"Tell me, which sane person would allow a widow to take away their children and grandchildren?
Especially when this is the son of Lin Yuanshan!
He was the only person in our Old Lin Family who managed to become a dignitary. Even if he's not here anymore, even if he has passed away, he remains a dignitary!
If we let his only son go to the Zhou Family, have you considered the ridicule we would suffer?"
Sixth Uncle's rant turned the faces of the elder brothers sour. Third Grandfather glanced around at the tense atmosphere, inwardly sighing and alleviating some embarrassment for the patriarch.
"Sixth Brother, who said we were handing over the child? At the time, we all just thought that the child was so small and inseparable from his mother, so we decided to let him live with the Zhou Family for a few years. Once he grew up, we would bring him back. Who knew the Zhou Family would be so unreasonable?"
Well-tempered Ninth Uncle also quickly chimed in to mediate the situation.
"Enough, enough. It is our fault. What's done is done, and there's no use in complaining. We should be thinking about how to handle this matter."
Lin Youtian, facing the embarrassment caused by the scolding of his nephew, had to admit his mistake.
"I really am to blame for this! No need to argue anymore. Yuanshan, what do we do? We'll go by whatever you say this time."
After all, Lin You'an was his nephew, and the two orphaned children would likely end up under his care. Even for the children's sake, they needed to appease Yuanshan.
Lin Yuanshan lowered his gaze to his nephew and replied hesitantly.
"Why are you asking me? I'm not the victim here."
Upon receiving the hint, Lin You'an took a step forward.
"Patriarch, respected elders! I want the Zhou Family to return my father's property. Those belongings are ours, the Lin Family's. Why should they go to the Zhou Family?"
"That's the spirit!"
Lin Youtian agreed, but Ninth Uncle added a question.
"You'an, your Ninth Grandfather hopes you understand something.
If we fight for your debts, it means breaking ties with the Zhou Family. You may lose a relative's house to visit in the future. Your relationship with your mother will probably also become distant.
Do you understand these points?"
He wanted to clear everything upfront, preventing any future resentment.
"I understand, Grandfather!"
Although Lin You'an was skinny, he spoke clearly and thoughtfully, uncharacteristically calm for an eight-year-old.
"Rather than having relatives to visit, You'an would rather stay alive and grow up with my sister. In the future, I would like to marry, have children, and continue our family line for the sake of my father."
"That's the spirit!"
With those words, the patriarch made the decision.
"All of you stop standing around and hurry back to gather our people. Have all the oxen and mules in our clan ready for action. We are going to the Zhou Family to collect our debts right now!"
Within the clan, the patriarch's words carry significant weight.
In less than 45 minutes, the Lin Family gathered all the able-bodied men from the clan, and even borrowed two ox carts from the neighboring village.
Those who did not yet eat lunch hurriedly grabbed a couple of wheat cakes and shoved them into their chests. Then, the young men of the Lin Family strode towards Zhou Family's town in great numbers.
Meanwhile, Chu Chi, under the guidance of Lady Liu and her daughter, had made an effort to tidy herself up. Thankfully her stature was not too tall and sturdy, and wearing the clothing of the thirteen-year-old girl Lin Fen'er, it didn't look too tight on her.
However, it was slightly ill-fitting overall.
Lady Liu, after having washed her niece clean, held her in her arms, spoon-feeding her chicken and egg soup.
Upon looking up, she saw her unconventional sister, with wet hair and clothes skewed in different directions, walking out from the west room.
This girl was indeed beautiful. Even the compliment "beauty that can overshadow both flowers and the moon" would not be too excessive. Her countryside attire could not mask the aura that radiated from her bones.
What a pity.
Lady Liu sighed lightly in her heart.
How good it would have been if her younger brother-in-law was still alive? The second one was gentle and cultured; he would've been a Tolerable match for this delicate flower-like girl, making up for a reasonably good union.
Thinking about it, she then lightly laughed at herself.
What on earth was she thinking about? If the second one was still alive, Madam Zhou would not have committed such an unforgivable act, probably would still be pretending to be her virtuous wife and good mother.
Then there wouldn't be anything related to this girl.
Sigh, all in all, the current bizarre circumstances are a result of a series of unfortunate incidents happening one after another. She hoped that the child Yu'an wouldn't regret in the future. Otherwise, it would be difficult to clean up this aftermath!
Chu Chi slowly ambled over to Lady Liu's side and sat down, her eyes fixed on the bowl in Lady Liu's hand. She was watching the unknown food spoon by spoon disappearing into the mouth of the little baby.
Gurgle~ Gurgle~
A strange sound echoed out from somewhere. Chu Chi blinked, looked around, and finally gazed down at her own stomach.
"Hungry, right? Please wait a little longer, your nieces will finish cooking soon."
Lady Liu quickly explained in a soft voice, fearing that any improper word might cause her to break something. A rich or poor family aside, they simply could not afford her thoughtless breakage.
They had scarcely eaten a few mouthfuls of the afternoon meal when she slapped all of it onto the floor, do they have a choice but to cook again?
Madam Zhang sat to one side, her face exceedingly grim.
Although she had been chased back to her room earlier, she had stealthily listened to the situation in the main room from the door and had a rough idea of what had transpired.
Knowing why her next-door younger uncle had returned, she felt extremely uncomfortable!
Originally, her family was in the town, in much better conditions than the Lin family. The reason she married the countryside youth Lin Xiaosheng was that she was rescued by a hero two years ago.
Zhang Xuanniang, beautiful and the only daughter of the owner of Zhang's Tavern, Zhang Dafu, was very cherished by her parents and older brothers at home.
While on her errand to buy embroidery thread, she caught the eye of a ruffian, which fortuitously coincided with the proximity of Lin Yousheng. Having been trained in hunting by his father since childhood, this young man was pretty skilled. He helped her fend off the troublemaker and even ensured she got home safely.
In order to express their gratitude, the Zhang family introduced him to the Li Family Escort Agency to become an escort, which was originally founded by Zhang Xuanniang's maternal grandfather.
A beautiful maiden and a charming young man, meeting under such wondrous circumstances reminiscent of folklore tales, how could they not start having feelings for each other?
Zhang Xuanniang would frequently make trips to her grandfather's home under the pretext of missing her grandparents. Yet, anyone with eyes could see that her interest lay elsewhere.
In this way, sneaking glances turned into shared looks between the two young people.
Although Lin Yousheng was a country boy, luckily his uncle, Lin Yuanzhou, was already a scholar at the time. This inadvertently added substantial weight to his case. After mulling it over for half a month, Zhang Dafu, the patriarch of the Zhang family, begrudgingly nodded his approval.
