Scheming Part 1

Lin Chengjiang’s intention was clear: he wanted to use the bicycle that Lin Chengshan had left behind.

“Tomorrow, use the bicycle, the day after tomorrow, use the fan, and the day after that, use something else… It’s like a mouse moving house, gradually moving other people’s things to their own home bit by bit.”

“They’re all locked up,” Old Lady Lin said. “We don’t have the keys.”

“Just pry them open,” Lin Chengjiang said. “We can buy another lock to put on later. That way, we’ll have the keys and can move whatever we want over.”

Once they had the keys, they could move anything they wanted from Lin Chengshan’s place to their own.

“My second brother likes my second sister-in-law so much. He took his daughter to the city, so he must be trying to win her back,” Lin Chengjiang said. “He probably won’t come back. Since he’s not coming back, those things in his house will just sit there and might deteriorate. It’s better if we use them.”

Lin Chengjiang had long had his eye on Lin Chengshan’s bicycle. If Lin Chengshan hadn’t come back yesterday, Lin Chengjiang would have gone to get the bicycle today. Lin Chengjiang didn’t want to pry open the lock himself as it might make others think poorly of him. If their mother did it, it would be different.

Parents, as elders, had a higher status and could handle such matters more easily.

“Alright, we’ll go check it out tomorrow,” Old Lady Lin said. She was reluctant to have her precious youngest son walk to the town and hoped that her grandson could use the bicycle.

Early the next morning, Old Lady Lin took Lin Chenghai to pry open the lock. Lin Chengjiang wanted to use the bicycle, but Old Lady Lin brought Lin Chenghai. Old Lady Lin was always like this. if Lin Chengshan hadn’t separated from the family, she would have made Lin Chengshan do the dirty work.

After Lin Chengshan had separated from the Lin family, Old Lady Lin assigned such tasks to Lin Chenghai, unwilling to let her youngest son suffer.

Prying open locks, even if done by parents, could easily be criticized by others.

Old Lady Lin deliberately brought Lin Chenghai to make it seem like he was responsible for prying the lock. If Lin Chengshan came back and complained, they could blame Lin Chenghai.

“What are you doing? What are you up to?” The village head’s wife arrived with several of her sons and daughters-in-law.

Old Lady Lin hadn’t expected the village head’s wife to come at this time. She quickly said, “We just want to take the bicycle. We’re family…”

“Who said we are family with you? This house belongs to us now, and everything inside it is ours too,” said the village chief’s wife.

“What?” Old Lady Lin looked at the village chief’s wife in disbelief.

“Lin Chengshan already sold the house to us, including the bicycle and appliances inside. Everything has been transferred,” the village chief’s wife stated confidently. “It’s all registered with the relevant departments. Are you breaking into your own family’s home? No, you’re breaking into our home!”

“How is that possible?” Old Lady Lin said. “He was still at home two days ago.”

“It was transferred yesterday,” the village chief’s wife replied. “All the procedures are complete. Do you want to come over and see the documents?”

Old Lady Lin remained silent, genuinely suspecting that Lin Chengshan might have colluded with the village chief’s family to deceive her.

“Then come and see. Even if you tear up the documents, we can reissue them. The relevant departments have records. Tearing up the documents doesn’t make the house yours,” the village chief’s wife said.

“This house belongs to my second brother. He still needs to support our parents,” Lin Chenghai said, steeling himself.

“Is Lin Chengshan your parents’ biological son?” the village chief’s wife retorted. “That’s still debatable.”

“No, there’s no need to see the documents,” Old Man Lin interjected.

Old Man Lin had been standing not far away. Seeing the village chief’s wife and her group approaching, he moved closer and overheard the conversation. Old Man Lin knew that Lin Chengshan wasn’t his biological son, which is why he had allowed Old Lady Lin to torment Lin Chengshan all these years.

In Old Man Lin’s view, raising Lin Chengshan, who wasn’t his biological son, was good enough. He didn’t feel he had done anything wrong, even if his biological son had replaced Lin Chengshan. He believed it was Lin Chengshan’s biological parents’ fault for not recognizing their child. Who could be blamed for that? Only themselves.

“Since Chengshan sold these things to you, they’re yours,” Old Man Lin said.

These people still had to live in the village, and offending the village chief wasn’t a good idea. If the village chief’s family decided to make things difficult for them later, it would be troublesome.

Old Man Lin signaled to Old Lady Lin and Lin Chenghai to leave. They shouldn’t stay there any longer.

“Let’s go,” Old Man Lin said.

Old Lady Lin was helpless. She had already told her youngest son that she would pry the lock and take the bicycle to him.

“Are you planning to stay at our door?” the village chief’s wife said. “We need to tidy up and move in.”

“Let’s go,” Old Man Lin said again.

Old Lady Lin reluctantly turned to Lin Chenghai. “Let’s go. Don’t think about it anymore. Your second brother is really something, selling all the family belongings just to prevent you from taking advantage of him.”

Lin Chenghai didn’t say anything. He was just the scapegoat.

Walking beside Old Man Lin, Old Lady Lin grew angrier the more she thought about it. “He came back the other day just to sell the house, didn’t he? Seriously, we raised him all these years, and just because he says he isn’t our biological son, he thinks he’s not? He sold all those things, and what are we supposed to do?”

“Let’s go home,” Old Man Lin said.

The important thing now wasn’t those belongings but what to do if Lin Chengshan went to find that family.

When they got home, Lin Chengjiang quickly came forward. “Where’s the bicycle?”

“Your second brother sold it,” Old Lady Lin said.

“How could he sell it?” Lin Chengjiang exclaimed. “I saw him using it just the day before yesterday.”

“Don’t think about it. He sold everything to the village chief’s family,” Old Lady Lin said.

If Lin Chengshan had sold the items to another family, Old Lady Lin might have thickened her face to claim that Lin Chengshan had no right to sell them without her permission and would take the items back. But she didn’t dare face the village chief.