GD (QT) Chapter 2

“Dad, are we… still eating the pheasant?” Lin Laidi asked cautiously.

She was terrified that her father’s next words would be an order to take the pheasant over to Grandma.

Lin Yu spoke quickly: “Quick, pack the pheasant away.”

Lin Pandi and Lin Laidi were hit with a wave of disappointment. They lowered their heads to work, tears dropping one by one into the chicken soup.

To their shock, Lin Yu’s next sentence was: “Hide it in the vegetable garden. Don’t let your Grandma find it.”

“I’m on it!” Lin Laidi was instantly revitalized. She poured all the chicken soup into a clay pot and, heedless of the heat, hugged it to her chest and sprinted off.

Lin Pandi quickly dumped all the boiled wild herbs into the empty pot, giving it a couple of stirs. Laidi returned with a bundle of mugwort; once she lit it to smoke the room, the lingering scent of chicken vanished instantly.

Lin Yu watched this, thinking that while his two daughters were prone to crying, they certainly weren’t stupid.

In the short time it took to finish their cover-up, Grandma Lin began pounding on the front door so hard it sounded like a bandit trying to break in. Lin Yu waited until his daughters were hidden before sauntering over to open the door.

“Are you deaf? Why did it take so long to open the door? Don’t you know your mother is waiting out here?”

“And what’s that smell in the house? Keeping two useless pieces of trash like this—you should marry them off early to save them from eating free meals.”

Grandma Lin pushed past him aggressively, cursing and grumbling as she marched inside. She wasn’t as stout as Aunt Lin, but her complexion was ruddy and her voice was full of vigor—a sharp contrast to the malnourished, sallow faces of Pandi and Laidi.

“Where’s the water? Don’t you know to serve water when a guest arrives? You wretched things, born but never raised properly.” Grandma Lin began cursing her granddaughters the moment she sat down.

Even though he knew her temperament from the original host’s memories, seeing this level of spite in person made Lin Yu’s brow furrow deeply.

“Mother, the moment you arrive, you’re smashing doors and hurling insults. Someone who didn’t know better would think we were being robbed.”

The original host was foolishly filial, but he certainly was not.

Grandma Lin’s face darkened. “When your sister-in-law came back and said you scolded her, I didn’t believe it. Now you’re even scolding your own mother?”

“Grandma, please have some water,” Pandi said, bringing a bowl over.

“It’s this hot? Are you trying to scald me to death?!” Grandma Lin reached out to flip the bowl, intending to splash the water directly into her granddaughter’s face.

Lin Yu moved like lightning, pulling his daughter back so the old woman’s splash hit nothing but air. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Is it these two money-losers egging you on? Now you won’t even listen to your mother? I raised you through hardship and filth, and now that your wings have grown, you treat my words like nothing? You unfilial son!”

Grandma Lin pointed her finger at her granddaughters and shrieked.

“You little tramp! We find you a good marriage and you start picking and choosing? Look at what kind of goods you are first! Erzi, I’m telling you: this marriage is already settled. You agree if you want to, and you agree even if you don’t!”

“I don’t agree,” Lin Yu said calmly. “Not even if the King of Heaven himself shows up. If you’re going to keep talking like this, then leave. Our house doesn’t welcome you.”

Grandma Lin froze completely. A moment later, she clutched her chest, slumped to the floor, and began to wail: “My life is so bitter! My own son is telling me to get out!”

Lin Yu’s expression didn’t change. He looked at his daughters. “Take your sister into the inner room and don’t come out.”

“Dad…” Pandi’s heart ached for her father, yet she feared he would go soft. Lin Yu gave her a firm nudge, and the girl finally left.

Laidi immediately grabbed her sister at the doorway, whispering: “Sister, do you think Dad can hold out this time?”

Pandi shook her head but didn’t move further into the room; instead, they both pressed close to listen to the commotion outside.

“My life is so bitter! Old man, why did you leave so early and leave me all alone? Now that I’m old, I have to take abuse from my son… you might as well have taken me with you!”

“Erzi, when you had a fever as a child, it was your mother who stayed up all night wiping you down! You got better, but I was exhausted. Now you speak to me like this for the sake of two money-losers?”

Grandma Lin wiped her tears, complained, shouted, and cursed. But when she looked up, she saw Lin Yu had found a stool and sat down, watching her as if she were a side-show act.

Her heart skipped a beat. Usually, as soon as she cried or shouted, her second son would agree to anything. Why was today different?

Lin Yu waited for her to stop on her own before speaking. “Mother, normally a son shouldn’t say these things, but since you’re old and your memory is failing, I have to remind you.”

“When we split the household, we signed and put our thumbprints on the documents. Aside from a hundred pounds of grain a year, your well-being technically has nothing to do with me. If I choose to give you gifts during festivals, that is my choice to be filial.”

“Among all the old ladies in Qingshan Village, you have the best luck having a filial son like me. But you need to know when to stop. Mind your own business and stay out of mine. Managing too much makes people resentful.”

Grandma Lin hadn’t expected her son to say such things. She was shaking with rage. “Erzi! Have you been possessed? I am your biological mother! How can you say that?”

Lin Yu sneered. “I’ve never seen a biological mother walk into a house and start screaming for the blood of her granddaughters.”

“In the end, it’s all for those two money-losers!” Grandma Lin shouted. “They’ll be married off sooner or later; then they’ll belong to someone else’s family! Have you thought about who will care for you and bury you when you’re old? It has to be Guangzong and Yaozu! Mother is only planning for your future!”

Lin Yu laughed from sheer anger. “So, you’re telling me that selling my daughters to pay for my nephews’ schooling is for my own good? Do you even believe that yourself?”

“I’m putting it plainly today: in the future, even if I starve to death, freeze to death, or my corpse is left out in the wilderness, I won’t need those two to bury me. Go back and tell Eldest Brother and his wife to keep their hands off my daughters, or I’ll never hear the end of it with them.”

Grandma Lin couldn’t believe her ears. “Crazy… you’ve gone mad! I never should have let you marry that vixen back then. Now that she’s dead, she’s left two little foxes to blind your eyes!”

Grandma Lin rushed to the door and screamed: “I’m going to let the whole village see what kind of trash you’ve raised! Let them see how a son insults his own mother!”

Lin Yu chuckled and threw the door wide open. “Fine. Go ahead.”

Grandma Lin gnashed her teeth, about to charge out.

“Mother, feel free to go,” Lin Yu called out coldly. “While you’re at it, I’ll ask the village which scholar is so noble that he needs his younger cousin’s dowry to pay for his school. I’ll ask which academy dares to take a student so lacking in morals and ethics.”

Lin Yu’s voice turned icy. “If you think the villagers don’t understand the law, we can call the Village Chief and the Elders. If that’s not enough, we can go to the County Magistrate’s office and ask which law in the world states that an Uncle must sell his daughters to support his nephews.”

To deal with someone as unreasonable as Grandma Lin, you had to hit the “seven-inch” vital spot. Guangzong and Yaozu were the vital spots of the first branch of the family.

Sure enough, Grandma Lin froze. She felt as though Lin Yu really was possessed by a ghost; her Second Son would never say such things. Seeing the look in his eyes—cold, disgusted, as if looking at trash—she couldn’t help but shiver.

Lin Yu said flatly: “Done making a scene? If you’re done, go back. From now on, stay out of my family’s business, and don’t bother coming through my door.”

“You… you unfilial beast! I’m going to report you for unfilial conduct to the Magistrate!” Grandma Lin shrieked.

Lin Yu laughed. “Go ahead. If the Lin family produces an unfilial beast, no one within three generations of the clan will be allowed to take the Imperial Examinations. Let’s see if the Clan Leader forgives you then.”

Grandma Lin slumped to the floor. She realized that if Lin Er was determined not to listen, she had absolutely no leverage.

The old woman dropped her aggressive act and began to cry into her hands. “Erzi… it’s Mother’s fault. I shouldn’t have said those mean things. But you’re flesh of my flesh. I only wanted the best for you. Guangzong and Yaozu swore they would take care of you in your old age.”

“You are their biological Uncle. You can’t just watch their futures disappear. You can’t be that heartless!”

Lin Yu said simply: “I can.”

Grandma Lin choked on her words and let out a sudden, comical hiccup. Inside the room, the two girls pinched their arms hard to keep from laughing out loud.

Grandma Lin tried to grab her son’s hand, but he moved away. She wiped her eyes. “Your Sister-in-law already took their dowry money. If Pandi doesn’t marry, what will happen? They won’t just let it go.”

“Then return the dowry,” Lin Yu said, his eyes turning cold. He hadn’t realized Aunt Lin had already presumed to take the money.

Grandma Lin started stuttering and dodging the question. One look told Lin Yu that 80% of the money had already been spent. He stood up coldly and grabbed Grandma Lin by the arm to lead her out.

“Mother, since you’re so busy heading home to cook for Guangzong and Yaozu, I won’t keep you. Have a safe walk.”

He shut the door directly in her face.

“Erzi!” Grandma Lin cried out miserably.

The neighbors heard the commotion and came out. Surprised, they asked: “Old Lady Lin, what’s going on with you and your son?”

“Oho, Lin Er won’t let you in? That’s a first!”

“Your son is usually so filial, and even he’s lost his temper. What did you do?”

Grandma Lin was terrified that if she made a scene, Lin Yu would carry out his threat and ruin her grandsons’ reputations. “Go away! My son and I are fine! I’m just in a hurry to get home and cook!” She hurried away, not daring to complain.

“Well, that’s strange. Lin Er actually stopped listening to his mother.”

“Aunt Lin was trying to matchmake his Pandi to that Widower Qian.”

“Widower Qian? Isn’t that the one with two sons and three daughters whose previous wife jumped into a well because she couldn’t take the beatings?”

“That’s the one.”

“The eldest Lin branch really has no conscience. That’s pushing their niece into a fire pit. No wonder Erzi turned on his mother.”

…

Grandma Lin returned home with a dark face. The moment she entered, she started scolding her daughter-in-law. “How did you handle this? How does Erzi know about that family’s situation? That money-loser is his flesh and blood after all; now he refuses to agree no matter what!”

Aunt Lin hadn’t expected that even the old lady’s involvement would fail. Usually, Erzi would jump to obey as soon as his mother spoke. “Mother, what do we do now?”

“You ask me, who do I ask? He’s been blinded by pig grease; he won’t agree!” Grandma Lin’s face was also unsightly; she had lost a lot of face just now.

Aunt Lin said hurriedly: “Mother, you have to think of something! The dowry money has already been spent. If Pandi doesn’t marry over there, they’ll definitely make a scene.”

Her eyes darted around. “Mother, if not for me, think of your eldest grandson. Without that dowry money, how will Guangzong and Yaozu study? Without studying, how will they bring honor to the family?”

Grandma Lin narrowed her eyes. “For the sake of my dear grandsons… that money-loser must marry, no matter what.”