Chapter 63 Part 1

“Liu Yunfen, shut your mouth!”

Zhou Chunping was furious beyond measure and pointed a finger at the shrewish Liu Yunfen.

“You gave birth to her, sure, but have you ever loved her for a single day? Have you ever been a proper mother to her for even one day? I’m warning you—Huayan is my daughter. I gave her that name. She grew up eating my family’s food. What right do you have to call her an ungrateful wretch? What gives you the qualification to call her that?”

She glanced toward the door of a bedroom on the first floor, then continued, “And Lin Jiaguang, you two shameless old fools listen up. My daughter gave you a kidney. Lin Jiazhong has handed over no less than a hundred thousand yuan, off and on. Our family cleared the books with yours long ago. Nobody owes you a damn thing. From now on, don’t you dare try that moral blackmail crap with so-called past favors. I won’t buy it, and I won’t let them buy it either.”

Zhou Chunping cursed until she was short of breath.

Lin Huayan gently patted her back, wanting to persuade her that there was no need to waste words on them, but then she remembered how her mother had suffered so many grievances over the years because of that father-and-daughter pair, held under the thumb of the Liu Yunfen family. She held her tongue.

Some words were better vented than bottled up. It felt good to let it out. Liu Yunfen had already thrown her tantrum, so it was only fair to let her mother blow off some steam too.

No matter how Liu Yunfen wailed at heaven and earth or cursed her out, Lin Huayan remained calm and composed, watching coldly without a shred of heartache or any urge to argue back.

She had seen through their greedy, self-serving faces back in high school.

She held no hope, no feelings, for anyone in this family.

Lin Jiaguang had gone straight to his room to lie down and rest the moment he got home.

His health was poor, and after the exhaustion of going out, he had no energy left to quarrel with them. Even the banshee wails from Liu Yunfen fell on deaf ears.

Besides, that life-saving kidney of his had come from Lin Huayan. He bore that favor in mind, at least somewhat.

Staying out of it entirely, helping neither side—that was the way to squeeze out a few more years of life.

As for how Liu Yunfen made her scene, that was between her and Lin Huayan’s mother and daughter. He couldn’t control it, and he had no heart to try.

After catching her breath, Zhou Chunping spat venomously, “The heartless ones are your family, not ours!”

Liu Yunfen, who was used to Zhou Chunping’s usual mild-mannered ways, stood stunned for a good while before snapping back to herself. “Zhou Chunping, are you even speaking like a human being?”

She jabbed a finger at Lin Jiazhong and Lin Huayan, quibbling unreasonably, “Do you think what that father and daughter owe our family can be settled so easily?”

“Huayan, let’s go.” Zhou Chunping sneered and turned to head out the door.

There was no point talking to a crude woman like Liu Yunfen—no reasoning with her at all. It was like casting pearls before swine. No wonder her daughter had gone mute around them.

Cursing them out somehow felt even more frustrating than staying silent.

If Liu Yunfen hadn’t pushed her to the brink today, she would have kept playing the mute alongside her husband and daughter.

“Stop right there!”

Liu Yunfen lunged forward to block them. “Where do you think you’re going? Once you step through the Lin family door, you’re Lin family. Lin Huayan, you might not acknowledge us, but you and your little brother share the same Lin blood. Sacrificing a bit for the Lin descendants, planning for their future—that’s only natural and right.”

Fearing Liu Yunfen might go berserk and hurt her mother, Lin Huayan stepped in front of her.

With steady calm, she said, “Second Aunt, the only thing that’s natural and right to me is fulfilling my filial duty to my parents—Lin Jiazhong and Zhou Chunping.”

She recognized only this one pair of parents.

So she had no elder sister above, no little brother below.

Their descendants had nothing to do with her.

“Second Sister-in-law, if you want to curse, curse me. Don’t drag the child into it.” Lin Jiazhong ushered his wife and daughter toward the door, bringing up the rear. “Huayan has her own future. As parents, don’t we just want our kids to thrive?”

“Lin Jiazhong, don’t waste words on her. In her heart, there’s only one son—Lin Chuanyao. No room for any daughter talk.”

Zhou Chunping’s emotions surged wildly, leaving her chest tight and head pounding. She patted her chest to steady herself.

Lin Huayan supported her, worry in her voice. “Mom, don’t get so worked up. I’m fine. Her words can’t hurt me.”

The mother and daughter hadn’t gone far out the door when Lin Jiazhong caught up. They ran right into Lin Chuanyao and the others in the courtyard, who had returned later.

“What’s going on here?”

Lin Chuanyao saw the three of them hurrying along with grim expressions. He stepped forward to block them and ask, “Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Second Sis, you’re all leaving?”

“Heh, should we stick around for your mom to swallow my daughter whole?” Zhou Chunping shot back coldly, radiating the unyielding fury of a mother protecting her own.

“How could that happen? Third Aunt, you’re overthinking it. She’s my second sis—we’re family…”

“Lin Chuanyao, don’t ‘second sis’ her. She’s your cousin, not your second sis. You’re a big, strapping man—a real man. Don’t you dare leech off her like a bloodsucking bug. I won’t allow it!”

Zhou Chunping gave Lin Chuanyao no friendly look and waved him off. “Out of the way! Don’t block our path!”

“Mom, take Haohao inside first.” Xie Xiang had her mother carry the boy back into the house, then approached Lin Chuanyao’s side.

Rubbing her hands submissively, she apologized to Zhou Chunping, “We’re truly sorry, Third Aunt. The house idea was our poor judgment. Qingqing’s schooling was her grandma’s suggestion too. Mom only wanted to ask because Qingqing’s so obedient and easy to care for. We hoped Huayan Sis might help out of blood ties if she could—no forcing it if not.”

The rural winter night was damper and colder, their breath fogging the air as they spoke.

Xie Xiang had ridden the motorcycle the whole way in the biting wind, clutching her swaddled son the entire time. Her face and hands were frozen red and numb.

She rubbed her hands and huffed warm breath on them, looking every bit the humble beggar. “Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Huayan Sis—blood is thicker than water. Please forgive us…”

“Spare us the pitiful act.”

Zhou Chunping wasn’t buying it. “You two quit dodging blame. We’re not one family—not crossing one threshold.”

“Third Aunt, how can you say that?”

Lin Chuanyao wanted to argue, but Xie Xiang held him back. “Third Aunt, rest assured—we won’t bring up those two matters again. Chuanyao and I will figure things out ourselves, work hard and earn our own way. We don’t want to strain our close family bonds.”

“Your sister-in-law shows real maturity. That’s Chuanyao’s good fortune.”

Lin Huayan just wanted to wrap it up quickly and tossed her a compliment. “Then please, sister-in-law, talk some sense into Second Aunt. Don’t let her stay stuck in her ways—it’ll just hurt her health.”

The young ones keep their cool better than the old.

They know to play the long game.

How could they flip the table and cut ties when they haven’t squeezed every last benefit from our family?

Back at the guesthouse, Lin Huayan had wanted to book a big-bed room, but Zhou Chunping insisted on standards: “I’m not sharing a bed with him. I’m stuffed full of anger tonight—I might kick him off in my sleep from sheer fury.”

“Fine, fine, separate beds it is. Whatever you say.” Lin Jiazhong was caught in the middle and miserable enough as it was. With his wife and daughter safe, what fight did he have left in him?

He helped his parents carry their luggage into the room. Seeing them each parked on separate beds, listless and ignoring each other…

Lin Huayan worried they’d argue once she left.

So she suggested, “Dad, Mom, I want to set off some fireworks. Haven’t done it in years. Let’s go watch—I’d love to see them.”

Fireworks were allowed in Pingxin Town during the Spring Festival.

With their daughter in such high spirits, Zhou Chunping and Lin Jiazhong both nodded eagerly. “Sure.”

Lin Huayan bought three buckets of different fireworks, shelling out nearly two thousand yuan. Each picked a bucket to carry, and they set them down in an empty lot at the end of the street.

“Mom, you go first.”

Lin Huayan handed her mother a lit sparkler. “Use this to light the fuse. It’s safe.”

Zhou Chunping’s bucket was colorful—red and green.

Lin Jiazhong’s was gold.

Lin Huayan’s last one was purple, blue, and white—the one with the most launches and longest burn.

The vibrant fireworks soared into the night sky, blooming and fading in dazzling display.

Like flowing stars, ever-changing, the whole world lit up brilliantly for an instant with each burst.

“How do they even make fireworks like this? The colors just keep getting more and more.”

“Yeah, more colors mean higher prices too. Over a thousand yuan, gone in twenty or thirty minutes.”

“Money, money, money—are you turning into one of that family, fixated on cash?”

“I’m not! Look, I didn’t even complain about buying them.”

“Good—keep it that way. Rich or cheap doesn’t matter. Our daughter’s happy—that’s what counts.”

“Yes, yes—your mother-daughter happiness matters most. All that matters.”

Under the fireworks, her parents bickered lightly, but Lin Huayan thought, Lou Yixuan would surely love fireworks this beautiful too.

If only Lou Yixuan could see them. If only we could watch together—would tonight’s fireworks shine brighter, more radiant, more unforgettable?

Too bad city dwellers have no chance to set them off, and thus never get to see them.

On the morning of the third day of the New Year, Lin Huayan’s family hit the streets and found a still-open noodle shop for a casual bite. Then they bought incense, candles, and paper money to burn offerings at the ancestral graves on the hillside.