While Zhao Yuyin was brainstorming how to discreetly get rid of Song Wei, she suddenly overheard a conversation between some villagers passing by.
“Isn’t it strange? There are so many snakes near the back mountain, close to the Great Ridge. I went there to gather firewood and almost got bitten without even noticing.”
“Oh, that place? I know it. The elders say it’s really eerie there—full of snakes, and there are plenty of weird stories about it. Why would you even think of going there to gather firewood?”
“Hey, I mainly wanted to see if I could find any wild ginseng and try my luck.”
“You’re way too daring.”
Zhao Yuyin’s excitement surged. So many snakes… Could it be… the place she was thinking of? Combined with their talk of strange stories, it had to be!
Zhao Yuyin was so obsessed with getting rich that her brain couldn’t keep up, making her easy to fool.
As she hurried away excitedly, the two speakers glanced back at her.
If Zhao Yuyin were more familiar with Ping’an Brigade and had looked more carefully, she would have realized these two weren’t even villagers from Ping’an Brigade. Unfortunately, she didn’t notice such details.
“Keep a close eye on her.”
“Yes!”
Zhao Yuyin was afraid of snakes, but that didn’t stop her from inquiring about the situation around the Great Ridge.
Under the arrangements of the public security officers, almost all the information was inadvertently revealed to her.
Of course, the information wasn’t false. It was provided by Lin Zhen.
He didn’t know the specific details about the Great Ridge, but his grandfather had some clues.
With these half-true, half-false pieces of information, Zhao Yuyin was almost certain that this was the place she was looking for. So, she began thinking about how to get her hands on that treasure.
Song Wei was completely forgotten.
Having read the book, Zhao Yuyin knew about the spies. If she wanted to keep the treasure all to herself, she couldn’t cooperate with the government, so she decided to work with the spies instead.
Thus, she sought out Widow Hu.
Meanwhile, Song Wei paid no attention to Zhao Yuyin or the spies. The weather was gradually turning colder, and after a month of construction, Lin Zhen’s house was finally completed.
Built with blue bricks and black tiles, the house was designed according to Song Wei’s requirements, with the toilet and bathroom located indoors. The rooms were spacious and elegantly laid out.
Both the front and back yards had plenty of space, enough to grow their favorite vegetables.
On the day of completion, almost the entire brigade came to see it.
“This house is so impressive. Lin Zhen has really made something of himself.”
“Absolutely. It’s all built with blue bricks, and the house is huge. It must be so comfortable to live in.”
“Old Lady Lin must be full of regrets now, having given up such an outstanding grandson.”
“Song Wei is really living the dream. Lin Zhen built such a big house for her even before they’re married. Which family in our village would go to such lengths for their daughter?”
“Well, Song Wei is worth it. Just look at how talented she is. She’s like a goose that lays golden eggs—her manuscript fees bring in plenty of money every time.”
“That’s true. If we could marry such a daughter-in-law, we’d definitely try to pamper her too.”
The women focused on how well Song Wei would marry and how good Lin Zhen was to her.
The men, however, were more interested in the house itself. The more they looked at it, the more they liked it, and they were utterly envious.
When they learned it had cost over 800 yuan, their eyes widened in shock.
Damn, Lin Zhen is loaded!
That’s 800 yuan! They could work themselves to death for a year and still not make 100 yuan!
Lin Zhen played poor: “I used up all my army salary and the demobilization subsidies.”
The men looked at him with a mix of frustration and disappointment. “With that much money, you could’ve done anything! A house is just a place to live—why be so extravagant? You’ve really gone overboard.”
Though envious, the thought of him spending all his money made them regard him with pity, as if he were a fool.
Lin Zhen didn’t care.
If he’d said he still had money left, many would’ve been green with envy. He’d already been flashy with the house construction, so it was better to keep a low profile in his words.
He was quite satisfied with the house, especially since Song Wei liked it too.
News of Lin Zhen spending 800 yuan on the house quickly spread.
Young girls were envious—they, too, wished someone would build them such a large, beautiful house. It would not only bring them face but also prove the man’s capability and genuine care for his woman.
Older folks, however, thought Lin Zhen was wasteful.
Some were jealous, but since they couldn’t beat him or outargue him, they could only gossip behind his back.
Then there were those “well-meaning” people who specifically went to Old Lady Lin’s house to vividly describe how grand Lin Zhen’s new house was and how it had cost 800 yuan.
“Your old house isn’t even worth that much, is it?”
In those days, even a blue-brick tile house would cost at most 500 yuan. But Lin Zhen’s house cost 800.
“Say what you will, it looks really impressive—nothing like other blue-brick houses. The rooms inside are huge. What a pity that even though you’re his own grandparents, you can’t benefit from it at all.”
Old Lady Lin was already in a foul mood. The family had fallen apart: her second son had moved out, her beloved grandson had his leg broken after getting out of jail, and her eldest son was still missing.
Her fourth son’s family was lazy and gluttonous, and now, seeing Lin Youfu as a burden, they were clamoring to split the household. Her husband argued with her every day, and she, an old woman, had to take care of her grandson with a broken leg and a foul temper. She had lost so much weight that she looked haggard.
With her sunken eyes and lack of energy, her triangular eyes stood out even more, making her appear increasingly sharp and unpleasant.
Now, provoked by such talk, she flew into a rage.
“Get out! Get out of my house!”
She cursed the person who’d spoken, then Lin Zhen and Song Wei, her long-dead third son and daughter-in-law, her other sons, Old Man Lin, and even heaven itself.
Perhaps heaven had finally had enough. Old Lady Lin stepped on something, lost her balance, and fell straight to the ground. Then everything went black, and she knew nothing more.
A few days later, news reached Lin Zhen and Song Wei: Old Lady Lin was paralyzed.
For that family, it was adding insult to injury.
But Lin Zhen felt little emotion about it.
Song Wei gossiped with the elderly women: “How did she end up paralyzed?”
The old women sighed. “They say she couldn’t handle the news of your new house and flew into a rage, cursing everyone and everything. She didn’t notice a broom handle in the yard—their place is such a mess, no one ever cleans up—and she tripped and fell. That’s how she ended up like this.”
“With Old Lady Lin paralyzed, Lin Youfu’s life is about to get even harder.”
Lin Youfu, already with a broken leg, had been leeching off his family at home. Now, with his doting grandmother paralyzed and his parents absent, who would genuinely care for him in the future?
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