CHAPTER 195: CHAPTER 195: BIG SISTER STANDS UP FOR US

"I don’t know, Lin Shuang, did you fight with your classmates? Why are your textbooks torn?" The head teacher, after hearing this, blamed Lin Shuang instead.

"I didn’t!" Lin Shuang retorted unhappily. Although she was afraid of the head teacher, she couldn’t be wronged.

"You all go back first! I’ll handle this matter!" Just as the words were spoken, the class bell rang.

With no other choice, they had to attend class first. As they left, the head teacher promised that Lin Shuang could share a book with the other students for the time being.

However, when they came in the afternoon after school, they were punished to stand outside.

"What’s going on?" Lin Chuan stepped forward to ask.

"It’s nothing, Fourth Brother. You all wait for me a moment, the teacher should finish class soon!" Lin Shuang stubbornly didn’t want her brothers and sisters to worry about her again.

The massive debt hadn’t been resolved yet, and for her textbooks being torn and being punished to stand, how could she make her siblings worry?

Lin Yun’s class was held back, so they hadn’t come over yet. Lin Shuang’s class had already ended. After the teacher left, Lin Shuang nonchalantly went inside to get her backpack, although there weren’t many books in it anymore.

When they got home, all five of them were stunned.

The eldest sister, who hadn’t been around for many days, was surprisingly at home, making them delicious food.

But Lin Shuang felt a little guilty. She was pondering whether she should secretly go alone the next day and then leave with the other party.

Otherwise, with so much money, she didn’t want to burden her family.

But now that the eldest sister was here, the second sister would definitely spill everything, and what would she do then?

She believed that the eldest sister wouldn’t just ignore her, but that would burden the family too.

"Big Sis, how come you’re here? I missed you so much!" Lin Yun was the first to rush over.

The days without the eldest sister around were incredibly stressful for her.

She constantly reminded herself that with the eldest sister not around, all the responsibility fell on her as the second sister. She had to look after and protect her younger siblings.

But she still couldn’t manage it, almost letting her younger siblings get into trouble, which scared her so much she had nightmares at night.

Seeing the reliable eldest sister suddenly arrive, she was thrilled beyond measure.

"Xiao Yun, do you miss Big Sis, or do you miss Big Sis’s cooking?" Lin Xue jokingly patted Lin Yun’s shoulder.

As she noticed, the other kids had also run over.

She ruffled their heads one by one until it was enough.

"Big Sis had something to do and took a break in the afternoon to come over!" Lin Xue explained to her younger siblings. "Why are you still eating that kind of food? Didn’t I tell you to make something tasty?"

She went to check the kitchen and eyed the leftover food with disinterest.

The rice was fine, as it was plain rice, but the dishes were a bit makeshift—potato slices, stir-fried in oil with not a speck of meat in sight.

"Dad cooked the lunch..." Lin Yun, unable to lie, spoke softly.

"Aren’t you supposed to leave school thirty minutes before Dad? Why would you let him cook?" Lin Xue was puzzled, "You all know his cooking is awful!"

"Big Sis... we came home late today for lunch," Lin Yun replied.

The others hung their heads, no longer excited about seeing their Big Sis.

They didn’t know how to explain, fearing Big Sis would blame them for fighting. Lin Shuang was even more afraid that telling the truth would also implicate Big Sis.

She had already made up her mind that in three days she’d go secretly alone.

"Go on, what’s the matter?" Lin Xue could tell immediately that these kids were hiding something from her.

"Big Sis..."

"Second Sis, don’t say..."

Two voices sounded simultaneously.

One was Lin Yun’s, and the other was Lin Shuang’s.

After Lin Shuang spoke, she lowered her head in silence, and Lin Yun wasn’t sure whether to speak or not.

"Speak! What’s going on?" Lin Xue saw this and put on a stern face.

The little ones, seeing Big Sis like this, confessed immediately, scrambling to spill the day’s events.

"So, that’s how you got the injuries on your faces?" Lin Xue asked.

The little ones only then realized it was pointless not to admit; with wounds on their faces, Big Sis had already seen them, just waiting for them to confess their mistakes honestly.

They were downright dumb for not speaking up.

"Yes..." Lin Yun answered in a small voice.

Because the others didn’t dare to speak at all, though Lin Chuan and Lin Xia might be hot-tempered, in front of their Big Sis, they were more docile than lambs.

"Big Sis, we were in a rush at the time. Xiao Shuang was carried away on someone’s shoulder, and we couldn’t keep up with them. It was me who first picked up a thick branch and hit them, which angered those people. But if I hadn’t hit them, we wouldn’t have gotten Xiao Shuang back!" Lin Shan explained logically, though his face didn’t show a hint of pride for doing the right thing.

"Big Sis... we were wrong..." Lin Xia admitted.

Lin Chuan also nodded in agreement.

Only Lin Shuang stood there, head down, not saying a word.

"Three days later, right?" Lin Xue suddenly asked.

"What?" Lin Yun didn’t catch on and asked in return.

"You agreed to meet them in three days, right?" Lin Xue asked again.

"Yes! Three days later!" Lin Chuan nodded heavily.

That’s what he had arranged with the other party.

"Alright! Big Sis will go then! You all don’t make a move on your own! If there’s debt owed, we pay it. We can’t be the family that defaults!" Lin Xue nodded.

"Big Sis, I... I myself..." Lin Shuang murmured.

She wanted to say she’d pay it back herself, but who would believe it? How could an eight-year-old girl pay back four hundred yuan on her own?

"Enough, one family doesn’t speak two different languages. The debt Xiao Shuang owes is a debt from our Lin Family, Big Sis will handle it! You all don’t need to worry! Also! The issue of Xiao Shuang’s textbooks being torn, Big Sis will go to school to resolve it tomorrow!" Lin Xue felt overwhelmed; raising kids is really not easy, always one problem or another.

She wasn’t comfortable letting Lin Daliang handle this. With his personality, let alone standing up for Xiao Shuang, he might not even be able to speak clearly to the teacher.

"Big Sis, Xiao Shuang’s homeroom teacher is something else. She favors those students, not caring about our Xiao Shuang!" Lin Xia fumed at the mention of it.

"Enough! Wash up and come eat! Big Sis will handle it tomorrow!" Lin Xue waved her hand.

The little ones felt exceptionally good, with everything resolved and the bonus of eating Big Sis’s meals; it was fantastic.

Lin Daliang’s dorm room hadn’t been given up yet, but he still came back to sleep every day, not comfortable leaving the little ones at home alone.

So, after everyone was seated at the table, not long after, he came back too.

"Xiao Xue, you came over? Who called you?" Lin Daliang asked upon entering and seeing Lin Xue.

"No one called me! What’s up, Dad?" Lin Xue asked, puzzled.

"These rascals got into a fight, and no matter how I asked, they wouldn’t say. Now that you’re here, Dad thought the teacher had called us in!" Lin Daliang rubbed his head, explaining.

"It’s nothing; it’s already resolved! It’s no big deal, just a conflict between classmates!" Lin Xue didn’t want to elaborate, so she explained it like that.

The little ones all breathed a sigh of relief.

In their hearts, they didn’t want Dad to know about this matter, to save him from worrying without resolving anything.

In the little ones’ hearts, Big Sis was the real head of the family, and their parents weren’t reliable at all.