Upon hearing Lin Yuan’s words, Liu Limin finally snapped back to reality, laughed heartily, and waved her hand in a nonchalant manner, "The coachmen are fine, I always make sure to head home during the daytime when there are plenty of people on the road, there’s certainly nothing to worry about. Rest assured."
Liu Limin was good in all respects, but she was just too stubborn. Lin Yuan knew that no matter how much more she said, she wouldn’t be able to change her mind, so she eventually said no more. However, she kept this matter in mind, as Liu Limin was, after all, a newcomer to the business world, freshly out of the village, and hadn’t experienced as much cunning and deception as she had.
Lin Yi finished feeding the horses and helped with a thorough inspection of the carriage, tightening the screws on the loosened wheels. Lin Jiaxin packed a lot of rice, flour, and meat into the carriage, for his sister-in-law to take back home.
Liu Limin didn’t stand on ceremony. These provisions were respects paid by her brother-in-law to her father-in-law, she was merely running errands, so she didn’t say much.
"Alright, I’m heading back, off I go!" Liu Limin said cheerfully, waving the horsewhip, jumping onto the carriage, and setting off. Before her voice had even fallen, the carriage had already bolted far away, leaving behind a trail of dust.
Lin Jiaxin shook his head helplessly and sighed with a wry smile, "This girl, with such a temper, how will she ever get married in the future!"
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, the whole Lin family got up early. Lin Wei was responsible for looking after the baby, while Lin Yuan and Lady Liu were busy in the kitchen preparing for the New Year. After more than half a year of recuperation, Lady Liu had fully recovered and her work was unaffected. It was just that Lin Yuan felt sorry for her mother and didn’t want her to overwork herself. But the New Year was an important time, and Lady Liu insisted on lending a hand no matter what.
A reunion dinner was to be eaten on New Year’s Eve, and Lady Liu and her daughter had been busy from morning until afternoon, making a full table of dishes. There were many traditions to observe during the New Year, such as not lighting a fire, staying up late, and so on—many of which Lin Yuan had never heard of. Although she was very curious, she managed to control herself and did not dare ask.
Kidding! No matter how poor a family was, they wouldn’t skip the New Year celebration. If Lin Yuan had asked, she would have exposed the secret that she wasn’t the real Lin Yuan, which would definitely have led Lady Liu to a relentless line of questioning!
Xiao Linshuang and Lin Jiaxin cleaned up the yard, putting up Spring Festival couplets and window decorations. These window decorations had been purchased from an old lady they encountered while shopping. They bought ones with the character for fortune, door gods, magpies perching on plum branches, wishes for abundance every year, and chubby kids holding big carps with sweet smiles. In short, there was no end to the variety—anything you could think of was available for purchase.
It was the first time Xiao Linshuang was celebrating the New Year in such a lively and joyful manner. With a bunch of window decorations in one hand, she stuck them up one by one on the windows. From a distance, the windows were barely visible; the decorations dominated the view.
Lin Yuan’s house was filled with joyful laughter and aromatic scents—an extremely bustling scene. However, the old Lin residence emitted a deathly stillness, with each household’s chimney emitting more or less smoke, except for the old house where the stove remained cold.
Ever since the clan division, life at the old residence had become increasingly difficult, especially after Lin Yongle was released from prison.
Lady Ma stayed home every day, never daring to leave her son’s side for a moment. It wasn’t that she was extremely fond of her son; rather, the boy was simply too much of a handful. Not only did he have a limp leg and his mind was clouded, Lin Yongle also had a tendency to crawl outside every two or three days, muttering to himself incomprehensibly.
If it were just a matter of crawling outside, that would have been one thing, but Lin Yongle, while doing so, would have his clothes slip off, frightening the village children out of their wits. People from the village had come to their door more than once to complain, with some even going directly to the village chief, hoping he would intervene and persuade Lady Ma to confine Lin Yongle.