The men of the Sun family never imagined that the four of them together—father and sons—would still be no match for Lin Yu. They were humiliatingly hung from the tree at the entrance and whipped.
At first they cursed and swore, but after a few lashes they couldn’t take it anymore and began begging for mercy.
“Brother-in-law, please stop—this really isn’t my fault!”
“Your daughter married the second son—why are you hitting me?”
“Uncle, Uncle, don’t hit me! Hit my second brother instead, don’t hit me!”
The Sun family’s father and sons cried and screamed, even turning on Sun Erniu. “He’s the one who didn’t take good care of his wife—if you’re going to hit someone, hit him!”
Sun Erniu had been hoping his father and brothers would save him. Hearing this, his whole body went cold.
Lin Yu looked at the Sun family blaming one another. “Don’t worry. Not a single one of you is getting away.”
“Murder! The Lin guy has come to our door to kill people!” Old Madam Sun screamed herself hoarse, unable to break free from Lin Lai’s grip.
“You two dead women—are you blind? Your own men are about to be beaten to death and you won’t do anything!”
Sun Eldest Sister-in-law and Sun Third Sister-in-law didn’t dare approach, afraid they’d be beaten too. They could only shout at Lin Zhaodi, “Second Sister-in-law, are you really going to watch Erniu get beaten to death?”
“The Sun family hasn’t wronged you that much—how can you be so heartless?”
“If someone really dies, your father will have to pay with his life!”
Lin Zhaodi had been dizzy for a while now. She’d only felt a bit better after eating some candy, but now her vision was spinning again, and she could barely speak.
Her whole body leaned against Lin Pan as she cried out, “Father, stop hitting them. Please stop.”
Lin Pan covered her ears. “Elder Sister, don’t worry about it. If we don’t teach them a hard enough lesson today, they’ll keep bullying you in the future.”
That was clearly Lin Yu’s thinking as well. Since his daughter refused to divorce, then he had to beat the Sun family into fear—make sure they never dared bully her again.
“Stop! Stop right now!”
The Sun family finally brought in reinforcements. Village men came running, one after another, carrying shoulder poles and hoes, surrounding them.
Unlike Qingshan Village, most people in Sun Village shared the Sun surname. Bound by kinship, they were more united, and soon Lin Yu was surrounded on all sides.
“Father!” Lin Pan and Lin Lai cried out anxiously.
“Third Uncle, save me! I’m going to be beaten to death!” Sun Daniu screamed pitifully.
The leading Sun clansman took in the scene and said sternly, “Lin, you’ve got some nerve—beating Sun family members in Sun Village. If you don’t give us an explanation today, don’t even think about leaving.”
He gave a look, signaling the women to restrain the Lin daughters first.
Before anyone could move, Lin Yu let out a cold laugh and suddenly kicked out—splitting the tree at the Sun family gate clean in two.
“An explanation?”
That single kick stunned the Sun family. Lin Yu said coldly, “Their whole family joined forces to bully my daughter. Today, I came precisely to demand an explanation.”
Many of the Sun villagers knew something about Old Madam Sun’s conduct and frowned inwardly.
“But you can’t just beat people like this,” a young man shouted. “Look at them—there’s hardly anything left to look at. What if someone dies? You won’t escape responsibility.”
Lin Yu snorted. “They still have the strength to shout, don’t they?”
“My daughter was wronged in the Sun family. I, as her father, came to their door—was that wrong? This is our family matter. Anyone who dares interfere, my legs won’t show mercy.”
The broken tree trunk lay splintered on the ground.
Seeing how strong and half-mad this Lin fellow seemed, the Sun villagers grew wary, afraid things would truly spiral out of control.
“You two families are in-laws by marriage,” someone tried to mediate. “If there’s something improper about Sun Liu’s household, everyone can sit down and talk it through. Why go as far as shouting and fighting?”
“Your daughter still has to live in the Sun family in the future. If you beat everyone like this, how will she survive later on?”
“Sixth Sister-in-law, your family also did wrong. A perfectly good girl married in—you should’ve treated her well. How could we let her suffer?”
Old Madam Sun realized their relatives and friends had been frightened by Lin Yu and no longer planned to seek justice for them.
She collapsed on the ground, wailing. “What daughter-in-law doesn’t work? I just made her do a bit of work—what’s wrong with that? What kind of father-in-law comes to the door and starts hitting people, hanging in-laws from trees to beat them? Lin, I’m telling you, this isn’t over!”
“You bunch of cowards! An outsider comes into our village beating people and you don’t even dare fart—spineless trash!”
The Sun men’s faces darkened at her scolding.
Easy for her to say—Lin Zhaodi’s father could kick over a tree. If they rushed in and got injured, what then?
A few hot-tempered men couldn’t help retorting, “Sixth Aunt, that’s not right. This man is the daughter-in-law’s own father—it’s their family business. How can we interfere?”
“Exactly. You even demanded the bride price back. The daughter-in-law’s been married in for three years and you still want a refund—you deserve to be beaten.”
Old Madam Sun failed at cursing and was cursed back instead. She howled, “Are you all just going to watch him run wild here?”
Lin Yu sneered and stepped forward to give Old Man Sun two more lashes, beating him until he cried out.
Old Man Sun, in pain and humiliation, glared at Old Madam Sun and cursed, “Shut up! Are you trying to get me killed?”
“I won’t say anything anymore—please stop hitting,” Old Madam Sun said miserably, then shouted toward Lin Zhaodi, “Zhaodi, hurry and save your father and husband, or you’ll be a widow!”
Lin Zhaodi’s head thundered. Before she could speak, her vision went black and she fainted.
“Father, my sister fainted!”
Lin Yu immediately forgot about the men in the tree and rushed over. Lin Zhaodi’s condition was truly bad—her forehead was covered in dense cold sweat.
“Help me lift her,” Lin Yu said urgently.
Lin Pan and Lin Lai scrambled to support their sister.
“We’re leaving.”
Lin Yu didn’t care about anything else. He hoisted his eldest daughter onto his back and headed home. Right now, Lin Zhaodi’s health mattered most.
Seeing this, Old Madam Sun tried to wail again, but someone grabbed her. “Stop shouting. You want your husband and sons beaten again?”
Old Man Sun cried and cursed, “Hurry up and get me down!”
Old Madam Sun rushed to untie the rope, only to find that whatever method Lin Yu had used, she couldn’t pull it loose.
In the end, she had to go inside and fetch a kitchen knife. After quite a while, she finally cut it free.
The four Sun men finally landed on the ground—disheveled, humiliated, unable to lift their heads.
Yet Old Madam Sun still wanted to make trouble. “The Lin family came to our door shouting and fighting—are we really just going to accept this?”
Old Man Sun slapped her hard. “So it wasn’t you who got beaten, was it?”
Old Madam Sun was stunned by the slap. When she came to her senses, she wailed and clawed at Old Man Sun. “Who do you think I did all this for? You’re useless and couldn’t win, yet you dare hit your wife!”
The old couple fell into a scuffle.
The Sun brothers didn’t know whether to pull their father or their mother, spinning anxiously in place.
The onlooking Sun villagers felt it was disgraceful. “If you’re going to fight, go home and shut the door. Don’t embarrass yourselves out here.”
Old Man Sun shoved her aside and went inside.
The three Sun sons hung their heads, feeling as though the whole village was laughing at them. Being hung up and beaten in front of everyone—how could they ever show their faces again?
The two daughters-in-law didn’t dare say a word and quietly slipped inside as well.
Old Madam Sun collapsed on the ground with no one caring for her. Grief surged up, and she burst into loud sobs.
Lin Yu carried his eldest daughter home, but along the way he sensed something was wrong. Lin Zhaodi was completely limp, unable to muster any strength at all.
This didn’t seem like simple low blood sugar.
“A-Pan,” Lin Yu said urgently, “hand the child to your younger sister and run back first—invite Doctor Wang to our house.”
“Alright.” Lin Pan was worried about her sister and took off running.
The little girl called Xiaohua was passed over. She didn’t cry or fuss, just sucked on her fingers, still tasting faintly of pastries.
By the time Lin Yu carried his eldest daughter home, the barefoot doctor from Qingshan Village had already arrived.
When Doctor Wang saw Lin Zhaodi’s complexion, his heart sank. After checking her pulse, his brows furrowed even tighter.
“Zhaodi’s body is far too weak. It’s likely she didn’t recover properly after childbirth. She eats little and works too much—her qi and blood are both depleted. If this goes on, it won’t end well.”
Lin Yu’s heart clenched. “Is it serious? How do we treat it? Can she recover?”
“It’s not considered severe,” Doctor Wang said. “This is a ‘rich person’s illness.’ As long as she’s well-fed and properly nourished for a few years, she’ll recover. She’s still young—her body can bounce back.”
“But if she keeps exhausting herself, even a body of iron won’t hold. If she’s worked down to the last drop, even an immortal couldn’t save her.”
Hearing that she could recover, Lin Yu finally relaxed. He wasn’t afraid to spend money.
“Thank you, Doctor Wang. Please prescribe some warming, nourishing medicine. I’ll make sure she rests properly.”
Doctor Wang was a little surprised. He hadn’t thought Lin Er doted on his daughters so much before—his three girls had been treated like Lin Da’s maids.
Could the village rumors be true?
Had Lin Er suddenly come to his senses overnight—stopped being Lin Da’s ox and horse, and started cherishing his own daughters?
Doctor Wang wrote the prescription. Seeing Lin Yu’s face full of concern, he added, “If conditions allow, buy some ginseng whiskers from the pharmacy and stew them into soup. She’ll recover faster.”
Lin Yu committed that to memory.
Lin Pan followed Doctor Wang to fetch the medicine. Lin Lai settled her sister, then took the items back out of the basket.
“Good thing we didn’t give this to their family. Otherwise I’d be sick to death.”
Thinking of the Sun family’s faces, the girl fumed, wishing she could go back and add a few more kicks.
Lin Yu sighed. “I should’ve gone to check earlier. Luckily, we got her back now. If we nurture her slowly from here on, we’ll definitely restore your sister’s health.”
Lin Lai pressed her lips together, thinking that once she recovered, wouldn’t she still have to go back? Her eldest sister refused to divorce—sooner or later she’d return.
But when she glanced at the little girl squatting in the corner, not daring to make a sound, only sucking on her fingers, she swallowed those words.
Lin Yu also noticed the little girl’s odd behavior. A two-year-old child, yet after such a big incident she didn’t cry or fuss at all.
He beckoned. “Your name is Xiaohua, right? Come here and let Grandpa take a look.”
The little girl just sucked on her fingers and didn’t move.
Lin Lai said softly, “Father, why does she seem like she can’t understand us?”
Lin Yu frowned, picked up a small pastry. “Do you want to eat it? If you do, walk over by yourself.”
The little girl’s eyes locked onto the pastry. She’d eaten one earlier—it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted in her life.
She forced herself to step forward, staggering ahead. After just a few steps, she pitched forward.
Lin Yu reached out and caught her, weighing her in his arms, frowning again.
“Too thin.”
He said nothing more, simply stuffing the pastry into the girl’s mouth, watching her wolf it down.
“At noon, steam an egg custard for the child. She needs to eat more.”
Lin Lai nodded repeatedly.
Lin Zhaodi remained unconscious for three days, taking medicine and drifting in and out, unable to get out of bed.
It wasn’t until the morning of the fourth day that Lin Zhaodi finally woke up.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152