Chapter 38

Because of the money-making incident earlier, Lin Yun often had the illusion that Lin Yonggang had already grown up. But seeing how excited he was about the New Year, Lin Yun felt a bit caught off guard.

“Mom, what are we eating for New Year’s? Don’t tell me it’s going to be the same old sticky rice cakes again. We’ve already bought new clothes, we should at least eat something nice too.”

After his request to go out was denied, Lin Yonggang didn’t get upset. Instead, he quickly changed the topic, eager to know in advance what kind of good food they might have for the New Year.

“All you care about is eating. None of you can eat like you do. It’s only because life’s a bit better this year that you even get to ask questions like that. In the past, you didn’t have so many demands. Now you’ve made a bit of money and you’re already getting carried away. Haven’t even grown up yet but already know how to enjoy life. I really don’t know how you’re going to manage when you’re older.” Zhao Lanxiu immediately started grumbling upon hearing Lin Yonggang’s question.

Lin Yun really couldn’t take this kind of elder behavior anymore. She interrupted Zhao Lanxiu’s endless nagging:
“Mom, have you already bought the New Year groceries? If you have, then we won’t worry about it. But if you haven’t, then we can go buy it. How many times are you going to repeat the same things over and over? You may not be tired of saying them, but I’m tired of hearing them.

Besides, you always end up giving in to Yonggang’s requests anyway, so why keep saying such unpleasant things? Do you want us to resent you or something?”

“Have I mistreated you? Now I can’t even say a few words to you anymore, is that it?”

“No, Mom, Er Ya didn’t mean it like that,” Lin Yumei quickly stepped in to smooth things over. She noticed that Zhao Lanxiu’s expression was already starting to change.

“Jie, don’t get involved.” Lin Yun pushed Lin Yumei aside.
“Mom, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but the way you make us feel is like… you don’t even like us. You see us as a burden in this family. That any money spent on us isn’t worth it. To you, a few bucks are more important than your three kids.”

Zhao Lanxiu’s face changed drastically when she heard that. Just as she was about to speak, Lin Yun didn’t give her the chance.

“You’re worried we’ll waste money — we understand that. We didn’t have money before, so even if we wanted to spend, we couldn’t. But now we have some money, and because we didn’t give it all to you, you feel like we’re getting out of control and not listening to you anymore.

But have you ever thought that we’re people too, with our own thoughts? Besides, everything we did this summer was under your nose. Did you see us waste money?”

“You didn’t waste money? Then what were all those things you bought? If that’s not wasting money, then what is!” Zhao Lanxiu was furious again. She still couldn’t accept the fact that Lin Yun had spent over ten yuan all at once.

“And what did we buy that was only for ourselves? Didn’t you eat the meat? Didn’t you use the soap and other things? Do you know what this kind of behavior is called? Holding the bowl while eating, then cursing the cook when done.”

When Lin Yun said that, not only Zhao Lanxiu but also Lin Yonggang and Lin Yumei were stunned. In the countryside, talking back to your parents like this was a huge deal — considered deeply disrespectful. And what Lin Yun said just now was practically cursing Zhao Lanxiu directly.

Lin Yumei felt completely uncomfortable standing there. She had no idea what had gotten into Er Ya today — why she suddenly exploded like this. They had lived like this for over ten years, so why couldn’t she hold it in now?

But Lin Yun wasn’t really at her limit. She didn’t actually care that much about Zhao Lanxiu’s usual behavior. Normally, when her mom nagged her, she just did her own thing. Words never really hurt her.

What Lin Yun really hated was people who ruined a perfectly good day for no reason — especially those who did it on purpose, like Zhao Lanxiu. So many people had this bad habit: on joyful days, they just had to stir up drama with negative, hurtful remarks.

Like just now — Zhao Lanxiu could’ve just said whether she had bought groceries or not, or explained that the money went to their new clothes, so there wasn’t much left for food. Lin Yun would’ve accepted that.

But instead, she redirected the issue and blamed them, saying they were greedy. Maybe in the end, she would still buy what they wanted — but Lin Yun hated this way of communicating.

She didn’t know if what she said would actually change Zhao Lanxiu or if she’d still stick to her usual ways. But even the slightest improvement was worth trying for. People’s thinking nowadays isn’t always as rigid as it seems — change is possible.

Lin Yun remembered a college classmate from her past life who once realized that her parents never knew how to express love. She’d grown up under strict, suppressive parenting.

The classmate wanted to change that, so she started small — saying “I love you” at the end of every phone call with her parents. At first, they were uncomfortable, even a little annoyed, saying things like, “A girl saying stuff like that — isn’t it shameful?”

But the classmate didn’t mind. She kept saying it every time. Eventually, her parents got used to it and stopped saying it was inappropriate.

Then she gradually encouraged them to say it back. For her parents’ generation, saying “I love you” was probably something they’d never done in their whole lives.

But later on, Lin Yun overheard that classmate’s phone calls ending with: “I love you too!”

Maybe that method wouldn’t work on Zhao Lanxiu, but Lin Yun felt even a little progress was worth pursuing.

“I can’t argue with you. You’ve read more books than me.”

“It’s not because I’ve read more, it’s because I’m in the right. You don’t need to feel like I’m challenging your authority. The reason I speak to you like this is because every time we try to talk, you turn it into a minefield. It’s like we’re not your kids but your enemies.”

As Lin Yun spoke, she looked over at the other two.

“If you don’t believe me, ask them — can they accept the way you speak?”

Seeing both their gazes shift to them, Lin Yumei and Lin Yonggang first nodded, then quickly shook their heads.

Lin Yun didn’t expect much from them, and turned her attention back to Zhao Lanxiu.

At this point, Zhao Lanxiu really had no way to deal with her daughter. She couldn’t out-argue her, and though she thought about hitting her, this girl could be downright scary when she got serious. “So what do you want me to say, then?” she asked.

“You just have to speak normally. Like when Yonggang asked if you’d bought anything good for the New Year — if you think there’s no money left, then just say, ‘We don’t have much left after buying new clothes for you three, so we couldn’t buy more.’ It’s not like we wouldn’t understand, right?”