Liu Yong gave up the names of the other five people involved, and that very night, all the culprits were caught and brought in.

The next day

It was Saturday, no work, and the Lin family was finally able to sleep in a little.

But before seven o’clock, they were rudely woken by an urgent knock at the door.

Lin Jianshe turned over, hugged Liu Qin, and pulled the quilt over their heads.

Lin Yongnian had just gotten up.

Hearing the knocking, he went to the living room and opened the door.

“Relatives?”

Why were they here so early?

Lin Yongnian looked puzzled.

Standing outside were none other than Liu Qin’s parents, Liu Jianping and Yang Meifeng.

“In-law, where are Jianshe and Qinqin?” asked Yang Meifeng anxiously, her lips cracked from dryness.

Both husband and wife had huge dark circles under their eyes, their faces haggard — they looked like they hadn’t slept all night.

“They’re not up yet. What’s happened?” Lin Yongnian frowned.

“Ai…” Liu Jianping sighed heavily. “Something big!”

Yang Meifeng rushed inside and loudly called out: “Jianshe! Qinqin! Qinqin…”

Hearing her mother’s voice, Liu Qin opened her eyes and suddenly sat up in bed.

“Why is my mom here?”

She hurried to put on clothes and get out of bed, tugging at Lin Jianshe, who still had his eyes closed. “Get up! My mom’s here.”

“Who is it? Yelling so early in the morning, calling spirits or what…” Zhang Jiao grumbled as she sat up from her bed.

She had finally gotten the chance to sleep in, make up for the early mornings of the past few days, and now someone was making a racket.

Lin Guodong said, “It sounds like Liu Qin’s mom. Why would she come so early?”

Zhang Jiao snorted, “Coming early in the morning yelling like that — definitely not good news.”

Lin Guodong said, “Get up, let’s go see.”

Since relatives had come, they couldn’t just lie in bed and not show their faces.

“Dad, Mom, why are you here? What’s happened?” Liu Qin came out of the room, frowning as she looked at her anxious, worn-out parents.

Yang Meifeng slapped her thigh and cried out, “Qinqin, your brother’s in trouble!”

Liu Qin’s face changed.

She had told them many times to keep a closer eye on Liu Yong, but they hadn’t listened.

Whenever she brought it up, they defended Liu Yong.

And now look — something had happened, and all they knew how to do was cry.

“What happened to Xiao Yong?” Lin Jianshe came out of the room, putting on his clothes.

Yang Meifeng cried, “Xiao Yong was reported by your mother, and the police arrested him!”

“My mom reported Xiao Yong?” Lin Jianshe was stunned.

“What, how could my mom report him?”

Hearing that Liu Yong had been reported by his mother-in-law, Lin Guodong and Zhang Jiao also hurriedly got dressed and came out.

Liu Qin’s eyes flashed — she understood what had happened.

It must have been Liu Yong and his gang who smashed the old lady’s dumpling stall.

That old witch’s heart was really vicious.

Even if Xiao Yong smashed her stall, she shouldn’t have gone to the police and had him arrested.

After all, Xiao Yong was her son’s brother-in-law!

“Um, about that…” Yang Meifeng was so anxious she didn’t know where to begin.

“My mother-in-law’s dumpling stall — was it your son who smashed it?” Zhang Jiao was the first to catch on.

Lin Jianshe frowned. “Xiao Yong smashed my mom’s stall?”

Yang Meifeng quickly waved her hands, “No, it wasn’t Xiao Yong! I asked him, and he said he didn’t smash anything or lay a hand on your mom.”

“He just went along with some of the local hooligans from near our place to eat dumplings at her stall. Who would have thought those hooligans threw flies into the bowls, trying to extort money from your mom. Your mom refused, cursed them, and they got angry and smashed the stall. But Xiao Yong didn’t do anything!”

Last night after their son was taken away, Yang Meifeng and her husband had rushed to the police station to inquire and managed to see their detained son, getting the full story.

Of course, what Liu Yong told them wasn’t this exact version.

What Yang Meifeng was saying now was the prettified, son-favorable version.

“We’re all relatives here. Whatever happens, we should sit down together and solve it privately. How could your mom call the police on my brother?” Liu Qin said sharply to Lin Jianshe.

Hearing Liu Qin say that, Lin Jianshe also felt that maybe his mother had gone too far, reporting Liu Yong to the police.

Wasn’t this something they could sit down and discuss?

“Your mother-in-law probably still holds a grudge over the scene Xiao Yong made at the wedding. I’ll go apologize to her — I’ll even kneel if I have to, just please, let her drop the charges and release Xiao Yong!” Yang Meifeng sobbed, covering her face.

Liu Jianping, on the verge of tears, said, “We asked at the station — if the person who reported doesn’t drop the case, Xiao Yong might not just be detained; he could be sentenced and go to prison.”

“If he goes to prison, his whole life will be ruined. How are we supposed to go on?”

Even though this matter didn’t concern her directly, Zhang Jiao also felt that her mother-in-law’s actions were a bit harsh.

After all, they were relatives — it didn’t need to go this far.

Smashing the stall should mean apologizing and paying compensation, right?

“Dad, Mom, don’t worry,” Lin Jianshe said to his in-laws. “I’ll go talk to my mom and get her to withdraw the case.”

“Jianshe,” Yang Meifeng, teary-eyed, grabbed her son-in-law’s hand. “We’re counting on you.”

“Mom, don’t worry — I’ll definitely get my mom to withdraw the case.” Lin Jianshe patted his mother-in-law’s hand confidently.

Lin Yongnian also spoke up, “Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, don’t worry — we won’t just stand by and watch Xiao Yong go to jail. We’re all family.”

“In-law,” Liu Jianping, deeply moved, grasped Lin Yongnian’s hand, “With you saying that, we can rest easy.”

“You must not have eaten breakfast yet, coming over so early. Jianshe, take some money and go buy some buns and fried dough sticks from the state-run breakfast shop. We’ll eat, then go talk to your mom,” Lin Yongnian said generously, pulling a yuan out of his pocket and handing it to his son.

Doing this made him feel proud in front of his in-laws.

“I’ll go right away,” Lin Jianshe said, taking the money and leaving without even washing his face.

Lin Yongnian invited Liu Jianping and his wife to sit, and asked Liu Qin to boil water for tea.

Zhang Jiao was glad she didn’t have to cook breakfast now, but she noticed that with one yuan, there would definitely be leftover money.

Lin Jianshe came back with buns, steamed bread, and fried dough sticks, and even bought a tea egg each for his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

“Dad, here’s your tea egg,” Lin Jianshe said, handing it to his father-in-law.

But when he called out “Dad,” Lin Yongnian thought the tea egg was for him and was about to reach out happily — only to realize it was for his in-law. He awkwardly turned his hand down and picked up a fried dough stick from the table.

Tsk, today’s fried dough stick had no salt — tasteless.

Zhang Jiao noticed that Lin Jianshe had only bought tea eggs for his father-in-law and mother-in-law, not for his own father or Junjun, and she pursed her lips.

Then, she deliberately smiled and said, “Jianshe is really so filial to his in-laws. Guodong, you should learn from Jianshe.”

Lin Guodong definitely wasn’t this nice to her parents.

Hearing this, Lin Yongnian felt a pang in his chest.

Liu Jianping smiled and looked at Lin Yongnian, saying, “Brother-in-law, you really raised a good son. Jianshe has a good job and is so filial — you don’t know how much I envy you for having such a good son.”

Liu Jianping deliberately praised Lin Jianshe in front of Lin Yongnian, hoping to make him happy and proud of his son.

But Lin Yongnian only felt more stifled inside.

He forced a smile and urged Liu Jianping to eat the buns.

His son was indeed filial — but only to his in-laws.

Who could be happy about that?