Chapter 35: The Moonlight is Nice Tonight

“Uncles and brothers, why are you all still awake so late, gathered here?” As Lin Luoxie stepped out, she saw a large group of villagers circling the entrance of the Old Lin family’s yard, and she asked with feigned ignorance.

“Oh, we think the moonlight is particularly beautiful tonight, so we came out for a stroll while enjoying it,” one of the villagers replied, even though the excuse was somewhat weak.

Seeing Lin Luoxie approach like a fierce spirit, and hearing her serious question, they could only awkwardly make up a reason, continuously backing away to maintain distance from her, fearful that if she became displeased, she might swing the kitchen knife in their direction.

“Oh, the moon is indeed nice tonight. You all enjoy yourselves; my family is still waiting for me at home, so I’ll take my leave.” Noticing the fear on their faces, Lin Luoxie smiled with satisfaction and nonchalantly headed home under the watch of the villagers.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” After having dealt a heavy blow to the Old Lin family, Lin Luoxie returned home to find Lin Dayou and Lin Wang sitting in the courtyard, staring at each other. In a cheerful tone, she asked.

“Second Sister, you’re finally back!” Lin Luoning rushed out from the kitchen upon hearing Lin Luoxie’s voice, eagerly calling her.

“Second Sister, Big Brother is angry, that’s why Mom and Dad are like this,” Lin Luoning quietly whispered to Lin Luoxie, noticing the confusion in her eyes.

“Ah…” So that’s how it is; no wonder she hadn’t seen that filial son at the Old Lin family after all the commotion. It turns out her elder brother had restrained him.

But this was for the best having someone to suppress the situation was better than having no one at all, saving her the trouble of having to argue later.

“Has Big Brother handled everything?” Lin Luoxie believed that Lin Luoning would know what had been dealt with.

“Mm-hmm, Big Brother is in the kitchen,” Lin Luoning pointed to the kitchen, where Lin Wenqian was busy.

“Hey, hey, Big Brother, are we still cooking it?” Lin Luoxie rushed over to stop Lin Wenqian, who was preparing to throw chicken into the pot.

“Ah, why not?” Lin Wenqian saw that the wild chickens were particularly fat and thought about stir-frying them to render some oil for future cooking.

“Big Brother, I just had a good fight with everyone from the Old Lin family…” Lin Luoxie chuckled as she shared the result of her encounter with the Old Lin family.

Upon hearing that Lin Luoxie had dealt with the two old men from the Old Lin family, Lin Wenqian’s eyes were filled with shock and excitement.

“Second Sister, from now on, everything in our family will be up to you.” For the first time, Lin Wenqian saw hope in Lin Luoxie and was willing to listen to her.

“Huh? Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?” Lin Luoxie found Lin Wenqian’s declaration adorable and touching, not expecting that the one who trusted her the most would be Lin Wenqian.

“It’s not exaggerated; Dad is too soft-hearted, foolishly filial toward the Old Lin family, forgetting their wrongdoings.”

“As for Mom, in this era where the husband is regarded as heaven, all she does is comply.”

“I, as a man, can’t be like a shrew, arguing with those shameless people over trivial matters.”

“Second Sister, you’re different. In both thought and ability, you can completely overcome those troublesome Old Lin family members, including the villagers. You have your own set of opinions…”

Lin Wenqian analyzed each family member’s situation, concluding that Lin Luoxie’s current personality was very suitable for dealing with those rogues.

“I really appreciate you thinking so highly of me.” After hearing Lin Wenqian’s analysis, Lin Luoxie rolled her eyes dramatically at him.

Hehe, talking about ability and insight, that was all nonsense—it was merely saying she was more aggressive and difficult to deal with than anyone in the village, dressed up in fancy language.

Seeing Lin Luoxie understand, Lin Wenqian scratched the back of his head awkwardly, laughing to himself.

“I’m willing to listen to Second Sister too.” Lin Luoning, having heard Lin Luoxie’s words about dealing with the entire Old Lin family, was filled with shock, disbelief, excitement, and thrill in her almond-shaped eyes.

So, hearing Lin Wenqian’s statement, she also raised her hand in agreement.

“I also listen to Big Sister.” Lin Wang said from the kitchen, her voice chiming in.

Even though Lin Luoxie had lowered her voice, the kitchen and courtyard were just a few steps apart, so Lin Wang easily heard about Lin Luoxie’s affairs with the Old Lin family.

Suppressing the grievances in her heart, knowing that Lin Luoxie had taken care of the Old Lin family brought her great relief.

With her daughter having the ability to manage this family, she felt immensely pleased.

“Mom, why are you joining in with Big Brother’s nonsense?” Lin Luoxie, upon hearing Lin Wenqian’s comment, turned around and saw that the courtyard was empty except for Lin Wang.

“What nonsense? It just means that Mom, like us, values you greatly,” Lin Wenqian quickly protested in response to Lin Luoxie’s words.

“Mm-hmm, Mom is right,” Lin Luoning chimed in to add to the atmosphere.

“You little trickster, always following along to stir up trouble.” Even though Lin Luoxie didn’t say much, she had already started to see the three of them as her family.

“Big Brother, let me make the soup. If you have other things to do, you can go ahead and take care of them,” she suggested, ushering everyone out of the kitchen so she could work alone.

Of course, she also wanted to make it easier to add some spirit essence to the soup while cooking.

That evening, due to Lin Dayou’s behavior earlier, Lin Luoxie didn’t show any favor, even maintaining a straight face at the dinner table.

Everyone could tell that Lin Luoxie’s stern demeanor indicated her lingering anger toward Lin Dayou, so at the dinner table, no one spoke, focusing solely on eating their own chicken.

As for the rice, it was still the gruel-like coarse grains, making it quite difficult to swallow.

With each bite she took, Lin Luoxie silently reminded herself that once the money from the wild boar arrived tomorrow, she definitely needed to exchange it for some broken rice or flour, or else her stomach would be in trouble.

Realizing he had made a mistake, Lin Dayou cast a glance at Lin Luoxie, who refused to look at him, then saw the chicken on the table and thought for a moment before picking up his chopsticks to take a chicken leg over to her bowl.

“Big Sister, have a piece of chicken leg; it was my fault today. If they come down again, I definitely won’t let them in…”

When Lin Luoxie caught the movement of the chopsticks out of the corner of her eye, she realized it was Lin Dayou.

She didn’t want to accept it but remembered how things were nowadays and ultimately swallowed her pride, forcing herself to accept the piece of meat.

“Dad, your words need to be credible; otherwise, there’ll be a next time. It won’t just be Second Sister ignoring you, we won’t pay attention to you either,” Lin Luoning jumped in to cut off Lin Dayou before he could say more.