At first, he was also half-skeptical and angrily wanted to confront Lin Yuanshan for clarification. But Zhou Yuhe immediately threatened to commit suicide, saying she didn't want to live anymore.
That's why he unhesitatingly believed his mother's words. Thinking that his father was already gone, as the only man in the family, he had to protect his mother and the siblings in her womb.
Then, he went to the clan and reported Lin Yuanshan. He still remembered the shocked and angry look on the other's face at that time, and he felt a long sigh of relief. He thought that with the clan's pressure, his mother and the three of them should be safe.
But looking back now, he couldn't help but want to run back a few months ago and beat that stupid self to death!
Why?
You fool, why did you believe Zhou Yuhe's words so much? She was just a selfish woman who abandoned her children! He now saw through her completely.
Lin You'an bit his lip and lowered his head, forcing back the tears. Even if he regretted his past actions, he was unwilling to do something so embarrassing in front of others.
Crying on cue was one thing, but crying from genuine emotion was another. He didn't want to expose his weakness and awkwardness for others to see.
But even though he didn't open his mouth to argue back, it didn't stop Lin Yuanshan's saliva from nearly spraying on his face.
"You still have the nerve to ask how this house and land ended up in my hands?"
The other man began to sneer through gritted teeth.
Even though he was facing only an eight-year-old child, just thinking about the outrageous things the boy had done in the past made him tremble with anger.
"You were completely fooled by that woman Zhou, and you wouldn't believe a word I said, no matter how I tried to explain. You just insisted on taking kindness for granted.
That bunch of bastards from the Zhou family, using your name, forcibly took away the family fortune of our Lin family!
Fine! For the sake of my dear brother resting peacefully in his grave, no matter how unwilling I was, I had to follow your wishes and hand over all the assets of the Second Branch to Zhou for management.
But you, you little bastard, listened to the instigation of the Zhou family. You'd rather break ties with me than stay with that woman Zhou and return to the Zhou family!
Huh, is something wrong with your brain? You, a descendant of the Lin family, staying in the Zhou family's house - it would be a miracle if anything good came out of that!
I was practically on my knees begging you at that time, wasn't I? But you ran away so fast, avoiding me like the plague!
How low do I have to stoop to keep chasing after you with my face on the ground? The smug laughter of those bastards at that time still makes me want to vomit blood just thinking about it!"
Those rotten affairs couldn't be mentioned; the more he talked about them, the angrier he got! Lin Yuanshan took several deep breaths before barely suppressing the rage in his chest.
"You left with her, and not even half a month later, all the houses and land here were sold! The deed had your name, Lin You'an, on it!
This land was the family fortune that my parents worked hard all their lives to acquire, and this house was the home my brother built brick by brick. What right did you have to sell it just like that?
It's truly a case of the son selling his father's land, and you didn't feel an ounce of pain, did you? But if you don't care, I do! I borrowed a mountain of debt to barely manage to redeem these things at a high price.
I said it then, and I'll say it now - even if you end up begging on the streets in the future, as long as you don't come to my door, I'll pretend I don't see you!
My conscience tells me that I've done everything I could for you as my nephew! Even if I face my brother in the afterlife, I won't feel guilty!"
The other man's mouth was spouting a torrent of words, and he was getting angrier with each sentence. If it weren't for Chu Chi, that formidable presence sitting nearby, those big feet would probably be kicking Lin You'an, this damned brat, instead of the pile of junk on the ground!
The ins and outs of these matters were completely different from what he had known! Lin You'an was no longer the naive fool he was a few months ago. He didn't immediately believe what the other person said.
But in his mind, he carefully went over the whole series of causes and consequences, and then came to a conclusion that made him feel dejected.
If what Lin Yuanshan said was the truth, it was no wonder that when he came back to fight for the family fortune in his dream, none of the elders in the clan were willing to stand up for him.
Lin You'an thought of many things in an instant. He remembered when his father was still alive, how Zhou Yuhe had been so gentle and loving towards him. Why did she change her demeanor as soon as his father died? Why would there be a mother in this world who could be so cruel to her children?
He lowered his head, and after suppressing all the chokes in his throat, he raised his head to speak. He didn't try to defend or excuse himself, but simply stated the course of events.
"What you've said is far from what I believed to be true. At that time, my father had just passed away, and you came to our house to bully us, a widow and orphan. As the only male in the family, I naturally had to protect my mother and my unborn siblings.
I left with the Zhou family because you repeatedly tried to take advantage of Zhou Yuhe. She was pregnant and lived in constant fear, unable to eat or sleep properly, on the verge of losing both her life and the baby's. It was only under those desperate circumstances that I followed her wishes and went with her to the Zhou family."
Now, looking back, he couldn't help but mock his foolish self from that time, while marveling at his birth mother's superb acting skills.
"Not long after we arrived at the Zhou family, I heard that our house and land had been seized by you in collusion with the clan members. And all the money we had brought with us was also taken by Zhou Yuhe.
At that time, I hadn't developed any other thoughts about her, and she hadn't shown her true colors. She just said I was still young, and she would hold onto the money for me for now. She was my birth mother, so naturally, I didn't raise any objections.
Until later,"
He glanced at his sister, who was nestled in his aunt's arms with a bewildered look. Such a small child had been suffering with him since birth - it was all his fault as her older brother!
"Later, she wanted to remarry. Despite my repeated pleas and attempts to stop her, I couldn't change her resolute decision. In the end, I asked her to return the money to me.
If she wanted to get married, fine. If she wanted to abandon her children, that was her choice too. But she couldn't take away the money our father had left behind. That's what I thought at the time, haha.
Then, I began to live a good life of being ordered around and beaten at will."
Unconsciously, he reached out to touch his left arm, which had once been swollen for half a month. It was the first time in his life that he had been beaten with a stick, and the perpetrator was his uncle, who claimed to be disciplining a rebellious child on behalf of his mother.
It was also from that time that Lin You'an realized that both the Lin family and the Zhou family were wolves and tigers coming to seize his family's fortune!
"Sixth Brother! They even dared to beat you?" Lin Youwen ran over and lifted up his cousin's ragged clothes. Row after row of new and old injuries appeared on this small, thin body, making his eyes turn red with anger.
