Quarrel 

Among the storm, the rain, and the mournful cries, Father Lin shouted, “Everyone, quiet down! Quiet down! Brother Liu, what happened here?” 

The woman knelt on the ground and cried heartbrokenly, “My father said he had chest pain and couldn’t breathe this afternoon. We hurried to take him to the clinic, but we met Comrade Meng on the way. He insisted that we put him on the ground. He pressed on my father’s chest for a while, and it seemed that he was getting better. Who knew that he would pass away right at the clinic entrance! My father! You died so tragically!” 

“Oh, could it be that Uncle Liu died because of the chest compressions? Didn’t he just have chest pains? Why keep pressing down on him?” 

A relative who came with Old Man Liu spoke up. 

Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law cried and made a scene, pointing at Meng Yuanzheng, who was being held back. “You wretched man! You’ll die a horrible death! Give me back my father’s life!” 

Meng Yuanzheng was being held down by two men, with a cut at the corner of his mouth and a swollen face and eyes. He had originally followed the Liu family to the health clinic, but as soon as Old Man Liu died, he, the “murderer,” was naturally beaten up by the angry Liu family. 

His stomach ached so much that he couldn’t straighten his back. He hunched his back slightly, and the rain flowed through his hair and into his eyes. He hung his head and said nothing. 

No matter what he said now, the others would see it as making excuses. It’d be better to wait for the Brigade Secretary to arrive. 

Lin Miaoyin quietly circled around the crowd to stand behind her parents. She looked at the situation in front of her and had a guess in her mind. 

It doesn’t make sense to say that Meng Yuanzheng killed Old Man Liu. 

According to the woman, Old Man Liu probably had a sudden illness. Meng Yuanzheng attempted to perform chest compressions, but unfortunately, Old Liu didn’t survive. 

Now, Meng Yuanzheng was being wrongly accused. 

In this ignorant and backward countryside, no one knew what a chest compression was. To the villagers, it looked like Meng Yuanzheng pressed Old Liu to death. 

This situation was really tricky. 

Father Lin, Mother Lin, and Lin Miaojun and his wife were also very worried. How was it that after the trouble yesterday, something else happened today? 

Father Lin had at least attended some school and was somewhat knowledgeable. He knew about emergency care and quickly tried to stop the increasingly heated argument before the Liu family attempted to execute Meng Yuanzheng on the spot. 

“Comrades, can you please be quiet and listen to me?” 

After Father Lin spoke, everyone finally quieted down. After all, the leader still held some authority. 

“What did the doctor at the clinic say? What’s wrong with Brother Liu?” 

Old Man Liu’s son replied, “My father has already passed away. Why do we need a doctor to see him? Wouldn’t that disturb the ancestors?” 

They hadn’t even seen a doctor and were already making a scene at the Lin family’s doorstep? 

“This is nonsense! Are you so sure that a few chest compressions from Yuanzheng killed your father?” Father Lin’s forehead throbbed. 

The Liu family was fearless. Old Man Liu’s son shouted, “Captain, you are biased towards your son-in-law. He killed my father today, and we all saw it with our own eyes! Don’t try to deny it!” 

Lin Miaojun couldn’t help but say, “Your father was obviously ill a long time ago. Why are you blaming my brother-in-law?” 

“Then I’ll ask you, has Meng Yuanzheng ever studied with a doctor? Does he know how to save people?” 

“My brother-in-law is trying to help out of kindness! Who knows if your father was about to die anyway?” Lin Miaojun got anxious and blurted out whatever was on his mind. 

This really pissed off the Liu family, with Old Liu’s daughter-in-law nearly spitting in his face. “Listen! He’s cursing my father! Are all the people in the team leader’s family raised without a mother?” 

Mother Lin originally believed that women should not get involved in such matters, but when she heard the people on the other side scolding her, how could she tolerate it? 

What had started as an issue concerning only Meng Yuanzheng was now escalating into a conflict between families.  

The Lin family has always lived better than other people in the village, which has long aroused the jealousy of some small-minded people. Now they have found an opportunity, and the Lin family’s son-in-law has killed someone, and the Lin family members also helped him. This crime is enough to pull Lin’s father down from the position of team leader. 

Lin Miaoyin and Cui Fen quickly held Mother Lin on either side. When Mother Lin saw her come, she shifted her attention and comforted her, “Yinyin, don’t be afraid.” 

She was worried that her daughter would be frightened when she saw the corpse, but Lin Miaoyin had stayed in the hospital for a long time in her previous life, and several waves of patients in the same room of her had died, so she was already used to seeing dead bodies. 

She had already had some clues in her mind, so she shook her head and said to Mother Lin, “Mother, I found something.” 

“What is it?” 

“Let me talk to them.” 

She took off her bamboo hat, walked past Father Lin and Mother Lin, and walked into the crowd, calling out to the Liu family, “Aunt Liu, Brother Liu.” 

When the Liu family saw Lin Miaoyin, they were all wondering what she was going to do. Was she pleading for her husband? 

Even Meng Yuanzheng looked up to see what she was doing. 

She wiped the rain off her face, walked forward a few steps, squatted down to look at Old Man Liu’s body, and pinched his arms and neck. 

Everyone was shocked by her actions. Who had ever seen such a bold woman? 

“Miaoyin! Come back! What are you doing, you foolish girl!” Mother Lin shouted anxiously. 

“What do you want to do?” The Liu family’s daughter-in-law stared at her unkindly. 

She stood up and gave a reassuring smile to the Lin family. Then she looked at the Liu family and asked, “You just said that you didn’t want the doctor to check what illness Uncle Liu had because you didn’t want to offend your ancestors, so you just took him back like this?” 

Her long question took a moment for the people opposite to process, and one of them replied harshly, “That’s right! Who would let outsiders touch a corpse?” 

Lin Miaoyin smiled and pointed at the body of Old Man Liu lying on the ground. “So you just let him stand in the rain like this? If I were him, I’d be so angry tonight that I’d come back to life and drag all of you down with me.” 

She smiled sinisterly, giving goosebumps to the already guilty Liu family members. They shouted fiercely, “If it weren’t for your husband causing my old man’s death, would we be like this? If we don’t get an explanation for my father, he won’t rest in peace!” 

Lin Miaoyin was so disgusted that her face changed immediately, and she said loudly, “I think your father can’t die peacefully because he has descendants like you!” 

“You! You foul woman, what did you say? I see you want a beating!” 

Old Man Liu’s youngest son, who was a good-for-nothing, wanted to step forward to hit her upon hearing her words.  

“What are you doing? Do you still want to hit someone?” Lin Miaojun came over immediately to stop him. He was tall and strong, and the youngest son of the Liu family was like a quail in front of him. He had no choice but to put away his anger and step back a few steps. 

“I’m telling you, Captain, don’t you know how to manage your daughter? She’s so young, but where did she learn to talk so tough?” The Liu family’s daughter-in-law shouted in a sarcastic tone. 

“What does that have to do with you? Does my daughter need your lesson?” Mother Lin shot back without backing down, “Others are bullying us at our doorstep, and it’s already good that we haven’t let the dogs bite you!” 

The Liu family’s daughter-in-law said, “You! Don’t be so proud!” 

Seeing that they were about to quarrel again, Lin Miaoyin said, “Aunt Liu, weren’t you crying your heart out just now? How come you got better so quickly?”  

Liu’s daughter-in-law: “I…” 

Lin Miaoyin continued, “Your eyes didn’t even turn red. What’s wrong? Were you just pretending to cry?” 

Liu’s daughter-in-law froze at her words. 

Lin Miaoyin said, “And you all, I just checked; none of you are genuinely sad; you’re all just pretending!” 

She looked around at the faces of the people around her and said coldly, “Are you trying to blame this on my Lin family? No way!” 

Authors Note: 

Lin Miaoyin: Want to scam me? No way! 

Meng Yuanzheng: Yinyin, save me, wuwuwu. 

Lin Miaoyin: Call me dad, and I will save you for once.