Chapter 14

Lin Nanzhi also noticed Father Lin’s expression and couldn’t help but chuckle.

She didn’t really expect him to keep the lottery win a secret, but she hoped he would talk about it less. After all, he was a kind-hearted man—if relatives found out, they would surely come asking for money, and he might not have the heart to refuse.

To be honest, Lin Nanxun’s reaction was perfect; Father Lin had likely already dismissed the idea of spreading the news.

Initially, she hadn’t planned to disclose the full amount. However, since withdrawing the money from the bank required her to be present in person, there was no way to keep it from him. It was better to reveal it now rather than risk shocking him later and causing trouble.

“But with that much money… we can’t just leave it untouched, right?”

Lin Nanxun sighed.

Having money but not being able to spend it?

That was even more frustrating than being broke!

“Dad, what I mean is, you can tell people that you saved up 200,000 to 300,000 yuan from working out of town over the years, and that in the past two years, since you didn’t spend much, the money accumulated. Also, you can say that Mom earned several hundred thousand from selling embroidery in another city, so our family has some savings.

But don’t reveal too much—keep it around one million yuan.”

Mother Lin’s embroidery skills were well-known within a hundred-mile radius. Many people had bought her work or commissioned embroidery from her, but they were mostly neighbors, and she had never charged them for samples.

There were indeed many buyers from outside the area. If they claimed Mother Lin made a lot of money from embroidery, outsiders wouldn’t know the exact amount. They would just assume that, given her skill, she must have earned a decent sum. Plus, since many locals had received embroidery from her for free, they might feel they got a good deal and wouldn’t rush to ask for money.

Father Lin was also a skilled worker. While most laborers earned 60 or 70 yuan per day, he was already making 90, and even more in other cities—100 or even 200 yuan a day wasn’t unusual. Since he had worked for nearly ten years, it wouldn’t seem suspicious if he had saved a couple hundred thousand.

Keeping it around one million yuan would make the villagers envious but not jealous. However, she mentioned that part of the money came from Mother Lin, worrying that Father Lin might not be happy about it.

She was doing this for her mother’s sake.

Mother Lin had left her previous home with nothing and still had her household registration here. She had spent all her money raising her niece and had no savings to buy a house. For people their age, having a home was the most secure thing. By saying the money partly came from Mother Lin, Lin Nanzhi was simply making sure her mother had a fallback plan.

Of course, there was no niece at the moment, so things weren’t as difficult. But it was still something to consider.

When they built the house, she planned to make it bigger so Mother Lin could have half of it for herself. Since she contributed money, no one in the village could accuse her of taking advantage of Father Lin.

Father Lin remained silent for a moment before putting the check away. “It’s your money, so you decide how to use it. But for now, I’ll keep it safe for you.”

Lin Nanzhi didn’t mind. She was just surprised he would say that—she had assumed he would take the money and split it all between Lin Nanye and Lin Nanxun.

She had given it to him fully prepared for that possibility. After all, both her older and younger brothers treated her well, so spending money on them wasn’t a problem.

Besides, she had a golden finger (cheat ability), so she would never lack money in the future.

Maybe this was just human nature—resenting one’s parents and wanting to escape, but also feeling grateful for their upbringing and sacrifices. When she had no ability, she wanted to run away; now that she could stand on her own, she wanted to repay them in some way.

She sighed internally.

From then on, she noticed that both Father Lin and Lin Nanxun became extra cautious. Especially Father Lin—he placed the check in a box and checked it three times a day, which was quite amusing.

A week later, when the three of them went to claim the prize, their sneaky behavior made her laugh. They had no idea that she looked just as suspicious as they did.

The check was cashed at the largest bank in Wumeng City.

Since they were holding a check, the bank opened a VVIP channel for them, arranging a private suite where the bank manager personally assisted them. He handed over a gold-colored bank card and introduced various financial products, all of which Lin Nanzhi refused.

They knew nothing about investments and wouldn’t even know if they were being scammed, so it wasn’t worth the risk.

The manager, unwilling to let such a big client slip away, kept explaining, but Lin Nanzhi rejected every offer. In the end, she simply asked for the money to be split into three bank cards. The manager reluctantly agreed, wondering why this family was so strange—the elder remained silent, while the young one made all the decisions.

Afterward, Lin Nanzhi and Lin Nanxun focused on their winter vacation homework and reviewing lessons, while Father Lin, as expected, let some of the news slip.

He had planned to build a house, and the land had already been approved. However, since Lin Nanzhi wanted a bigger house, the original plot wasn’t enough, so Father Lin applied for additional land. At her suggestion, he applied for an even larger area.

Lin Nanzhi knew that, in recent years, the government encouraged rural development and approved land requests quickly. People could build as big as they wanted, but in ten years, new regulations would limit house sizes.

Their current plot had originally been divided by Grandpa Lin among his sons, and half of their allotted land belonged to Third Uncle Lin, making expansion inconvenient. So Father Lin followed her advice and bought the land below their plot to build on.

Since Father Lin worked in construction, he had plenty of contacts. Meanwhile, Lin Nanzhi disliked traditional house designs, so she drew a blueprint herself. With Father Lin’s experience in wiring and layout, implementation would be easy.

Just as they were busy with these plans, Mother Lin returned with Lin Nanxuan.

She had hired a private car to take them home, bringing back large bags of belongings. After thanking the driver and seeing him off, she turned toward the house and called out loudly:

“Zhi Zhi, Linxun!”

Hearing her voice, the two walked out and saw the mother and daughter standing ten meters away.

Mother Lin was wearing a white down jacket, while Lin Nanxuan was bundled up tightly.

She wore thick northern-style cotton pants, fluffy shoes, a sweater under her down coat, a knitted hat, and a white scarf that covered most of her face, leaving only her eyes visible.

Lin Nanzhi recalled that Lin Nanxuan had a boyfriend. They had a child by accident, and the boyfriend’s family, displeased that it was a girl, treated them poorly.

During Lin Nanxuan’s postpartum period, the in-laws left the baby entirely in her care and refused to provide nutritious food. Even the items Mother Lin had sent were withheld. The baby’s clothes and blankets weren’t prepared properly, and Lin Nanxuan, suffering from malnutrition, lost her milk supply. As a result, the baby became frail, prompting her to call Mother Lin in distress.

When Mother Lin visited, the boyfriend’s mother acted kind to her face but spoke sarcastically behind her back. Enraged, Lin Nanxuan took the baby and left. Mother Lin then took them in and cared for them in her rented house.

Even after Lin Nanxuan’s postpartum period ended, the boyfriend’s parents never reached out. The boyfriend, however, was genuinely in love with her—he had argued fiercely with his family and showed up the next day to take care of her and the baby.

It seemed like they would work things out. But the boyfriend’s parents, unhappy with his absence, started sowing discord. In the end, they drove him to despair—he jumped off a building, and the two families severed all ties.