Chapter 93: I Picked Him Up In The Mountains A Couple Days Ago
When Lin Xin returned to the village after leisurely spending three days in the space, she heard about the bizarre thing He Luan’er had done, nearly dropping her jaw to the ground where she couldn’t pick it up.
“Really?” She looked at the foreman who was swinging a pickaxe to dig the foundation of the surrounding wall with eyes shining brightly and asked.
“Really, He Luan’er’s mother has announced that she will marry her off in the next couple of days, but I heard her mother sold her, and as for where she was sold, it’s temporarily unclear.” Although he was gossiping about others, whether in expression or tone, Mo Ziyuan gave Lin Xin the feeling that he was discussing national affairs.
Even the little imperial grandson bundled in his arms solemnly puffed out his chubby little face while sucking on his hand. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately reached out his chubby little hand toward Lin Xin, babbling “ah ah” in his mouth begging to be held.
When Lin Xin transmigrated, Lin Nan was already three years old and out of the infant category. Previously, the situation was urgent, and she had no time to think of other things. Now looking at this chubby little bundle, she realized she seemed to have never interacted with such a young child before.
“Ah ah~” The little fatty saw that Lin Xin wasn’t picking him up and was dissatisfied, his little mouth nonstop “ah ah ah”-ing in protest.
“Whoa, you’ve got quite a temper! So you knew we were fleeing for our lives before and held it in, huh!” Lin Xin picked him up and held him in her arms, poking his little nose and saying.
The little imperial grandson lay on Lin Xin’s shoulder, satisfied. One little hand tightly hugged her neck, while the other was stuffed back into his mouth.
“It’s good that she was sold, saves her from bothering me all the time later.” After comforting the little imperial grandson, Lin Xin said to Mo Ziyuan. She knew too well what He Luan’er came for, but her targeting the foreman was something she absolutely hadn’t expected. Could it be that she planned to have the foreman claim the dug-up things for himself? Or perhaps to distribute them among these workers?
Lin Xin shook her head, feeling like she couldn’t understand the original female lead’s thought process. No wonder in the original story she was just cannon fodder!
“How have you been these past few days?” Mo Ziyuan looked Lin Xin over and asked.
“Pretty good! Eating well and sleeping soundly.” Lin Xin spun a circle in front of him. After her skirt hem lifted into a round arc and fell back down, Mo Ziyuan suddenly felt his throat a bit dry; he wanted to drink some water.
“Ahem, by the way, we’re planning to move tomorrow. How about you make us a good table of dishes? Consider it a housewarming banquet.” Mo Ziyuan cleared his throat and said.
“No problem! Later I’ll go into the mountain to see if I can catch some big game to add to the meal.” Lin Xin readily agreed.
“No need, we’ll prepare the things ourselves. You just handle the cooking.”
“That works too. No matter what you bring, I’ll make sure it’s delicious for you.”
“We’re definitely confident in your culinary skills.”
“Where’s Nan Nan? Has he been well-behaved these past few days? Any mischief?” She’d been busy in the space for these three days and hadn’t felt anything off, but as soon as she returned to the village, it felt like something was missing, and her heart felt unsettled.
“He’s been staying at Old Cui’s place. I’ve visited twice, and those two get along great. Probably in a bit more time, your status as his older sister in his heart won’t compare to his master.” Mo Ziyuan smiled and replied.
Lin Xin always felt his words were a bit odd, like he was stirring up their sibling relationship, but looking at the serious expression in his dark eyes, she felt she was overthinking it.
“Doesn’t matter, he’ll have to be independent sooner or later.” Lin Xin waved her hand and said, “Besides, it’s not great for a boy like him to always follow a girl like me around. My dad isn’t here anymore, so you’ll have to look after him more in the future.”
“As long as you don’t mind, I can teach him martial arts later.” Mo Ziyuan immediately volunteered to be Lin Nan’s martial master.
“That would be perfect. I’ve been thinking about finding him a martial master in the future!” Lin Xin knew her own situation; her kung fu was honed killing zombies in the apocalypse and wasn’t suitable to teach Lin Nan. Mo Ziyuan came from a military general family, his skills surely systematically learned, and it would be perfect for Lin Nan to learn from him.
Mo Ziyuan was delighted inside. “Then it’s settled.”
Lin Xin nodded, but was also a bit puzzled. Why did he, the prospective master, seem more eager than she, the parent? Recalling how Cui Shi had insisted on taking a disciple back then, Lin Xin felt she got it. Could it be because Lin Nan was truly a prodigy in both civil and martial arts?
If Mo Ziyuan knew what she was thinking, he’d probably spit up three liters of blood. He clearly had his eye on the disciple’s older sister, scheming to get the moon first by being near the water tower, so how did it get twisted like this?
But Lin Xin’s inner thoughts were unknown to him, so both sides felt the other had fulfilled their hopes, and they were very pleased inside.
“Miss Lin, if you have no opinion on the house layout, we’ll start construction.” The foreman set down his pickaxe, wiped his sweat, and walked over to say to Lin Xin.
As soon as she saw him, Lin Xin couldn’t help imagining He Luan’er drilling into his bedding that night. Wanting to laugh but having to hold it in, she hurriedly nodded and said, “I have no opinion. As long as it’s comfortable to live in, it’s fine.”
The foreman nodded and went back to pick up the pickaxe to continue digging.
These past two days he’d been quite depressed. The workers under him hadn’t stopped teasing him, and some even asked if he’d casually talked about selling someone into a brothel because he’d done it before, infuriating him into beating one up, which earned a round of boisterous laughter from everyone.
That afternoon, Lin Xin returned to the town with Mo Ziyuan and the others. Not having seen his older sister for three days, as soon as Lin Nan saw her, he ran over, hugged her neck, and threw a tantrum of coquetry, then took the custard buns she’d made for him to share with Cui Shi and Meng Yichen.
That night, Lin Xin stayed at Cui Shi’s medical hall, and the next day rode Meng Yichen’s horse carriage back to the village.
As soon as she entered the village, she felt something was off. Many villagers started pointing at the horse carriage after they passed, and with her superhuman hearing, Lin Xin heard their discussions clearly. They actually said that as a woman, she mingled with men all day, which was utterly immoral. She should be expelled from the family registry to avoid ruining the reputation of the clan’s young ladies. Some even went further, saying the little imperial grandson was a bastard she’d borne from an affair outside.
Yesterday everyone hadn’t had this attitude toward her, and overnight it became like this. She wouldn’t believe no one was stirring things up.
Actually, she didn’t care about these discussions. Let them talk! She knew what she was doing, and that was enough. She lived for herself, not for others to watch.
But as soon as she got off the horse carriage, she saw Lin Jing waiting at her home.
“Uncle Jing? Why are you here? My home is under construction right now, everything’s messy, really not suitable to host you.” Guessing his purpose, Lin Xin walked over holding the little imperial grandson, her expression normal as she spoke.
“Xin Yatou,” Lin Jing hesitated a bit to speak. He licked his lips hard several times before saying, “Tell Uncle Jing the truth. Whose child is this exactly?”
“Him!” Lin Xin bounced the little bundle in her arms and answered with a cheerful smile, “I picked him up in the mountains a couple days ago. At the time, his family adults were bitten to death by wild beasts and pressed him under their bodies, so he wasn’t harmed along with them.”
