Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 115 Lin Yi Clarifies Rumors
An elderly woman who seemed very kind pointed to the boxes on the ground and asked, "What are all these?"

Lin Ying smiled modestly, "My dad and brother-in-law knew we were having a housewarming party, so they specially sent some seafood. It was just delivered to the port this morning. I'd like to trouble you, Auntie, to help me send it back to my house."

"Good, good! Your dad is so generous! If you ask me, your dad treats Dahai like his own son, he even took care of the banquet!" Zhang Cuixiang kept praising Lin Yi.

Lin Yi, beaming with health, led a child into the village, holding one hand in each.

A woman standing nearby, who couldn't stand Lin Yinghao, said in a sarcastic tone, "If your family is so kind, they should pay for the house. Xu Dahai's house was built with a high-interest loan. When he can't pay it back, do you think his father-in-law can help him pay it back?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi stopped in his tracks and looked at the woman. "What did you say? Dahai borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates to build a house?"

Everyone stopped and started offering their advice.

Lin Yi finally understood what had happened and was speechless. "Who's so shameless as to spread rumors? My daughter and son-in-law didn't borrow money at exorbitant interest rates. I gave them the money to build the house!"

The group of people stared wide-eyed in astonishment at Lin Yi, their faces filled with disbelief.

Zhang Cuixiang rushed excitedly to Lin Yi, "Aying's dad, how much money did you give Aying to build a house?"

Lin Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Not much, just three thousand. Her sister gave her an additional two thousand. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Zhang Cuixiang gasped, shaking her head repeatedly, her voice trembling, "No, no problem, I just didn't expect it."

I never imagined Lin Ying's family was so wealthy!
Everyone had different thoughts, and soon the news spread that Lin Ying's family had given Xu Dahai five thousand to build a house.

Wang Ximei and Zhang Guizhi were the first to jump up in protest.

"Mom, didn't you say that the second son and his wife borrowed money at high interest rates to build the house? How did it become that the money came from the second sister-in-law's family?" Zhang Guizhi said accusingly. You see, it was because they believed Wang Ximei's words that they decisively broke off relations with the second wife's family and didn't even attend today's housewarming party. They never expected it to be a lie!

More importantly, Lin Ying's family is so wealthy; they've completely cut off one of their own sources of income!

Wang Ximei stormed into Xu Dahai's new home in a fit of rage, crying and shouting at the door, cursing Xu Dahai as an ingrate who had deliberately deceived her!

Xu Dahai didn't want to argue with Wang Ximei on their big day, so he invited the brigade leader and the village secretary over and accused Wang Ximei in front of the whole village, "When my eldest brother got married, you contributed money and effort to build a big house and gave all the benefits to the eldest son's family. I didn't say anything, but you treated me like a fool and thought I was easy to bully. When my third son was born in violation of the one-child policy, you just paid the fine without hesitation. I was the one who was adopted!"

What? You don't treat me like a son, but you won't allow my father-in-law to feel sorry for me? I didn't say things like "borrowing money from loan sharks," you said it yourself! And you spread it around!

Now everyone's here, let's ask them: Didn't I personally admit to borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates? You just couldn't stand to see me doing well! Now you deserve to reap what you sow!

This was the first time Xu Dahai had spoken so definitively and harshly.

Wang Ximei's face turned pale and then red, filled with shame and anger, and she almost couldn't stand up.

Xu Dachuan and Zhang Guizhi rushed over to smooth things over, and humbly apologized to Xu Dahai.

"Second brother, Mom is just getting senile. Don't you know what she's like? Nobody believed her! It was all a misunderstanding before. We're family, so don't be angry."

Xu Dahai interrupted him, "Don't! The letter of severance of kinship has already been stamped, and the brigade leader and the village secretary are both here. From now on, we'll be like relatives in the village. Don't be so friendly. What we agreed on before will still be the same. There's no need to argue about anything else."

"Whoever she wants to dote on from now on has nothing to do with me!" Xu Dachuan and Zhang Guizhi were shocked by Xu Dahai's resolute decision and their faces turned ugly.

At this moment, Lin Yi came out of the house, looking at Wang Ximei with a stern face, "Mother-in-law, when our two families were arranging the marriage, do you remember what you said to me? You said you were the fairest and not the kind of person who would mistreat your daughter-in-law. But now it seems that of your three daughters-in-law, my daughter has had the hardest time. Aren't you ashamed?"

Wang Ximei was truly humiliated by Lin Yi's public humiliation. She glared angrily at Xu Dahai, then turned and stormed off.

Because Lin Yi gave Xu Dahai several thousand yuan to build a house, the villagers subconsciously thought that Lin Yi was rich and powerful and could not be offended. Seeing Lin Yi protecting Xu Dahai, they secretly envied him.

Without the troublemaker Wang Ximei, the banquet proceeded as normal.

The seafood included squid, small yellow croaker, and a box of razor clams.

The chef in charge of cooking wasn't very good at seafood, so Lin Yi personally went over to give him pointers. The three seafood dishes broadened the horizons of the villagers who had never eaten seafood before, and they thought Lin Yi was extraordinary.

Xu Jian and Xu Kang are already old enough to understand that their grandfather is backing up their parents today. They are very attentive to Lin Yi, taking good care of Ping An and Ya Ya, and even introducing them to their friends.

As a close relative of Xu Dahai, Zhang Cuixiang sat at the same table with Lin Yi. When the topic of children came up, she immediately praised Ping An and Ya Ya.

"Father-in-law, you've raised your two grandsons so well! They look so different from the kids in the village!"

Lin Yi nodded in agreement, "Their parents went to great lengths to raise them, so they have to be different!"

"How are they cultivated?" Zhang Cuixiang asked curiously, and the others also pricked up their ears.

Lin Yi chuckled and said, "My grandson was born a little weak, with one hand and foot not being very agile. His parents spent tens of thousands of yuan to build a gymnasium so that he could exercise. They also enrolled him in talent classes during the summer vacation, teaching him everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting."

Everyone stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Before they could react, Lin Yi continued, "I just bought a house for Aying in the city. She can take her child to study in the city. They're all my grandchildren, I can't be biased, right?"

Zhang Cuixiang nodded hesitantly, her expression blank. The others also fell silent, completely unsure how to respond.

Lin Yi was very satisfied with the result. After the banquet, he took his two children and went home by bus.

Xu Dahai and his family personally saw them off before returning home.

After today, the whole Xujia Village will know that Lin Ying's family is extremely wealthy and dotes on their daughter Lin Ying. Wang Ximei and the others are filled with remorse.

Xu Dahai also knows how to be grateful.

After moving to a new house, once the two children started school, they immediately took a bunch of local specialties to the city to thank Lin Yi and Chen Wenjun.

Lin Yi was so busy that he barely had time to rest. After accepting the gifts, he seriously asked Xu Dahai about his plans. "Raising two sons will cost a lot of money. If I hadn't gone to Xujia Village this time, I wouldn't have known that Aying had such a hard time before. To be honest, there aren't many opportunities to make money in your village. Aying can take care of those few acres of land all by herself."

If you ask me, you'd be better off going out to work and taking care of your two kids. You could save four hundred yuan in less than a month, wouldn't that be better than staying in the village?

(End of this chapter)