CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51: GETTING READY TO START CONSTRUCTION

Lin Qin was so excited she jumped up and down in place several times, "It really is good news! Does my dad know? Tell him, let him feel happy too! Oh, right, I threw a bunch of stones down the mountain this morning, see if you can use them. If you can, push them over. The cement and sand will be here in a couple of days, and then we can start work."

The next day, Lin Qin went to sell fish with Chen Wenjun as usual, and also went to Guoxing Restaurant to meet Huang Wenlong. They discussed the cooking arrangements and ordered ten tons of cement.

After leaving Guoxing Restaurant, the couple made a special trip to Shanglin Village.

At the entrance of the village, the garden had already been tidied and replanted with vegetables by Lin Qingxiang. With the warm weather, the seedlings were growing fast, changing day by day.

Lin Qin glanced at it a few more times, feeling in a very good mood.

However, this good mood completely vanished after returning home.

Outside Lin Yi’s house was a scene of chaos, especially the kitchen; even the large pot had a hole smashed in it, and there wasn’t a single decent thing left.

She was so angry she gritted her teeth.

The granny next door heard the commotion, came over to take a look, and, seeing it was Lin Qin, quickly ran over with a frightened face to explain what happened that day, "Lin Qin! Your ex-husband is really a piece of work, thankfully you and your daughter weren’t here, otherwise, if that lunatic had run into you, even if you survived you’d be badly hurt!

That day he even smashed the stuff in your dad’s courtyard. Afterwards, we found time to help clean it up, but the kitchen was such a mess, and we had no idea what you might want to keep, so we didn’t dare make any decisions."

Lin Qin took a deep breath and turned to the granny with a polite smile, "Thank you, granny. Shaoyun told us about what happened that day. I’m really sorry for scaring you all!"

The granny waved her hand, "It’s nothing, nothing, as long as you’re back. Ah, I think you should deal with your ex-husband’s side once and for all, or else when your dad gets better and comes back, and that lunatic comes causing trouble from time to time, it’s going to be disastrous!"

Lin Qin nodded repeatedly, and only after the granny left did she begin to pack up with a stern face.

Chen Wenjun said, "I’ll handle it, you go find Uncle Qingxiang."

Lin Qin straightened up, continuously brainwashing herself, suppressing her anger before going to the fields to find someone.

Passing by Lin Zhi’s field, Li Lian, with sharp eyes, stopped her and without saying anything, began to scold her, "Lin Qin, what’s going on with you? You’re divorced and remarried, yet you still have unclear ties with the Liu family!"

Lin Qin stopped, blocking Li Lian with a cold face, "Which eye of yours saw I have unclear ties with the Liu family?"

"Ha! If you didn’t have unclear ties with the Liu family, would Liu Yongming come to our village going crazy? Even destroyed the vegetable plot! You surely provoked him again! As a woman, why can’t you just stay home peacefully, always stirring up trouble? You’ve brought disgrace to our entire Shanglin Village!" Li Lian snarked sarcastically.

Lin Qin, angry, forcefully grabbed Li Lian’s hand, "What qualifies you to talk about me like this! If you’re so good at talking, why don’t you tell the village leader? Let’s see how nasty your mouth can be!"

Li Lian didn’t expect Lin Qin to suddenly lash out and immediately started jumping around in anger, "Let go! You shameless thing, clearly did something disgraceful and now won’t let it be mentioned! You’re still laying hands on your elders, someone come quick! It’s outrageous! Help!"

"Lin Qin! Let go! Or don’t blame me for being rude!" Lin Zhi threatened with a hoe on his shoulder.

From another plot, Lin Qingxiang calmly approached, "What’s going on here? You two shameless old things ganging up to bully someone, is that it?"

Lin Qin nodded fiercely, "Uncle Qingxiang, Li Lian is slandering me, I’m going to report her to the village leader!"

Lin Zhi, enraged, "Lin Qin! Is your second aunt’s name something you can call? You uncultured thing!"

Lin Qin rolled her eyes at Lin Zhi, "Even if I have no manners, I wouldn’t stoop to spreading false rumors like this. Li Lian seriously needs better upbringing to see if that filthy mouth can be cleaned up."

"You wretch!" Lin Zhi charged angrily to teach Lin Qin a lesson.

Lin Qingxiang was quicker, blocking in front of Lin Qin, "I’ll protect this girl! If there’s a fight, fight me instead!"

"Lin Qingxiang! Don’t think I won’t dare beat you!" Lin Zhi spat angrily on the ground but didn’t dare act.

The two stood off, and Lin Qin forcefully released Li Lian’s arm, breaking the stalemate, "Uncle Qingxiang, Wenjun is waiting at my house for you, there’s something he wants to discuss."

Lin Qingxiang continued to warn Lin Zhi, "Let’s hold off this time. If there’s unnecessary trouble again, I won’t be polite!"

Li Lian watched the two leave with her mouth wide open, shouting angrily, "What’s so great about that! Shameless! Bah!"

In Li Lian’s eyes, a woman who’s remarried is inferior, not to mention someone like Lin Qin who’s fallen out with her ex-husband’s family, surely she couldn’t be any good.

The big house’s field didn’t end up in her hands, so she poured all her dissatisfaction onto Lin Qin, whom she looked down upon.

Lin Zhi glared at Li Lian, "You can’t even deal with someone so worthless, you’re useless!"

"Look who’s talking! Didn’t you just admit defeat in front of Lin Qingxiang? If you had fought him, I would have dared to fight Lin Qin too!" Li Lian retorted angrily.

The two of them started blaming each other for this indignation.

Meanwhile, Lin Qin had already brought Lin Qingxiang back home.

The three of them sat on the freshly tidied doorstep.

The door wasn’t open, they just leaned against it and talked.

"Uncle Qingxiang, we’ve made arrangements with the cement factory. We’ll pick up the cement tomorrow afternoon, and the morning after we’ll start laying the foundation. We’re paying the laborers one yuan and twenty cents a day, does that work for you?"

This price was discussed with Lin Qin and was also the market price.

Lin Qingxiang nodded approvingly, "That works! How many people do you need?"

"For now, just you and Shaoyun, and my father-in-law to help. Ah Qin and I can also lend a hand in the afternoon, that should be enough," Chen Wenjun said.

Lin Qingxiang laughed, slapping down a fly with his slipper, "That should be about right, once the foundation is done, we can hire a skilled worker for two days, that’ll do it. I know someone very particular with his work, I’ll let him know in advance."

Skilled workers are more expensive, one earns a dollar eighty per day, but their work is meticulous, so if the early stages are done well, there’s less to worry about later.

Having discussed everything properly, the couple hurried back to Nanxi.

Li Lian had been wanting to find out what Lin Qin’s couple were up to with Lin Qingxiang, afraid to miss out on something good. By the time she came over to check, Lin Yi’s house was locked, and the only thing buzzing in the courtyard were flies.

She quickly went to the granny’s house next door to inquire.

"Auntie, did Lin Qin and her husband leave?"

The granny gave Li Lian a glance, nodding, "You came late, they left a while ago!"

Li Lian, not embarrassed at all, continued to probe, "Do you know what they were discussing with Lin Qingxiang?"

"How would I know?" The granny was immediately displeased, holding a dustpan, she got up from the bamboo stool, ready to leave.

Li Lian immediately blocked her, "Auntie, just tell me! Lin Qin is an outsider now, her family matters have nothing to do with her, she’s not in charge. I’m just worried she’ll be foolish and cause trouble for us!

Like those fields, they were rightfully ours. My big brother-in-law didn’t have any ideas, it was definitely that worthless Lin Qin’s bad idea that made our relationship with Lin Qingxiang strained now!"