Chapter 33 A Madwoman Is Not Worthy of My Son

"What do you mean, Liu Yongming's mistress? How can you say such unpleasant things! Let me tell you, I have a marriage certificate with Liu Yongming. We are a legal couple!" "Fang Ying" stepped out, haughtily thrusting her pregnant belly forward, her eyes filled with disdain and criticism as she looked at the neighborhood committee director.

The director was absolutely livid. "So, Liu Yongming really is messing around behind Lin Qin's back?"

He had previously always viewed Lin Qin as an uneducated and unreasonable woman who never considered her husband's future, and he had held many prejudices against her. Only today did he realize how incredibly wrong he had been!

Ma Cuihua was displeased. "What 'messing around'? That Lin Qin is a lunatic; what normal man would dare marry her? My Yongming had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to be deceived by the Lin family into marrying such a psycho! If it weren't for the sake of the child, my Yongming would have stopped living with her long ago! We've already done our moral duty by taking her in for so many years. Only a top student like 'Fang Ying' is worthy of my Yongming!"

Mentioning "Fang Ying" clearly made Ma Cuihua proud; she wished everyone knew she had such an exceptional daughter-in-law.

The director’s face turned from pale to green, so angry he couldn't speak. He pointed at the gathering of the Liu family, turned around, and strode away.

Ma Cuihua stomped her feet in a fury. "That stinking old woman dares to gossip about our family? I won't let her get away with this. Just wait and see!"

Xu Manzhi cared most about her reputation. Recalling how she had been pointed at whenever she went out lately, anger flared in her heart as well. "Mom, how do they even know about our family's business? What does our family have to do with them? Why do they keep pestering us?"

"Who do you expect me to ask?" Ma Cuihua snapped back. She turned her head and noticed Liu Li was missing. "Where is A-Li? Where has she gone off to die now? She has the senior high school entrance exam coming up and doesn't even know how to focus!"

Ever since Lin Qin caused a scene at Liu Li's school, Liu Li had become an outcast whom everyone wanted to beat. At first, she kept trying to convince herself to ignore those strange looks and continue attending school, but within two days, she discovered people spitting on her desk, pouring filth on it, and scribbling nasty things all over her textbooks.

Even if that weren't enough, her submitted assignments would mysteriously disappear. When her teachers called her in, she tried to defend herself, but they didn't believe her, suspecting she was just using tricks.

After a while, she couldn't take it anymore. She started skipping classes every few days, or claiming to go to school while actually hiding somewhere else. Only when the teachers came to the house did Ma Cuihua learn that Liu Li hadn't been to school for days.

Ma Cuihua had scolded her incessantly over this, but the girl just gave up on herself and threw a tantrum, refusing to go to school altogether, which infuriated Ma Cuihua. Recently, she’d even heard rumors that Liu Li was hanging out with local hoodlums, so she simply locked Liu Li in the house to keep her from going out.

It was fortunate that they had "Fang Ying," a college student, at home; having her tutor Liu Li was perfect.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the wretched girl was gone again.

"Fang Ying" wore an indifferent expression. "Mom, A-Li is in her rebellious phase. The more you scold her, the more she resists; it doesn't do any good. I just told her to go back to her room and write an essay. I don't know if she's still in there."

Ma Cuihua immediately rushed into Liu Li's room, but there wasn't a soul to be found, not even a shadow, which made her start screaming and yelling all over again.

After the commotion caused by Li San's wife, the relationship between "Fang Ying" and Liu Yongming was officially recognized. Everyone knew "Fang Ying" was Liu Yongming's new wife and that they had registered their marriage. People in this day and age were still quite simple; regardless of how scandalous the past was, they accepted the fact that "Fang Ying" was Liu Yongming's wife as long as there was a certificate.

"Fang Ying" also began to walk the streets openly. She had surprisingly strong nerves when faced with people pointing and whispering; she smiled at everyone she met, making it difficult for people to say anything to her. Instead, they began comparing her to Lin Qin.

In this comparison, Lin Qin was instantly overshadowed. Everyone said Liu Yongming had struck gold—first marrying the hardworking and self-sacrificing Lin Qin and draining her dry, and then turning around to land a beautiful, highly educated wife. It was rumored she was carrying a son—or at least that was what Ma Cuihua claimed—it was simply sheer dumb luck.

Lin Qin, having returned to the fishing boat with her children, had no idea that her trip to the neighborhood had caused such a massive stir.

Chen Wenjun looked at the three of them, their hairstyles completely changed, and beamed with a simple, honest smile. "What made you decide to cut your hair?"

In her previous life, Lin Qin never bothered with her hair until the day she died. She would just cut it short when it grew long and toss it into the water, silent and unnoticed; sometimes he didn't even realize she had done it.

This was the first time he had seen Lin Qin with short hair.

Lin Qin turned around happily, showing off. "Does it look good?"

"It looks good! Especially good; it makes you look so spirited!" Chen Wenjun continued to grin foolishly.

Lin Yi couldn't help but shake his head. "How much did this cost!"

"Dad! It wasn't expensive! It only costs sixty cents for a child's haircut and over a yuan for an adult's, but Yaya and I have long hair, so we could sell it. It only cost one yuan and thirty cents for the three of us to get haircuts. I also took them to have new summer clothes made, two sets each, which was twenty-four yuan. I bought a jar of maltose and some savory rice cakes for two yuan. Everything is right here."

Lin Qin brought out the items she had bought and told the children to go wash their hands first.

Lin Yi, feeling the pinch, couldn't help but nag: "I really shouldn't let you handle the money. You went out once and spent half a month's wages! You're something else! Don't you feel bad for Wenjun?"

Chen Wenjun quickly spoke up, "Dad! I earn money precisely so they can live comfortably. Besides, everything A-Qin bought was necessary; it’s not wasteful spending!"

Lin Yi shook his head. "You just spoil her!"

Chen Wenjun grinned. "Dad, I'll go to the Land Bureau tomorrow to ask about the price of the deserted island so we have a rough idea."

He knew that the main reason Lin Yi was reluctant to spend money was because of this plan to buy land and build a house.

Lin Yi nodded repeatedly. "You should ask. I have a feeling that deserted island won't be cheap!"

In truth, he felt that Chen Wenjun didn't really need to buy a deserted island, but other villages wouldn't allow outsiders to buy land, and even if they did, it would be hard to settle down, not to mention the prejudice everyone held against the boat people.

If they really tried to settle in another village, the family wouldn't be able to integrate and might even be bullied.

Looking at it from every angle, there was no better choice than the deserted island.

The family gathered together to share the savory rice cakes. Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin went to the back cabin to settle the accounts.

"How much have we saved this month in total?"

Lin Qin closed the window, took out the key to open the box, and brought out the stacks of money. "It's all here. Let's count it together."

The two of them sat together and poured out the ten-yuan, five-yuan, two-yuan, one-yuan, fifty-cent, ten-cent notes, and various coins, sorting them by denomination.

Lin Qin immediately grabbed the ten-yuan bills.

Seeing her greedy look, Chen Wenjun simply smiled and helped her pick out the ten-yuan bills first, then began organizing the coins.