Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 163: The Trouble Began with Her

Your son has been imprisoned and sentenced to death; if you can’t even save your own son, how do you have the energy to worry about other people’s children getting married?

"Your second son isn’t married yet either; aren’t you worried?"

Yu Fang was eavesdropping on the main hall door, and happened to hear Aunt Lin speaking: "She’s just a girl; if she doesn’t get married, so be it. She can stay home all her life and take care of me and her father in the future."

"Zhao Xiumei, aren’t you being a bit too selfish?"

Aunt Lin didn’t reply, only rolling her eyes incessantly.

"If you really can’t come up with the money, go ask Lin Xiang. If it weren’t for Lin Xiang, my son wouldn’t have acted foolishly. Ultimately, it’s all Lin Xiang’s fault; she’s the one who should bear the responsibility!"

The villagers looked at each other in dismay.

"No, what does this have to do with the girl?"

Aunt Lin replied angrily: "When she was building her house, I told her to lend it to Yuanyuan. After Yuanyuan got married, she could have it back, but she refused."

"The reason why my Yuanyuan’s partner didn’t want to get married is that they disliked that we didn’t have a house. If it weren’t for Lin Xiang being unwilling to give the house to Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan and his partner wouldn’t have fallen out. If they hadn’t fallen out, Yuanyuan wouldn’t have held a grudge against Huang Jiayun and acted violently towards her. Ultimately, it’s all Lin Xiang’s fault!"

The villagers were both infuriated and amused by Aunt Lin.

They’ve heard of people arguing unreasonably, but it was their first time seeing someone so righteously unreasonable without any justification.

Everyone in the village knows that Lin Xiang doesn’t associate with the Zhao family anymore.

And with Aunt Lin’s family, she’s gone to the point where they don’t even greet each other.

She dares to ask people for their house?

What nerve!

The villagers aren’t the type to believe rumors blindly; they ignore it completely, continually pushing Aunt Lin to come up with the money.

But Aunt Lin seemed as unfazed as a dead pig that doesn’t fear boiling water; she had no money to give!

A few people, finding no solution, convened for a quiet discussion.

"How about asking the girl to cough up some money?"

"But this affair has nothing to do with the girl, why should we make her pay?"

"Wasn’t she the one who reported to the police station? If she hadn’t reported Yu Yuan, Yu Yuan wouldn’t have been arrested. She ought to take some responsibility."

Lin Family.

Lin Xiang had just hung the freshly washed bedding on the line and was planning to rest for a bit, when she saw a group of people crowding in.

"Girl, busy are you?"

"Isn’t it close to the New Year? I’m washing everything that needs washing. My mom went to the market with Fifth Aunt and hasn’t returned yet. You might want to come back later to see her."

Mrs. Lin had come back from the team office and went straight to the market with Fifth Aunt.

In her words, she’d sold spicy snacks at every market, but hadn’t ever bought anything there.

Lin Xiang, not wanting to go, stayed home to rest.

Her way of resting was by keeping busy with washing and cleaning.

Since there was no entertainment equipment in the seventies, sitting in the courtyard sunbathing felt too idle; doing light chores on the other hand helped pass the time, so she washed sheets and such.

"We’re not here to see your mom; we’re here for you."

"For me?" Lin Xiang smoothed out the sheets, "What’s the matter?"

The village sent a spokesperson to tell Lin Xiang everything that happened at Aunt Lin’s house earlier, and concluded by saying: "No matter what, you are at fault in this matter. Besides, Yu Yuan is your cousin; you don’t want your aunt’s family pushed to the brink, do you? How about you cover the money?"

Lin Xiang incredulously dug at her ear, "Sorry, I think I just had an auditory hallucination and didn’t hear what you said. Could you repeat that?"

The villagers had no choice but to repeat what they had said, emphasizing Lin Xiang’s "mistake."

"So, Yu Yuan’s murder is excusable, and providing clues to the police makes me the worst?"

"That’s... that’s not what I meant. But your aunt really can’t come up with the money, can you help?"

"First of all, I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong. Secondly, her lack of funds is her problem; she can deal with the Huang Family herself. Lastly, I don’t have any money."

"All my family’s money went into building the house; right now, even counting everything up, I can’t gather ten dollars, let alone five hundred. I’m sorry, I’m really unable to help."

With that, Lin Xiang began ushering people out.

She feared if they talked any longer, she wouldn’t be able to resist hitting someone.

She thought refusing would solve everything, but unexpectedly, in the afternoon, the team leader brought several team officials to the Lin Family.

"Girl, your house looks really nice."

"New houses always look good."

"Your family’s life seems to be improving too."

"As long as the entire family works together, life will definitely get better and better."

After serving tea to the people, Lin Xiang got straight to the point: "Team Leader, what’s the reason for your visit today?"

Lin Xiang suspected it was related to the five hundred dollars, but since the team leader didn’t mention it, she couldn’t bring it up herself.

As expected, after Lin Xiang asked, the team leader and the other officials exchanged glances, hesitating before speaking up: "Girl, the issue the Huang Family caused in the village today, you witnessed it firsthand. It was your idea for me to respond the way I did."

Lin Xiang raised an eyebrow, "So, Team Leader Uncle, are you blaming me?"

"How could I? You just offered a suggestion and solved the problem; how could I blame you? But there’s a current predicament. The Huang Family demands the five hundred dollars before they leave, and the team department can’t produce that sum of money, nor can your aunt. So I was wondering if you could come up with a solution?"

Not blaming Lin Xiang, nor borrowing money, just hoping she can think of a solution.

"The Huang Family wanting justice for Smartie Huang isn’t wrong, but the one who made the mistake will face legal consequences. They have no standing to demand compensation from us, and certainly not as much as five hundred dollars. Our Li Hua Team, out of humanitarian concern, can offer a sum to help, which can also improve our reputation, but it can’t be that much."

"However, since we’ve already made the promise, if we go back on it, and they cause another scene, won’t it result in the same situation as before?"

Perhaps even worse than before.

The team leader felt that Lin Xiang had given a lousy idea.

"Before I left, I said you should report this to the commune; did you go to the commune?"

The team leader shook his head, "We can’t make the situation of having a murderer in our team known to everyone, can we?"

In case they run into people from other teams at the commune, and the news gets out, the Li Hua Team’s situation would be even more dire.

Lin Xiang felt deeply frustrated, "If you don’t seek help from the commune, you’ll just have to swallow this silent suffering yourselves."