Chapter 20 I’m not Threatening You

These are the words used by the Li family to humiliate Lin Luoran earlier on. Lin Luoran now uses them to fight back. The Li’s eldest daughter carries a shoulder pole and trying to hit Lin Luoran with it—Luoran’s father stands too far to pull her away. Li Weiguo didn’t expect that Li Anping’s sister would be so impetuous that she dares to hit Luoran when he is still considering. It’s too late for anybody to pull her back, the eyes of Li Anping’s sister get sharp, and she believes Lin Luoran is about to fall under her pole. After all, she has envied this beautiful face for a long time— Lin Luoran moves a bit. Everyone thinks she will definitely take the hit and cannot bear to see that. To their surprise, Lin Luoran didn’t run away but stands still. The seemingly weak and delicate girl has snatched the pole from Li’s hands, leaving her stamping and covering her wrist with pain. Lin’s parents quickly come to their daughter and check if she gets hurt. Mrs. Li did not expect her daughter would be defeated in such a simple “fistfight.” Before she is going to rebuke her daughter, her daughter shows her wrist. It is red and swollen. Needless to say, it is Lin Luoran’s “masterwork.” “Hiss…” The crowd gasps. There’s no sign before showing the Lin’s daughter is so strong. Afraid of being injured, the women present all get closer to their men to feel a bit safer. After comforting her parents, Lin Luoran breaks the shoulder pole into two pieces and tosses it aside. The pole gets down into the earth for several feet, leaving a few wood splinters to remind people that it used to be a shoulder pole made of solid wood. Mrs. Li’s shoulders are shaking with wrath. She raises her eyebrows and stares at Lin Luoran in anger with her lips quivering. Anyone can feel that Mrs. Li is furious. This is the first time for her to suffer a setback after acting in a shrewish manner in the village for many years. How can she endure such humiliation? Usually, she would have rushed up to fight with Lin Luoran or thrown herself on the ground to make a scene. Today, however, she has to restrain her anger. Lin Luoran has felt that her new body is infused with power these days. Today, she just uses the power lightly, and then Li Anping’s mother and his troublesome relatives are frightened. Lin Luoran is satisfied with the result. Not to mention Mrs. Li, even the village head, Li Weiguo, who was considering just now, has made his decision. It seems that the Lin’s family is not only wealthy now, but also has “force.” Li Weiguo coughs and says, “Luoran is going to repair the ancestral hall. She grows up in our village, and she is a filial daughter for doing that. Anping’s mother, stop making trouble.” Mrs. Li is unwilling to give up. Her son-in-law, seeing her wife’s swollen wrist, also wants to fight against Lin Luoran. He secretly compares his strength with Luoran’s. Most countrymen are strong, but no one can stick a pole into the ground and get it down into the earth for several feet like she did. How strong must a person be to fight with her? He is afraid but doesn’t want people to think that he is a coward. What Li Weiguo says allows him to extricate himself from such an awkward situation! Everyone knows it clearly that Li Weiguo has a supreme status in Li’s village. “Village head” is just a title on the surface. He is, in fact, the patriarch of the Li’s village, the one who can execute the clan law! When hearing that the village head is ready to receive Lin’s money to repair the hall and supports them, Mrs. Li is too angry to show respect to Li Weiguo. She is afraid to confront Lin Luoran who she cannot see through, so she turns to Lin Luoran’s parents and scolds, “Well! Well! Well! Look at the daughter you raised. You shameless people. My eyes must be blind at that time. There were so many good girls. Why did I make an engagement with you?” “The other girls are not as gullible as I am. I didn’t ask for the bride price. And you forced me to drop out to pay for Li Anping’s education. My parents were too honest to say anything. I won’t calculate the living expenses of your son with you, but I still have the tuition fee receipts for all these years. No matter what you say, you must return the money!” Lin Luoran has made up her mind to solve the problem herself, and she must protect her parents. Mrs. Li wants to distract others. How can Lin Luoran allow that to happen? She knows Li Anping’s mother often bullies the weak and deliberately intimidates her with those words. In fact, at that time, Li Anping was the only one she cared about. How would she think of keeping the tuition fee receipts? Mrs. Li finds that unreasonable quarreling is useless, so she turns to Li Weiguo, crying, “Uncle Weiguo, the girl wants me dead. She bullies me for there is no man in my family to support…” She weeps while sniveling, trying to get Li Weiguo’s sympathy. She is old, yet still calls the village head uncle. Li Weiguo is in a high position in the clan hierarchy, and his mind is clear. The Lin’s family is generous enough to donate a hundred thousand yuan to repair the ancestral temple, so he must protect them. There are many people from the village watching. If he takes the money but does not back them up, then who else will donate money to repair the temple in the future? The decline of the hall is the decline of Li’s clan, of the Li’s village head and even all families with the family name “Li”. “Uncle Weiguo” says nothing, and Mrs. Li is aware that he has been bribed by the money. She immediately lays on the ground and starts to roll around. Dust covers her wrinkled face with snot and tears, which looks ridiculous. And with her body rolling on the ground, she looks like a clown. Onlookers find this scene interesting, but Lin’s parents are speechless. They feel regretful but fortunate. Li Anping’s mother is such a shrew. Luckily, their daughter will not marry Anping and deal with such a mother-in-law. Looking at the woman rolling on the ground, Li Weiguo does not feel her filial piety by calling him “Uncle Weiguo.” Instead, he is fretful, feeling his authority has been challenged. “I don’t care about your family issues. Make it clear how much money it is. If Luoran goes to sue you and you embarrassed our village, I will open the ancestral temple and use our clan law. It is up to you!” Hearing this, Mrs. Li is stunned and forgets to continue with the rolling. She stares at the village head blankly. For the first time, her tricks do not work. Lin Luoran’s parents are relieved when seeing that the village head seems to stand by them. They don’t want to ask the Li family for money. Under such a situation, they just hope these people won’t come again to curse on the street. That is all this honest couple want. Lin Luoran understands her parents’ thoughts and says gently, “Repairing the ancestral temple is a big deal. The money I promised will be sent to the village committee tomorrow.” Li Weiguo is pleased. He strides over Anping’s mother’s legs and wanders away. Now that Li Weiguo is gone, some nephews from the Li family are eager to take action seeing their aunt still rolling on the ground, for there is no one to suppress them now. Lin Luoran looks down and smiles. “Let me speak frankly. If anyone else wants to h my parents and does harm to my family, and even hurts a hair of my family members, I don’t mind to spend another one hundred thousand yuan to fix him. That won’t be a problem for me since I just donated one hundred thousand to repair the hall.” Li’s nephews stop when hearing what the beautiful girl says. And Lin Luoran continues casually, “I’ve heard that many people would fight for an opportunity to break people’s legs for several thousand yuan. I wonder what they can do for one hundred thousand. I’m really looking forward to it.” Her voice is low, but the crowd, in order to watch the farce, is so quiet that a pin dropped on the ground can be heard. When they learn that she threatens in public to spend money to take revenge, if something happens to her family, they are all astonished. God, there’s nothing money can’t buy! Better not mess with rich people. Considering that, they dare not to stay there watching anymore and quietly leave. Within minutes, all people disappear from the Lin’s yard. The autumn wind is blowing. Li Anping’s sister cannot feel the pain of the wrist. She just feels disappointed. Mrs. Li glares at Lin Luoran. She is frightened for the first time. The girl who used to be tender and gullible is gone. Lin Luoran bends over and whispers in her ear, “You’d better go home as soon as possible to raise money. I hope it won’t take you too long, in case your son is caught in some kind of accident. A youth talent with a disabled body, a rich girl, won’t choose him unless she is insane.” On hearing this, Mrs. Li feels scared. She drags her daughter’s pants to get up and runs away with her family. Lin Luoran’s parents dare not believe Mrs. Li is sent away by their daughter so easily and stand there stunned. Mrs. Lin suddenly recalls her daughter has promised to give one hundred thousand yuan and begins to worry, “Dear, it’s one hundred thousand. How can you afford it!” Aunt Li leans by the door and laughs loudly,” Luoran now has the ability. What are you worried about?” Mrs. Lin twists Lin Luoran’s ear, “You can’t spend money like that again, even if you can make it!” Lin Luoran jumps up and down and thinks to herself that such an atmosphere is quite cozy and heart-warming, in fact. Lin Luoran is in a good mood for sending the Li’s away. She makes an invitation to Aunt Li with a smile, “Auntie, go get my uncle. Come and eat with us this evening!” Mr. Lin remembers the beef braised in the pot and hurries into the room.