GSWH-C16

Chapter 16

“What kind of real mother are you talking about? You must have gotten your information wrong. His mother now is a stepmother.”

The people beside her interrupted her, lowering their voices. “You don’t know? Lin Piao’s family has a stepmother. After Lin Piao was born, his father disappeared for some reason. Lin Piao didn’t even have a name back then. This woman came into the family as his stepmother. I heard it from my younger sister in the neighboring village. Later, when they named him, they said that ge’er were fickle by nature, wild at heart and impossible to keep, so they named him Lin Piao.”

The ge’er listening spat in disgust.

“What a load of bullshit. What did ge’er ever do to her? No matter how wild Lin Piao is, hasn’t he been raising Shen Hong sincerely? Sure, he’s clever and calculating, but his heart isn’t bad.”

“Exactly. When they married Lin Piao off to Shen Song, they took quite a bit of Shen Song’s grain and money. Now they’re coming over again? I’ll bet they’ve already found someone they like and want to make money off him again.”

After talking about it, the villagers couldn’t help feeling some sympathy for Lin Piao. The ge’er in particular were practically itching to go over and watch. They couldn’t wait to see Lin Piao throw that heartless stepmother out of his house.

“Come on, let’s go see! Let’s see how Lin Piao deals with that stepmother of his.”

A whole group of them chattered and jostled their way toward Lin Piao’s house.

Lin Piao hadn’t even reached his own gate when he saw Second Aunt hurrying toward him from a distance. The moment she spotted him, she called out:

“Piao’er! You’re finally back!”

“What happened, Auntie?” Please don’t tell me it’s about the meat.

“Your maternal family came. Your stepmother came too.”

“What?”

Lin Piao was dumbfounded.

“You fool! Your stepmother is here! She’s sitting in your house right now. Your older brother and your younger sister came too. Just look at that lineup—they look intimidating as hell. I don’t think they’ve come for anything good. What are we going to do?”

Lin Piao patted Second Aunt’s shoulder when he saw how anxious she was.

“Don’t worry, Auntie. We’ll first find out why they’ve come. Once we know what they want, we’ll naturally have a way to deal with them.”

Second Aunt still seemed ready to say something, but Lin Piao smiled sweetly.

“Just trust me, Auntie. Don’t you trust me?”

He said it so casually that Second Aunt didn’t know what plan he could possibly have. Still, after hearing him say that, the uneasiness in her heart really did settle down a little.

Over at the Shen family’s main household, they had also received the news that Lin Piao’s stepmother had gone to the younger Shen family’s house.

The eldest aunt, Second Aunt, and their daughters-in-law were gathered together entertaining the grandchildren when the younger women couldn’t help murmuring:

“She’s his stepmother. Why did she come? Could it be because Lin Piao never returned to his maternal family after the wedding?”

The eldest aunt was equally puzzled.

“Why did she suddenly come? The younger Shen household doesn’t have a single elder—just a bunch of half-grown children and a widowed ge’er. What kind of household is that? We’re all Shen family, after all. If he’d asked us to come, we wouldn’t necessarily refuse to help him maintain appearances. Ying’er, go outside and see what the in-laws have come for.”

Second Aunt immediately chimed in.

“Ling’er, you go with your sister-in-law too, in case she doesn’t hear everything clearly.”

Once the two had been sent away, Second Aunt leaned closer to the eldest aunt and lowered her voice.

“Sister-in-law, don’t get angry when I tell you this. I was the one who had someone invite the in-laws over.”

The eldest aunt was startled but didn’t get angry. She merely glanced at her.

“What are you scheming?”

“Lin Piao refuses to remarry, and we can’t do anything about him. But his maternal family might not be so powerless. Once they straighten him out, everything afterward will be much easier.”

There was a hint of smugness in Second Aunt’s voice, but the eldest aunt merely nodded.

“If his maternal family finds him a better match, then surely they’ll still put Lin Piao’s future first.”

Second Aunt immediately lost her enthusiasm and inwardly rolled her eyes.

Look at her pretending to be some kind-hearted saint.

“Sister-in-law, shall we go watch the fun?”

The eldest aunt shook her head.

“I won’t go. If Lin Piao refuses to remarry, as his elders, it wouldn’t be right for us to stand there and watch.”

“Of course! We can’t just stand there watching—we have to persuade him to remarry!”

The eldest aunt:

“……”

They clearly weren’t talking about the same thing.

Second Aunt happily left on her own and hurried toward Lin Piao’s house.

Lin Piao led Second Aunt and the children all the way home.

Looking at the shabby doorway, he sighed inwardly at the thought of the troublesome relatives waiting inside.

Well, what’s here is here.

Roll up the sleeves and deal with it.

Lin Piao rolled up his sleeves and stepped inside.

Several unfamiliar people were standing in his courtyard, pointing toward the piglets inside the fenced-in shed and counting them as though they were taking inventory.

On the way home, Lin Piao had pretended not to understand anything and coaxed Second Aunt into explaining his maternal family’s relationships to him.

These two young people should be his biological older brother and the daughter his stepmother had later given birth to.

Beside him, Er Zhu and Er Gou exchanged wary glances as they watched the two people counting the piglets.

Fortunately, because Little Sister-in-law had previously said that chickens and ducks were too noisy and would disturb their studies, all of them had been moved to Er Zhu’s mother’s courtyard.

Only a few piglets remained here.

And those piglets had been raised plump and tender-looking. They were certainly tempting enough to make anyone hungry.

Lin Piao immediately took the initiative.

“Why are you all standing around in the courtyard? Come inside and sit down! Don’t you think I’d feel bad seeing you stand there until your legs get tired?”

Er Gou grinned.

For some reason, whenever Little Sister-in-law said he felt sorry for someone, Er Gou had the distinct feeling that whoever he was talking about was about to have a bad time.

The two turned around.

The tall, thin man had a fairly decent-looking face, but his manner was rather timid and shrinking. When he saw Lin Piao, however, he visibly relaxed.

“Piao’er.”

That must be his older brother, Lin Dazhuang.

What a painfully common name.

The other was a pretty young girl. She glanced at him, then shifted her gaze toward Shen Hong and looked at him a little longer.

She didn’t say anything.

That should be his younger sister, Lin Chun.

“Where’s Mother?”

Only then did Lin Chun’s expression finally change. She shifted her eyes away but didn’t answer.

Lin Piao wondered if perhaps his younger sister was mute.

Even Lin Dazhuang looked awkward and couldn’t seem to find anything to say.

So Lin Piao simply walked straight inside.

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Why is Mother hiding? Doesn’t she miss me?”

“How could a mother not miss her own child!”

A woman slapped at her clothes as she awkwardly emerged from Lin Piao’s room.

“Why were you in my room?”

“I thought you hadn’t arrived yet, so I went in to look at the room you’re living in now. I thought you’d invite me inside to sit anyway. Going in earlier or later doesn’t make much difference, does it?”

“Of course not.”

Lin Piao smiled.

“I know exactly what’s in my room. I’m just worried the lock wasn’t secure when I left. If something goes missing and people become suspicious of you, how are you supposed to explain yourself?”

Madam Lin’s expression changed dramatically.

“You cheap ge’er! You’ve only been away from home for a few days, and just because I’ve given you a little face, you’ve gotten quite the sharp tongue. How dare you talk back to your mother!”

“I’ll call you Mother when you actually act like one.”

Lin Piao’s smile disappeared.

“Besides, whether you’re actually my mother or not, we both know the truth. So don’t throw your weight around just because I’ve given you a little respect.”

Lin Piao remembered that, under the laws of this ancient era, beating one’s elders wasn’t allowed.

What a pity.

His stepmother had treated the original Lin Piao terribly, and now she had come to bully him too.

Lin Piao couldn’t help wondering whether some remnants of the original Lin Piao’s emotions still lingered in this body.

Because the moment he saw that twisted expression on his stepmother’s face—

he instinctively wanted to step back.