“Honestly, how do you manage to be so detestable after just one look and downright repulsive after two? Do you ever stop to listen to yourselves? The nonsense you spew is so obnoxious that I could mistake it for dogs barking—and frankly, even dogs have more reason than you do.”
Song Wei crossed her arms and continued sarcastically, “Oh, but what’s the point of reasoning with you? You clearly wouldn’t understand.”
“You—you’re insulting us!”
The Lin family members were enraged, their reactions as dramatic as if their tails had been stepped on.
“We’re here to talk reason with you! Just tell us—what part of what we’re saying is wrong? Isn’t Heidan part of the Lin family? He is! Just because you’re making him work to pay off that watch doesn’t mean we sold him to you. Why can’t we use the firewood he collected from the mountains?”
Song Wei didn’t bother with long arguments. She cut straight to the point:
“What’s Heidan’s full name?”
The Lin family members glared at her. “What do you mean? Heidan is just Heidan! What’s your point?”
Song Wei sneered. “Exactly. He’s called Heidan, not Lin Heidan. So how can you claim he belongs to the Lin family?”
Logic was meant for people. This lot hardly qualified.
“Besides,” she continued, “are you even a Lin by blood? Why are you so quick to claim ‘our Lin family this’ and ‘our Lin family that’? If we’re talking about true Lin family members, shouldn’t Lin Youfu and Lin Youcai be the ones out gathering firewood?
“Oh, I see now—you just think Heidan is an easy target because he’s a military dependent. Fine. If you want to play dirty, I’ll take Heidan to the police. We’ll discuss your family’s ‘feudal superstitions’ while we’re at it.
“You keep calling him a jinx or a scourge. Do you really think no one knows how old lady Lin ended up in the hospital? Honestly, the real bad luck in your family is having daughters-in-law like you. Beating your own mother-in-law into a hospital bed? The whole village would laugh at you if I spread the word.”
The Lin family froze, intimidated by her threats.
The allegations—bullying a military-dependent child, feudal superstition, and abuse—were serious.
“You… you can’t accuse us like that! We’re Lin Zhen’s family, too. How does that count as bullying Heidan?”
“Exactly!”
Their words sounded forceful, but their demeanor betrayed their guilt.
Song Wei smirked. “Oh, is that so? Then why don’t we head over to the Public Security Bureau right now? While we’re there, we can also explain how your family embezzled the military allowances Lin Zhen sent home and still abused his younger brother.”
Her words deflated their arrogance.
The Lin family didn’t dare escalate matters to the police, but they weren’t willing to back down either.
Just as the argument seemed to reach a stalemate, someone ran over, panting with urgency.
“Hei Dan! Your brother—your brother is back!”
Song Wei and Heidan blinked, struggling to process the news.
“What? Whose brother?”
The news spread like wildfire through Ping’an Village: Lin Zhen had returned.
But his return was bittersweet.
After years of absence, Lin Zhen came back injured, his leg bandaged, and leaning on two comrades for support.
Where he would stay became an immediate problem.
The house his parents had worked hard to build had long been seized by the rest of the Lin family. Worse, old lady Lin had sold it to a bachelor in the village.
Returning to the Lin household was out of the question.
When Lin Zhen and his comrades reached the house, their faces darkened upon seeing the current occupant.
Leaning against a tree, Lin Zhen’s towering frame—nearly 1.9 meters tall—radiated an oppressive aura. His sharp, military-honed presence made even the most stubborn villagers nervous.
The bachelor who purchased the house trembled under Lin Zhen’s gaze but refused to budge.
“You… you’re soldiers, right? You should be reasonable. I paid for this house fair and square!”
Lin Zhen’s voice was low and firm. “Who did you pay?”
The bachelor immediately replied, “Old lady Lin. She sold it to me.”
Lin Zhen wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
“Captain Lin, what do we do now?” one of his comrades asked.
Lin Zhen’s gaze dropped, his voice rough. “Don’t call me Captain. I’m not anymore.”
His injured leg would never fully recover, ending his military career.
A flicker of pain crossed his eyes but was quickly suppressed.
At that moment, the team leader arrived, his face a mix of joy and worry.
“Lin Zhen, my boy, is it really you? You’re back?”
Lin Zhen’s appearance had changed over the years. Once a wiry, wolfish youth, he had grown into a broad-shouldered man, taller and more imposing than anyone else in the village.
His time in the military had given him a commanding presence, tempered by the air of someone who had faced death and survived.
Lin Zhen nodded politely. “Team Leader, where’s my little brother?”
The team leader’s expression stiffened, guilt creeping onto his face.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t take good enough care of him. Right now, he’s staying with an educated youth.”
Lin Zhen’s jaw tightened, his emotions unreadable.
The team leader glanced at the house and sighed, understanding the situation.
“Why don’t you stay with me for now?”
The house situation was complicated. Old lady Lin had sold it without permission, pocketing the money. Despite protests, she had refused to return the funds, leaving everyone at a loss.
For now, Lin Zhen had no choice but to accept the team leader’s offer. His comrades helped him to the leader’s home.
Though he disliked inconveniencing others, his injury left him no alternative.
大队长 could mean “squad leader,” “team leader” “captain,” or even “chief,” depending on the setting.
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