TATLC Chapter 13 – The Lu Family’s Reaction

After being humiliated at Chen Xiaomi’s place, Lu Tong went home and burst into tears.

“Mom, how could you find such a person for Lu Lin?” Lu Tong asked.

Tang was furious after hearing Lu Tong’s words. If it was Lu Lin who dared to confront her daughter, she might have already gone to make a scene, but this was Chen Xiaomi. Who was Chen Xiaomi? Someone capable of murder and arson! Trying to reason with Chen Xiaomi might result in getting your legs broken along the way.

Hadn’t she noticed that even the village ruffians didn’t dare cause trouble for Chen Xiaomi?

Although reluctant, Tang could only swallow her anger. “Looks like we can’t rely on that Lu Lin anymore.”

Tang hadn’t been having an easy time lately. She had always disliked Lu Lin’s mother and had dumped all the household chores on her.

But now that Lu Lin’s mother was dead, cooking, feeding the chickens, and feeding the pigs all fell on Tang’s shoulders.

A few days ago, when the old man came home and found the food not to his liking, he scolded her harshly. If not for her husband stopping her, she might have beaten the old man.¹

As for Lu Tong failing to bring Lu Lin back, the Grandpa Lu had expected as much and didn’t press the matter.

Grandma Lu, however, was used to bossing around her second son’s family. Seeing that Lu Lin dared refuse to return, she immediately began wailing about how his unfilial je was, only to be scolded fiercely by the old man.

…

“Ah Lin.” Lu Lin had just walked out carrying a basket of yams when he spotted a village farmer.

The farmer looked at Lu Lin with sympathy, leaving Lu Lin confused.

Lu Lin recognized him as Zhang Jin, the eldest son of the village head. Zhang Jin was a decent person who would help when villagers asked for help.

Seeing the sympathetic look in the other’s eyes, Lu Lin thought to himself: So this is how the village sees me, a walking tragedy.

“Ah Lin, are you doing all right?”

Lu Lin smiled and said, “Quite well.”

In Zhang Jin’s eyes, Lu Lin’s smile appeared forced.

After word spread in the village about Lu Lin going into the mountains, people began saying, “Lu Lin is so miserable! He hasn’t recovered yet when he was sent to Chen Xiaomi’s place. Then he was forced to search for food in the mountains while he was still stick. Who knew when he might end up being eaten by wild wolves.

After Lu Tong’s failed attempt to drag Lu Lin back, the old madam had thrown a fit at home. When the old master stopped her, she went around the village loudly cursing Lu Lin for his lack of filial piety.

The old woman sat by the edge of the field crying, saying that Lu Lin had been manipulated by a Shuang’er and no longer cared whether his family lived or died.

But Wang’s tantrums found no sympathy. Everyone knew exactly what kind of Shuang’er Chen Xiaomi was.

Expecting someone as usually quiet as Lu Lin to control Chen Xiaomi was nothing but a dream. Besides, Chen Xiaomi paid ten taels of silver to marry Lu Lin into his family.

Ten taels of silver! When Chen Xiaomi offered ten taels for someone to marry in, many villagers had actually been tempted. However, they didn’t want to bear the shame of sending their sons into a wolf’s den for money, so despite wanting the silver, they had to think twice.

Who knew that during this hesitation, the wealthy Lu family in the village would seize the opportunity first? Many villagers privately criticized the Lu family for being so shameless for money despite already being so rich.

Some married daughters in the village might help their birth families during the busy farming season, but if they didn’t, nobody could complain.

Lu Lin had married into another family, which was essentially the same as a daughter marrying out.

Besides, everyone knew the difference between the Lu family’s lifestyle and Chen Xiaomi’s. Now that Lu Lin had married out, the Lu family still wanted to bleed him dry.

With the old woman crying by the field’s edge, nobody paid her any attention. Instead, she was scolded by the village head and went home embarrassed.

Zhang Jin looked at Lu Lin’s basket and said, “Is Chen Xiaomi making you eat earth sticks?” Zhang Jin felt even more sympathy for Lu Lin. Zhang Jin had eaten earth sticks before when there was no other food available. Roasting them could fill his stomach, but they certainly weren’t tasty.

Seeing Zhang Jin’s expression, Lu Lin didn’t explain much and simply said, “They’re filling and quite good.”

Zhang Jin became even more convinced that Lu Lin was being mistreated by Chen Xiaomi. “If you ever have any trouble, you can come find me.”

Hearing this, Lu Lin smiled and said, “Thank you, Jin-ge. I need to go chop firewood now, so I’ll be going.”

Zhang Jin nodded and said, “Okay.”

Grandma Lu’s words had also reached Lu Lin’s ears, but he didn’t care much. In this era, many people placed great importance on reputation. However, Lu Lin didn’t care about that. Reputation was for others to see, while life was his own to live.

Lu Lin wasn’t the original owner of this body. The original Lu Lin might have been hurt by his grandmother’s favoritism, but to the current Lu Lin, the Lu family were nothing but strangers.