Chapter 18: Taking Back What Belongs to Our Family

The smell lingered in Lin Wenxian’s mind long after the event. It was so foul that he could barely bear to look at the pot again.

“Hmm! It’s true! Big Brother, trust me. Tomorrow, I’ll personally cook for you to taste it. But it’s already late, so let’s head back now!” Lin Luoxi reassured him, though her expression suggested she was more than eager to try cooking something herself.

Although Lin Luoxi had spent most of her time in the lab, she hadn’t neglected her body. She still had a good understanding of food and cooking.

“Alright!” Lin Wenxian, hearing Lin Luoxi’s firm assurance, felt a little hopeful about tasting whatever dish she would prepare.

He took the two largest, heaviest strings of fish and was concerned that Lin Luoxi might feel scared or uneasy behind him, so he intentionally walked slowly, keeping a safe distance from her.

As they made their way back, they once again triggered the frenzied barking of the village’s guard dogs, so the siblings had to tiptoe quietly to avoid drawing too much attention.

When they passed by the old Lin family’s house, Lin Luoxi leaned closer to Lin Wenxian and, in a whisper, asked, “Big Brother, don’t you want to take back the chickens, ducks, and pigs that the old Lin family stole from us?”

Lin Luoxi’s memory of the time when the elderly matriarch of the Lin family had taken their poultry and livestock suddenly resurfaced. She remembered how Lin Taotai had gone to visit the old Lin family’s house and returned with their family’s animals.

“What do you want to do?” Lin Wenxian, noticing the mischievous glint in his sister’s eyes, felt his scalp go numb. He instinctively became wary of her.

“Big Brother, why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you want to take back our things?” Lin Luoxi said, her voice carrying a subtle edge.

“That stuff was bought with our parents’ money. Even if we kill them for food to nourish them, we can’t let them keep them,” Lin Luoxi explained. If her memory was correct, the chickens and ducks had started laying eggs recently.

“But…” Lin Wenxian hesitated. “If we do take them, where are we going to keep them?”

Lin Luoxi’s eyes sparkled with an idea. “If the old Lin family notices that their chickens and ducks are missing, they’ll immediately come to our house and cause a ruckus. We’ll be in trouble if they find them here. The noise will never stop.”

Lin Wenxian thought about the old Lin family’s temperament. He knew if they got involved, there would be endless arguments and complications.

“What are you afraid of? I have a plan!” Lin Luoxi said, her expression confident as she saw Lin Wenxian’s reluctance fade. She quickly shoved the two strings of fish into his hands.

“Big Brother, you take the fish back to the house as if nothing happened. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Lin Luoxi wasn’t worried about where to keep the chickens and ducks. Even if she didn’t have a place ready, hearing Lin Luoxi’s words reminded her that she needed to take back what belonged to their family.

She was determined—if there was an opportunity, she would take all their family’s animals back tonight.

“I can’t,” Lin Wenxian muttered in hesitation. “What if…”

Lin Wenxian feared that Lin Luoxi would be discovered by the old Lin family and get into trouble.

“Big Brother, with my intelligence back in the day, I couldn’t guarantee anything. But now, with how things are, you know a little about me. I won’t let myself get into any trouble. You just go first,” Lin Luoxi said, her tone reassuring but firm. She didn’t want Lin Wenxian to stay and make things more complicated for her.

Lin Wenxian could tell that Lin Luoxi had made up her mind. With a reluctant sigh, he gave in, shaking his head as he grabbed the fish and hurried back toward the house.

Once Lin Wenxian disappeared around the corner, Lin Luoxi took a deep breath, relieved that her brother was on his way. Now, she could focus on what she needed to do.

She quickly scanned her surroundings. After confirming that no one was nearby, she surveyed the old Lin family’s courtyard walls.

Spotting a low, climbable section, she silently made her way over, nimbly hopping over the wall like a cat, landing silently on the other side.

Following the path in her memory, she sneaked toward the poultry pens where the chickens and ducks were kept.

That night, the chickens and ducks were as blind as bats. When Lin Luoxie reached into the coop, aside from the slight rustling sounds from their struggles, there was no noise at all.

Lin Luoxie didn’t spare any of the chickens, ducks, or the neighboring pigs, including Zhu Bajie; she collected them all into her space.

Looking at the now empty chicken coop, duck house, and pigsty, Lin Luoxie’s brows furrowed tightly.

Suddenly, her gaze turned toward the old Lin family’s house, where sounds of snores louder than those of pigs could occasionally be heard. A smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth as a mischievous idea floated through her mind.

Without a care for others, she made her way to Lin Daguan’s room, skipping the door and climbing in through the open window.

Arriving at the bed where Lin Daguan and his wife were sleeping soundly like dead pigs, Lin Luoxie quickly delivered a stun strike to each of them.

After knocking them out, she initiated her plan.

First, she rummaged through Lin Daguan’s room, remembering that Lin Xiaowu had “borrowed” silver bracelets and hairpins from her mother. Since she’d come back, there was no reason for her to return empty-handed.

Once she found the silver hairpin and the silver bracelet, she also took advantage of finding ten taels of scrap silver and some copper coins.

All of these were ill-gotten gains from Lin (Old Lady Lin), taken from her father. Lin Luoxie felt justified in taking them.

If it weren’t for her just returning today, she would have certainly fed some poisonous powder to these morally bankrupt people, so they would suffer for days and nights to relieve her resentment.

Lin Luoxie not only visited Lin Daguan and his wife’s room but also didn’t overlook Lin Luodan’s room, the person who had once plotted to harm her but was now too frightened to leave her house upon discovering Lin Luoxie was still alive.

“What a desperate bride-to-be; they just made the engagement, and the wedding dress is already prepared. Well, it’s mine now, could probably sell for some money…”

In Lin Luodan’s room, seeing that bright red wedding dress, she couldn’t help but smile slyly as she stashed the dress into her space, taking everything, she deemed valuable.

Even if it couldn’t be sold, throwing it away later would at least be a relief.

Was it not the Wang family that considered the old Lin family’s good conditions before agreeing to the marriage?

Since that was the case, let the Wang family end up with nothing for their trouble—an empty basket.

When the Wang family discovered that Lin Luodan didn’t have a single coin when they married her, their expressions should be quite amusing—hee hee…

After visiting all the rooms in the old Lin family household, Lin Luoxie finally stopped and recalled her earlier plan.

“Done.” She stripped Lin Daguan and his wife, as well as the unconscious old Lin couple, and tossed them into the pigsty. Satisfied, she hummed a little tune as she left.

She came in quietly and left quietly, having taken all the silver and money from the old Lin family.

After Lin Luoxie exited the old Lin family, she didn’t notice a young figure standing at the corner of the outer wall, watching her leave until she disappeared around the corner.

“Interesting,” he muttered to himself; he had seen every move Lin Luoxie made.

Earlier, when he had rescued Lin Luoxie, he hadn’t expected to cross paths with her again in the dead of night.

Seeing her and Lin Zhenqian energetically catching fish by the river earlier, he thought those siblings must have been starving, which was why they couldn’t sleep and went fishing in the middle of the night.

His long-frozen heart softened seeing the siblings catch fish and remembering what had occurred earlier with the Lin family.

Feeling moved, he turned back to fetch the game he had hunted earlier in the mountains, wanting to give it to the siblings. When he returned, he found this intriguing scene.