Chapter 19: The Family Troublemaker

Chapter 19: The Family Troublemaker

Lin Dongzhi had been closely observing her parents' expressions. After she finished speaking, she indeed noticed that her parents were visibly less tense.

Avoiding direct confrontation didn't mean she wouldn't be sneaky.

While the third branch was tense, the fourth branch was quite lively.

Lin Laosi heard that Lin Xixi and Lin Nan had picked up quite a bit of rice ears today and handed them all in without keeping any for themselves. His eyes clearly showed he thought they were foolish, not having picked up any of his good traits.

Lin Nan shrugged and glanced at his younger sister, as if to say, "See, I told you so, silly girl."

Lin Xixi rolled her eyes at her second brother in exasperation. Her attention wasn't on this; instead, she was preoccupied with how her cousin from the third branch had caused a scene earlier, demanding to split the family. She noticed the first and second branches had their own agendas, while her carefree parents seemed oblivious, just eating, drinking, and laughing as usual, not taking anything to heart.

Her second cousin's demand to split the family was clearly aimed at their fourth branch. Why didn't they feel any sense of urgency?

Thinking this, she couldn't help but voice her concerns.

To her surprise, her father laughed and said, "Don't worry, you haven't seen how tough your grandmother is. She can handle it. Whether the family splits or not, your grandmother loves me the most and won't let me suffer."

Lin Xixi thought to herself that this time it wasn't so simple. Her second cousin had lived two lifetimes and wasn't someone to be messed with. This family would inevitably split, and there would be plenty of drama ahead!

After a long day of running around, everyone was exhausted. After washing up, the family lay on the kang, chatting idly. Their voices gradually faded until light snores could be heard.

Just as Lin Xixi had anticipated.

The next day, Old Lady Lin didn't stay in bed. The autumn harvest was in full swing, and an extra day in bed could delay a lot of work. Though the old lady was unreasonable, she had a strong sense of the bigger picture. She wouldn't let a grudge with a child interfere with important matters.

Lin Dongzhi didn't act the same as she had the day before, but her expression was cold and distant when she looked at anyone. Her gaze was mature, lacking the youthful energy of a child, especially when she looked at the fourth branch. Her expression was the most varied, with a hint of disdain and a faint air of superiority.

But the fourth branch paid her no mind.

The tasks for the day were still assigned by the old lady. Lin Dongzhi had only had the privilege of resting for one day yesterday. Once she was well, that privilege was gone. During the autumn harvest, everyone, young and old, had to pitch in.

This time, Lin Dongzhi accepted all the tasks the old lady assigned her, as if she hadn't caused a scene the day before.

Lin Dongzhi was still feeding the chickens, washing dishes after meals, gathering firewood, or cutting grass for the pigs.

Seeing that she was obedient today, the old lady felt much better, the pent-up anger in her heart subsiding.

But then, a sharp sound came from the kitchen—the sound of a porcelain bowl hitting the ground. The old lady's face immediately darkened.

Then another sound followed.

No wonder the little brat had been so obedient. She had been waiting for this!

What a wasteful child! How could she be so careless? Money was hard to come by, and these bowls were bought with money. Each person in the family had one, with no extras.

Was she unhappy with the tasks assigned to her? Old Lady Lin took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She could hold her temper. The bowls were already broken, and she didn't yell at her. She didn't believe this wasteful child would smash all the bowls in the kitchen!

Lin Dongzhi was making a racket in the kitchen. She had deliberately mishandled the bowls. This had been her plan since yesterday. Whatever tasks her grandmother assigned her, she would pretend to comply but do a poor job. This time, she had broken two bowls. She didn't believe her grandmother would dare to make her wash dishes again.

She had expected her grandmother to come over and scold her loudly, but there was no reaction. Unlike in the future, where buying things was convenient, if the family ran out of bowls, they would have to go to the cooperative to buy more.

Lin Dongzhi had "accidentally" broken two bowls. She knew her grandmother was very protective of the family's belongings. She remembered when her mother had accidentally broken a bowl when she was a child, her grandmother had scolded her mother for three days. This time, she had broken two bowls. Why was her grandmother pretending not to hear?

She had planned that if her grandmother scolded her, she would seize the opportunity to make a scene, letting outsiders see how harsh her grandmother was to her. This would lay the groundwork for the future, so that after the family split and they lived a better life, her grandmother wouldn't come over and act like the elder, causing discomfort.

Who would have thought her grandmother wouldn’t stick to the plan, only daring to break these two bowls and not daring to "accidentally" break any more after that. Two could pass as accidents, but more would make her seem unreasonable, and her grandmother might just go around ruining her reputation.

Grandma Lin was all ears, finally not hearing any clattering sounds, and breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that this spendthrift was a real fool.

Never thought that at her age, with all her daughters-in-law being so obedient, no one dared to provoke her, and yet, in her old age, a troublemaker popped up.

Her poor two bowls.

Grandma won the first round, but it stung a bit.

At noon, Lin Xixi and Lin Nan came home for lunch, but Grandma left out Lin Lidong and Lin Dongzhi.

"Today you broke two bowls, so they're on you two. You broke them, so you can't let others go hungry, right? Take responsibility; you two can skip the wild vegetable soup at noon. We've got just enough bowls, no spares."

Today, Grandma Lin splurged, tossing in an egg to make egg drop soup.

Who gives a hoot about wild vegetable soup? Lin Dongzhi felt aggrieved, "Then hand over the cornbread."

She could go without eating, but her sister had to eat!

Looks like she's gotta make some cash, then she can eat boiled eggs, steamed eggs, poached eggs—just wild vegetable egg drop soup, who cares.

Only with cash in hand can she stand up to Grandma.

Grandma Lin didn’t push back, since starving would just make work harder.

The sisters could wait their turn, eating after everyone else had finished and the dishes were done, but Lin Dongzhi wasn’t having it; she had her pride.

After lunch, Grandma Lin still stuck Lin Dongzhi with the dishes.

She likely wouldn’t dare break any more.

If she did, it'd be on the third son and his wife.

She'd be in the right; who wouldn’t give such a spendthrift a good whacking?

Sure enough, Lin Dongzhi toed the line this time, not daring to stir up any more trouble.

Lin Xixi was blown away; no wonder her dad wasn’t sweating her cousin's antics—Grandma really had some tricks up her sleeve.

Lin Dagu pedaled her bike back to her parents' place at noon, the handlebars loaded with goodies, turning heads left and right.

It was noon, and many members were squatting at the edge of the field in front of the village, eating.

Some eagle-eyed folks spotted a bike on the path and hollered for others to take a look.

In this era, the appearance of a bicycle was no less impactful than a luxury car in later times.

For a while, everyone stood up with their bowls, chatting about whose family in the village the bicycle was going to, and whose relatives had a bicycle, cherishing it more than their own children, speaking loudly, as familiar as if they had ridden a bicycle themselves.

Grandma Lin's gloom lifted the moment her eldest and youngest daughters showed up.

Lin Xixi was surprised to find that her grandmother could smile so much, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes clustered together, and she could even see the gaps where two of her grandmother's molars had fallen out.