Chapter 49: Second Update

Lin Yuxia quickly rode her bicycle to buy firecrackers. She did not even need to go to the town; the small supply and marketing cooperative in the countryside would do. She first hauled back a few strings.

"Sister, I bought the firecrackers back! I'll set off a few strings first, and we can buy more in the town later..."

Lin Yuxia dropped the firecrackers and ran out again in a great hurry. Lin Xuexia could not stop her at all. The girl's cheeks were flushed with excitement, and she simply could not stay still for even a second.

The third sister, Lin Yuexia, sat on a small stool and said eagerly, "Eldest sister, I want to set off firecrackers!"

Lin Xuexia glanced at her. "Sit properly. Let me apply some medicine for you first. I'll let you set them off to your heart's content in a moment."

"Sister, you're the best!" Lin Yuexia hugged Lin Xuexia's arm and acted coquettishly. A moment ago, her cheek still felt painful, but now she could not feel the pain at all. She was so excited and overjoyed! Their family had never stood out in such a glorious way before!

Lin Xuexia looked at her youngest sister with helpless affection.

Lin Yuexia and Lin Yuxia were twins, born one right after the other, but their personalities were vastly different. Lin Yuxia was stubborn and hardworking, while Lin Yuexia was playful, lazy, and always liked to complain, often accusing the eldest sister of being partial and unfair to her.

Lin Yuexia loved to be coaxed. In her past life, she had been completely fooled and led around by the nose by that man. After giving birth to a daughter, she was abandoned. Later, when Lin Xuexia's business took off and she became wealthy, she helped her younger sister open a shop, hoping she would pull herself together. However, as soon as that man returned and uttered a few sweet words, she was completely bewitched once again, severely trapping and betraying Lin Xuexia.

Lin Xuexia felt a deep sense of frustration mixed with pity for this foolish younger sister.

Gazing into Lin Yuexia's round, cat-like eyes, she reached out and pinched her other, uninjured cheek. She thought to herself: If you let yourself be deceived by a man again this time, even if I try to pull you back, I won't, and this older sister will not show any softness.

Lin Xuexia asked her, "Did you see any prospective match while picking fruit this time?"

She did not know when Lin Yuexia had first hooked up with that man.

"No, not a single one." An image of a certain person flashed briefly through Lin Yuexia's mind, but she quickly shook it off vigorously. "I want to find someone with good prospects!"

Lin Xuexia glanced at her and felt temporarily at ease. This youngest sister would have to be taught slowly; she was silly and never understood the principle that "relying on others is never as good as relying on oneself."

Lin Yuexia's mind was not on this matter. Excitedly, she tugged at Lin Xuexia's hand. "Sister, let's go outside and set off firecrackers to infuriate the eldest uncle's family. I can't wait to see the sour, ugly looks on eldest uncle and eldest aunt's faces, hahahaha! And our eldest cousin sister will be coming back too!"

The eldest cousin sister Lin Yuexia mentioned was Lin Yanqiu. Relying on her two older brothers, she had been overbearing and arrogant since childhood. Now she was married into the town and had given birth to a son named "Continuing the Ancestral Line." She and her parents were cut from the same cloth; every time she came home, she loved to show off—boasting that she had married the son of a minor town official, that her husband was a driver, and how deeply he cherished and doted on her.

In reality, Lin Yanqiu acted like a "young lady of a wealthy family" at her parents' house, but served as a "maid" at her mother-in-law's home—giving birth to a son, scrubbing floors, cooking, and washing clothes, and doing it all with a blissful expression. Not long after her marriage, she was worn out and looked terribly aged, yet every time she came home, out of sheer vanity and pride, she loved to show off in front of her female cousins.

"My husband dotes on me so much! I gave birth to a son for him. Now with the only-child policy, if you can't give birth to a son on the first try and dare to have a second child, you'll be fired from your work unit. Thanks to me, his family successfully secured a boy on the first try."

"So many of his colleagues at work only have daughters. They owe it all to me!"

"Those women at his work unit are stupid beyond belief. I'm a woman, and I still go to work? I have a husband to support me and I live a good life; why would I want to work? Even if someone offered me a job, I wouldn't take it."

"Even if your second sister manages to pass the university entrance exams, she'll just end up like those stupid women at his work unit. So what if the couple next door are both dual-income workers? They still couldn't manage to produce a son, and they still can't properly serve a man. How dare she act all high and mighty in front of me?"

...

Every time she came back, she and her mother Zheng Qiaoli would sing the same tune in the courtyard, speaking in loud voices that were painfully grating to the ears.

Lin Yuexia rolled up her sleeves, eager and excited for her eldest cousin to come home so she could throw some sarcastic, passive-aggressive remarks her way.

"Alright, let's go set off firecrackers." Lin Xuexia smiled and took her younger sister's hand, and the two sisters went outside together.

Lin Xuexia first lit a long string of firecrackers. Crackling sounds echoed at the doorway, and blue-and-white smoke rose in the courtyard. Zhang Yuqin laughed happily yet reservedly, cutting the long string of firecrackers into shorter segments so they could be set off in several batches.

Just like the neighboring family, they would set them off intermittently, bursting a string every now and then just to disgust the rivals.

By the time Lin Yuxia returned with a whole cartload of firecrackers, Zhang Yuqin realized she had been engaging in futile restraint. Long, continuous strings of firecrackers went off in rapid succession, completely unlike the petty, stingy manner of the neighboring household.

Soon, their courtyard was also covered in a carpet of red.

***

Fu Wei distributed the cigarettes he had bought. He handed them out to anyone he met, as long as they offered a few pleasant words.

"Congratulations, congratulations, young man! You look truly splendid!"

"Our Xuexia has found a good match!"

...

Fu Wei had bought several cartons of cigarettes at varying price points. Some were priced at six or seven yuan a pack, some at twenty, and others at thirty. Initially, he had intended to reserve the expensive ones for his father-in-law and Lin Xuexia's other male elders, but upon seeing the situation here, giving them to these so-called relatives was far less satisfying than giving them to random passersby.

The nicer people spoke, the more expensive the cigarettes he handed out.

The sharp-witted villagers quickly caught on and understood the situation completely. Some deliberately ran over to the entrance of Lin Fu's house to hurl mocking remarks: "Lin Fu's family, you sure misjudged this time! Someone brought home such a capable son-in-law. When are you going to take off your head and let us use it as a football?"

"We've never kicked a ball like that before."

Others purposely mimicked Lin Fu's earlier words: "A niece bringing home a suitor? Hmph, I refuse to see him!"

...

This time, it was Lin Fu's entire family shrinking inside their house, not daring to show their faces. Listening to the wave after wave of mockery outside, they felt stifled with rage. As for Li Xianchen, who always liked to pull seniority and act wise, he had already slipped away and vanished long ago.

Li Yinhua and Zheng Qiaoli kept their mouths shut. To this day, they still hadn't quite recovered their senses. Had the second family really struck it rich?

Li Yinhua had originally wanted to go outside and make a scene, but as a short elderly woman barely standing over five feet tall, the moment she went out and laid eyes on Fu Wei, who stood six foot seven, she instantly lost her nerve and didn't dare approach.

This future grandson-in-law of theirs was dressed entirely in black—black jacket, black trousers, and black boots. Having just finished moving luggage, he must have felt somewhat warm, so he had taken off his outer jacket. The tight black T-shirt underneath revealed a sturdy, athletic, and well-defined body contour, causing all the men in the village to gasp in astonishment.

The village men were either scrawny and withered or possessed protruding beer bellies; none were anywhere near this tall and robust. It wasn't just being bulky either—he had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, and a lean build, and the exposed skin of his muscles had a glowing, healthy sheen, almost as if it were radiating light.

What was even more intimidating was his gaze—sharp and deep, with an indomitable, blade-like aura that made him resemble a black panther coiled and ready to strike at any moment.

Upon further inquiry, they learned that he was a former soldier who had actually been on the battlefield and killed people.

One of the village bullies, known for his fighting prowess, boasted that he wanted to step up and spar with him, only to be effortlessly pinned to the ground in a single second. The defeat was so swift that it left the villagers clicking their tongues in amazement.

"Damn, you are way too strong!"

Fu Wei replied calmly, "I grew up in a military compound fighting my way through."

"Brother, teach me a couple of moves! I guarantee no one in this village will ever dare bully Sister Xuexia's family again."

...

Lin Yongfu stood nearby, not daring to utter a single word, his legs shaking like a sieve. Had their eldest daughter brought home a son-in-law, or had she summoned an absolute overlord to their family?

Previously, he had entertained thoughts that if his niece were ever bullied by her husband, her uncles and cousins from her maiden house would step in to back her up. But looking at the pitiful, cowardly behavior of his three nephews right now, charging up together would simply be serving themselves up as turtles for someone to toy with and slaughter.

Seeing Fu Wei showing off his muscles outside, Lin Xuexia was caught between laughter and tears. She picked up his jacket and draped it over his shoulders. "It's cold out, be careful not to catch a cold."

"It's nothing. I don't get sick that easily." Fu Wei gently grasped his wife's hand. As long as Lin Xuexia appeared, his heart and eyes were entirely focused on her.

Lin Yuexia excitedly tugged at her mother Zhang Yuqin's hand. "Mom, look! The moment our eldest sister shows up, brother-in-law's tone instantly softens."

Zhang Yuqin smiled and nodded, though a trace of worry lingered in her heart. She still had no idea what kind of background this son-in-law came from.

His every gesture was effortless and magnanimous, and he was exceptionally capable—he didn't seem like someone from an ordinary, humble family. Plus, having grown up in a military compound, could their family ever hope to climb high enough to match such a background?

In the past, Zheng Yuqin from the neighboring village was at least someone whose roots and background they knew inside and out. But this current one came from an unknown origin, bringing both pleasant surprise and deep anxiety.

***

The only thing she could be certain of was his deep affection for Xuexia.

Lin Yuexia and Lin Yuxia set off firecrackers with all their might until both of them grew somewhat numb and frightened, their ears feeling as though they were about to be deafened by the blasts. Lin Yuxia glanced at the mountain of firecrackers piled up behind them and felt a sharp pain in her ear canals.

——The firecrackers she bought herself had to be finished, even if she had to cry through it.

Fu Wei used the telephone to notify someone to deliver more firecrackers in the afternoon. With his extensive social connections and network, he managed to contact a former comrade right here in the area, who promised to help him handle everything smoothly.

Lin Xuexia sat indoors warming herself by the fire, with the doors and windows left only slightly ajar for ventilation. Zhang Yuqin looked at her with hesitation. "Are you really going to set off fireworks tonight?"

"Let him do it," Lin Xuexia replied with a smile. Subconsciously, she touched her lower abdomen—this gesture had become an unconscious habit of hers. "Mom, you've suffered in stifled silence under eldest aunt's thumb for so long; why aren't you seizing the chance to properly vent your anger? What are you hiding cooped up in the house with me for?"

Seeing her action, Zhang Yuqin trembled all over. She asked with a quivering voice, "Are you feeling unwell, or..."

"I don't know, I just have a feeling." Lin Xuexia didn't hide it either.

Zhang Yuqin's lips trembled violently. "Is it... is it his?"

"If there is one, it's his. It happened not long ago, and I was almost—he was the one who saved me." Lin Xuexia briefly explained how she and Fu Wei had met. There was no need for her to lie about this; several female workers at the factory knew about it and had all seen Fu Wei.

Zhang Yuqin let out a long sigh of relief. "Then you must take good care of your health lately."

She hesitated before asking, "What are the members of your son-in-law's family like?"

Lin Xuexia paused for a moment. "Let him tell you himself. His parents are divorced and neither could control him, so he established his own independent household now."

"Oh, oh," Zhang Yuqin nodded.

Deep down, Zhang Yuqin felt very apprehensive. This son-in-law was someone no one could control; what if he ended up bullying her daughter in the future?

Yet, things had reached this point, and she could only temporarily suppress her worries.

As soon as the mother and daughter finished speaking, Zhang Yuqin pushed open the door, and the deliberately prolonged, sarcastic tone of Lin Yuexia drifted in from outside: "Keep your eyes open and watch where you're going! These firecrackers are meant to welcome our family's new son-in-law; don't end up walking into the wrong courtyard."

Lin Baoqiang had brought his new bride home. It was a wife he had bought with an eight-hundred-yuan bride price—he was the only one who could shell out such a high amount, making the eldest sister-in-law green with envy. Lin Baoqiang was practically dying to beat gongs and drums so the entire village would know.

As for how they managed to pay such a high bride price to build a new house, buy furniture, and acquire major appliances?

Didn't he still have so many younger female cousins?

Lin Baoqiang knew the intentions of his biological father Lin Fu and his uncle's cowardly demeanor better than any outsider did.

Along the way, he had already recounted all these family matters to his fiancée, Jiang Guini. Jiang Guini's family had also opened their mouths like a lion, demanding an eight-hundred-yuan bride price, even agreeing that they could delay building a new house for the time being. After all, Lin Baoqiang's family had three younger female cousins—they were all pigs waiting to be slaughtered; slaughtering one would fatten them up for a whole year.

Jiang Guini had her own calculating thoughts as well. She didn't yet know that Lin Baoqiang's eldest cousin sister had been fired from the factory, assuming instead that Lin Baoqiang's own younger sister had also gone south to work in a factory, from where she would send back at least one or two hundred yuan every month. By figuring out a way to snatch that money, their future days were bound to be prosperous...

"Lin Yuexia, how are you talking?" Lin Baoqiang glared at Lin Yuexia.

Jiang Guini cast a haughty glance at Lin Yuexia and struck a pretentious pose. "I'm your cousin's new bride-to-be, and the bride price was eight hundred yuan! If you offend me these next few days, not only will I refuse to marry him, but I won't refund a single cent either."

Lin Yuexia burst into loud laughter. "Then you'd better hurry up and call off the wedding! Both are happening on the same day—my brother-in-law is coming over and setting off three thousand yuan worth of celebratory fireworks, while your bride price is only eight hundred. What on earth are you feeling so smug about?"

"Our family is the one setting off firecrackers to celebrate! Our family has broken all ties with your good-for-nothing husband's clan!"

"Good-for-nothing, get out of the way!" Lin Yuexia shook her shoulders with a triumphant smile. Right under Lin Baoqiang's astonished gaze, she lit a string of firecrackers, tossed them right in front of the couple, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Away with all bad luck!"