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墨書 Inktalez
Lin Haitao's father, Lin Sipin, frowned at the strong smell of sauce in the room, while Lin Haiping had already covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
Xiao Fan carefully brought two cups of hot water, "Uncle Lin, Aunt Lin, drink some water!" Wolf Child rummaged through the snacks at home and placed them on the table, saying, "Eat, it's delicious!" as he grabbed a handful for himself.
One Egg happily sat next to Lin Sipin, "Uncle Lin, you are also a police officer!"
Zhou Village Head chuckled, "Who said that if Little Lin is a police officer, his father must be one too?"
One Egg protested, "My dad is a hunter; I will definitely 'inherit the family business' in the future!"
Yezhi entered with ginger soup, clearly amused, "One Egg, you think you can 'inherit the family business'? That's impossible."
"Why not?"
Zhou Village Head replied, "You are studying now!"
One Egg was dissatisfied and said, "Why can't I be a cannon operator after studying? Why can't I be a cultured cannon operator!"
Lin Sipin was amused by One Egg's innocent reasoning. "The more books you read, the bigger things you can do. You won't be satisfied staying in this little corner of the mountains!"
Yezhi gave him a meaningful glance. Indeed, human nature is greedy; once you've seen the outside world, you don't want to come back. Just like in the 21st century countryside, people can't be retained; the village is full of elderly people.
"I won't! I want to stay here for my whole life!" One Egg shouted excitedly.
Yezhi gently ruffled his hair. "One Egg, Sister Ye promises you that life here will not be worse than that of city folks or people from Province; it might even be more exciting!"
One Egg waved his hand dismissively. "What's the point of being that exciting? Besides, as a cannon operator, I get to outsmart animals every day and have meat to eat; isn't that exciting enough?" Yezhi laughed heartily. She didn't mind One Egg's small aspirations; she just knew that once the Wildlife Protection Law was enacted, his dreams would inevitably fall through!
Lin Sipin and Lin Haiping thought that this little kid was quite unambitious.
Zhou Village Head laughed and scolded, "You little rascal, with such little ambition, our Er Zhu is going to university and heading to Beijing!"
When Xiao Fan heard about Beijing, he exclaimed, "I want to go to Beijing too! I want to bring Dad, Mom, Zhou Mama, Sister Yezi, Brother Lin, Crazy Granny...!" He couldn't count on his ten fingers alone, adding Wolf Child to the list.
"What do you need so many people for in Beijing?" One Egg volunteered his fingers.
"To see a doctor!"
Yezhi almost spilled the ginger soup, "See a doctor?"
Xiao Fan noticed everyone staring at him and scratched his head awkwardly, "Uncle Doctor said the best doctors are in Beijing. Sister Yezi said sick people need their family’s care the most. If we go together, we can come back together too!" It seemed that Elder Brother Yu's illness had become an invisible scar in Xiao Fan's heart.
"Uncle Lin, Aunt Lin, quickly drink the ginger soup!" Xiao Fan raised the bowl. "You have to drink it hot for it to work!"
Lin Sipin took a sip; the spiciness made him cough. However, under Xiao Fan's urging, he finished it.
Lin Haiping really couldn't drink anymore and set the bowl down. "I'm not cold, so I'm not drinking!" Yezhi didn't care whether she drank or not; as long as her "concern" was conveyed, that was enough.
"What about Lin Zi?"
Yezhi glanced at her. "Our house is cleaned every day; it's very tidy!"
Lin Haiping was a bit confused by Yezhi's irrelevant answer. "This place is indeed quite clean!" Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sit still.
"Then why are you covering your mouth and nose?" Yezhi thought: since she had already started talking, she wasn't afraid of saying a few more words.
One Egg glared with wide eyes in agreement: "Yeah, as if we are dirty or something!"
Lin Haiping had her brother in mind. Earlier, there had been a commotion outside the door, and if she didn't clarify things now, she feared her brother would kick her out. "No, there's a smell in the room," she said, still being quite subtle.
Zhou Village Head blushed and admitted, "That must be my foot odor!" With that admission, Lin Haiping felt a bit embarrassed.
Yezhi opened the window. "Yes, let's air out this smell!" Zhou Village Head became increasingly frank.
Yezhi threw out some sauce remnants from the corner of the kang. "Yezi, why are you throwing the sauce remnants outside?"
"Village Uncle, do you really think it's your foot odor?" Yezhi actually couldn't smell it either; she just knew that the sauce made from those remnants was fragrant and sweet. In summer, using it to stew green beans or eggplants was both simple and delicious. Anyway, for the sake of food, she could endure anything; besides, after a while, she wouldn't even notice it!
However, Kobayashi's Dad's sister would definitely find it hard to get used to at first.
Zhou Village Head continued chatting with the three little ones from the Xiao family. Yezhi moved the discarded sauce remnants to the kitchen.
Aunt Zhou was kneading dough. "Yezi, your Elder Brother Yu and the others probably won't be back until evening. You should cook today's meal!"
Aunt Zhou added with concern, "You must put in some effort and make it well!"
Yezhi glanced at Xiaobinzi, who was silently chopping rabbit meat. "Auntie, you go inside and keep the guests company; leave the kitchen to us!"
Aunt Zhou paused for a moment and then happily walked out of the kitchen.
"Sigh!" Yezhi deliberately sighed.
"Did they make things difficult for you?" Lin Haitao asked nervously while holding a kitchen knife.
"What are you talking about? Am I someone who gets taken advantage of? I'm just thinking that it's only been a few days since we got married, and you act like I don't exist!" Yezhi complained without any clear direction.
"You're such a fool! Their presence affects you so much that you can't even receive your wife's affectionate gaze!" Lin Haitao fell silent.
"Perhaps if I drive them away, you will feel better!"
"That's just hindsight!" Lin Haitao's face showed a hint of a smile.
"I'm doing it out of humanitarianism!" She had no intention of easing the relationship between their father and son, or between the siblings.
Lin Haitao said, "After dinner, let them leave!"
"Of course! We should aim to send them out of the village before the heavy snow, making sure they have no reason to stay at our home, Tun'er!"
Lin Haitao couldn't describe his feelings, but having Yezhi by his side seemed to lessen his anger and hurt.
Aunt Zhou combined two low tables into one. The little ones were eager to serve the dishes, which were all in large bowls. The rice was served in scoops, each grain glistening, fluffy, and chewy. Thick rice soup with some cabbage shreds was finally brought to the table.
Black Treasure and Niu Niu seemed to know it was mealtime and hurried back home excitedly.
"Where have you two been playing?" Yezhi asked as she chased after the two pets.
"Ah~!" Lin Haiping jumped up in fright at the sight of the black furry creature, causing half the dishes to be ruined.
Yezhi was furious, while Black Treasure was overjoyed. The food on the ground smelled delicious. "Hey Maya, what is this? My mouth hurts and feels numb again."
"Woo~ woo!" Black Treasure jumped and barked, continuously slapping its own mouth with its paw, turning the whole room into chaos.
In the end, only the rice soup and rice remained intact, along with some Corn Cake. Everyone made do with what they had for dinner.
After the meal, Aunt Zhou warmly served Frozen Pears.
"Old Forest is here for pears!"
"Xiao Lin, your sister should have one too!" Aunt Zhou stuffed a pear into Lin Haiping's hands. As Lin Haiping held the pear, she suddenly spotted Black Treasure approaching and was so startled that she dropped the pear and hurriedly shrank back into the corner of the kang.
Black Treasure took a big bite out of the Frozen Pear and, feeling displeased, let out a couple of growls towards the inside of the kang: "I'm clearly a gentle being, what are you afraid of?" After that, it still felt wronged and complained to Yezhi: "Mama Bear, that sister judges by appearance."
After the kids led Black Treasure, Niu Niu, and Spots outside, the room fell silent. Aunt Zhou stood up and said, "Old Forest, my daughter is truly a good girl; she is in a free relationship with Xiao Lin!"
Lin Sipin interrupted her, "Your daughter? Then why does she call you 'Aunt,' while that child calls you Zhou Mama and calls her Sister Yezi? He has his own dad and mom! Are you all really a family?"
Yezhi couldn't help but laugh; the way they addressed each other had been chaotic for quite some time. Everyone had tried to correct it, but somehow they always reverted back to their old ways.
"If we were to explain this, it would take a long time!" Aunt Zhou wrapped up their acquaintance story and shared it with Kobayashi's Dad for his sister to hear.
Yezhi listened in astonishment; was she really the one who woke up earlier than roosters and went to bed later than dogs, worrying endlessly over food?
Lin Sipin glanced at Yezhi and said, "From what you're saying, she really is a good girl!" Aunt Zhou was delighted by this.
"However, I will not let my son marry someone of unknown origin!" Lin Haiping nodded in agreement.
Lin Haitao, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "You have no right to interfere in my matters!"
Lin Sipin slammed his hand on the table. "You are my son; I have to manage this. This is a matter that concerns your entire life!"
Lin Haitao sneered. "A big deal? I'm marrying someone to love and cherish, not to use and then discard!"
"You...!"
"Lin Zi, stop talking. Dad has a bad heart!"
Zhou Village Head and Aunt Zhou were completely stunned; Xiao Lin couldn't possibly be referring to his dad!
The atmosphere completely cooled down after a few interruptions from the children, but the village chief managed to hold things together. "Kobayashi's Dad, please calm down. As parents, we all want what's best for our children. Besides, the government advocates for free love, right? They are fated to be together and are fortunate to become a couple."
Lin Haiping felt that the village chief's words were somewhat off. "They can't have already gotten married, can they?"
Yezhi pointed to the silver ring on her ring finger and said, "They did. They registered on the 17th and held the banquet on the 29th."
"Lin, how could you do this?"
Lin Sipin clutched his chest, realizing why that girl had been so arrogant. "Hai Ping, let's go!"
Lin Haiping looked at Lin Haitao. "If you don't leave, I will!" Lin Sipin strode toward the door.
Lin Haiping stamped his foot and grabbed his luggage to chase after him, while Zhou Village Head followed closely behind, feeling uneasy.
Aunt Zhou looked at the falling snow with some concern. "Xiao Lin, are you really going to let your dad and sister leave?"
Lin Haitao whispered, "It's better if they go!"
Aunt Zhou wanted to say something else but was interrupted by Yezhi. "If forgiveness is impossible, it's better not to meet at all."
The snow continued to fall heavily. Kobayashi's Dad and his sister ultimately ended up staying at the village chief's house instead of leaving.
The people in Tun'er knew that Kobayashi's Dad had arrived and warmly greeted him at the village chief's home. The Cart Driver even brought two large fish, while Zhou Yiqiang entered with a piece of deer meat.
In a bad mood, Lin Sipin was annoyed by all these people and snapped, "Can you all stop hovering in front of me?"
Lin Haiping laid a handkerchief on the edge of the kang before finally sitting down comfortably.
Meizi knew that city folks had their quirks, but this was quite bizarre even for her.
"How old is Yezi now?"
"Twenty-one!"
"Can she read?" Meizi felt that their smartest girl, Tun'er, was being looked down upon and had to defend her, "How could she not be able to read? Yezi used to be our teacher and even studied in the county."
Upon hearing that Yezi could read and was a teacher, Lin Haiping's expression improved somewhat, but she still caught onto the illness in the conversation, "Before, but what about now?"
"She's farming at home!" Xiaolin's sister frowned, "Why would a good teacher give that up to farm?"
Meizi was unhappy, "What's wrong with farming? Without us farmers, what would you city folks eat?"
"I'm not saying farming is bad. I'm just saying she has an education and has been a teacher; why doesn't she continue doing that?"
"Our Yezi said that she can't compare to Xiao Cheng in educating people. Besides, she has no patience for little kids other than our Tun'er’s Kid. Teaching didn't work out, so she had no choice but to go home and farm."
The more Lin Haiping listened, the more her head hurt. What a willful person! She regretted not hiding the Household Register better and wished she had insisted on keeping Linzi from moving out!
Lin Haiping tossed and turned all night. The next day before leaving, she ran to Yezi's house and said to her, "Our family is well-educated! Everyone in my family is a college graduate. Let me help you enroll; you should prepare for the college entrance exam!"
Then she shamelessly hugged Xiaobinzi and cried for a while before reluctantly leaving.
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