Chapter 3: It Turns Out the Old Lin Family Stole the Marriage

When Wang Shi thought about her daughter’s current state of mind, being still so foolish, sorrow welled up from her heart.

How she wished her daughter could recover quickly; yet, the thought of her daughter getting better also worried her. She couldn’t help but hope her daughter would remain simple-minded to avoid the scorn of the world.

Meanwhile, Lin Dayou and his sons braved the pouring rain as they rushed toward Wang Village to seek justice for Lin Luoxi.

Perhaps even heaven felt pity for Lin Luoxi’s fate, as the rain suddenly stopped just when they arrived at Wang Village to confront Scholar Wang. A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds.

Once they reached Wang Village, the rain ceased, perfectly timed for the Lin family. They intended to storm in and confront Scholar Wang, but the Wang family seemed to have learned of their arrival. They had locked the door tightly, pretending no one was home.

The Lin family had gathered information that the Wang family was indeed at home. The fact that they refused to open the door indicated that they felt guilty about their actions.

In a fit of rage, Lin Dayou didn’t care about maintaining his dignity as a man; he dragged his two sons to the door and started cursing, branding the Wang family as dishonest and shameless.

Despite his honest demeanor, as the three stood at the Wang family’s door, shouting about how the Wang family had secretly taken money from them for Scholar Wang’s education, they made quite the scene.

For almost an entire day, Lin Dayou yelled insults at the Wang family, laying bare their injustices and how Scholar Wang had used their family’s money to study. After berating them until they had no rebuttal, he finally took a break.

Lin Dayou expressed his anger over how Scholar Wang had betrayed them after making it in the world, returning kindness with bitterness, like their efforts were useless.

Even the overly spoiled mother of Scholar Wang, who loved to create trouble, was forced to retreat inside, locking the courtyard door for fear that Lin Dayou would escalate the matter to the local schools, potentially damaging her son’s prospects.

While exchanging insults with Lin Dayou, she couldn’t help feeling fortunate that she had shown foresight; had they truly married into such a low-quality family, it would have been a disaster. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but spit in the direction of the door.

Hearing her spitting and insulting their eldest daughter, Lin Dayou was furious and considered breaking in to deal with the arrogant mother and son but was restrained by his eldest son.

The villagers of Wang Village heard Lin Dayou detailing how Scholar Wang had demanded benefits from the Lin family even before the engagement was officially made. They were shocked by the Wang family’s blatant disregard and consequently looked down upon the Wang family for abandoning Lin Luoxi.

However, they didn’t dare speak up in support of Lin Dayou either, for Wang Guangrong was now a scholar; who could guarantee that he wouldn’t achieve greater success in the future? That shameless mother of his wasn’t someone to be trifled with. They didn’t want to risk offending the Wang family due to Lin Dayou’s grievances.

Seeing Lin Dayou furious enough to want to break into her home while the Wang villagers merely watched the spectacle unfolded without intervening, she feared for her son. If he were really harmed, it would be a dire situation, so she quickly fell silent.

To protect her precious son, she hurried him into the back courtyard, hoping to escape unnoticed and allowing Scholar Wang to climb over the back wall to flee to the county. Staying at home was too dangerous; she was fearful of what the Lin family might do in retaliation.

Having faced insults for an entire day, the humiliation was unbearable for Scholar Wang. Eager to escape, with his mother’s encouragement, he slipped away as quickly as he could.

Lin Dayou, seeing that he had effectively silenced the Wang family and returned home exuding confidence with his sons, felt a sense of triumph.

However, as a result of Lin Dayou’s uproar, word spread far and wide, and soon everyone within ten miles knew that Scholar Wang had called off his engagement immediately after achieving his status as a scholar.

Women were particularly sympathetic towards Lin Luoxi; a girl rejected in marriage was treated as if she had lost her purity. Not only was courting out of the question for her in the future, even surviving became a challenge.

In this society, women were treated harshly, while men often faced leniency. As long as they had money, no one cared whether they were heartless betrayers or violent criminals. There would always be someone willing to marry off their daughter.

Most men believed that Scholar Wang’s actions were justified; after enduring years of hard study, who wouldn’t want to marry someone advantageous to their own prospects? Such a union could save them years of struggle.

After Lin Dayou and his sons spent most of the day at Wang Village venting their frustrations, they returned home to find Lin Wangshi on the roof attempting to fix a leaking spot.

He rushed over to help, realizing they hadn’t seen their eldest daughter for quite a while, which filled him with a sense of unease.

“Where’s our daughter?” Lin Dayou asked urgently.

Wang Shi, clutching a handful of thatch, replied, “Your brother’s daughter, Luodan, took her to play. She should be at your brother’s place.”

This made Lin Dayou feel uneasy, realizing it had been a long time since his daughter had left.

He hadn’t thought much about it before, but as soon as he heard she went to his brother’s house, his instinct kicked in. His relationship with his brother Lin Dagong was strained at best, and their family dynamics were often antagonistic, thanks to parental favoritism.

His parents had always given the best of everything to Lin Dagong, which led to a perpetual air of disdain between them. How could Luodan have taken Lin Luoxi out?

Feeling a rush of anxiety, he quickly put down his tools. Seeing Lin Jiangqian and Lin Jiangtao in the yard, he called out, “Jiangqian, Jiangtao, come with me to find your sister…”

As they followed, Lin Wangshi saw her husband’s serious and anxious demeanor and decided to drop her tasks, leaving the leaking roof behind. She too hurried out to search for Lin Luoxi.

As Lin Dayou arrived at his brother’s courtyard, they could hear Aunt Zhang’s characteristic loud voice along with Lin Dagong’s excited chatter.

“Aunt Zhang, this time we have to thank you for helping us connect my daughter with the Wang family. Here’s some money for you.”

“If it weren’t for you, my eldest daughter’s marriage wouldn’t proceed so smoothly. Please accept this small token of appreciation.”

“Once we become in-laws with the Wang family, I’ll definitely reward you even more with a larger gift.” His voice resonated with an eagerness to make sure everyone knew about his daughter’s newfound engagement.

Hearing this conversation, confusion settled over Lin Dayou. Who was his brother engaged to? Why hadn’t they been informed?

Wang family? Which Wang family? But now was not the time to concern himself with such matters.

After listening for a while longer without hearing Lin Luoxi’s voice, he turned to leave. However, the next words from Aunt Zhang ignited a flash of anger in Lin Dayou’s eyes.

“It’s not a big deal; the most important thing is that your Luodan and Scholar Wang are a perfect match—a match made in heaven…” Aunt Zhang’s voice rang out, overflowing with self-importance.

“Of course, any normal person would know to choose a smart and beautiful woman who could help their future as a wife. That foolish and simple-minded girl from the second family doesn’t stand a chance…” A mocking voice chimed in.

Lin Dayou felt a wave of indignation at hearing the familiar voice of the eldest brother’s wife, who he despised greatly. His sense of frustration and humiliation reached a peak, and he clenched his fists tight, the knuckles cracking with tension.

No longer caring about decorum, he kicked open the rickety door and charged inside, interrupting the conversation.

“I never thought the eldest family would be this shameless, raising a daughter without any sense of decency! To steal your own sister’s fiancé is truly shameless…” Lin Dayou roared at the people inside.

He was done holding back; he directed his fury at Lin Dagong, his elder brother, without regard for the fact that he was family.

Lin Dagong’s family was taken aback by Lin Dayou’s outburst, momentarily stunned into silence.

“Second brother, do you have any sense of propriety? Do you even see us as family? You’re yelling at your own older brother…” the eldest brother’s wife retorted dismissively, looking down on him.

Enraged, Lin Dayou had no interest in arguing with her. He turned his fiery gaze towards his parents, sitting in their high seats with expressions of anger and pain.

“Father, Mother, have you even treated me as your son, your younger brother?” he demanded, knowing full well that his elder brother intended to take Lin Luoxi’s engagement, yet they provided support instead of putting a stop to it. Was this how a father and mother should act?

“Is Lin Luodan so desperate that she has to steal her sister’s fiancé? I’ve said this engagement has been set for more than a decade. How can they suddenly show up to break it? Is seeing us suffer genuinely bearable for my family?”

Lin Hu, the patriarch of the Lin family, only silently smoked his pipe, choosing not to answer Lin Dayou or even look at him.

Upon hearing Lin Dayou’s accusations, Lin Shi, the matriarch, felt embarrassed and furious. She approached him, angrily striking his shoulder with her cane.

“You wretch! Are you making such a racket to draw the attention of the whole village, to let them see our Lin family’s disgrace?”

“Besides, that fool of a daughter from your family isn’t worthy to marry Scholar Wang! It is a mercy on our part to break off the engagement.”

With each biting word, she hurled the harsh truth at Lin Dayou, showing no mercy for him simply because he was her son. It felt as if he were the enemy’s child instead.

When her cane struck him unexpectedly on the shoulder, Lin Dayou nearly collapsed, pain exploding in his vision as he fought to stay conscious.

Meanwhile, Lin Luoxi, still holding on despite her frailty, stood pale and trembling, wallowing in the despair of witnessing the actions of her grandmother.

“Is this how you see me? Is this how you want me to be treated?” Lin Shi felt embarrassed under Lin Dayou’s piercing gaze; her anger drove her to hit even harder.

Outside the Lin family’s courtyard, the loud commotion spurred attention from onlookers in the village, who pressed against the walls to see what was unfolding.

As they listened to the exchange between Lin Dayou and Lin Shi, they felt as if they had just witnessed a tremendous scandal.

Unbeknownst to them, the real details were murky, piecing together the drama only through Lin Dayou’s words and the recent cancellation of the engagement.

Among the audience, some were stunned to see Lin Shi viciously beat her son, revealing a side of the normally sweet old lady that shocked everyone.

Seeing Lin Shi refuse to back down, the murmurs among the villagers grew louder.

Aunt Zhang, realizing that the Lin family’s public dispute had turned into a spectacle, stood up to leave discreetly through the back door. She didn’t want others to know that she had been the one who connected the families; otherwise, who would trust her to be a matchmaker in the future?

Lin Jiangqian and Lin Jiangtao watched in shock as their grandmother mistreated their father. They rushed forward to intervene.

One stepped in front of Lin Dayou, saying, “Grandmother, if you want to hit someone, hit me instead! My father’s done nothing wrong; it was Uncle’s family that went too far!”

The other grabbed Lin Shi’s cane firmly, insisting, “Grandmother, please stop hitting Dad! You’re going to kill him!”

After being chastised by Lin Dayou earlier, Lin Dagong had seethed with resentment and wished for nothing more than Lin Dayou’s demise. If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t take on his brother physically, he would have relished tearing into him.

At that moment, seeing his mother help handle Lin Dayou made him gleefully enjoy the show, hoping she would put Lin Dayou in his place.

Observing Lin Dayou’s sons protectively defending him stirred jealousy in Lin Dagong; he mocked, “Second brother, this is the kind of sons you’ve raised! They’re refusing respect to their mother and now standing up to her. Is it any wonder our parents favor me over you?”

Fueled by the escalating tension, Lin Dayou was ready to retaliate, especially after hearing Lin Dagong’s taunts, which only inflamed his anger further.

“Shut up! You disgraceful fool! I’m going to make you pay! Stealing others’ things is what you do best. You may have taken my daughter’s engagement, but I won’t let this happen!” Lin Dayou yelled as he swung at Lin Dagong.

Confident from years of pampering and indulgence, Lin Dagong was no match for his hardworking brother. Lin Dayou pinned him down and unleashed his fists upon him, fueled by years of anger.

Seeing the chaos unfold, Lin Hu, realizing what was happening, grabbed a long bench to strike at Lin Dayou’s head.