Chapter 39
The two of them hadn’t been in the house for long when a noisy sound came from outside the gate, accompanied by a loud banging.
Hearing the forceful banging, a look of distress appeared on Lin Zhao’s face. What if they break our door!
She quickly grabbed her carrying pole again, not letting Chu Xihuan move, and went to open the door herself. She opened it too quickly, and the person banging on the door was also in a hurry, unable to stop their hand in time, and it went straight toward Lin Zhao.
Originally, Lin Zhao could have avoided it, but she quickly thought of something and let the hand hit her shoulder. Then, she took two steps back, clutching her shoulder with a pained expression, her eyes instantly turning red.
Seeing this, Chu Xihuan’s face immediately turned cold. She glared at the group of people who were stunned at the doorway by this accident. “Coming to our door to hit someone, you’re really impressive,” she said coldly.
The person who had been banging on the door also came back to their senses and angrily defended themselves. “I was just knocking on the door! Who knew she would suddenly appear!”
“Heh,” Chu Xihuan sneered. “Who knocks on a door like that? Who would believe that you weren’t intentionally hitting her?”
She walked to Lin Zhao’s side and helped her up, her voice much gentler. “How is it? Does it still hurt?”
Seeing her come over, Lin Zhao immediately put on a wronged expression and nodded. “Xihuan, it hurts~”
That “hurts” was as pitiful as it could be.
Chu Xihuan gave the person who had knocked on the door another cold look.
The person was almost angered to laughter by their act of turning the tables. The hand he was pointing at them was trembling. He turned to Lin Yongchang, who had not said a word from the beginning. “Clan Head! How can they slander people like this! You have to stand up for us!”
Lin Yongchang looked at this farce and felt his headache grow. Ever since Chu Xihuan had married Lin Zhao, he had not wanted to have anything to do with this family. But these other fools just had to go and provoke them.
No matter how much the Chu family said they had disowned Chu Xihuan, she was still their child, whom they had painstakingly given birth to and raised like a precious jewel. If something happened to her, could they really remain indifferent?
The first time they had hit Second Auntie Lin and the others was one thing, and he had suppressed it. But today, they had done it again. If he didn’t deal with it, he probably wouldn’t be a good clan head.
“Lin Zhao, we all know what happened earlier. How much harm can a knock on the door cause?” Lin Yongchang said, pointing to the person who had been hit by Lin Zhao with the carrying pole. “But look at him. No matter what, he’s still your cousin. Is this how you treat him so cruelly?”
“Then why don’t you ask him what he said and why I hit him?” Hearing Lin Yongchang’s words, Lin Zhao couldn’t be bothered to play pitiful anymore. She glared at him, almost as if she wanted to hit him again.
Lin Yongchang’s face was a little ugly. “No matter what he did wrong, that’s no reason for you to hit someone!”
Chu Xihuan’s face was not good. This Lin Yongchang’s heart was so biased it was ridiculous. It was easy to imagine what kind of life Lin Zhao had lived in the Lin clan in the past!
Lin Zhao’s eyes were slightly red, and she felt a real sense of grievance, but she would absolutely not show any weakness in front of these annoying people. She gritted her teeth and said, word for word, “I don’t understand. I only know that if someone bullies me, I have to hit them back. This is the fundamental reason why I’ve been able to live until now!”
She knew very well that if she didn’t drive away the people who bullied her, no one would stand up for her. Lin Yongchang had given her food when she was in difficulty so that she wouldn’t starve to death, but he would absolutely not stand up for her when she was bullied, especially when the person bullying her was a member of the Lin clan.
Lin Yongchang was also obviously angered. “You’re simply unreasonable! If your mother were still alive, how disappointed she would be to see you now!”
“That’s none of your business. I think Lin Zhao’s mother would be very gratified to see her now,” Chu Xihuan said, pulling Lin Zhao behind her and looking directly at Lin Yongchang, a sarcastic curve on her lips. “I think every mother who loves her child would not be able to stand seeing others bully her child. Not to mention that Lin Zhao’s counterattack did not cause any serious consequences. Even if it did, as long as her own child was not bullied, I think she would be relieved.”
Compared to other people’s children, it was naturally more important that her own child was not bullied.
Hearing her words, Lin Zhao turned her head and stared at her blankly, her nose also a little sore. The panic that her mother would think she was a bad child was all smoothed over by her words, and she felt an unprecedented sense of peace.
That’s right. Mother would only want me to be well. How could she let people bully me when they’ve come to my door?
“You’re simply twisting black and white!” Lin Yongchang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. “You also come from a prominent family. How can your behavior be so unruly!”
Chu Xihuan smiled. “Is that so? If you think I’m wrong, why don’t you go and ask my mother?”
Lin Zhao’s mother could not be asked, but her own mother was still here. If he really wanted to ask, it would be very convenient.
Lin Yongchang’s face was almost green. His expression changed back and forth like an overturned palette, and he was blocked by Chu Xihuan’s unreasonable words.
How could he possibly have the courage to go and ask Chu Xihuan’s mother about such a thing?
“Clan Head Lin, since you’re here today, there’s actually something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Chu Xihuan said with a half-smile, looking at Lin Yongchang’s ugly face. “Where are the shops that the Lin family left behind, and the title deeds and such? I’ve been tidying up the house lately and haven’t found them. Then I thought, as the head of the family, Clan Head Lin, these things should be in your keeping.”
“You see, Lin Zhao is all grown up now and has even started her own family. You’ve worked hard to keep them for so many years. When do you think you’ll return them to her?”
If they weren’t going to let her have an easy time, Chu Xihuan naturally didn’t mind causing him some trouble.
Lin Yongchang’s face changed instantly. Not just him, but even the people who had instigated him to come and uphold justice, their faces all changed.
Lin Yongchang looked at Chu Xihuan with a dark expression. He had originally thought that since they had been married for so long and hadn’t taken the initiative to bring this up, they had already resigned themselves to their fate. But he never thought that she would challenge him in front of so many people now.
“Xihuan, you haven’t been married for long, so you might not know. Back then, Lin Zhao’s parents died in a foreign land. We went to great lengths to bring their bodies back. Just the bribes alone cost a lot, not to mention the grand funeral afterward. Which grand funeral doesn’t almost empty the family’s fortune? It was already a great fortune in misfortune that we were able to keep this house.”
Lin Yongchang’s voice was a little low, without the previous angry momentum of wanting to stand up for the beaten member of the Lin clan. Instead, it was as steady as if he could sit down and talk properly.
Chu Xihuan listened to his words and smiled lightly, as if she really wanted to sit down and have a good chat with Lin Yongchang. She sat down on a chair in the courtyard and even gestured for Lin Yongchang to sit down on another chair to have a good chat, with a warm smile on her face. “Clan Head, you can’t just because I’m young, think that I don’t know the five grains and don’t understand the market, can you?”
“For an ordinary family, that might be a burden. But is the Lin family an ordinary family?”
Chu Xihuan’s mother herself had many shops. Chu Xihuan had followed her around to inspect and check the shops since she was a child. Although she didn’t know much about the situation of the shops, she definitely had a general understanding. This way, she would naturally have a general idea of the Lin family’s assets back then. No matter how much they spent on bribes and a grand funeral, it was impossible for Lin Zhao to have lived such a life of hunger!
Lin Yongchang’s gaze was fixed on Chu Xihuan. He didn’t even have the mind to care about Lin Zhao, who was standing to the side. In the past, he had never taken Lin Zhao seriously. When she was a child, he had at least not let her starve or freeze to death because she was his sister’s daughter. But he never thought that a little bit of compassion back then would plant the seeds of disaster for today.
He knew very well that Lin Zhao was easy to deal with, but Chu Xihuan was not so easy to fool. He had originally been avoiding this family, but there were always some clueless people who came to provoke them. Lin Yongchang was also holding back a fire in his heart.
He glared fiercely at the person who had caused the trouble and said in a low, deep voice, “What are you standing there in a daze for? Get back here!”
Hearing his words, the person was obviously a little unconvinced, but it was clear that Lin Yongchang’s prestige in the clan was still very high. The person did not dare to argue, glared at Lin Zhao and the others with hatred, and turned to leave.
As for the others who had come with him, seeing this situation, they also tactfully wanted to leave quickly, but they were suddenly stopped by a voice.
“Wait a minute.”
Chu Xihuan looked up leisurely. Although she was sitting, she still gave off a great sense of pressure.
“You haven’t apologized to Lin Zhao for hitting her earlier.”
She spoke lightly, but the people opposite her’s faces darkened.
“I didn’t hit her on purpose!” the person who had knocked on the door said angrily.
Chu Xihuan tilted her head slightly, a look of confusion on her face. “If you didn’t hit her on purpose, does that mean you didn’t hit her and don’t need to apologize?”
Seeing Chu Xihuan stand up for her, Lin Zhao’s back straightened a little.
“Don’t go too far!” The person’s face was red with anger. “We haven’t even settled the score for Lin Zhao deliberately hitting my brother earlier, and now you want me to apologize? No way!”
“Oh,” Chu Xihuan replied lightly, then said, “Then for Lin Zhao hitting your brother earlier, I apologize on her behalf. I’m sorry.”
The last “I’m sorry” was extremely casual. In fact, she even shrugged her shoulders when she said it. Everyone looked at her, then at Lin Zhao, and for a moment, they couldn’t react to who was the loafer between her and Lin Zhao.
That casual, perfunctory tone, where was the slightest hint of a sincere apology! She was deliberately saying it to anger people, wasn’t she!
And she used “咯(lo)” (T/N: A particle used at the end of a sentence to indicate a casual tone-this kind of speech is considered improper and disrespectful. Its use here strongly contrasts with the expected elegance and restraint of someone of her status.). Where was the slightest hint of a young lady from a prominent family!
No wonder she would choose to marry Lin Zhao. It turned out that she herself was not a proper person. She and Lin Zhao were two of a kind!
The person was so angry at Chu Xihuan that his chest heaved violently. However, Chu Xihuan was not done. “Now, isn’t it your turn to apologize?”
The person was probably so angry that a cold smile appeared on his face. He stared into Chu Xihuan’s eyes and, mimicking her previous tone, said, “Then I’m sorry too.”
Chu Xihuan nodded. Just when they thought she would let it go, she suddenly changed her tune, her face turning dark. “Is this your attitude of apology? And you’re apologizing to me. What’s the use of that?”
Her sudden change of face stunned everyone for a moment. When the person opposite her reacted, he was so angry at Chu Xihuan that he jumped up and down.
“You’re the one who’s like this. How can you have the nerve to say that about me!”
Chu Xihuan didn’t continue to argue with him, but instead looked at Lin Yongchang. “Clan Head Lin, aren’t you going to discipline your clansmen?”
Lin Yongchang, who had been standing to the side without speaking, glanced at her with a dark expression, then turned to the person and said in a deep voice, “Apologize! Do I have to teach you?”
The person was stunned and looked at Lin Yongchang in disbelief, clearly not expecting him to side with an outsider. “Clan Head!” he couldn’t help but cry out.
“Shut up!” Lin Yongchang scolded. “It’s only natural for you to apologize for hitting someone. If you don’t, you’ll have to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days when you get back!”
At the mention of kneeling in the ancestral hall, the person’s face turned the color of a pig’s liver. His fists, hanging at his sides, were clenched tightly, clearly trying to suppress his anger. He took a deep breath and, looking at Lin Zhao, said through gritted teeth, “I’m sorry. It was my fault earlier.”
Although his tone was still very questionable, Lin Zhao was in a very good mood at the moment and was not at all affected. In fact, she even smiled at him and said, “Alright, I’ve received your apology. Be more careful in the future and don’t accidentally hurt anyone again. After all, not everyone is as easy-going as me.”
Her mood was so good she was about to bubble over.
Xihuan is standing up for me again! Backing me up!
The person’s face turned completely black at Lin Zhao’s words. In the end, he turned and left without another word, clearly not wanting to waste any more breath on her.
After the others had left one by one, Lin Yongchang looked at Lin Zhao and said, “Since everything is fine now, I’ll be leaving too.”
It was clear that this old fellow had no intention of taking Chu Xihuan’s bait and was trying to gloss over what she had said earlier.
Chu Xihuan looked up at Lin Yongchang and said lazily, “You’re leaving so soon? You haven’t even answered the questions we asked earlier. Isn’t that a bit too fast?”
At her words, Lin Yongchang’s face was very ugly. He felt that Chu Xihuan was being too persistent. “Lin Zhao’s parents passed away more than ten years ago. Where am I supposed to find the receipts to verify them for you now?”
It was because it was so long ago that he dared to be so brazen.
Although Chu Xihuan was smiling, there was no hint of a smile in her eyes. “Coincidentally, I’m sure you know who my mother is. I don’t need you to find the exact receipts. I’m sure my mother is very clear about the Lin family’s assets back then and the cost of the funeral. A simple calculation will tell.”
Lin Yongchang was so angry at her words that his chest heaved violently. He didn’t believe that Chu Xihuan couldn’t guess the reason, but she was still holding on to it, clearly not intending to let him gloss it over.
“What do you want!” Lin Yongchang said through gritted teeth in a low voice. If this matter went through Ye Liuxiang’s hands, it would be even less likely to be resolved easily.
Seeing that he was finally being sensible, Chu Xihuan’s expression relaxed, and she said with a low laugh, “It’s very simple if you want us to not pursue the matter of the past.”
“Keep your people in line. I don’t want to see anyone else coming to us to cause trouble. Lin Zhao is no longer someone you can bully at will.”
“Finally, you have to leave Lin Zhao with something to remember, right? The cloth shop in the north of the city, that’s not too much, is it?”
