Lin Lao’er (the second son) wore a cold expression as he led his wife, daughter, and son to their room. This time, he had no intention of getting involved.
“Mother, from now on, don’t meddle in Xiaocao or Youcai’s affairs,” he declared.
Hearing this, Lin Xiaocao was the happiest.
She had always felt that her grandmother looked at her as though she were a pig ready for slaughter, constantly plotting to “sell” her off.
Her older sister’s fate was a clear warning, which was why Lin Xiaocao had desperately sought to find herself a husband and get married to escape.
She hadn’t even trusted her parents because her father had always been obedient to her grandmother.
Old lady Lin looked at her second son in disbelief. Her expression twisted as though she couldn’t accept what she was hearing.
“What kind of mother is this?” someone from the crowd muttered. “When Old Lin’s third son was around, she picked on his family endlessly. Now that they’re gone, she’s started tormenting the second son’s family. If the second son’s family rebels, will she target the fourth son next? Or is the eldest the only one she actually cares about?”
Another villager, clearly holding a grudge against old lady Lin, chimed in.
“Exactly! None of us have ever seen a mother like this. Sure, we can all be biased sometimes, but plotting with outsiders against your own granddaughter? That’s a first for me! It’s a good thing Lin Zhen’s family split off. Otherwise, how unlucky would they be to still be stuck with this mess?”
“That Deng family isn’t much better.”
“Lin Lao’er is also to blame. How can a grown man let his family be led by the nose like that? All these years of blind obedience to old lady Lin have ruined his daughter’s life.”
Lin Lao’er closed his eyes, his body seeming to shrink under the weight of his guilt.
For the first time, he thought of his third brother. Back then, he had resented his third brother for defying their mother and splitting from the family, deeming him unfilial. He had believed their mother’s constant complaints about him.
But now that the knife was aimed at his own family, he finally understood the pain and realized his third brother had been right all along.
Lin Youcai glared at his grandmother and the others with barely concealed hatred.
Old lady Lin, however, felt no remorse. Instead, she lashed out at the crowd.
“This is our Lin family’s business! What does it have to do with you? Daya is my granddaughter; I’ll do what I want with her. If you care so much, why don’t you take her into your home and feed her? Stop meddling where you don’t belong!”
The villagers only pointed and whispered more fervently about her.
Lin Lao’er, meanwhile, had reached his limit.
“Mother, we’re splitting off.”
Old lady Lin’s eyes widened in shock, as though she couldn’t believe what she had heard.
“What did you just say?”
Not just old lady Lin, but the entire Lin family turned to stare at him.
Lin Lao’er’s eyes were red, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
“I said, our family is splitting off!”
“You’ve always favored the eldest brother. Fine, we tolerated it. When we were kids, you only let him go to school while the rest of us worked to support him. Later, when he joined the textile factory, we scraped together the money for his bribes and rent. You used Lin Zhen’s soldier’s pay to subsidize him too.
I swallowed all of that. But why did you have to conspire with outsiders to harm my eldest daughter? She’s your biological granddaughter! She’s been calling you ‘Grandma’ for years!
Is my eldest brother the only one who counts as your son? Aren’t the rest of us your children too? Aren’t we?”
Years of suppressed anger erupted like a volcano. Lin Lao’er roared like a wounded lion, terrifying old lady Lin.
But her fear quickly gave way to rage.
She stormed over and slapped him repeatedly.
“Ungrateful wretch! How dare you? Do you think it was easy for me to carry you for ten months, to give birth to you, and to raise you? Your father never lifted a finger, and I had to do everything! And now you turn against me? All of you Lin men are ungrateful wretches!”
Old lady Lin collapsed onto the ground, wailing and pounding her chest. The Deng family, meanwhile, quietly backed away as the drama became solely about the Lin family’s internal strife.
“Enough!”
A stern voice cut through the chaos.
Old man Lin emerged from the house, his face dark with irritation.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Tapping his pipe, old man Lin glared at old lady Lin, his expression grim.
“You’ve gone too far. This is the Lin family, not the Yang family. Yang Meihua, when you married me, you were in no position to make demands. You know that as well as I do. I’ve turned a blind eye to a lot over the years, but stop bleeding my sons dry.”
Old lady Lin froze, staring at him in shock.
Her voice trembled. “What… what do you mean?”
Old man Lin’s gaze didn’t waver.
“You know what I mean. The third son’s family was driven to their deaths by you. Now, what do you plan to do?”
The courtyard fell silent. The villagers strained to catch every word.
Old lady Lin’s hand trembled as she pointed at him, but old man Lin merely turned and walked back inside without saying another word.
Lin Lao’er stared at his father for a moment, then took his family to follow him.
“I want to split off, just like the third brother did.”
Lin Lao’er knew his mother would never agree. His father, however, had the final say.
Old man Lin rarely involved himself in family matters, but once he made a decision, even old lady Lin couldn’t overturn it.
He was a man full of contradictions, someone Lin Zhen and Heidan felt no affection for.
As for what exactly had transpired between old man Lin and old lady Lin, leading him to marry her, that was a story even Song Wei was curious about.
Unfortunately, the commotion died down before she could learn more.
Meanwhile, the Deng family left, though not before old lady Deng slapped Deng Chunhua multiple times.
“You useless ingrate! Listen carefully: you’d better find a way to keep Lin Dahai tied to you. If he enjoys his life outside while you’re stuck raising his children, you’ll end up with nothing!”
Had Lin Dahai been present, she wouldn’t have let things end so easily.
For now, the Lin family drama had subsided, but it was far from over. The matter of the split would undoubtedly stir up more conflict in the days to come.
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