Chapter 8: Thrilling

Lin Yi listened, his heart pounding with fear. "Girl, you need to take it easy! Don't get into another fight with your mother-in-law! Your father was truly scared out of his wits this time!"

Lin Qin lowered her head, feeling guilty. Situations like this would only become more frequent, not less. She hoped her father’s heart was strong enough; otherwise, he would surely be angered into a collapse.

Seeing her expression, Lin Yi knew she hadn't taken his words to heart. He sighed helplessly and said, "When I opened the door early this morning, I found another cleaned snakehead fish in the kitchen, just like yesterday. I don't know which kind soul gave it to us. I drank a bowl of the soup first, and there were no issues, so you two go ahead and eat. Snakehead is good for wound healing; you should eat more."

Yesterday morning, he had woken up to find a cleaned snakehead fish on the kitchen counter, weighing about a pound. He had assumed it was a gift from someone nearby, but after asking around, no one admitted to it.

In this weather, a slaughtered fish wouldn't stay fresh for a day without being cooked, so he had just gone ahead and stewed it.

He hadn't expected another one to appear this morning.

Their village had fish ponds, but they were filled with African tilapia—wild, tiny things that no one caught, nor could they.

Fish like this snakehead could only be found in the Nanxi River.

Thinking of the Nanxi River, the image of Chen Wenjun flashed through Lin Yi’s mind. He subconsciously glanced at Lin Qin, then immediately shook his head. It couldn't be him; he was a total stranger to his daughter and had never been to their house, so how could he know where they lived?

If it wasn't Chen Wenjun, then who could it be?

Lin Yi was completely baffled.

Lin Qin, however, had an inkling of who it might be.

She first picked the bones out of the fish for Liu Yaya and fed her a bowl of the fish soup.

She asked with a smile, "Yaya, is the fish soup delicious?"

Liu Yaya nodded obediently. "It's delicious! It’s better here at Grandpa’s; we have fish to eat every day. At Grandma’s, Yaya only gets sweet potato rice with pickled vegetables. If I eat even one extra bite, Grandma calls me a money-losing wretch."

Don't let the fact that she was only six years old fool you; she understood everything.

Lin Yi’s face darkened instantly, and he nearly dropped his chopsticks in anger. "Ma Cuihua is too much! Yaya is her own granddaughter! How can she treat a child like that?"

Lin Qin gave a cold scoff. "Dad, she treated us mother and daughter like that yesterday; did you really expect her to feed Yaya meat?"

Lin Yi choked on his words and sighed heavily again.

Lin Qin calmly finished her fish soup and helped Lin Yi clear the table.

Over the next few days, every morning when Lin Yi woke up, he would find another snakehead fish on the kitchen counter. At first, he insisted on getting to the bottom of it, but after finding nothing, he gradually grew accustomed to it and would cook the fish in various ways whenever he saw it.

Sometimes he made tofu and fish soup, sometimes he made a soy-sauce-braised dish to go with sweet potato porridge, and when he wanted to be extravagant, he would fry it in lard.

All of this was just so his daughter and granddaughter could eat a little better.

Under Lin Yi’s care, Lin Qin’s wounds healed remarkably fast. They scabbed over in three or four days and began to peel off in seven or eight.

Just as she was looking for an excuse to keep lingering at her parents' home, the Liu family sent someone over with a message: Liu Yongming was coming back soon, and she should bring Liu Yaya home.

Once Lin Yi heard this, he was no longer willing to let Lin Qin stay. Without a second thought, he told her to pack her things and go back.

"Girl, listen to your father. Yongming is a college graduate, an educated man; he surely won't be biased toward his mother. Go back and explain things clearly to him, let him stand up for you. If possible, take the child and leave with Yongming so you and the kid don't keep getting bullied by that wicked woman, Ma Cuihua."

Lin Yi rambled on for a long time.

The more Lin Qin listened, the more her heart ached. She fought back her tears, turned around, and went back to the shed to pack her luggage. While she was at it, she handed the fifty yuan to Lin Yi. "Dad, it’s not safe for me to keep this money on me. You keep it for me for now, and if I need it, I’ll come ask you."

Lin Yi understood Lin Qin’s concerns and agreed without hesitation, happily sending her and Liu Yaya out of the village.

It took the mother and daughter an hour to walk back to the Liu house.

As soon as they stepped through the door, they were met with Xu Manzhi’s gloomy face.

Lin Qin didn't even give her a glance and went straight back to her room with the child.

Before she could even sit down, Ma Cuihua’s shrill cursing began.

"Our Liu family really owes her! It’s bad enough she can’t give birth to a son, but she acts like an ancestor who needs to be served! She isn't afraid of shortening her own life!"

Lin Qin covered Liu Yaya’s ears and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't listen to that nonsense; it’ll dirty your ears. Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?"

Liu Yaya shook her head, clutching the corner of Lin Qin’s shirt tightly.

Lin Qin smiled knowingly and lay down, pulling her close.

Ma Cuihua cursed in the courtyard for half the day until her throat was dry, but there wasn't a single sound from Lin Qin’s room, as if she were performing a one-woman show. This infuriated Ma Cuihua, who immediately ordered Liu Li to take over.

Liu Li still remembered how Lin Qin had scratched her face, so she rushed to Lin Qin’s door and pounded on it frantically. "Second Sister-in-law! Mom told you to come out and work, did you hear me? Are you deaf? Open the door!"

Liu Li’s urgent shouting sounded like she was calling for a soul; the commotion was so loud it felt like one's heart might jump out of their chest.

Annoyed, Lin Qin got up, poured a cup of cold water that had been sitting out for days, walked quickly to the door, and splashed it onto Liu Li.

Liu Li was drenched to the bone. After the initial shock, she flew into a rage, jumping up and down and pointing at Lin Qin while cursing, "You bitch! You dare splash me! I’ll fight you to the death!"

With that, she charged at Lin Qin, but Lin Qin stepped aside and tripped her with her leg.

Liu Li fell face-first, her chin hitting the floor tiles. She wailed in pain, "Mom! Eldest Sister-in-law! The bitch Lin Qin is bullying me, ahhh..."

She scrambled up from the ground and ran outside, wet and dirty, saliva mixed with tears and snot streaming down her face.

Seeing her youngest daughter’s miserable state, Ma Cuihua was livid. "Lin Qin! I’m going to beat you to death, you bitch!"

Xu Manzhi also came over to help.

Seeing that she had backup, Liu Li’s spiteful eyes darted around. She turned and ran back to the kitchen, grabbed a ladle of boiling hot water, and charged at Lin Qin. "You splashed me with water? Today, I’ll make you taste what it’s like to be splashed!"

Ma Cuihua and Xu Manzhi stepped forward, grabbing Lin Qin by the left and right to keep her from moving.

Liu Li’s boiling water splashed directly onto Lin Qin. At the critical moment, Liu Yaya rushed out and knocked into Xu Manzhi.

"Ah!" A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the entire alley, mixed with Liu Yaya’s shrill cries and Ma Cuihua’s vicious curses.

Lin Qin carried the sobbing, gasping Liu Yaya out of the courtyard and pounded hard on the neighbor’s door.

"Lin Qin? What happened to Yaya?" Grandma Liu asked nervously.

Lin Qin dropped to her knees in front of Grandma Liu. "Grandma, that madwoman Liu Li used a ladle of boiling water to splash me. Yaya blocked it for me, and her back got scalded. I need to take her to the hospital, but I don't have any money on me. Can you lend me a few yuan? I’ll pay you back as soon as I can."

"Yes, yes, yes! Don't worry, just wait here, I’ll go get it." Grandma Liu hurried back into her house.

Lin Qin went to the neighbors next to Grandma Liu to borrow more.

It took borrowing from three or four houses before she finally scraped together a dozen yuan.