The three of them returned to Shanglin Village at nearly three in the morning. The industrious elderly villagers were already up in the dark starting their fires, and the sounds could be heard coming from several courtyards.
Lin Yi deftly fished the key out of the courtyard's kitchen, opened the front door, and let Lin Qin and the child go inside.
The house Lin Yi lived in consisted of just a single room, partitioned with wooden boards. Up front, there was a dining table and a few low stools, leaving almost no space left over. Behind the wooden board was a bed, and that was where Lin Yi slept.
Under the bed were piled sacks of chemical fertilizer of all sizes, filled either with clothes or with old things that were no longer useful, yet which Lin Yi treasured as if they were priceless.
Small though it was, the house was neat and clean.
There was also a small back door on the side. Opening it revealed an extremely tiny patio. Opposite the back door was a shed—the place where she and her eldest sister, Lin Ying, used to live.
Lin Qin took Liu Yaya and opened the door to the shed, retrieved a candle, and lit it first.
Originally, the shed only had one wall, and even that belonged to their neighbor. Because the two girls in their family truly had no room to live, Lin Yi had spoken with that family, borrowed their courtyard wall, and gathered some broken bricks himself to build walls on both sides. This formed an open-air, courtyard-like enclosure, in the shape of the character for mouth. Then he built another wall in the middle, creating a structure like the character for sun, roofing over half of it to make a shed. In this way, a room fit for living was created.
If this were up in the North, people would freeze to death in the winter, but here in the South, the winters brought at most a bit of frost and never dropped below freezing. Living in a place like this was still quite alright, and now the weather was warming up too, so she and the child would be able to tide things over here for several months.
"Yaya, from now on you'll live here with Mommy, alright?" Lin Qin sat down on a small stool, pulling Liu Yaya into her arms as she asked.
Originally she had wanted to clean the place up, but she found that the inside was quite clean—presumably Lin Yi swept often, leaving no need for her to dirty her hands.
Liu Yaya nodded heavily, looked up at Lin Qin's gauze-wrapped head, and touched it carefully with her small hand. "Mommy, does your head still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. Mommy doesn't hurt!" Compared to what she had suffered in her past life, she didn't even take this minor injury seriously.
With a palpable sense of relief, Liu Yaya broke into a sweet smile. "Mommy, then let's rest quickly! Grandpa said you need to sleep more, and Yaya won't bother you!"
A pang struck Lin Qin's nose, and tears spilled out uncontrollably. Yielding to the child's wishes, she climbed onto the bed and asked in a soft voice, "Yaya, if Daddy and Mommy get a divorce, will you come with Mommy?"
This was a question she had wanted to ask all through her past life, but unfortunately never had the chance.
Liu Yaya looked at Lin Qin with innocent eyes. "What is a divorce?"
At a loss for words for a moment, Lin Qin explained after a short pause, "A divorce means that Daddy and Mommy separate and won't be together anymore in the future, and Mommy won't keep staying at Grandma's house either. If that happens, do you want to come with Mommy, or live with Daddy and Grandma and the others?"
"Then I want to go with Mommy. Wherever Mommy goes, I'll go!" Liu Yaya tightly grabbed Lin Qin's clothes and whimpered softly, "Mommy, please don't leave me behind, okay?"
"Okay!" Lin Qin pulled Liu Yaya back into her arms in a tight embrace, silently vowing that in this life, no matter what, she would never abandon her daughter again!
Mother and daughter fell asleep together in each other's arms.
Early the next morning.
Lin Qin was awakened by the sound of talking outside the door.
Liu Yaya was still sleeping, and not daring to disturb her, she carefully got out of bed and went to the front yard.
Lin Qingxiang, hoe on his shoulder and ready to head out to the fields, caught sight of Lin Qin with her head wrapped in gauze, and his expression turned utterly exaggerated. "What on earth is this? Who did this? It couldn't be that vicious mother-in-law of yours from your husband's family!"
Yesterday, the Liu Family sending people into the village to look for Lin Yi had caused quite a commotion. As soon as they entered the village, they claimed Lin Qin had committed adultery, and the whole village was spreading the news.
Seeing that the newcomer was the warm-hearted uncle who was one of the few in the village on good terms with Lin Yi, Lin Qin immediately addressed him obediently.
"Uncle, my injury was caused by the Liu Family plotting against me and beating me up. I already reported it to the police yesterday, and the police have handled it."
Lin Qingxiang was startled. "Reported it to the police? What's going on here?"
Lin Qingxiang had a booming voice, and the aunts, older women, and grandmothers living next door all showed their faces. They were eager to hear Lin Qin's gossip too; if she really had committed adultery, it would be a disgrace to Shanglin Village, the kind of thing that in feudal times would get you drowned in a pond.
This was precisely the effect Lin Qin wanted. She immediately put on a pitiful look, her eyes reddened as she indignantly accused the Liu Family of all sorts of wicked deeds.
"I know it—they just look down on me for having no education and for giving birth to a girl instead of a boy, so they wanted to get rid of me before Liu Yongming graduates and gets assigned a job, just to clear the space for someone new!
That blow they struck with the stick was truly meant to kill; there was blood on my head. Not only did they knock me out, but they also knocked out an innocent Tanka people person along with me. You tell me, could I not call the police?
If I really let them get away with it, my reputation would be completely ruined! Such conscience-forsaken trash will get their retribution sooner or later!"
Hearing this, Lin Qingxiang flew into a rage. He rushed into the kitchen and dragged Lin Yi out, who still had a pair of fire tongs in his hand.
Furious, Lin Qingxiang cursed loudly, "Your daughter has been bullied to this extent, and you're still cooking? Let's go! I'm going with you to the Liu Family to demand justice!"
Unable to help whether to laugh or cry, Lin Yi struggled hard. "No need, no need. This girl of mine is fierce; last night she raised a huge fuss at the Liu Family, startling the police officers, the neighborhood committee director, and the neighbors all at once.
The Liu Family had to pay a hefty sum in compensation this time, and I reckon that mother-in-law of hers is so heartbroken she can't even eat."
The grandmothers and aunts who had come to listen to the gossip had initially doubted whether Lin Qin was truly innocent, but upon hearing that even the police officers and the neighborhood committee director had been alarmed, they could see how huge the matter had blown up. Now that Lin Qin was standing here safe and sound, it was obvious the problem really lay with the Liu Family.
One grandmother stared at Lin Qin's head, clicking her tongue in distress. "An injury to the head is nothing to trifle with. Has it all been treated properly?"
Lin Qin nodded obediently. "I went to the health clinic last night to find a doctor to apply medicine. I plan to recover from my injuries here at my dad's place and talk about the rest after I heal."
The grandmother went into her house, fished out two eggs, and shoved them into Lin Qin's arms. "Have your dad stew some eggs for you to nourish your body. Look at you, just a few years married and you've been worn down to what by your husband's family! You didn't have it this miserable back at your parents' home!"
Only then did the other women notice that the clothes Lin Qin was wearing were all old and mended many times, and her shoes also had several holes in them.
Before getting married, she probably weighed over ninety pounds, but after giving birth to a child, not only had she not gained weight, she had thinned down to a skeleton, looking like she didn't even weigh ninety pounds.
Her miserable appearance further verified the fact that Lin Qin was being abused by her husband's family.
In an instant, everyone began denouncing the Liu Family, cursing Ma Cuihua for acting inhuman, cursing Liu Yongguo and his wife for being scum, and even Liu Li's reputation took a hit as well.
Lin Qin looked down at the two eggs in her arms, the corners of her mouth curving upward slightly.
This time she had seized the initiative, getting her facts out before Li Lian could spin stories about her. She believed that these gossipy villagers, who fancied themselves upholders of justice, would certainly spread her tragic experiences everywhere.
She didn't expect gossip and rumors to actually impact the Liu Family, but she could build an image of the vulnerable party, paving the way for the divorce to come.