Bai Ji didn’t notice the gaze of her parents, but Lin Yongcheng did.

He instantly understood and looked at the little Bai Guo with a somewhat subtle expression.

A four-month-old baby suddenly weaned and was away from her mother for the first time; with both things happening at once, any normal child would probably cry for three to five days, right?

Although he didn’t know what Xiao Zisu meant by saying the baby was crying and vomiting, from the expressions of his father- and mother-in-law, he could guess that the little lazybones definitely didn’t want them around!

After dinner, the little Bai Guo was handed over to Lin Yongcheng.

It was summer, so it didn’t get dark until late, and the outside was still quite bright. He carried his little daughter into the yard to get some fresh air.

They had brought back two pieces of white fabric with crushed floral prints from the county town. It was just enough to make two little dresses for their daughters, and there would be a little leftover from Bai Guo’s fabric to make a small handkerchief.

Li Qiurong and Bai Ji were in the main room making the little dresses.

The mother and daughter were chatting casually when Lin Yongcheng returned with little Bai Guo in his arms.

Bai Ji looked at the freshly cut floral fabric in her hands and then at the yawning little Bai Guo.

“Good girl, four months old and still hasn’t worn new clothes.”

All she had were old clothes that Xiao Zisu had worn before.

Children grow quickly, so making new clothes wasn’t cost-effective.

Plus, since the baby couldn’t walk or jump yet, there was no wear and tear on the clothes, and the old clothes were still in perfect condition.

In the patchwork-filled environment of the time, having a piece of clothing without patches was a luxury. Xiao Zisu’s old clothes didn’t have any patches.

Though they were called “old clothes,” they were still highly desirable if given away.

But Bai Ji still felt she owed her little daughter something.

“Once our good girl can walk, I’ll make her some new clothes.”

“Xiao Zisu hasn’t worn new clothes for a year either,” Lin Yongcheng said.

“I’m not saying I won’t make her new clothes. You often go to other places, so whenever you find suitable fabric for little girls, bring it back. The fabric coupons at home are mainly used for the children.”

“Mm, I’ll pay attention.”

When they lived in the Lin family, there were so many children there that while some food could be stored in their room, clothes couldn’t be hidden.

He didn’t want his daughter to be envied by the nieces and nephews.

So, during the year they lived at the Lin family’s house, he didn’t make Xiao Zisu any new clothes.

It was better after they separated. Before, if they wanted to do something nice for the children, they had to keep it hidden.

Now that they had their own place, they could buy whatever they wanted for the children without worrying about anyone’s opinion and without fearing their children would be envied.

This was Lin Yongcheng’s thought process.

Don’t blame him for being suspicious of his nieces and nephews.

He understood the Lin family elders, the two brothers, and the atmosphere of the family all too well.

The Lin family couldn’t raise any visionary children. If they didn’t separate, the third generation would only be as short-sighted as their parents, always focusing on the little things in the house and never thinking of creating better conditions through their own efforts.

They couldn’t improve, and he didn’t want to help them either.

Having lived in the Lin family for a year, Lin Yongcheng had already figured out the older nieces and nephews.

As for the younger ones, it was hard to tell for now.

Even though his surname was Lin, Lin Yongcheng still wanted to say—“Bad bamboo doesn’t grow good shoots!”

His real parents were unreliable, but fortunately, his father- and mother-in-law were trustworthy. He was completely at ease leaving the two children in their care.

Lin Yongcheng lowered his head and kissed little Bai Guo on the cheek twice, smiling as he asked, “Good girl, tomorrow you’ll have new clothes to wear. Are you happy?”

Little Bai Guo furrowed her brows in annoyance.

She didn’t know if she was happy about wearing new clothes.

But she definitely wasn’t happy about having saliva all over her face.

She was very displeased!!

Lin Yongcheng was delighted by her reaction. “Good girl can wipe her face by herself?”

“She learned two days ago,” Li Qiurong said, not surprised.

She continued, “Before, when Bai Ji was at home, Xiao Zisu couldn’t be close to the good girl all the time. But two days ago, when we went to the health center, Xiao Zisu kissed her over and over, and the good girl got saliva all over her face. So, she learned to wipe her face herself.”

She had kissed her for three days in a row, and little Bai Guo had wiped her face for three days straight.

Lin Yongcheng was instantly pleased.

“Getting little lazybones to learn to wipe her face, Xiao Zisu deserves some credit!”

Bai Ji glanced at little Bai Guo. “So, you’re saying our good girl is lazy because she’s too comfortable? Should we create some trouble for her?”

Lin Yongcheng said, “What if… we bring home a puppy? Or maybe a goose. When she starts walking, the big white goose can chase her every day. If she doesn’t run, it’ll bite her.”

Li Qiurong whispered, “Forget about the goose. They’re too fierce. What if the good girl gets bullied by it? Wouldn’t you two feel bad?”

Little Bai Guo’s sleepiness instantly disappeared.

Her parents were not reliable! How could she be a good girl when they were planning this?

Having a goose chase and bully their own child was unacceptable!

They needed to come to their senses!!

That night, little Bai Guo dreamed that she was being chased by a big white goose all over the yard.

She quickly turned into a fish, but unfortunately, there was no water in the yard.

She tried to jump and slap the goose with her tail, but she couldn’t.

The goose kept biting her, and she dropped fish scales all over the ground.

She had turned into a bald fish!

Little Bai Guo woke up in the middle of the night!

The big white goose was so scary!

She didn’t want to be a bald fish!

Of course, the goose only existed in her dream.

When she woke up, she had lost her tail, but couldn’t do anything to get revenge on the goose.

So, she set her sights on Lin Yongcheng.

It was he who said he wanted to raise a big white goose to bite her, so she had a dream about the goose that night.

Ultimately, Lin Yongcheng was the one to blame!

Xiao(Little) Bai Guo turned her head to look beside her.

She was sleeping on the innermost side, with Bai Ji between her and Lin Yongcheng. If she wanted to hit him, she would have to turn over.

After struggling for half a minute, Little Bai Guo decided to turn over.

If she didn’t give the villain father a couple of punches, she would dream of the white goose again, and she would dream of turning into a bald fish.

A lazy fish never turns over, but once it does, it can succeed in anything.

— Including hitting the villain father!

Little Bai Guo’s movements were as clumsy as a turtle.

She slowly turned over, half-laying on Bai Ji, and raised her small hand to throw a punch.

It landed perfectly on Lin Yongcheng’s nose.

Then, in a second, she turned back to lie down properly.

She was slow to turn over, but the action of lying back down was incredibly swift.

Lin Yongcheng had been a soldier for several years, and even though he had transferred out, his alertness remained high.

He was suddenly struck by a punch in his sleep, and he immediately opened his eyes, sitting up.

After waiting for a few seconds, the room was still silent except for Bai Ji’s steady breathing.

He glanced at Bai Ji, who was peacefully sleeping beside him, then looked over her at the little Bai Guo on the other side, and resignedly lay back down, leaving the blame on Bai Ji.

He silently accepted that Bai Ji had accidentally punched him in her sleep.

As for Little Bai Guo, her lazy image was deeply ingrained.

Not only did she never turn over, but there was also Bai Ji in between them.

She would have to turn over twice to reach him.

It wasn’t that Lin Yongcheng looked down on her; even if she could turn over twice to punch him, it would be impossible for her to lie back down so quickly without him noticing.

If she had this ability, she wouldn’t be called the lazy little one.

…

After hitting her villain father, Little Bai Guo slept soundly and had a beautiful dream where she was shining with bright scales.

Until the next morning, when loud noises came from outside.

“Dr. Bai, you must come and take a look!”

“Such a tragedy, Lin Yongdong’s head’s been split apart…”

“The squad leader went to report to the police. Dr. Bai, please go see if there’s any hope for the rest of his family. There were over ten people, they can’t all be dead.”

“The team’s well is unusable. I’ll come and help carry water from your house.”

“…”

Seven or eight people rushed into the courtyard, some men, some women, all speaking at once.

They shouted, each saying their piece, leaving Bai Shu and Li Qiurong confused.

“Who should we check on?” Bai Shu asked the most familiar Lin Goudan.

“Something happened at Lin Yongdong’s house, his head’s been split apart. The village secretary asked me to call Dr. Bai to help,” Lin Goudan said, gesturing with his hand across his neck.

“How can we help if his head’s split apart? There’s no hope, no need to go,” Bai Shu waved his hand. “I still need to take care of the child. If you want to carry water, go ahead.”

Although Bai Shu didn’t understand the connection between Lin Yongdong’s head being split and the well being unusable, he didn’t want to ask or be curious. His own family had a well, so he didn’t need to fetch water.

With all the noise in the courtyard, Xiao Baiguo should have woken up by now.

Bai Shu was about to go into the room to check on Xiao Baiguo when Lin Goudan stopped him.

“Dr. Bai, it’s not about Lin Yongdong. His family’s in a bad state. The village secretary said there might still be a chance. He asked you to check!”

“…”

Bai Shu paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll give you the keys. You run to the health clinic, grab my medical kit, and bring it to Lin Yongdong’s house. I’ll go directly there.”

Taking the keys, Lin Goudan ran off.

Little Bai Guo, half-awake, was still a bit dazed.

What’s going on? There are strange voices outside, all shouting loudly and urgently, disturbing her sleep.

They lived at the foot of the mountain, with no neighbors on either side, and the nearest house was over a hundred meters away. Normally, no one visited their house.

If someone did, it wouldn’t be so early, and definitely not so loud.

It was still early, only around eight o’clock.

The situation was like this: there was only one well at the village entrance in Shanglin Village.

The villagers had to go to the well to fetch water, especially in the morning when the water quality was best.

Many households fetched water in the morning.

In the summer, it got light early, and many families ate breakfast before seven o’clock, then went to fetch water, only to find a body floating in the well.

The people who came to fetch water were nearly scared out of their wits, almost falling into the well.

Luckily, others arrived, and they too were horrified by the corpse in the well.

Someone went to inform the village chief and the village secretary.

By the time the village chief organized a group of people to pull the body out of the well, it had been half an hour. They finally recognized the body as Lin Yongdong’s wife, Chen Xiaolan.

There were many people gathered at the village entrance, but none of Chen Xiaolan’s family.

The village chief sent people to call for them, but the gates of Lin Yongdong’s house were shut tightly. Even after shouting several times, no one answered, though there were sounds coming from inside.

The villagers were upset and left, irritated by the lack of response.

The village chief and the village secretary were also extremely angry.

Chen Xiaolan had drowned in the well, and her family wasn’t coming out?

That wasn’t acceptable.

The village chief started swearing, but he had to control the crowd, so the village secretary personally took a few young people to call for them, and if they didn’t open the door, they would climb over the fence.

But then… something happened inside their house!

Except for Lin Yongdong’s three children, everyone else was sprawled out in the living room, and Lin Yongdong’s eldest daughter, Lin Hongni, was holding a bloodstained kitchen knife.

Her father, Lin Yongdong, had already been decapitated, and her grandparents and uncle were in a bloody, disfigured mess.

A few young men who had sneaked in were scared out of their wits, some so frightened that they wet their pants.

Such a tragic murder had never happened in the small Shanglin Village.

Lin Hongni, a fourteen-year-old girl, was able to grab a kitchen knife and chop off her father’s head. That was truly unheard of.

Now, they understood that Chen Xiaolan’s drowning in the well was no accident.

If it were an accident, Lin Hongni wouldn’t have grabbed the kitchen knife to kill her father.

She was willing to risk her life to take someone else’s!

…

On the way to Lin Yongdong’s house, Bai Shu, hearing the whole story from another young man, speculated that the entire Lin Yongdong family had been poisoned.

Otherwise, Lin Hongni, a young girl, wouldn’t have been able to overpower her strong father and uncle, nor would the others have stood by and watched.