Chapter One Hundred and Eleven: Of Course We Cannot Let Him Get Away With It

Lin Xiong’s face turned deathly pale, and he could not force out a single word.

Lin Shui Mei, who had been spying from the shadows, was so furious her face went livid.

Useless fool!

And since when did Lin Sangqian know medicine? And be so good at it?

What right did she have to be that capable?

Doctor Ge took Lin Xiong’s wrist and felt his pulse, then gave a cold laugh. “This young man is perfectly healthy. His stomach isn’t bad at all.”

“If Doctor Ge says so, then it must be true!”

“Honestly, even without taking his pulse, I wouldn’t have believed him.”

“His story is full of holes!”

Lin Sangqian had not expected Lin Xiong to resort to such a petty trick.

If he had been sent by Lin Shui Mei, then that only proved how little brains she had.

“Doctor Ge, what brings you here?” Lin Sangqian asked with a smile.

“I heard your new shop was opening today, so I came by to lend my support,” Doctor Ge said, rubbing his hands together as he looked at her with gleaming eyes.

He had to get on good terms with Lin Sangqian.

Who knew? Maybe in the future she would teach him a few more tricks.

Lin Sangqian nodded, and then she heard a kindly onlooker ask, “Miss Lin, what do you plan to do with this little brat throwing a tantrum?”

At that, she smiled and said, “He’s still just a child...”

Of course she wasn’t going to let him off.

She walked up to the frightened Lin Xiong and asked with clear interest, “Tell me, who told you to do this?”

“I... no one. N-no one,” Lin Xiong stammered.

Of course he did not dare drag Lin Shui Mei into it; if he did, she would never let him stay at the schoolhouse again.

“Is that so? Then fine. I’ll send you to the magistrate’s office. You caused a public disturbance and slandered my shop; that should be enough to earn you a beating.”

The moment Lin Xiong heard about the beating, he burst into tears with fear.

“It wasn’t my fault! It was my sister who made me do it. It was Lin Shui Mei! If anyone should be beaten, beat her!”

“So it really was Lin Shui Mei!” Lin Bei Tao said bitterly.

Hiding in the corner, Lin Shui Mei felt her heart sink with a heavy thud; she knew then that things were bad.

Just as she was about to run, she saw Lin Sangqian’s cold gaze shoot straight toward her.

So Lin Sangqian had known all along that she was hiding here!

Lin Shui Mei was so frightened she nearly froze in place, but in the end she reacted and turned to flee.

Lin Sangqian gave Lin Wenyan a look, and he immediately understood, chasing after her at once.

How could Lin Shui Mei outrun Lin Wenyan? After only a few steps, he caught up.

He knew nothing of being gentle with women; he grabbed her by the collar and yanked her straight back.

Lin Shui Mei was dragged back in such a sorry state that she was forced to stand before Lin Xiong.

“Sis!” Lin Xiong clung to her leg at once. “You have to save me! Everything just now was on your orders. If anyone gets beaten, it can’t be me!”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Lin Shui Mei tried to kick him off, but Lin Xiong held on tightly.

“Lin Shui Mei,” Lin Sangqian said with a faint smile, “what do you have to say now?”

“Lin Sangqian!”

Lin Shui Mei glared at her, her eyes nearly spitting fire.

It was all this wretch, Lin Sangqian, who had ruined her!

If only Lin Sangqian were still as easy to bully as before, how wonderful that would be.

How had she changed so suddenly?

“In broad daylight, you sent your younger brother to make a scene at my shop, and now you still dare glare at me?” Lin Sangqian laughed. “You should be thinking about how to get yourself out of this mess first.”

Lin Shui Mei could not help shivering.

“I, this has nothing to do with me...” she said, already sounding guilty.

“How can you say it has nothing to do with you?” Lin Xiong wailed. “It was clearly you who told me to do it! You even threatened me and said that if I didn’t do exactly as you said, you wouldn’t let me stay in the schoolhouse anymore! Oh, and you and our schoolmaster, mmph—”

Before he could finish, Lin Shui Mei hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth.

She did not want everyone here to know that, before she was even married, she had already slept with a man!

“Tsk, tsk. That girl looks decent enough. Who would have thought her heart was so vicious?”

“Exactly. Same age as Miss Lin, yet Miss Lin has already opened a shop and is making a living, while she only knows how to stir up trouble!”

“What was that child just saying? Was he trying to say she and their schoolmaster—”

“Ugh, stop. That’s disgusting.”

Amid the crowd’s murmurs and condemnation, Lin Shui Mei only felt utterly humiliated.

At last, Lin Sangqian understood how Lin Shui Mei and Lin Xiong had been getting by all this time.

Still, she had no interest in thinking further about it. For Lin Shui Mei to seduce the schoolmaster was her own skill.

As for what her eventual fate would be, Lin Sangqian cared even less.

She was only grateful that, back then, she had not sent her two brothers to the Ruwen Academy.

“I, you... just let us go,” Lin Shui Mei said, terrified to the core, almost pleading with Lin Sangqian.

“Sorry, but I’m not in the business of doing good deeds,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile. “When you sent your brother here to cause trouble, why didn’t you feel afraid then?”

By her reckoning, that man should be arriving any moment now.

“Make way! What are you all crowding around for? Don’t you know you’re blocking the road?” Di Qing’s voice rang out at that moment.

Just as expected.

Lin Sangqian remembered that around this time each day, Di Qing usually came by to patrol the street.

Sometimes, he would even drop by at Crunchy Chicken to mooch a piece of fried chicken or a cup of watermelon juice.

Lin Sangqian naturally was not stingy. After all, getting to know the constables brought many conveniences.

The crowd automatically parted to make a path for Di Qing. He walked over, and when he saw Lin Sangqian, his expression immediately softened considerably. “Miss Lin, what happened here?”

Before Lin Sangqian could speak, the onlookers were already talking over one another.

“This child came to Crunchy Chicken to make trouble.”

“Right. He claimed the milk tea from Crunchy Chicken ruined his stomach.”

“But Miss Lin and Doctor Ge both examined him, and there was nothing wrong with his stomach at all. He’s clearly slandering them.”

“He said it was his sister who ordered him to do it.”

“Officer, you really must help Miss Lin.”

From the crowd’s explanation, Di Qing also figured out what had just happened.

When he looked at Lin Shui Mei, she somehow struck him as vaguely familiar.

“Why is it you again?” he said coldly. “Last time someone sent you to try to abduct Miss Lin, and now you’re causing trouble outside her shop again?”

The crowd exploded all over again at his words.

Everyone looked at Lin Shui Mei with disgust, as though she were a filthy fly.

Lin Shui Mei’s mind buzzed, and she felt completely dazed.

What was she supposed to do? In the future, what place would she still have in this town?

“All right, come with me,” Di Qing said. “This time I’m not letting you slip away. That beating is yours for sure!”

Lin Shui Mei wanted to beg for mercy, but Di Qing would not accept it and moved to take her away without another word.

She could only look pleadingly at Lin Sangqian. At that moment, Lin Sangqian suddenly spoke up.

“Brother Di, wait a moment.”