Chapter 51, Second Installment

"I want to transfer my household registration too!" Lin Yuexia said loudly.

Lin Yongfu froze. If all his daughters transferred their registrations and left, wouldn't it just be the two of them left at home? Who would inherit the family's fields and land?

"What on earth are you making a fuss about? Don't you want the family's land anymore?" Lin Yongfu asked, anxious as burning charcoal.

Lin Yuexia replied, "I don't want this crappy little patch of land at all! Sis, I want to go live in the city too!"

Lin Xuexia smiled and said, "You can go to the city. We can consider whether or not to transfer your registration later, there's no rush."

"The reason I'm in a hurry to transfer your second sister's registration is because of the college entrance examination. You have to transfer your registration if you want to take the exam over there."

Lin Xuexia didn't care much about the family's land, especially those few acres of paddy fields. In another decade or so, many people would move to the city and the fields would just lie fallow.

"Great!" Lin Yuexia was immensely excited.

Lin Xuexia told her and her second sister, Yuxia, to go try on the clothes she had bought. Taking advantage of the warm afternoon temperature, they could wash the new clothes and dry them in the sun. The sisters chatted happily about the clothes.

"Sis, this dress of yours is so pretty. Can I wear it?"

Lin Xuexia generously said, "Go ahead, try it on."

Just as Lin Yuexia was about to put on the garment, Fu Wei, who was standing nearby, spoke up, "No. That's what I bought for your sister. Outsiders aren't allowed to wear it."

"Oh," Lin Yuexia acknowledged. "Sis, I guess I'm an outsider now."

Lin Xuexia put the dress away and laughed, unable to help herself. "Then you won't wear it. Wear the one your sister bought you instead."

You couldn't spoil this brat of a younger sister too much either.

"Both my sister and my brother-in-law are so stingy," Lin Yuexia grumbled, making a snorting sound. "Sis, I won't wash the new clothes you bought me just yet. I'm going to put them on right now, and later I'm going to go out and show them off properly."

"I'm going to tick off my eldest female cousin until she drops dead of anger!"

Lin Yuexia loathed her eldest female cousin, Lin Yanqiu, the most. Lin Yanqiu was cut from the same cloth as her mother, wielding minor authority like a big imperial decree, and always loved ordering the younger cousins around to do all the hard work while she slacked off.

Lin Yuexia loved to be lazy and cut corners too, but the family never scolded Lin Yanqiu; they only ever yelled at her.

She couldn't stand Lin Yanqiu's smug, self-satisfied look. Lin Yanqiu had been even more sickening after getting married. Not long ago, she had put on a grinning face and said she wanted to set Lin Yuexia up with a prospective match, only for it to turn out to be a widower from her husband's workplace, expecting Lin Yuexia to step in as a stepmother to three kids.

The man was a whole cycle older than her, and he was short, old, and ugly. When Lin Yuexia refused, Lin Yanqiu had cursed her out for not knowing what was good for her.

"Someone's offering you a good life and you don't even recognize a good thing when you see it. Lin Yuexia, are you that cheap?"

"The man has sons, daughters, and a steady job. You're going straight over there to enjoy a life of ease."

...

Lin Yuexia had wanted nothing more than to splash water right in her face. After fixing her up with such a monstrosity, Lin Yanqiu still had the nerve to demand she be "filled with gratitude and devotion."

Lin Yanqiu had set Lin Yuexia up on blind dates several times. Whenever there was a prospect with decent conditions, she would hook Lin Yuexia in, only to later apologize with a look of feigned regret: "I'm sorry, the guy didn't take a fancy to you."

"He got snatched away by someone else. Who asked you to be nothing more than a country bumpkin?"

Or, after they had agreed on a time and place to meet the guy, Lin Yuexia would dress up and make herself presentable, only for Lin Yanqiu to bounce over and say, "The guy isn't coming anymore. I made a mistake. He said he doesn't want a woman with a rural household registration, especially knowing your family has three daughters... well, you understand, right?"

"Don't blame me for introducing you to worse and worse men; it's just that the ones with good conditions simply look down on you."

"..."

As time went on, how could Lin Yuexia not realize that Lin Yanqiu was just toying with her for amusement? She hated herself for taking the bait, but she hated Lin Yanqiu even more for playing games with her.

How could Lin Yanqiu possibly have good intentions in setting her up?

That was precisely why Lin Yuexia viewed anyone who tried to set her up with deep suspicion. She suspected they were just toying with her too, and even if they sounded like a good match on paper, she wondered what kind of trap was hidden underneath.

Yet, there were many times when she would also think with a heavy sense of inferiority: Was her background truly that poor? Was she really unworthy of a good man? If she wanted to marry a man with solid material conditions, did she really have no choice other than to pick some ugly, old man and become a stepmother to his children?

And if she married a rural man whose family demanded a high bride price, would she end up worked to the bone just to bear him a son? If she couldn't pump out a son, would she never be able to turn her life around?

In the village, the people who loved to "show off having a son" were almost always women. That was because they had suffered oppression since childhood, and only after giving birth to a boy did they suddenly rise up to become masters of the house and secure a solid footing.

——As long as you give birth to a boy, it means all your suffering vanishes and you can finally enjoy life.

But what if you couldn't?

The end result of not being able to was just like her mother, just like Qin Yanyan. Thinking of this always sent a chill of terror down Lin Yuexia's spine.

*

While Lin Yuexia was dwelling on Lin Yanqiu, Lin Yanqiu was also brooding over this "little female cousin." Her latest source of amusement was to toy with this little cousin in matters of marriage, flaunting her own status as a "queen."

"Lin Yuexia is just plain stupid. I'm going to fabricate another one this time—how about Xiao Zhang, that new guy who just started at your workplace? His background sounds pretty great. The moment I mention it, she's guaranteed to take the bait," Lin Yanqiu said on the road, smiling brightly as she chatted and laughed with her husband, Dong Liguang.

Every single time, she treated the way she played tricks on her female cousin as a form of entertainment to recount to Dong Liguang.

Thinking of Lin Yuexia's foolish appearance, Lin Yanqiu laughed inwardly to herself. She deliberately dropped hints that her husband worked close to the leadership and knew many leaders and relatives of leaders, suggesting that if she introduced one to her, Lin Yuexia would live a life of luxury.

And Lin Yuexia actually believed it.

Yet she never bothered to use her brain—how on earth could she ever introduce her to a genuinely good match? Lin Yanqiu only ever wanted to play with her like a toy.

If it were her cousin Lin Xuexia, Lin Yanqiu would never dare to pull such a stunt. She wouldn't dare let Lin Xuexia appear anywhere near her husband's workplace, nor would she dare utter her name, terrified that Lin Xuexia might actually manage to marry a good match.

Lin Xuexia was simply too gorgeous, especially that pair of eyes, moist and movingly charming.

Even if she dressed in dowdy, ugly clothes, wore a hat, and had skin tanned by the sun, the moment anyone locked eyes with that pair, they would find it unforgettable.

All of their female cousins looked somewhat alike, or rather, the family as a whole was blessed with good looks. Yet Lin Xuexia stood out exceptionally in photographs, entirely because of those eyes.

Lin Xuexia and Lin Yuexia looked the most alike. Yet nature was so magical: despite looking similar on the surface, one was exceptionally pretty, while the other was merely "neat and refined."

And both of them looked better than her.

Lin Yanqiu's perspective was warped. In truth, as long as she wasn't compared to Lin Xuexia, Lin Yuexia was considered a quite pretty girl in the eyes of ordinary people; among the five female cousins of the Lin family, her appearance ranked second.

That was one of the reasons why Lin Yanqiu loved to play these games with Lin Yuexia.

Ever since they were little, Lin Yanqiu had always held the highest status and lived the best life among all the female cousins. She neither permitted nor accepted any other sister surpassing her.

"When has she ever not taken the bait?" Dong Liguang chuckled, his gaze suddenly turning deep and fathomless. "I heard that working cousin of yours is back again? Why don't you have her come to our workplace and work as a temporary laborer?"

Thinking of Lin Xuexia's figure and face, Dong Liguang felt his body grow warm.

If he had known back then that Lin Yanqiu had a female cousin like that... sigh, it was just that she had been a bit too young. When he went to the Lin family to propose marriage and caught a glimpse of her, that little girl had been pure and dewy, just like a flower bud waiting to bloom.

If he could manage to pull her close to his side, that would be nothing short of perfection.

"Her? We'll talk about that when the time comes," Lin Yanqiu's expression stiffened, and resentment flared in her heart. How could she not know what her husband was really thinking? Yet she had finally managed to climb high into a family like this, and she didn't dare say much.

When Lin Yanqiu and her husband Dong Liguang walked within dozens of meters of the Lin family courtyard entrance, they discovered that a huge patch of ground outside was bright red, littered with the remains of countless firecrackers. The couple was utterly shocked.

They spent that much money?

Walking closer, they realized the massive swath of red was entirely concentrated around the courtyard of the neighboring house, forming a stark, clear-cut boundary.

Lin Yuexia, who was feeding chickens in the courtyard, had been waiting for them to return. Without even waiting for Lin Yanqiu to speak, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "The live-in maid married out of the Lin family is back!"

After shouting that, she grabbed an old pot and struck it hard with a stick, creating a loud *clang-clang-clang* noise.

Lin Yanqiu's face turned red with fury. "Lin Yuexia, what kind of madness has gotten into you? To think that this time I came back with the kind intention of setting you up with a good match—"

"A weasel paying respects to a chicken—it's with ill intent," Lin Yuexia said, her mood exceptionally wonderful today. She didn't care about anything else; she was going to the city soon, so she was going to have a good, satisfying cursing session today: "Who in our family doesn't know that after you married out, you went to work as a maid for someone else? It's only been a few years, and you've aged a good dozen years. At home, you don't sweep the floors or feed the chickens, rushing headfirst over to a man's house just to sweep, cook, and do laundry. Lin Yanqiu, are you that cheap?!"

"Even if you gave birth to a son, it's completely useless because you don't have a job! You still want to keep comparing yourself to my second sister? Keep dreaming! My second sister passed the college entrance exams and has an iron rice bowl of her own. Now that you've married into a 'three-generation single-line heir' family, that's your grand blessing—you don't even have a sister-in-law left for you to bully anymore. Aren't you just miserable? You're even worse off than your own mother!"

"The routine your mother taught you doesn't work anymore. Neener-neener-neener!"

Inside the house, Lin Xuexia couldn't help but laugh out loud. Her little sister had a truly vicious tongue—spiteful and snarky. When she wasn't letting her romantic judgment run wild, her perspective was actually crystal clear.

She knew precisely how to twist the knife in someone's most painful spot.

"Big maid! From now on, every single time I see you, I'm going to laugh at you, you pitiful wretch." Lin Yuexia made a funny face, then caught sight of a dog being led on a leash near Lin Yanqiu's leg, and cursed, "Have some basic virtue, you pair of scumbags! Your husband probably beats his dog just as much as he treats you like a punching bag—raise one less dog, accumulate a little less bad karma."

After the family adopted a little native dog, Lin Yuexia had grown to love dogs immensely, even though they never used to keep any pets at home.

Her cousin Lin Yanqiu used to like raising dogs in the past. After she married out, she kept raising one little native dog after another, but every single time, before long, the dogs would mysteriously disappear and she'd replace them with a new one.

Although Lin Yuexia had been played for a fool by Lin Yanqiu several times, it was precisely through those experiences that she had learned a lot of truths—for instance, while Lin Yanqiu claimed she raised dogs because she loved them, the dogs she kept invariably ended up beaten to death by her husband.

Raise one, and it dies. Her love for dogs was a complete joke.

It was precisely because of this incident that Lin Yuexia had thoroughly stamped out any desire to marry upward into wealth. Her own father might be spineless, but at least he didn't resort to physical violence.

Lin Yanqiu used to act so domineering and bossy at home, yet after marrying into a small township cadre's family, she worked herself to the bone and endured being beaten and cursed at by her in-laws, only ever daring to come back home to bully them.

Then she thought of the new eldest brother-in-law her eldest sister had just brought back—his background was indeed great, and he was tall and robust, which made her secretly terrified that he might also throw fists at her sister.

She was going to the city to protect her eldest sister well!

She, Lin Yuexia, might not have many skills, but when it came to taking blows, she could still step right up and block them.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuexia clenched her fists and looked at Lin Yanqiu with an intensely dismissive gaze, thinking to herself: *My eldest sister has her younger sisters to protect her, while you have absolutely nothing—what on earth are you feeling so smug about?*

She lit another string of firecrackers, tossed them over, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Be gone, ill fortune!"

This string of firecrackers exploded so close that Lin Yanqiu and her husband were forced to retreat step by step. Seeing that Lin Yuexia was holding yet another pack of firecrackers, the two of them wore expressions that were impossible to put into words, and hurried inside the neighboring house.

"She's gone mad. Lin Yuexia has completely lost her mind."

Lin Yanqiu huffed and puffed in anger. As soon as the couple stepped into the house, the entire family was waiting for Dong Liguang as if he were their savior.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the married couple. Dong Liguang was a leader's driver, after all, and he knew many things ordinary people didn't. Lin Fujia and his wife loved nothing more than listening to their son-in-law brag.

Li Yinhua said, "Xiao Dong, you're finally here."

Zheng Qiaoli chimed in, "Yanqiu, that working cousin of yours, Xuexia, brought some big hoodlum back with her, and now her family is acting all high and mighty. Hurry up and have your husband show his true status to scare him straight. Our son-in-law works right by the leadership's side, after all."

Upon hearing this, Dong Liguang immediately grasped his wife's family's predicament, and he quickly chimed in, "He's just some petty thug, I'm not afraid of him at all. A guy like that—I'll just give him a little scare and he won't even dare open his mouth."

"Of course! Isn't he just tossing around a bit of petty cash?" Lin Fujia complained. "He said he's going to set off three thousand fireworks tonight. I'd like to see whether he actually sets them off or not."

At that moment, Dong Liguang's eyes widened in shock.

As a driver for a leader, he truly did have the opportunity to find out about many things.

Before leaving the house at noon today, he had just overheard a piece of casual gossip from his leader: a friend of his had helped someone purchase fireworks, and that person was supposedly the favorite maternal grandson of a very prominent figure.