Chu Chi couldn't understand his words, but her eyes were fixed on him, flashing with the fierce light of a mother beast protecting her cubs.
"Heh heh, don't you dare bully my son!" she growled.
The wound on her neck was quite severe, likely damaging her vocal cords. Even though she managed to force out the words through the pain, her tone still carried an eerie, ghostly quality.
This startled the Lin family, making them all shudder. Then they gradually came to their senses, realizing something was amiss.
Wait, what did this girl just say?!
Lin Youwen was the first to voice his doubts.
"You... you're a young lady, what nonsense are you spouting? How can you just claim someone as your child like that? Besides, judging by your age, you're probably about the same as me. There's no way you could be Sixth Brother's godmother!"
"Second Brother! She's not my godmother, she's my stepmother!" Lin You'an's reaction was even quicker, immediately setting the tone. Although he had cleverly picked up on some other implications from his uncle and cousins' words earlier, he still believed more firmly in this most secure and stable relationship between himself and Chu Chi.
"My mother's name is Chu Chi, and she's eighteen this year. I heard that when our grandfather was still alive, he had arranged a marriage agreement for my father before birth. But later, the Chu family had several sons in a row before finally having this daughter. The age difference with my father wasn't quite right, so the marriage arrangement fell through.
"But unexpectedly, the Chu family met with misfortune, so my mother came seeking relatives with the betrothal token, and I happened to run into her. I had heard my father mention this story before, so I recognized her. Then she volunteered to marry a deceased husband and raise his children.
"So she is my mother, and I am her son! No problem!"
Yesterday, in order to forcefully implant this information into Chu Chi's brain, Lin You'an had repeated it over and over again. Tell a lie 100 times, and even he started to believe it himself.
So now he recited it particularly smoothly and skillfully, the ins and outs flowing effortlessly from his mouth, the lies sounding just like the truth.
What's more, the poor victim beside him nodded vigorously in agreement.
"That's right! What An'an says is the truth!"
Well, this brainwashing was certainly thorough!
The roomful of people who had been uncertain before now thought that perhaps it really was true, seeing how firmly the two insisted.
Only Lin Yuanshan's mouth was twitching so hard it was almost leaving afterimages.
This little brat was just like that old schemer, his second brother. Looked human on the outside, but actually full of treachery inside!
He himself was still standing here breathing, yet this kid dared to fabricate stories about his grandfather's arrangements with his eyes wide open?
His father had arranged a marriage for his second brother before birth, and he, the eldest son of the Lin family, knew nothing about it?!
Where on earth did this kid dig up such a foolish girl? Her kung fu skills might be impressive, but her brain clearly wasn't working too well.
As a human being, Lin Yuanshan still had some conscience left. He glared fiercely at his unscrupulous nephew, then looked at Chu Chi with genuine sincerity, choosing to tell the truth.
"Ahem, Miss... Chu, is it?" The mischief his nephew had caused left him, the unfortunate uncle, to clean up the mess and apologize.
"I don't know how Lin You'an tricked you, but I can't, in good conscience, let a fine young lady like yourself be duped into becoming a young widow. Lin You'an can't claim you as his mother. This mother-son relationship between you two is wrong, both in terms of age and reason!
"Miss Chu, you should go find a good match for yourself. Don't listen to that little rascal Lin You'an's nonsense."
Regarding Lin Yuanshan's well-intentioned advice, Lin You'an's preemptive brainwashing from yesterday now proved enormously effective.
Chu Chi repeated expressionlessly:
"I am An'an and Wan'wan's mother. Don't try to trick me or steal our family property, or I'll blow your head off!"
Her mind, ever focused on its original mission, constantly dwelled on the food that had been taken away.
As she spoke these words, her murderous intent was so palpable that Lin Yuanshan had no doubt she had taken dozens of lives.
"I..."
All his persuasions were choked back in his throat.
Kind words can't dissuade a ghost bent on dying.
With a brain like that, you deserve to be fooled!
Lin Yuanshan, who wasn't known for his good temper to begin with, took a deep breath to calm himself. Forget it, forget it, why get upset over someone else's affairs?
The key point was that he really couldn't beat her in a fight.
Struggling to avert his gaze and compose himself, his eyes then turned to the true culprit, and his anger immediately flared up again.
"You little brat, come tell me, is this how you've been slandering me out there?
When did I ever steal your family property?
You couldn't hold onto your own things and let the Zhou family swindle them away, what does that have to do with me?"
Seeing this righteous tone, Lin You'an became a bit uncertain. But his own memories weren't faulty, were they?
"If you didn't steal it, then how come our family's house and farmland are all in your hands now?"
This question really made Lin Yuanshan laugh in anger!
"How come they're in my hands? You ask how come they're in my hands? It's because I bought it all back with my own hard-earned money!"
As the middle-aged man said these words, his gnashing teeth made people fear he might accidentally swallow himself in his fury.
"When your father passed away, I insisted on keeping your mother in the Lin family. Who do you think I was doing that for?
Do you remember what you did back then?
Heh, you sent someone to fetch the Zhou family, saying that I, Lin Yuanshan, was inhuman and trying to bully you poor orphans and widows!"
Lin You'an's eyes flickered as he suddenly recalled a scene from several months ago.
At that time, his father's funeral had just concluded, and Zhou Yuhe had collapsed in front of him, her belly swollen with pregnancy. Amidst sobs, she cried that the eldest branch of the family wanted to seize everything, bullying them as helpless orphans and widows with no one to rely on.
With a face that looked as if she might breathe her last at any moment, she urged him to quickly seek out the Zhou family for help! If they were too late, the three of them – mother and children – might meet a terrible fate in an instant.
At that time, Zhou Yuhe was still the mother who had loved him for eight years. How could he not listen to his mother's words when his father had suddenly passed away and he felt so lost and afraid?
So he...
Lin You'an fell silent.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuanshan's condemnation continued.
"The Zhou family stood on their moral high ground, accusing me of being no better than a beast despite my human form. They claimed I had ulterior motives towards my own brother's widow, and that the reason I was keeping Zhou shi from leaving was because I wanted to forcibly take my sister-in-law for myself!"
As he spoke, he viciously kicked the already broken table on the ground, his voice colder than his eyes.
"Why don't you tell us what you did then?"
Lin You'an's eyes widened in shock.
He didn't know about any of this!
He only remembered that day when his uncle had come to their house to see Zhou Yuhe. He didn't know what they had discussed in the main hall. After he left, Zhou Yuhe had run to the study with a terrified expression, throwing herself into his arms.
She had cried her heart out.
Saying over and over that she couldn't face living anymore, that she had let her husband down, that she wanted to die along with the child in her belly, that she couldn't bear this humiliation any longer.
