youngest Aunt Lin had not abandoned her plan to make Lin Yujiao marry Li Demin.
There was nothing else she could do.
With her nephew’s circumstances, none of those women who dreamed of a better life were willing to marry him.
Lin Yujiao, however, was perfect.
She was even a high school student.
If Demin married her and brought her home, his parents would surely be pleased.
Youngest Aunt Lin had watched the girl grow up. Lin Yujiao had been beautiful ever since she was little.
If she married Demin, then in the future, the two of them would surely give the Li family a handsome, chubby son.