Good Man Operation Guide

Chapter 147.1: Ancient Farmers’ Son (4)

Li Lanlan’s eyes were still a bit swollen. As soon as she instinctively took the money and heard what her husband said clearly, she became stunned.

“From my Father?”

Her first reaction was that it was impossible. Father Li was someone she knew better than anyone else. From childhood to adulthood, he only knew how to take money from the family and never gave her a single cent. Even when she got married, she didn’t receive a penny.

Seeing Li Lanlan’s expression, Lin Shiheng smiled lightly and spoke in a gentle tone, “Father-in-law saw that our family is poor and my Father’s health isn’t good, so he insisted on giving us the money, saying that it’s for us to live a good life.”

If he had said that Father Li gave the money out of concern for his daughter, Li Lanlan would definitely not believe it. However, if he said that Father Li saw that the Lin family was poor and the elder was in poor health, she would somewhat believe it.

Father Li had always caused countless troubles for the family due to this habit. In the past, when Li Lanlan’s own father took away all the food from their home to give to others, she couldn’t even get a bite to eat when she was extremely hungry. She never expected that after getting married, she would actually experience his sympathy.

After considering Father Li’s character, Li Lanlan completely believed it when she held the money. She handed the money back to Lin Shiheng. Her voice was still slightly hoarse from crying earlier, “Husband, please keep it.”

“This money is given by your Father; how can I accept it? You should keep it.”

The scholar smiled and didn’t take the money.

Li Lanlan respected him, and since he said so, she no longer pushed the money back.

This amount of money wasn’t much. After all, Father Li was busy doing good deeds every day, so he couldn’t save any money. But Li Lanlan was already satisfied.

Which child wouldn’t hope for their parents to treat them well? Even if Father Li did it out of his overflowing sympathy, Li Lanlan would still want to thank the heavens.

She didn’t expect her biological father to treat her as well as he treated others. She only hoped that he would consider the difficult situation in the Lin family and won’t come up with any surprising ideas like ‘asking his son-in-law for money to do good deeds.’

With these thoughts in mind, Li Lanlan adjusted her hair and asked, “Is my Father still outside?”

“No, when I said he should stay for a meal, Father-in-law said he wouldn’t stay and quickly left.”

Li Lanlan didn’t find it strange at all. That’s just how her father was. Even if he did something significant for others outside, he was very conscientious about not troubling them. Even if he had just given most of their own food to someone else and his own stomach was growling with hunger, he would refuse to eat at their place and endure hunger until he returned home.

As the recipient of his consideration, she felt grateful, but as his family, it was a disaster. Because of her father’s personality, Li Lanlan firmly believed from a young age that there should be mutual exchange between people. If someone treats you well, you should treat them well in return. Even when doing good deeds, one should consider their own capabilities. Those who, like her biological father, were willing to sacrifice their own wife and daughter and give up their family’s livelihood to help others without being asked were foolish.

Knowing that her father had left, the heavy burden that had weighed on Li Lanlan’s heart seemed to have been lifted. She breathed a sigh of relief, carefully put away the money, rubbed her eyes, and continued to work outside.

While she was relieved of her worries and focused on her tasks, the eldest and second daughters-in-law in the main house were eagerly waiting at their door.

When they heard someone knocking, they came out, and seeing Li Lanlan driving away her own father, they didn’t dare to intervene, fearing chaos.

Before the family was divided, the third younger brother cared a lot about his reputation. If he saw his wife hitting his father-in-law, he would definitely be furious.

The two women had their own thoughts, but unfortunately, when Lin Shiheng came out, there was no trace of anger on his face, which was as calm as white jade. He even politely invited Father Li into the house.

The eldest and second daughters-in-law wanted to eavesdrop on what the father-in-law and son-in-law were talking about, but they were afraid of being discovered, so they could only stretch their necks and stand together, trying to catch a glimpse.

“Elder Sister, why do you think Li Lanlan’s father came here?”

“Li Lanlan was so angry. Maybe I was right, and he came to borrow money.”

“Is he really that shameless?”

The eldest daughter-in-law affirmed, “I’ve been saying it all along. That’s just how he is. Everyone in the village knows. He doesn’t mind anything dirty or foul. Who dares to marry into such a family?”

Speaking of that, she couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. Her maiden family’s conditions weren’t really that great, but her father wasn’t a fool like Father Li. Even if he didn’t support her, he didn’t let her become a laughingstock in her husband’s family.

The second daughter-in-law had similar thoughts. Both of them weren’t highly valued in their maiden families. After all, they were women, and it was the male members of the family who were favored. When they got married, they didn’t bring much with them, just new clothes and the bride price given by the Lin family, of which their maiden families didn’t give them a single penny.

But they didn’t think much of it. Isn’t that how it was in the village? Those who dote on their daughters and provide dowries for them were the exceptions. Therefore, even though they didn’t have much say in their maiden families, both of them held a deep affection for their maiden families. During holidays or when they had some spare money, they always thought of bringing something back home.

Because of that, Mother Lin had scolded them a few times, criticizing them for only thinking about their maiden families and using the resources from their family to support them.

Now, with the arrival of the third sister-in-law and such a father, let's see if their mother-in-law will still favor the third family.

The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. Although it was time to start cooking, neither of them moved a muscle. They eagerly stared towards the third family’s yard, afraid of missing even a tiny bit of information.

After a while, the curtain on the other side lifted, and Lin Shiheng walked out, politely seeing Father Li off.

Both of them were momentarily stunned.

He borrowed money, or didn’t he? Why does Third Brother still have a smile on his face?

They desperately wanted to know what had happened, but they couldn’t ask their younger brother-in-law directly. They could only watch as Lin Shiheng finished seeing off his father-in-law and turned back into the house.

“Sister-in-law, do you think Third Brother actually lent money to the Li family?”

The eldest daughter-in-law also wanted to know.

After a while, Li Lanlan came out. Although she had wiped her eyes and patted them, her fair complexion and swollen eyes revealed her recent crying. The eldest sister-in-law, who couldn’t grasp the situation, immediately understood.

“He must have borrowed money. Look, even Third Sister-in-law cried.”

The second daughter-in-law also went to see Li Lanlan. Seeing her fair complexion, even with swollen eyes, looking better than herself, she felt both envious and annoyed, “Father and Mother favor Third Brother, but they married him to such a wife.”

“When Mother comes back and finds out about this, I can’t imagine how she’ll react.”

As they spoke, they exchanged a glance and clearly saw the excitement in each other’s eyes.

In the past, they had been nagged by their mother-in-law for only bringing back a few things when they visited their maiden families. Now, the third sister-in-law’s own father came to borrow money on the second day after her marriage. Their mother-in-law probably wouldn’t tolerate her anymore.

The third family was unlucky, and their mother-in-law was angry. They were happy about it.

As they were happily discussing, the smile on the second daughter-in-law’s face suddenly froze.

“I forgot to cook!”

The eldest daughter-in-law’s smile also stiffened. “Me too!”

Both of them were lazy by nature and found working in the fields tiring. So, they didn’t go to the fields themselves and instead sent their husbands and sons. They only tidied up the house and cooked meals.

But today, they were so engrossed in the excitement that they forgot to cook.

They quickly started bustling around, but unfortunately, the time they had wasted earlier was too long, and they couldn’t catch up.

When Mother Lin returned, she saw chaos in the kitchens of the eldest and second daughters-in-law. Eldest Brother Lin and Second Brother Lin’s faces, who had been working in the fields all day and only wanted to eat a warm meal, didn’t look good. They didn’t care about the younger children beside them and scolded their own wives for not doing any work at home.

Since the family split, Mother Lin had distanced herself from these two branches. She gave them a cold look and stopped paying attention to them.

On the other side, Li Lanlan had already finished cooking and was busy bringing the food to the table. Due to having a sick family member and a studious person who consumed a lot of energy, the chickens raised by Mother Lin were never sold. They saved the eggs to use in cooking dishes and making soup.

Li Lanlan had endured a lot of hardships and had long gotten used to being diligent. After neatly arranging the dishes in the kitchen, she took two bowls and filled them with porridge and dishes, obediently asking, “Mother, should I go feed Father?”