Lin Zhen was naturally mentally prepared.
Speak of the devil—no sooner had the little old ladies finished talking than a large crowd of people came their way.
At the head of the group were the elders of the Lin family, along with Old Fourth Lin and his wife.
Old Fourth Lin was a cunning man. After hypocritically weeping at the sight of Lin Zhen’s house, his eyes flashed with greed and envy.
But he didn’t show it outright, opting instead to play the emotional card.
“Lin Zhen, I know you don’t like us,” he said. “Your grandmother was never good to Third Brother, you, or Hei Dan. If the family were still doing well, I wouldn’t have the nerve to come to you like this. But now your grandmother is in a bad way—she’s bedridden and will be for the rest of her life. Even if you don’t like her, you can’t just abandon her.”
Standing at the entrance of Lin Zhen’s home, the Lin family elders watched him intently.
“Lin Zhen, she’s your grandmother,” one of them said. “In her condition, she could pass away any day now. Let go of past grudges—it’s beneath a man to hold onto such things. You were a soldier, so you know about responsibility. A real man steps up when duty calls.”
Lin Zhen stared expressionlessly at the crowd outside. “What exactly are you asking me to do?”
Before the elders could respond, Old Fourth Lin immediately stepped forward. “Here’s what we’ve decided: Second Brother’s family and mine will take turns supporting the two elderly folks. Dad can still work and earn some work points on his own, but mom can’t. Our two families will take turns caring for her month by month. You should follow the same arrangement.”
“No!”
Old Man Lin stepped forward with a dark expression. “You and Second Son were raised by Old Lin—taking care of her is your responsibility. When First Son returns, he’ll have to shoulder his share too. But Lin Zhen never ate a single mouthful of Old Lin’s food. Have you forgotten how Third Son and his wife died? Yes, Lin Zhen shares blood ties with you, but you’re also indirectly the ones who killed his parents!”
Back then, Old Mrs. Lin and the others had been utterly ruthless, causing Lin Zhen’s mother to suffer complications during her pregnancy. To save his wife and child, Third Son ventured into the mountains to find wild ginseng and died in the process. The shock and her already frail condition led to Lin Zhen’s mother dying in childbirth.
Who among the older folks in Ping’an Brigade didn’t know about this?
But people are forgetful and tend to sympathize with the weak.
Now that Old Mrs. Lin was paralyzed, she had become the weak one.
These people pitied her and were pressuring Lin Zhen, the victim, to support Old Mrs. Lin, the perpetrator.
Old Man Lin genuinely cared for Lin Zhen and Hei Dan and firmly opposed the idea.
The family elders preached about filial piety above all else, but that was only because the knife hadn’t fallen on them.
Lin Zhen had no interest in arguing with them.
“I won’t take her in to care for her,” he stated flatly.
The elders looked at him with disappointment, and some even prepared to scold him.
“However,” Lin Zhen continued, “I do have a solution. I’ll contribute elderly support money according to the standard rate every year. Don’t expect anything else.”
It wasn’t a compromise—he just wanted to avoid trouble.
If he refused to contribute anything today, these elders would surely come back to pester him later.
He wasn’t afraid of being criticized, but he had no patience to deal with them constantly.
If spending a little money could solve the problem, he’d rather pay.
Besides, it was uncertain whether the money would even reach Old Mrs. Lin.
Second Son Lin might be filial and take good care of her, but Old Fourth Lin’s family was another story.
If she lived, it might be a fate worse than death for Old Mrs. Lin.
As for Old Fourth Lin pocketing the money—well, there would be time to deal with him later.
The brigade leader stepped forward. “Let me say something. Do you all remember that Lin Zhen severed ties with Old Mrs. Lin’s family back in the day? We were all there. Don’t think that just because he was young at the time, his words don’t count.”
They agreed back then to cut ties for life and never interact again. If they had just kept to themselves after that, it might have been one thing. But Old Mrs. Lin and the others, in their greed for milk powder and Lin Zhen’s subsidies, took Hei Dan away and abused the child so badly—have you all forgotten that?
People should indeed practice filial piety and not forget their roots, but one must also act with basic decency. Those past events didn’t just disappear because Old Mrs. Lin is now paralyzed.
Let me ask you all: if this had happened to you, could you just let it go? Could you take Old Mrs. Lin in without any resentment and care for her properly?”
Old Man Lin exclaimed, “Well said!”
The others fell silent.
Old Fourth Lin grew anxious. “But… my mother regrets it now! She felt guilty afterward and wanted to reconcile with Lin Zhen, but they just wouldn’t have it!”
“Who would?!”
Old Man Lin was so angry that he struck Old Fourth Lin hard with his cane.
“Don’t think we don’t know what you’re scheming. You’re not the only clever ones here. Now that Lin Zhen has money, you suddenly want to reconcile? Go reconcile with your grandmother’s leg! You just want to keep sucking Lin Zhen dry!”
Old Fourth Lin winced in pain, resentment boiling inside him.
“Uncle, this is our family matter. Can you stop interfering all the time?”
“I’m your uncle! How dare you speak to me like that? Your father wouldn’t dare talk to me like that! Is this how you practice filial piety? You’re just as ungrateful as Old lady Lin!”
They tried to pressure Lin Zhen with filial piety, so Old Man Lin used the same principle against Old Fourth Lin.
Lin Zhen stood firm: he would not take care of Old lady Lin and was only willing to contribute elderly support money.
With the brigade leader mediating, most of the Lin family elders agreed to this solution.
The few who disagreed were simply jealous and resentful of Lin Zhen’s success.
“So how much are you planning to contribute?”
Lin Zhen replied coldly, “Four yuan a month. Not a cent more.”
Old Fourth Lin started shouting again, “Lin Zhen, how can you be like this? She’s your grandmother! She’s in such a state, and you’re still nickel-and-diming her? You live in such a big house, and you’re only giving four yuan a month to your grandparents? Do you have no conscience?!”
Song Wei crossed her arms and retorted sarcastically, “As if you have any conscience yourself.”
Old Fourth Lin snapped, “Shut up! Women have no say here!”
Lin Zhen’s expression turned even frostier. “I’m not giving any support money anymore.”
Everyone was shocked.
Four yuan a month was actually not a small amount.
In the countryside, where most people didn’t have steady jobs, having one or two yuan to spare each month was considered good. Most elderly support involved providing food, not cash.
Lin Zhen said, “Everyone, next time you want to discuss this, don’t bring him. I’m not in the mood to talk about support money today. We’ll discuss it another time.”
It was obvious who “him” referred to, and everyone looked at Old Fourth Lin.
Old Fourth Lin’s face turned livid.
Lin Zhen took Song Wei inside and shut the door firmly, making his stance clear through action.
The brigade leader took a drag of his cigarette and glared at Old Fourth Lin. “If you don’t know how to talk, then keep your mouth shut. Four yuan still isn’t enough for you? Could you even come up with four yuan yourself?”
The little old ladies shot disdainful looks at Old Fourth Lin. “So high and mighty, acting like you’re somebody important, saying women have no say here.”
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