As they drew closer, Lin Moyang was stunned to see Liu Huiru brandishing a wood-chopping machete, standing in a standoff with Lin Changming and Shen Youwei.
Shen Youwei’s fragile figure looked like a lamb facing two wolves, yet her face held an expression of stubborn refusal to yield.
"You cheap wretch! We haven't even registered your marriage, and already you have no respect for me, your mother-in-law? I come to take some firewood for the stove and you try to stop me? You're a vicious woman with a heart like rotten meat!" Liu Huiru’s shrill, abusive screams grew clearer.
Shen Youwei was red-faced and anxious. Unable to best Liu Huiru in an argument, she could only stand there, twisting the hem of her shirt, at a loss.
Seeing her easy-to-bully demeanor, Lin Changming adopted a patronizing, sermonizing tone: "Don't say you aren't married to Second-younger Lin yet—even if you were, you’d still owe respect to your parents-in-law. When my mother says she wants wood, you fetch it and have the fire ready for her!"
Facing the aggressive, overbearing duo of Liu Huiru and Lin Changming, Shen Youwei felt her heart in chaos. "You… you don't…"
"Oh? And what is it you're trying to say? Look at you, all worked up. Want me to help you out?" Although Shen Youwei stuttered, she was undeniably a sight to behold. A wicked thought suddenly crossed Lin Changming’s mind. He took two steps toward her, intending to reach out and touch her face.
At that critical moment, Lin Changming’s hand was suddenly seized by a pair of hands and wrenched aside.
Immediately following was Lin Moyang’s imposing retort: "I’ll speak for my wife."
He fixed a cold, steady gaze on Liu Huiru and Lin Changming, saying each word with icy precision: "Don't push your luck!"
Seeing Lin Moyang appear to dominantly resolve the situation, a surge of joy filled Shen Youwei. She had expected him to blame her for failing to stay united with the family. She never imagined he would stand by her side instead. That powerful, protective declaration made her heart glow with warmth.
This sudden turn of events left both mother and son stunned. But it was only for a moment; Lin Changming straightened his body and glared viciously at Lin Moyang. "You son of a—you dare push—"
*Smack!*
Before he could finish, Lin Moyang delivered a sharp slap to his face. "Keep your mouth clean. Do you really think I’m still the submissive Second-younger Lin from your house?"
Lin Changming was dazed by the blow, his eyes wide with disbelief. In his mind, Lin Moyang was someone who wouldn't dare turn west if told to turn east. What had happened today? Had he lost his mind?
Liu Huiru was equally caught off guard. Seeing her own son struck, she immediately began to wail and throw a tantrum. "A natural-born unfilial wretch, this Lin Moyang! Barely separated from the family and he disowns his parents, even hitting his own brother! He’s utterly heartless…"
"Enough!" Lin Moyang didn't indulge her, letting out a roar. "The contract states it clearly: I have nothing more to do with the Old Lin Family. Are you people brain-damaged?"
Stunned by his shout, Liu Huiru instinctively fell silent.
Beside her, hearing Lin Moyang insult them, Lin Changming was overcome with indignant rage. He pointed a finger at him: "You don't get to—"
"If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost. If you want to fight or argue, bring it on—I’ll handle whatever you throw at me!" Lin Moyang interrupted him impatiently.
Watching the formidable, high-spirited Lin Moyang, Shen Youwei felt no fear; instead, she felt a profound sense of security.
"Damn you, you’ve really gone off the rails, haven't you? We’re taking this firewood today!" Lin Changming, still a young man, had lost his temper.
Seeing Lin Changming’s resolve, Liu Huiru grew bold again. "That's right! Don't throw that contract at me; it’s just a piece of waste paper. We’ve always taken wood from here, and today is no exception!"
With that, Liu Huiru gripped her machete and stormed toward the window frame of the old house.
*Thump!*
With a dull thud, her machete hacked into the rotted wooden frame. Years of gray dust and wood-boring insects showered down, and a scent of decay filled the air.
"You treat this rotted wood like some kind of treasure?" Liu Huiru spat, digging her blackened fingernails into the cracks of the wood. "The eldest son is getting married soon; we need the firewood for the banquet!"
Lin Changming used an iron crowbar to violently jab at the rammed earth base of the eaves pillar. Honeycombed chunks of soil crumbled away. He bared his yellow teeth and sneered at Lin Moyang: "Second-younger, the word 'filial' is a blade hanging over your head. I'm hacking this dump to show filial piety to our parents—even the Commune would praise you as a model citizen!"
*Clang!*
Lin Moyang casually pried a door-locking bar from its place and pointed it at the pair. "The law says that destroying the property of others leads to time in the slammer. Old Li Six, who stole that cow last month, was just locked up. You should still remember the sound of handcuffs grinding against wrists, shouldn't you?"
Liu Huiru let out a sneer, embedding her machete into a support beam with a ringing *clang*. "Don't try to scare me with prison talk! I raised you for ten years and couldn't even squeeze two ounces of oil out of your bones. You think you can talk to your mother about the law just because you're tearing down a shack?"
The crisp, sharp sound of rotting wood exploding pierced the stagnant air. Shen Youwei’s pupils contracted; she saw Lin Changming’s crowbar pierce right through the load-bearing pillar!
She grabbed a wooden stick from the ground and rushed forward, pinning the crowbar in his hand against the floor.
"Get lost, you cheap slut!"
Veins bulged on Lin Changming’s neck as he raised his foot to kick Shen Youwei in the stomach. At the last moment, Lin Moyang lunged forward, kicked Lin Changming’s raised leg aside, and shoved him hard against the pillar.
*Crash!*
The split beam couldn't withstand the force of the collision, and a large chunk of rotted wood, tangled in spiderwebs, came crashing down.
Seeing this, Liu Huiru shrieked and lunged toward Lin Changming, suddenly catching sight of a cloth bundle that had fallen from the beam. Its contents spilled out: silvery, coin-shaped discs scattered onto the dusty millstone below. The sound of their impact was not the dull thud of heavy metal, but a shrill, porcelain-like clatter. A ghostly green crystalline powder mixed with the dust on the millstone.
"Yuan Shikai dollars! It’s Yuan Shikai dollars!"
Liu Huiru’s eyes gleamed with greed. Ignoring whether Lin Changming was alive or dead, she began frantically clawing at the dirt, shoving the silver coins into her blouse.
Lin Moyang hadn't expected such treasure to be hidden in the old house. He went to reach for them, but Shen Youwei grabbed him and pulled him behind her.
"Let… let her take them," Shen Youwei whispered. She looked down at the silver coins rolling across the floor, her dark eyes reflecting the moldy green traces on their edges. A sudden, sharp headache struck her. She knew these things were toxic, though she couldn't remember why she knew it.
"You cursed, jinxing wretch! You had all this money and still acted like a pauper!" Liu Huiru took off her outer shirt to wrap the coins, then kicked the prone Lin Changming. "Why are you playing dead? Get up, we're going home!"
Filled with excitement and greed, Liu Huiru didn't even bother tearing down the window frame; she just called for Lin Changming and left.
Recalling how Shen Youwei had stopped Lin Moyang from picking up the coins, Lin Changming was suspicious. "Mom, why didn't they fight you for the silver dollars?"
"Hmph, they’re just cowards. If they had dared to snatch them from me, this machete wouldn't be for show!" Liu Huiru said with a vicious glint in her eyes.
Lin Changming figured she was right and nodded, hurrying home with her.
As dusk fell, the old house was left in ruins. Seeing the sky darkening, Lin Moyang brought Shen Youwei to fix the tarp over their makeshift shelter once more. The night breeze carried the scent of pine resin, and as Shen Youwei watched the man’s silhouette as he worked, she felt at peace.
"Xiaowei, think carefully—where did you learn about the reaction of arsenic compounds?"
Lin Moyang had explained why he hadn't snatched the silver coins: Shen Youwei had realized the coins were actually arsenic-based forgeries.
His deceptively simple question left Shen Youwei standing frozen in her tracks.