Chapter Ninety-Two: The Conflict Between the Lin Family and Bao Mingzhi

Summer was drawing near, and the weather grew hotter by the day. The townsfolk had grown sluggish and listless, with little appetite to speak of.

So the spicy chicken feet and saliva chicken at Fortune Full Restaurant had become especially popular.

Meanwhile, Lin Sangqian’s McKenchicken business remained as brisk as ever. Not only because fried chicken was already a crowd favorite, but also because of the watermelon juice that offered welcome relief from the heat.

Many people came for the watermelon juice and ended up buying fried chicken as well.

Lin Sangqian mused that perhaps she could open a milk tea and juice shop under the McKenchicken name.

In summer, nothing felt more blissful than holding a cold drink in one’s hands and taking a slow sip.

That afternoon, once all the fried chicken had sold out, Lin Sangqian closed the shop.

She thought the time might be about right, so she said to Lin Wenyan, “Big Brother, let’s go take a look at the field.”

“What for?” Lin Wenyan asked in confusion. “Hasn’t that land already been sold to Bao Mingzhi?”

“There’s nothing else to do anyway. Let’s go stroll around. Maybe we’ll catch a good show.”

Lin Wenyan still did not understand, but he followed Lin Sangqian all the same.

At the same time, Madam Lin Zhang had also arrived in town with her two sons and two daughters-in-law, a whole formidable procession.

Her clouded eyes swept over everyone in town as though searching for her third son.

If she found him, she would have to question him thoroughly: why had he moved to town, why had he bought land? Did he even know what he was worthy of?

“Mother, let’s go straight to the field,” Lai Ruyu said from the side. “Maybe they’re there right now. Even if not, we can ask around nearby and find out where they’re living.”

“All right.” Madam Lin Zhang nodded. “Let’s go!”

Led by Lai Ruyu, they came to the vicinity of the field.

At that moment, Bao Mingzhi was with a few men, preparing to sow watermelon seeds.

Ordinarily, watermelon seeds were best planted in March, but he felt that since this was the most suitable land for watermelons, it hardly mattered when they were sown.

The seeds had been bought from far away at full speed, and had only arrived that morning.

“Listen carefully,” Bao Mingzhi said to the men he had hired to plant the watermelons. “Take good care of them, and don’t make a single mistake! If we grow excellent watermelons in the future, your rewards will not be small!”

“Understood, thank you, Shopkeeper Bao!”

Suddenly, Bao Mingzhi felt a pressing need to relieve himself. He looked around and spotted a small grove not far away, then hurried off into it.

Just then, Madam Lin Zhang, with her sons and daughters-in-law in tow, strode up menacingly.

“Mother, this is the place. Aunt Wu said this is Third Brother’s family’s field!”

“Humph, what do you mean, Third Brother’s family’s field? This land is mine now!”

A greedy light shone in Madam Lin Zhang’s eyes, as though she meant to swallow the entire field whole.

“Mother, look—there are still people working in the field!”

“Looks like they’re about to plow it?”

“And they don’t look like anyone from Third Brother’s family, do they?”

“Come on, let’s go take a look!”

They stepped onto the land without the slightest courtesy. Seeing this, the men Bao Mingzhi had hired hurriedly shouted, “What are you doing? How can you just come trampling in here like this?”

“What are you yelling for? This field belongs to my family!” Lai Ruyu said rudely. “Who are you people?”

The men were somewhat baffled and assumed them to be Bao Mingzhi’s family, so one of them said, “Oh, we were hired to work this land.”

“No need to work it anymore! All of you, leave!”

Lin Shengrong and Lin Jiantong moved forward at once to drive them away. The men grew anxious, and one of them said, “It was agreed we’d be hired to farm this land. What do you mean by kicking us out? We haven’t even been paid yet!”

“What pay do you want? This land is ours. We’ll farm it ourselves. We don’t need you! Get lost!”

“How can you talk like that?”

“This is exactly how we talk! Leave now, or we won’t be polite!”

The Lin family was determined to seize the field, and by now they had gone red-eyed. Lin Jiantong even rolled up his sleeves.

The men who had been hired to work the land were all honest folk and naturally did not want trouble with them, so in the end they left with sullen looks.

“Mother, this field isn’t especially good, but if we rent it out or sell it, we could still make quite a bit of money,” Li Fulan said greedily.

“But the title deed is still in Lin Old Third’s hands. What should we do?”

“Go ask him for it! Come on, let’s find out where his family lives.”

“If he refuses, we’ll make a scene here every day and stop him from farming at all!”

At that moment, Bao Mingzhi returned.

Seeing that the men he had hired were gone and several strangers were standing in his field, he immediately grew angry. “What is going on here? Who are you people?”

“And who are you? This is my family’s land!” Lai Ruyu said impatiently.

“What do you mean your family’s land? This land is mine!” Bao Mingzhi shouted furiously.

“Quit spouting nonsense. This land belongs to the Lin family!”

“The Lin family?” Bao Mingzhi frowned. “What do you have to do with Lin Sangqian?”

Li Fulan gave a snort of laughter. “See? You know Lin Sangqian too. I knew this land had to belong to the Lin family! And you’re dressed pretty decently—you must be the overseer Lin Sangqian hired?”

“What overseer?” Bao Mingzhi was so angry the flesh on his face trembled. “Get lost, all of you! What kind of people are you?”

“You want us to get lost? Let me tell you, the land belonging to Lin Sangqian’s family is ours! The one who should get lost is you!”

Bao Mingzhi could not swallow such humiliation. Without another word, he threw a punch straight into Lin Shengrong’s face.

Lin Shengrong had already been holding back a fire in his chest. His third younger brother, whom he looked down on the most, was now living such a good life—how could he bear that? After taking that punch, he exploded like a firecracker and immediately started fighting with Bao Mingzhi.

“Father!” Seeing her man being hit, Lai Ruyu naturally grew furious as well and rushed in after him.

Lin Jiantong also had anger boiling in his heart. Seeing that his eldest brother had made a move, he charged forward too.

Li Fulan felt that this was perhaps improper and wanted to step in to break them apart, but the others had all gone red-eyed, and Madam Lin Zhang was cheering them on from the side, so she could not pull them apart at all.

What chance did Bao Mingzhi have against so many of them alone?

In the end, he was beaten soundly until his face was black and blue, and several of his teeth were knocked out.

None of them noticed that Lin Sangqian and Lin Wenyan were hiding behind a tree, witnessing the entire scene.

“This…” Lin Wenyan had never imagined such a thing could happen, and he stared in stunned disbelief. “Have First Uncle and Second Uncle lost their minds?”

“They’re not mad,” Lin Sangqian said with a cold smile. “Their minds have already twisted beyond recognition.”

Ever since childhood, Madam Lin Zhang had abused Lin Hongda in front of them, while constantly indoctrinating them with the idea that Lin Hongda did not deserve a good life.

Over time, they naturally came to feel that Lin Hongda’s family deserved to remain poor forever.

But now, their third younger brother—the one they looked down on the most—had moved to town, bought land, and was living better and better by the day. Of course they could not accept it. Having held it in until now, they were capable of anything.

She had only set a simple trap, and yet they could not wait to leap into it.