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

With no one stopping him, Lin Zhi sold the land very smoothly. After raising a thousand yuan, he immediately went to find Liu Chunzhi.

Upon seeing the money, Liu Chunzhi beamed with joy and gave Lin Zhi a shy, flirtatious wink. "Since you've already given the betrothal gifts, I agree to marry you. Come to my house to marry me in three days. I'll have my parents prepare for these three days, so let's not see each other for now."

Lin Zhi smiled like a fool and nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, well, we'll live in your old house first after we get married, and I'll build you and the kids a bigger house later."

This time, Liu Chunzhi was unusually agreeable. She not only agreed but also thoughtfully packed him a bag of fruit.

On his way back, Lin Zhi was overjoyed, thinking that Liu Chunzhi was the one who cared about him the most. He felt that Li Lian had ruined his life, but thankfully he had finally met the right person.

After returning to the village, Lin Zhi smiled at everyone he met, saying that he would get married in three days and invited everyone to his house.

The villagers smiled and nodded in agreement on the surface, but behind their backs they made all sorts of nasty rumors.

Upon receiving the news, Lin Qingxiang and his wife, who happened to have nothing else to do, decided to go to Nanyu together to have tea with Lin Yi.

"That day, Li Lian and Lin Zhi had a big fight. Jianqiang beat Lin Zhi so badly that he fell to the ground and forced Lin Zhi to transfer the house to him. The next day, the family went to complete the procedures and got divorced. The house went to Jianqiang and the land went to Lin Zhi."

But then Lin Zhi sold all those fields, and just moments ago he was beaming with pride, announcing that he was getting married in three days and inviting us to his house for the wedding feast!

Huang Yuzhen took a bite of the watermelon, her eyes squinting with happiness. "So sweet! Your watermelons are the best! Why didn't Aqin go to work today?"

Lin Qin handed her another plate of mangoes and pondered, "The TV station isn't busy lately. I take care of everything in the morning, and when I go over in the afternoon, I just make tea. I don't like to move around in this hot weather."

Huang Yuzhen listened with obvious envy, "Your life is so comfortable. By the way, are you going in three days?"

Lin Qin looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi didn't even lift his eyelids. "Only he would think something so shameful is glorious. We're not going."

This answer was exactly what Lin Qingxiang and his wife expected.

They explained everything, and then they didn't care what happened next.

Three days flew by.

Lin Zhi was overjoyed to go to Liu Chunzhi's parents' house to pick her up, but when he arrived, he found the Liu family's gate tightly closed and there was no one in sight.

Lin Zhi's heart sank, and he quickly went to ask the neighbors for information.

"You mean their family? Chunzhi's parents went to the provincial capital a few days ago, apparently to take care of their grandson. These past few days, Chunzhi has been taking care of the child and looking after the house by herself. The day before yesterday, her door was locked. I thought she had taken the child back to her in-laws' house!"

Lin Zhi panicked, "She didn't even go back to Shanglin Village. She promised to marry me and even took my 1,000 yuan dowry!"

The villagers were so shocked that their mouths dropped open. They looked at Lin Zhi as if he were a sucker. "A dowry of a thousand yuan? That's enough to marry a young virgin. What were you thinking? Let me tell you, Liu Chunzhi is not a good person. Before she got married, she had ambiguous relationships with the young men in the village. After she got married, she still flirted with them."

"Of all the people you could marry with a thousand dollars, marry her!"

The villagers shook their heads repeatedly.

Lin Zhi finally realized that he had been scammed!
"My money! My money!" Lin Zhi was so angry that he collapsed to the ground.

The villagers were terrified, crying out, "Help! Help!"

Lin Jianqiang was still at work when Li Lian came looking for him and called him outside. "Your father is dead!"

If you look closely, you can see that her eyes are still red.

Lin Jianqiang was stunned for a moment. "Didn't he marry that widow today? Could it be that he died on the widow's belly?"

Li Lian's face turned pale and then red, and she was on the verge of tears. "Your father sold the land to raise money for the dowry. He gave Liu Chunzhi a whole thousand yuan, and then that woman ran away with the money and the child."

Your father went to pick her up only to find he'd been scammed. There wasn't a soul from the Liu family there. People in the village say Liu Chunzhi already had a lover; that child probably isn't your father's."

Lin Jianqiang laughed angrily, "So he broke ties with us for this woman, and now he's died of anger! Serves him right!"

Seeing Lin Jianqiang's anger, Li Lian secretly wiped away her tears. "The village chief sent me to find you and come back to see what to do. Even though I'm divorced from your father, you're still his son. That thousand yuan can't just disappear like this."

After calming down, Lin Jianqiang asked his supervisor for leave and went back to the village with Li Lian to report the incident to the police, while also making arrangements for Lin Zhi's funeral.

Lin Zhi's death was dishonorable, and Lin Jianqiang, feeling ashamed, hastily set up a mourning hall and held the funeral the next day without even informing Lin Yi and Lin E.

It wasn't until Lin Qingxiang went to Nanyu and told him about it that Lin Yi and Lin Qin found out.

Lin Qingxiang patted Lin Yi on the shoulder, looking wistful. "He was a scoundrel in his life, he didn't understand life. Now that he's gone, you should let go of the past."

Lin Yi sniffed, forcing back his tears. "I've let go of him a long time ago, but I only let go of him as a stranger. It's better that he's dead. It's clean that way, so he won't harm others anymore."

Lin Qingxiang thought so too, "Jianqiang called the police, but it's probably impossible to get that thousand yuan back."

Lin Yi waved his hand, "Liu Chunzhi indirectly caused someone's death and also committed marriage fraud and swindled money. Unless she never comes back, she will be punished by law as soon as she returns!"

Lin Qin did not comment on this matter.

Because Lin Jianqiang didn't notify them, they pretended not to know and didn't take the initiative to return to the village to offer condolences.

In the blink of an eye, autumn has passed and winter has arrived.

The south is still lush and green, while the north is desolate and covered in snow.

Chen Xinyue, wearing the floral-patterned pajamas she had bought, returned to her dormitory carrying a kettle of hot water. She felt her ears were almost numb from the cold, so she quickly climbed back into bed, snuggled into the warm blankets, and peeked at her roommate Tang Jing across the bed. "Winter break starts next week. Have you bought your train tickets home yet?"

Tang Jing pursed her lips and shook her head. "I want to stay in the capital to work and earn money this year. I don't plan to go back."

She came from Gansu Province, which is poor and underdeveloped. Her parents scrimped and saved to support her through university, and she wanted to ease their burden and support herself as much as possible.

Chen Xinyue nodded in understanding, then turned her gaze to Zhou Miaoqing, who was sitting opposite Tang Jing, and asked, "What about you? Are you going back?"

Zhou Miaoqing immediately nodded, "If I dare not go back, my mom will come all the way to the capital and drag me back. Xinyue, let's buy tickets and go back together!"

She and Chen Xinyue are from the same province, but her family lives in the provincial capital, while Chen Xinyue's family lives in a prefecture-level city.

Chen Xinyue readily agreed, without even glancing at her other roommate, Ji Fang.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Ji Fang angrily slammed her chair down, making sure everyone was uncomfortable, but no one took the initiative to respond. (End of Chapter)