Chapter 86 - 29: "How Arrogant

Chapter 86: Chapter 29: "How Arrogant

She glanced at the person she had hit. It was the biggest gossip in the Dongfeng Team, someone who was always, openly or secretly, comparing her peers in the village. She gossiped about everyone’s private affairs, capable of twisting the truth and turning black into white. She had suffered plenty because of her gossiping, but she never seemed to learn her lesson.

Song Xiwei impatiently pushed away the woman she had beaten speechless, dusted off her hands, and straightened her slightly rumpled clothes. With a placid expression, she said, "It’s nothing. We were just messing around."

The gossip who had been struck stared wide-eyed, her expression one of utter humiliation. She was seething with anger.

’Who’s messing around with you?’

’This barbarian!’

She cursed inwardly but didn’t dare make a peep.

She was in the wrong today. It was her own fault for gossiping about Lin Zhao and getting caught red-handed by that thug, Song Xiwei.

The woman angrily pushed away the person trying to help her up and stormed off.

"What’s her problem?" the person who’d been pushed away muttered unhappily. "So ungrateful."

Song Xiwei glanced at all the bags in Lin Zhao’s hands, her brow twitching imperceptibly. She shot her daughter a displeased look and said, "Let’s go home."

Lin Zhao pretended not to see her mother’s glare. She caught up, handed the bags to her bandit-slaying mother, and feigned exhaustion by shaking out her arms. "I’m dead tired," she grumbled. "Mom, can you help me carry these? Ugh, if only I had a bicycle."

"..." A helpless look flashed in Song Xiwei’s eyes, but she didn’t think her daughter was being delicate. "Money isn’t the issue," she said. "Do you have the ticket for one?"

Lin Zhao shook her head. "No, but I wrote and asked Gu Chenghuai for one. Maybe he can get his hands on one."

Song Xiwei glanced at her sideways. Her daughter’s gaze was clear, and her whole demeanor was bright and gentle, much like when she had first gotten married.

She was full of confidence for the future, living her life with a vibrant love for the world.

"You’re not angry with Chenghuai anymore?"

Lin Zhao hummed in confusion. "I’m not angry with him."

Song Xiwei shook her head inwardly.

’If you weren’t angry, why did you neglect your own child and act like a completely different person for years? It was because you were sulking that your son-in-law wasn’t by your side when you gave birth, wasn’t it?’

"Alright, you weren’t angry."

The bags were quite heavy. Song Xiwei hefted them in her hand. "What all did you bring now?"

"Just a watermelon, a canister of green tea, and two pounds of white flour." Lin Zhao sighed. "I was going to get a jar of meat sauce for Dad, but I was afraid you’d get mad, so I didn’t. I’ll go to the county town tomorrow to mail it to your son-in-law."

"Good, send it to Chenghuai," Song Xiwei agreed. "Your husband is out there working hard all by himself. You should take more care of him."

"I am taking care of him. A letter every three days—that’s pretty frequent, isn’t it?"

Song Xiwei didn’t comment, only remarking, "When you were newlyweds, you wrote one every day."

Lin Zhao had no rebuttal, because it was true.

The mother and daughter left hand in hand, and the excitement in the spot where the crowd had gathered for the fight instantly dissipated.

"Zhaozhao brought her parents things again. Is she neglecting her own home? How can a married daughter keep taking things from her in-laws’ place to her own family? It’s a good thing the Gu Family already split the household, otherwise she’d be thrown out sooner or later."

The woman speaking was the same age as Song Xiwei. Her own daughter-in-law was always sneaking things from their home to give to her family, so she despised daughters-in-law whose loyalties weren’t with their husbands’ families. Seeing Lin Zhao laden with bags reminded her of her own daughter-in-law, making her teeth ache with resentment.

The person next to her gave a reminder, "Her family’s business is none of our concern. If you don’t want that tyrant Song coming after you, you should stop talking."

’Besides,’ she thought, ’the girl married a capable man and is willing to be good to her own parents. That just shows she has a good heart. What’s there to be so sour about?’

"Fine, I won’t say any more..."

The gossiping circle broke apart, and everyone headed home, though they couldn’t help but wonder to themselves what Lin Zhao had brought this time...

Lin Zhao could guess exactly what the villagers were saying; she could probably recite their words verbatim. It was nothing more than the usual idle chatter, not much different from what people in the Fengshou Team would say. There was no real malice behind it; it was simply a pastime for country folk to kill time, and she never took it to heart.

Back at home.

Lin Zhao immediately spotted Mr. Lin sunning himself in the courtyard.

"Dad!"

Lin Heling had been resting with his eyes closed. Hearing the familiar voice, he opened them, a smile instantly appearing on his face as he waved her over.

"Zhaozhao, you’re back! Are you thirsty?"

Lin Zhao plopped down beside her dad without ceremony. "Thirsty? I’m dying of thirst! I practically flew all the way here to tell you and Mom the good news. My throat feels like it’s about to catch fire."

Just then, Lin Shisheng emerged from the kitchen, holding a cup of water.

"Here, drink," he said, then glared at his younger sister. "It’s your own fault for not bringing a water bottle. And don’t tell me you don’t have one."

Noticing she wasn’t wearing a hat, he frowned. "You didn’t even wear your straw hat. You’ll get a tan and then come crying and whining about it again."

Lin Zhao GULP GULP-ed down several mouthfuls of water and shot him an aggrieved look. "I was just in a hurry to share the good news, and you’re still picking on me, Second Brother."

Her pout lasted only two seconds before she perked right back up.

"Second Brother, want to guess what good news I’ve brought?"