Claws

“You… What nonsense are you talking about?” Old Lady Lin was frightened by Lin Chengshan’s fierce demeanor. She had always said that Lin Chengshan should never have joined the army. A cat with its claws trimmed had grown into a ferocious tiger with sharp claws. 

“If Xiao Man ran away, let her. If she doesn’t want to be with you, there are others who will. Mom can introduce you to a match.”

“No need for you to worry,” Lin Chengshan said firmly. He had no intention of remarrying.

It wasn’t that Lin Chengshan still loved Xiao Man in this life, but rather he felt he owed his daughter a great deal. Heaven had given him a chance to live again, to see his daughter alive. This, he believed, was a sign that heaven was giving him an opportunity.

Lin Chengshan only wanted to take good care of his daughter, Lin Qingqing. She was so young, he couldn’t let her die prematurely again.

They say that when there’s a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. Lin Chengshan was certain he would never become a stepfather. But what if the stepmother abused the child behind his back? If the stepmother claimed the child was disobedient, would the father always believe the child was innocent?

Human nature is unpredictable. Lin Chengshan thought, in his previous life, he had managed not to remarry even without a daughter. In this life, with his daughter still around, why couldn’t he remain single forever?

“You have a job…”

“I sold my job,” Lin Chengshan had sold his job before he went to find Xiao Man. Fortunately, it was after Xiao Man left, so the money was still in his hands, not taken by Xiao Man.

When Xiao Man left, she took all the money in the house, leaving none for Lin Chengshan. At that time, he thought she needed travel and living expenses in the city, so taking the money was normal. A man should not haggle over such things with a woman. A man should be able to support a woman.

In the past, Lin Chengshan had felt unworthy of Xiao Man, somewhat inferior. Xiao Man was a city girl, and even though her background was not good, she was beautiful and educated. Even though Lin Chengshan was a soldier who sacrificed his future for Xiao Man, he still felt that she was suffering by being with him.

Now, Lin Chengshan just wanted to slap himself. Xiao Man’s heart was black and she had been using him. The only thing to be thankful for was that they had a daughter, a lovely and obedient daughter.

“You sold it?” Old Lady Lin’s eyes widened in shock. “You sold it, and you didn’t say a word?”

Lin Chengshan was supposed to pay their retirement money every month. The only reason Old Lady Lin had agreed to separate the family was for that retirement money. Lin Chengshan had said that if they didn’t agree to the separation, he would not pay money to the family in the future, nor would he give Old Lady Lin retirement money. They were at a stalemate.

Reluctantly, Old Lady Lin had agreed to the separation.

Old Lady Lin was worried that without a job, Lin Chengshan wouldn’t pay her retirement money.

“That was my job. I don’t need to tell you,” Lin Chengshan placed Lin Qingqing behind him, fearing she would be frightened.

“You still need to pay our retirement money…”

“Retirement money should come from your biological son,” Lin Chengshan said.

“What do you mean?” Old Lady Lin felt guilty but said, “You are my biological son. You can’t say you’re not just because you don’t look like me or your father. You look exactly like your uncle!”

The uncle she mentioned wasn’t a regular visitor but the uncle who had been separated from them for many years

To prevent suspicion, Old Lady Lin had long claimed that Lin Chengshan looked just like his uncle, as if they were cut from the same cloth.

After saying it for so long, even Old Lady Lin herself started to believe it.

“I have never met this so-called uncle,” Lin Chengshan had doubts in his previous life. If he were truly Old Lady Lin’s biological son, why did she treat him so poorly?

No matter how badly Old Lady Lin treated the other members of the Lin family, it was never this bad.

“Lin Chengshan, are you trying to weasel out of paying the retirement money?” Old Lady Lin shouted, “We signed a written agreement in the brigade, with witnesses!”

She deliberately spoke loudly to attract attention.

“Xiao Man ran away. It’s her problem. Why are you taking it out on us?”

“Didn’t we treat Xiao Man well enough? You separated from the family when your parents were still alive because of her. Wasn’t that enough?”

“You ungrateful wretch. I should never have given birth to you.”

…

Old Lady Lin continued to rant. She was a little afraid of Lin Chengshan, but she couldn’t let Lin Chengshan doubt her. Lin Chengshan could only be her son in this life, her biological son. Lin Chengshan came out of her belly.

Even though Old Lady Lin wasn’t sure where her biological son was, she knew which city he was in. She had once overheard the person who came to pick up the child mention it. She remembered, but with no money and the need for a permit to leave the countryside, she hadn’t gone to see her biological son.

After the economic reforms, many policies changed, making it easier for rural people to enter cities.

Old Lady Lin still thought about finding her biological son. He should be enjoying a good life now. After all, Lin Chengshan’s biological father was an officer, which was why she and her husband had swapped the children. Mr. Lin had been afraid but had gone along with it.

Children are prone to change, especially from babies to two or three years old…the changes in between are huge.

“Daddy,” Lin Qingqing was scared.

The next moment, Lin Qingqing’s stomach growled. She had only had a bit of porridge in the morning and no lunch. She didn’t dare eat much at other people’s houses, fearing their criticism: “Such a small girl, why does she have such a big appetite?”

When she heard them say that, Lin Qingqing only ate a little, afraid to eat more.

Others also gave her less food. She was hungry but didn’t dare ask for more.

Lin Chengshan noticed his daughter’s distress. It was his fault for wasting time arguing with Old Lady Lin.

“Let’s go home,” Lin Chengshan said.

“Lin Chengshan!” Old Lady Lin didn’t expect him to just pick up Lin Qingqing and leave, ignoring her.

There were other villagers around, and when they saw this, they didn’t dare to step forward to stop Lin Chengshan. Lin Chengshan was quite fierce when he was young, but he didn’t have much power. After he grew up, others didn’t dare to look down on Lin Chengshan or offend him.

Lin Chengshan is so strong that he can break bricks with his bare hands.

If Lin Chengshan put a sack over their heads and beat them up, they wouldn’t have any evidence and couldn’t bring him to justice—they would just have to take the beating.

It’s not like Lin Chengshan hasn’t done this before, and some people have been beaten up before. But he didn’t leave any evidence, so no one could do anything to him. He was straightforward and didn’t care about a bad reputation.

When Lin Chengshan joined the army, everyone thought it was better for him to leave quickly.

The villagers didn’t know Lin Chengshan’s true identity. They thought these incidents were just trivial matters and didn’t try to stop him from joining the army. The brigade leader even said it was good for Lin Chengshan to join the army and defend the country.

After Lin Chengshan left the army, the Captain thought it was a pity. Lin Chengshan had such good skills, but he ruined his future for a woman.

“He’s no good. He should have been drowned in a chamber pot when he was born,” Old Lady Lin gritted her teeth. “For a woman, he abandoned his parents.”

“Didn’t he just say he wasn’t your biological son?” someone asked.

A few people who passed by earlier had heard Lin Chengshan’s words.

“If he’s not my biological son, is he yours?” Old Lady Lin retorted. “He’s just shameless. He doesn’t want to give me retirement money, so he says he’s not my biological son.”

Whether Lin Chengshan was her biological son or not was unclear to the younger people. Only the older generation knew more. But it was post-war, and many villagers were outsiders who had moved there later.

Old Lady Lin raised both her biological son and Lin Chengshan at home. After a while, she faked it early on, so it was hard for others to know.

After Lin Chengshan returned home with his daughter, he searched the kitchen for food. After searching for a long time, he only found some flour. There was not much rice left. The rice probably didn’t even fill up a handful.

When Lin Chengshan walked into the living room, he saw his daughter sweeping the floor with a broom.

“I forgot to sweep today,” Lin Qingqing said nervously. “Qingqing didn’t mean to forget. Qingqing…”

“No need to sweep,” Lin Chengshan felt heartache for his daughter. Her cautious demeanor made him wonder how Xiao Man had treated her. Had she made such a young child do all these chores?

Suddenly, Lin Chengshan thought of something. He quickly walked over and rolled up his daughter’s sleeves. Fortunately, there were no scars. He breathed a sigh of relief. In his previous life, he had heard of parents beating their children severely, not to mention stepmothers who beat their children to death, even biological mothers beat their children to death.

Sometimes, even if there were no physical scars, there might be emotional scars.

“From now on, you don’t have to do these chores,” Lin Chengshan said. He planned to earn money and, in the future, hire maids and servants to give his daughter a princess-like life.

Lin Chengshan intended to handle some matters in the countryside and then take his daughter to the city. The countryside kindergartens were lacking; the city ones were better. Most importantly, it was a good time to make money, so he couldn’t stay in the countryside.

“Sit here,” Lin Chengshan placed his daughter on a small chair, letting her rest.

Using the remaining flour, Lin Chengshan made dumpling soup. There was still some oil in the house. He smelled it to ensure it was okay before using it. Lin Chengshan also asked the neighbor for a few vegetable leaves to make the dumpling soup tastier.

“Daddy, are you… going to sell me? Are you going to let me be a child bride?” Lin Qingqing saw the dumpling soup served in front of her. She had never eaten so well before. She was afraid that her father didn’t want her anymore, so he made a delicious meal for her.