Chapter 16: Contemplation

Li Luo had no desire to stay and watch the spectacle. With so many people and so much gossip, if any rumors were to spread, it would be bad for both her and Ling Zhuoqun.

These little interludes, however, did nothing to dampen Ling Zhuoqun's appetite. Firstly, the food Li Luo cooked was indeed better than anything he had tasted in restaurants; secondly, he was genuinely busy dealing with the farm matters this afternoon.

If he were hungry, he really wouldn't be able to handle such high-intensity work.

In less than five minutes, Ling Zhuoqun had cleared the dishes and placed them in the basket.

The office door had also been kicked in and needed repairs, but just as he turned around, several heads popped out, staring at him in unison.

They looked as if they were saying: *Confess everything, or there will be hell to pay.*

Ling Zhuoqun pressed a hand to his forehead in frustration. It seemed that if he didn't explain things clearly today, these people would keep staring at him like this indefinitely.

"Fine, speak. What exactly do you want to know?" Ling Zhuoqun maintained a serious expression.

"Come on, Brother Ling! You got a wife and didn't even tell us? And here we were, busy preparing for your wedding!"

"Is Sister-in-law's name Li Luo? Wasn't she that girl, Lin Ge, before? What's the deal? Sister-in-law looks like a city girl; why would she agree to be with you, Brother Ling?"

Previously, they had all been so overwhelmed with joy at the news of Ling's "iron tree blooming" that they hadn't processed the details. Only now were they starting to wrap their heads around it.

"Brother Ling, do you think the Lin family is trying to pull a marriage scam?" Chen Yuejin, whose mind worked quickly, asked nervously.

"But looking at Sister-in-law, she doesn't seem like a scammer," another smaller, thinner man remarked.

Ling Zhuoqun thought to himself that if he didn't clear this up, there was no telling how paranoid this group would become.

"It's a long story. Your sister-in-law and that Lin family daughter were swapped at birth. Your sister-in-law is the Lin family's true daughter."

"The Lin parents ran off with money, and the Li family found their biological daughter, Lin Ge. In the shuffle, your sister-in-law ended up becoming an outsider in the Li family."

"The Li family didn't offer any money to compensate me, so they had your sister-in-law marry into our family instead." As Ling Zhuoqun spoke, he recalled Li Luo's gentle and affectionate manner.

She could cook, she knew how to dress herself, and she was beautiful. If it hadn't been for this twist of fate, he feared he wouldn't have been blessed with such a woman.

"So in the end, Sister-in-law is the only one who suffered? The Lin parents ran off with the money, Lin Ge went back to her biological parents to live a life of luxury, and they just left Sister-in-law—who knew nothing—to bear the consequences?"

Chen Yuejin clenched his fists. He was a straightforward man without many schemes in his head, and hearing about Li Luo's ordeal, he began to feel genuine pity for her.

Even though Brother Ling was a good man, this woman's fate was simply too tragic.

"Sister-in-law is all alone with no one to rely on. Since she's with you, Brother Ling, you have to treat her well. Since you announced her identity publicly today, we brothers will only recognize Li Luo as our sister-in-law," Chen Yuejin said earnestly.

"Yeah! We only recognize Li Luo! I can see she's sincere about you. Even in this sweltering heat, she came to bring you food. That aroma was absolutely soul-stirring!"

"So, it sounds like I'm the lucky one," Ling Zhuoqun said with a wry smile.

"Brother Ling, what are you laughing at? The Lin parents are the ones in debt, and Lin Ge is the one who ran from the marriage. Isn't it just Sister-in-law who's caught in this disaster?"

"An adopted daughter is never as good as a biological one, is she? As soon as the real daughter returned, the adopted one was immediately kicked out!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd at the farm became agitated, chiming in one after another: "Brother Ling, since Sister-in-law is with you, you must treat her right. Don't let a girl like that down!"

Ling Zhuoqun nodded. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Ling Zhuoqun didn't give his word lightly. After all, he still had a thorn in his heart. That one-month period wasn't just a choice for Li Luo; it was a choice for himself as well.

Everything that had happened before was still fresh in his mind. If Li Luo treated the children poorly, he would give her a sum of money to settle her affairs so they could part ways amicably.

His previous wife—for some reason, despite being good to his three children before—had suddenly bought medicine and slipped it into their food one day.

Little Mao, being a glutton, had eaten it and vomited blood uncontrollably. Yaya, who had already started speaking, was so traumatized by the incident that she had lost her voice and could no longer speak.

Then there was the matter with Auntie Wang. He needed an explanation for that too—why was it Li Luo who delivered the food when that was supposed to be Auntie Wang's job?

And that unknown woman—why had she been so bold as to appear in his office?

"Brother Ling, now that you have a wife, you have to keep yourself clean. Don't let all these fluttering butterflies get too close to you," Chen Yuejin advised, acting like a man of experience.

Ling Zhuoqun felt an impulse to tug at his tie, only to remember that Li Luo had taken it off him.

When he had returned to his room to look for it, he found the tie was gone.

Strange. Li Luo hadn't taken it with her when she left!

Aside from him and Li Luo being in the office, there was only... Li Ailian!

Ling Zhuoqun suddenly remembered that when Li Ailian had appeared so abruptly, Li Luo's hands had shaken, causing the tie to fall to the floor.

Li Ailian had fallen to the ground at that exact moment; she had likely accidentally picked it up.

*Tsk. Another mess that needs explaining.*

"Brother Ling, are you even listening to us!" Seeing Ling Zhuoqun lost in thought, Chen Yuejin waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Chen Yuejin, why are you more concerned about Brother Ling's business than he is? You're like an eager eunuch worrying about the Emperor's anxiety," someone nearby remarked.

"What are you saying! I'm doing this all for Brother Ling's own good!" Chen Yuejin stammered momentarily.

"If you ask me, you just think Sister-in-law is pretty, and that's why you're talking so much about her for Brother Ling."

Chen Yuejin's face turned red all the way to his neck. "I don't believe I'm the only one thinking that!"

"Don't you all want Brother Ling to be happy?" Chen Yuejin countered.

"Of course we want him to be happy!" the crowd immediately distanced themselves from his implication.

"Brother Ling, we have to have a grand wedding this time! Since that Lin Ge doesn't want to marry, let's hold a massive ceremony to show her that our Brother Ling deserves a sister-in-law far better than her!"

Chen Yuejin's words were instantly met with cheers from the other brothers.

"Brother Ling, you can't mistreat Sister-in-law. This wedding has to be huge!"

Amidst the clamor, Ling Zhuoqun's face hardened. "Xiao Wu, have the pigs been slaughtered?"

"Yuejin, has the pork the butcher requested been delivered? And the meat from the supply cooperative—has that arrived too?"

As soon as he spoke, everyone knew this was a sign that Ling Zhuoqun was losing his patience. Nevertheless, they still hoped he would have a magnificent wedding.

Ling Zhuoqun put his suit back on. He had a big business deal to negotiate shortly; this was no time to slack off.

However, he took his brothers' words to heart. Previously, Li Luo hadn't mentioned a wedding; she had only said they needed to register the marriage.

Prompted by his brothers, Ling Zhuoqun felt that he should give Li Luo a wedding to make everything complete.