CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: A MADWOMAN IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR MY SON

"What ’Liu Yongming’s lover’? How can you talk like that! Let me tell you, I have a marriage certificate with Liu Yongming, we are a legal couple!" "Fang Yin" walked out proudly with her big belly, looking at the street director with eyes full of disdain and scorn.

The street director was furious, "So Liu Yongming really cheated on Lin Qin?"

He had always thought Lin Qin was an uneducated and immature woman who wouldn’t consider a man’s future. He had many prejudices against her, but now he realized how terribly wrong he was!

Ma Cuihua was displeased, "What cheating? That Lin Qin is a lunatic, what normal man would dare marry her? My Yongming must have incredibly bad luck to have been tricked by the Lin family into marrying such a nutcase!

If it weren’t for the kids, my Yongming would have left her long ago! We’ve taken her in for so many years, we’ve done more than enough, only someone as accomplished as ’Fang Yin’ is worthy of my Yongming!"

Mentioning "Fang Yin," Ma Cuihua was obviously very proud, eager to let everyone know she had such an excellent daughter-in-law.

The street director’s face turned from blue to white with anger, unable to speak, he pointed at the Liu family and turned away, leaving in big strides.

Ma Cuihua stomped her foot angrily, "That old hag dared to talk about our family behind our backs, I won’t let her off, just you wait and see!"

Xu Manzhi valued her reputation, recalling the times she was pointed at when she went out recently, and she was also angry, "Mom, how do they know about our family’s matters? What does our family have to do with them, why are they always fixated on us?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Ma Cuihua snapped, turning her head to look around and not seeing Liu Li, "Where’s Ah Li? Where did she run off to this time? She’s about to take her high school exams and still doesn’t know how to focus!"

Ever since Lin Qin made a scene at Liu Li’s school, Liu Li became the target of everyone’s disdain, being bullied constantly. At first, she tried to persuade herself to ignore the stares and continue attending school, but soon she found spit and rubbish on her desk, her books defaced with nasty words.

Worse still, her homework would mysteriously disappear, and when the teacher called her in to talk, she defended herself, but he didn’t believe her, suspecting her of trickery.

After a while, she couldn’t stand it anymore, skipping school repeatedly, or she’d pretend to go, but secretly hide somewhere else. It wasn’t until the teacher reached the family that Ma Cuihua realized Liu Li hadn’t been to school for days.

For this, Ma Cuihua scolded Liu Li thoroughly, yet the girl seemed to give up completely, making a fuss about not going to school, driving her madder. Recently, she even heard rumors that Liu Li was hanging out with unsavory characters, so she locked Liu Li at home forbidding her from going outside.

Luckily, with a college student "Fang Yin" at home, she thought it perfect for Fang Yin to tutor Liu Li.

Yet, just a turn of her head and Liu Li had vanished again.

"Fang Yin" acted indifferent, "Mom, it’s Ah Li’s adolescence stage, the more you scold her, the more rebellious she becomes. It’s useless for anyone to say anything. I just asked her to go back to her room to write an essay, who knows if she’s inside or not."

Ma Cuihua rushed into Liu Li’s room, only to find it empty, not even a shadow, making her yell in rage again.

Since Li San’s wife caused a scene, "Fang Yin" and Liu Yongming’s relationship was exposed in the open, and everyone knew "Fang Yin" was the new wife Liu Yongming married and got a certificate with.

In these times, people were still simple-minded: as long as there was a certificate, they were a legal couple, regardless of any past indiscretions. They accepted "Fang Yin" as Liu Yongming’s wife.

"Fang Yin" began to openly come and go in public, and her good psychological composure meant she simply smiled at the gossip. People couldn’t help but compare her to Lin Qin.

In contrast, Lin Qin seemed instantly outshone. People said Liu Yongming hit the jackpot, first marrying a hardworking Lin Qin, drained her dry, then turning to a beautiful and well-educated wife, rumored to be bearing a son—at least that’s what Ma Cuihua claimed. It was pure luck.

Lin Qin, now back on the fishing boat with her children, had no idea that her visit to the street office had caused such a commotion.

Chen Wenjun watched the three people with their drastically changed hairstyles and laughed goofily, "Why did you think of cutting your hair short?"

In his previous life, Lin Qin never thought about styling her hair until her dying day. She’d cut it short when it grew too long, tossing it into the water quietly, often without him noticing.

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

Lin Qin spun around joyfully, showing off, "Does it look good?"

"It looks great! Really great, makes you look more lively!" Chen Wenjun was still grinning foolishly.

Lin Yi couldn’t stop shaking his head, "How much did that cost?"

"Dad! It wasn’t expensive! The kids’ haircuts were 60 cents, adults’ over a dollar. But Yaya and I had long hair, which we sold for money. The three of us only spent a dollar thirty, plus I got them new clothes—two summer outfits each for twenty-four dollars, and a can of malt sugar and some snacks for two dollars. Everything’s here."

Lin Qin pulled out the food, telling the kids to wash their hands first.

Lin Yi was heartbroken at the expense, unable to help but nag, "I really can’t let you handle money, in just one outing you spent half a month’s salary. Can’t you be a bit more considerate of Wenjun?"

Chen Wenjun quickly chimed in, "Dad! I earn money so they can live comfortably, besides, Ah Qin only bought necessities, it’s not wasted money!"

Lin Yi shook his head, "You just indulge her too much!"

Chen Wenjun grinned, "Dad, tomorrow I’ll go to the land office to inquire about the price of the deserted island, so we can have a clearer idea."

He knew Lin Yi’s reluctance to spend money was mainly because of the plan to buy land and build a house.

Lin Yi nodded repeatedly, "It is something we should check out, I think the island will cost quite a bit!"

In his view, Chen Wenjun really didn’t need to buy the island, but without buying it, other village lands wouldn’t sell to outsiders, and even if they did, settling down would be hard. Plus, there was everyone’s prejudice against the Dang people.

If they genuinely settled in another village, they wouldn’t fit in and might be bullied.

Looking at it this way, the deserted island seemed the best choice.

The family gathered together, sharing the snacks.

Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin went to the back cabin to do their bookkeeping.

"How much have we saved this month overall?"

Lin Qin shut the window, took out the key, opened the box, and laid out the money, "It’s all here, let’s count it."

The two sat together, sorting the tens, fives, twos, ones, fifty cents, ten cents, and various coins into piles.

Lin Qin eagerly grabbed the ten-yuan notes.

Seeing her insatiable look, Chen Wenjun kindly helped her separate the ten-yuan notes first, then dealt with the change.