Chapter 299 - 297: Showing Up at the Door

Chapter 299: Chapter 297: Showing Up at the Door

"Mom... would I really swear on our family’s bamboo grove so casually? I honestly didn’t hear her call my name! She just yelled ’hey.’ How was I supposed to know she was talking to me?" Lin Qiao said, sidling up to her mother and hugging her arm to get on her good side.

"Don’t let it happen again, even if you were to swear on my life instead," Lin Qiao’s mother said, poking her daughter’s forehead.

"I would never! In my heart, you’re worth a million times more than that bamboo grove," Lin Qiao said, shaking her head vigorously.

"Sweet talk won’t get you out of this. Remember what I said, or I won’t go easy on you next time. It won’t matter how much honey you coat your words with," her mother said, refusing to let it go.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I won’t make casual oaths anymore, all right?" Lin Qiao nodded quickly when she saw her mother was starting to get genuinely angry.

"Hmph. Good, you know what’s best for you. Now hurry up and put your things in your room. Your father will be back any minute, and we need to eat. Otherwise, your grandmother and eldest aunt will show up at our door, and we won’t get to eat in peace." There was a hint of a smile in her mother’s eyes. Despite her words, she wasn’t truly blaming her daughter, and she certainly didn’t look the least bit afraid.

"Let them come! You think I’m afraid of them? Hmph. Mom, just leave it to me," Lin Qiao said, rolling up her sleeves, full of fighting spirit.

"Get on with you. What kind of way is that for a young lady to act?" Her mother’s expression turned serious. She gave Lin Qiao a light smack and warned, "I will be the one to deal with them later. You are forbidden from jumping in and making a scene. Do you understand? When a junior argues with an elder, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose—you’ve already put yourself at a disadvantage. You’re still young. And while you shouldn’t obsess over your reputation, you can’t take it lightly, either. Especially for a girl. You’re my precious daughter, raised with all the love in the world. Why should I let them find some excuse to drag your name through the mud?"

"And you say *my* words are coated in honey? Hehehe, I don’t think so. It’s obviously genetic." Lin Qiao hugged her mother’s arm, resting her head on her shoulder, reluctant to let go. "I have the best mom in the entire world."

"Oh, get out of here. All you do all day is try to sweet-talk me. What is it? You want new clothes for the New Year?" Her mother’s eyes were crinkled in a smile, though she tried to sound stern. "I’ll give you some money tonight. Take your two little sisters with you tomorrow and buy something festive. This time, get a new outfit for your little brother and your father, too."

"And you too! If the whole family is getting new clothes, how could we possibly leave you out?" Lin Qiao said, shaking her mother’s arm with a wide grin. Ever since that time she saw Gu Nuan Nuan’s second uncle and his coworkers laughing and having a great time together, she had started to love smiling, too. The more she smiled, the more she found that she could handle any situation just by keeping a cheerful expression. Even in an awkward moment, a simple smile could easily defuse the tension.

Moreover, since she started smiling more, she suddenly found that she was getting along better with people at school. Back then, she was still the poor girl who had to lug her bedding home every week, yet it seemed that the way people looked at her had changed.

Nuannuan had also told her that she looked especially pretty when she smiled. She’d said that a smile is the shortest distance between two people, and that a girl who loves to smile will always have good luck.

’But funnily enough, Nuannuan herself doesn’t like to smile... No, that’s not right. Nuannuan just doesn’t like to smile at people she doesn’t know very well.’

"All right, buy me one too. Just pick something out; it doesn’t need to be too fancy. I spend all day either looking after your little brother or managing the chickens and ducks in the grove, so there’s no point in wearing nice clothes. You, on the other hand, should get something a little better for yourself. You’re a big girl now, and appearances matter for girls at school. Besides, if you buy something more expensive, the quality will be better, and your two little sisters can wear it when you outgrow it. It won’t be a waste," her mother instructed.

"Okay, okay! Mom, stop fussing. Since you’re letting me do the shopping, just relax and wait for your new clothes. Don’t you worry about a thing." Before her mother could retort, Lin Qiao zipped away. ’Hmph, I’m not going to listen to her and buy her something cheap. I’ll buy what we can afford, and everyone will get something of similar quality. When our family has more money, we’ll all get better things together. I’m sure that day isn’t too far away.’

Watching Lin Qiao run off, her mother couldn’t help but shake her head, the smile on her face growing wider. "That girl..."

Just as Lin Qiao’s mother had predicted, the family had barely finished dinner and the table wasn’t even cleared when Lin Qiao’s grandmother and eldest aunt showed up with a weeping Lin Yan in tow.

The moment she stepped through the door, Lin Qiao’s eldest aunt planted her hands on her hips and started yelling directly at Lin Qiao. "You ill-bred little..."

"Who do you think you’re talking to?" Lin Qiao’s mother slammed her hand on the table, pointing at the eldest aunt. "Make yourself clear. Who are you calling ill-bred? You call yourself well-mannered, barging into someone else’s house and screaming at their child? Lin Fu and I are still alive and kicking! If you don’t give me a clear explanation today, then don’t blame me for forgetting all courtesy and throwing you out. We don’t welcome your kind in this house."

"Lin Fu, aren’t you going to control your wife? They say the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother! Are you just going to stand there and watch her be treated this way? Don’t you realize that in doing this, she’s disrespecting me too?" Before the eldest aunt could even speak, Lin Qiao’s grandmother jumped in and started clamoring.

An expression of conflicted anger immediately appeared on Lin Fu’s face. Lin Qiao’s mother looked indignant but was momentarily at a loss for words. In stark contrast, the eldest aunt now wore a triumphant, smug expression.

Lin Qiao glanced at the adults and sneered inwardly at her grandmother, who couldn’t read a single word but was casually throwing around phrases like "the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother." ’This is rich,’ she thought. ’No one would believe that someone hadn’t specifically coached Grandma on what to say against our family.’

She scoffed internally, but she put on a hesitant, troubled expression as she looked at her grandmother. "Grandma, who told you that saying, ’the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother’? You can’t just use that phrase randomly. It’s generally only used when the parents of a family have passed away, and the eldest brother and his wife have had to work tirelessly in their place, raising all the younger siblings and seeing them through everything from infancy."

"What?" Her grandmother’s face instantly darkened. She immediately turned on Lin Yan. "No wonder that phrase sounded so strange to me! Yan Zi, why didn’t you mention that part when you told me to say it?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Lin Yan’s face, but she quickly composed herself. Forcing down her guilt, she shook her head. "That’s impossible! Grandma, don’t listen to her lies. She’s always spouting nonsense." But Lin Qiao’s grandmother was no fool. She could clearly see something was off with her eldest granddaughter. Her expression grew grim, and she shot Lin Yan a vicious glare.