Lin Zhen looked at him with a mocking expression. This man was still the same as before, always insisting he was right, spouting a string of high-sounding principles that Lin Zhen had no interest in hearing.
“I sent my younger brother to stay with my grand-uncle. Who decided to bring him to your house?”
Lin Zhen’s cold gaze fixed on the man in front of him, who claimed to be his uncle.
He knew well the personalities of old lady Lin and the others. Old man Lin ignored everything, and old lady Lin might have coveted the allowance he sent home, but she certainly wouldn’t have wanted to raise Heidan.
Only this man, self-righteous and full of hypocritical ideas, always hiding behind a façade of morality, could come up with such despicable schemes.
Lin Dahai’s eyes darted nervously, but Deng Chunhua stood with her hands on her hips, loudly defending herself: “Heidan is your grandmother’s grandson. What’s wrong with us taking him home? Didn’t we raise him until now? You brothers are truly ungrateful- total ingrates!”
Lin Zhen stared straight at Lin Dahai. “So, you took him home, pocketed my allowance and supplies, but refused to feed him, made him work, and even beat him?”
Lin Zhen let out a chilling laugh. “I haven’t even gone to settle accounts with you, yet you keep coming to provoke me.”
Sensing Lin Zhen’s expression, Lin Dahai felt a chill of foreboding. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Lin Zhen punched him squarely in the face.
“Ahhh! Lin Zhen, what are you doing?!”
Deng Chunhua screamed, but Lin Zhen had already pinned Lin Dahai down and started punching him relentlessly.
“What kind of an uncle are you? You’re just a stray bastard pretending to be some elder figure. Don’t give me that nonsense about family ties and reconciliation. Let me tell you: I hold grudges.
“I will settle every account with the Lin family-how my mother died, how Heidan suffered-all of it!”
Lin Dahai screamed and struggled, cursing as he tried to resist.
But how could he be a match for Lin Zhen? Even with an injured leg, Lin Zhen’s strength and skills easily left Lin Dahai helpless and battered.
Deng Chunhua screamed and lunged at Lin Zhen to stop him, but Heidan grabbed her arm and bit down hard.
“Let go, you little brat!”
She shoved Heidan, who fell to the ground with a thud. At that moment, Song Wei emerged from the house after putting the wolf cubs away. Seeing this, she dashed forward and kicked Deng Chunhua, sending her flying.
The scene descended into chaos. Deng Chunhua’s piercing screams attracted the attention of neighbors, and soon the commotion spread. A small crowd of onlookers, including the village’s older women, quickly gathered to watch the drama unfold.
Lin Zhen only stopped beating Lin Dahai when he had vented his anger, but he still radiated a menacing aura.
Seeing Lin Dahai’s swollen and bruised face, the spectators gasped in shock.
“Lin Zhen sure doesn’t hold back. Look at the state he left him in!”
Deng Chunhua wailed loudly: “I can’t live like this! Lin Zhen doesn’t respect his elders at all!”
Some of the village elders frowned disapprovingly at Lin Zhen.
“Lin Zhen, no matter what happened, you shouldn’t have beaten your uncle and aunt like that. They’re your elders!”
“Exactly. No matter how bad things get, you shouldn’t raise your hand against family.”
Lin Zhen retorted coldly, “So it’s fine for them to beat Heidan? Why didn’t you stop them back then?”
The elders hesitated, momentarily at a loss for words.
“That’s different. When elders discipline children, it’s not for outsiders to interfere,” one finally replied.
Lin Zhen laughed sarcastically.
“Alright, so by your logic, as an elder brother and uncle, I can also discipline your children. You wouldn’t mind that, would you?”
“You… how can that be the same?”
The old man’s wife immediately pinched his arm.
“Keep quiet! If Lin Zhen really decided to discipline our grandchildren, could they handle even one punch from him?”
The older folks might have held onto outdated beliefs, but faced with Lin Zhen’s strength, they didn’t dare push the matter further.
Lin Dahai glared at Lin Zhen with venomous hatred.
“You ungrateful animal! Our Lin family must have committed some terrible sin to produce someone as rebellious and unfilial as you. Like your father, you’re nothing but a traitorous disgrace with no manners.
“Our Lin family can’t tolerate you anymore! Everyone here can see how you’ve attacked your elders today!”
Lin Zhen sneered in response.
“Stop pretending. Have I ever taken a single grain of rice from the Lin family? My father split from your family long ago to live independently.
“Yet certain people are so selfish, greedy, and shameless that they keep leeching off my family, stealing from us whenever they can. Isn’t that why my father left in the first place? Don’t you dare accuse him!”
“You…” Lin Dahai was trembling with rage, almost fainting on the spot.
“After all the despicable things you’ve done, do you think I’ve forgotten? When I joined the army, I didn’t dare leave my little brother in your care. I personally sent him to my grand-uncle’s house.
“When he was one and a half, I came back to check on him-he was thriving under my grand-uncle’s care. I even sent money and milk powder every month to ensure he had enough to eat!
“But clearly, you stole it all. Otherwise, how could my brother be so small and malnourished at five years old?”
Lin Zhen had pieced everything together.
Some of the village women gasped.
“Milk powder? Lin Zhen even sent milk powder back home?”
“That’s so expensive! And the Lin family kept it hidden all this time?”
“When Heidan was born, his mother passed away, and they had to beg nursing mothers to feed him. Lin Zhen joined the army to provide for Heidan, but the Lin family took the milk powder for themselves? How heartless!”
Hearing this, Deng Chunhua and Lin Dahai looked visibly uneasy but tried to defend themselves.
“Nonsense! Of course, the milk powder went to Heidan. How else would he have grown up?”
Heidan’s voice choked with tears.
“I never got any! I saw you give the milk powder to Grandma and to Lin Youcai and Lin Youfu!”
His eyes reddened as tears streamed down his face.
“Brother, they ate it all. They didn’t leave me even a sip. Lin Youcai even flaunted it in front of me, making me jealous.”
The crowd fell silent, disgusted by the Lin family’s behavior. No one wanted to defend Lin Dahai anymore.
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