Good Man Operation Guide

Chapter 146.2: Ancient Farmers' Son (3)

They never expected that this third brother, who usually seemed cold and indifferent, would be so caring towards his wife.

Even if they despised Lin Shiheng to the extreme, they couldn’t deny that as a husband, he had a decent appearance and good temperament, completely different from the other men in the village.

Why did we end up marrying plain-looking, unthoughtful farmers while Lin Lanlan was that lucky?

Bitterness filled their hearts, and they whispered in a low voice, “She thinks she’s a young lady from a wealthy family, acting so delicate.”

“I think it’s just because Third Brother has just gotten married. It’s still fresh. Give it a few more days, and he’ll return to his annoying self.”

“Yes, I heard that Li Lanlan’s father didn’t even accompany her to the village entrance yesterday. Without the support of her maiden family, who knows how she might be affected.”

As they spoke, their resentment subsided.

Indeed, Li Lanlan was good-looking, and now it seems that Lin Shiheng also liked her But so what? Her father isn’t good.

Suddenly, the eldest daughter-in-law clapped her hands, “Second Sister-in-law, let me ask you, Li Lanlan’s father is known for sending his own money and food to other families. I heard that when the third sister-in-law’s mother was alive, he went to her maiden family asking for money, claiming to do good deeds. That made the other family so angry that they cut off ties with him. Now that Third Sister-in-law has married into our family, will her father come to ask Third Brother for money?”

“That can’t be true.” Second daughter-in-law usually wasn’t interested in gossip, but upon hearing that, she found it quite unbelievable, “How thick-skinned must he be to do such a thing? Isn’t he afraid that by doing that, Third Sister-in-law would be despised in her own household?”

“If he truly cared for his daughter, he wouldn’t have run away yesterday. Personally, I don’t think it’s impossible.”

The eldest daughter-in-law was feeling very pleased. After the last confrontation, she enjoyed nothing more than witnessing the misfortune of the third daughter-in-law.

“Let’s wait and see. When the Li family comes knocking on our door, let’s see if Third Brother still loves Third Sister-in-law that much.”

Her guess wasn’t entirely wrong. The afternoon after Li Lanlan’s arrival as a newlywed, Father Li came to their home.

He came to borrow money.

The story behind it was quite long, but to put it briefly, he had been helping a family. That family lived in the neighboring village, Changhe, and had only one son who was a hunter. He earned a good amount of money every month and married a beautiful wife. The wife gave birth to a son in their second year of marriage, making them winners in life.

However, one day, the hunter was bitten to death while hunting in the mountains. His father couldn’t bear the shock and passed away too, leaving behind an old woman, a young child, and the beautiful widow.

One day, Father Li saw the widow when he was helping someone build a house. She wasn’t only beautiful but also pitiful. Even though she was a weak woman, she had to fetch water for herself, appearing pitiable. He went up and offered his assistance.

The widow expressed her gratitude to him, and since then, Father Li became the jack-of-all-trades in her family, even lending them money.

Yesterday, the widow’s mother-in-law fell and injured herself badly. He had to take her to town, so he couldn’t tend to his daughter. The widow’s mother-in-law’s injuries were severe, and the doctor required a fee for the treatment. The widow cried, her tears flowing like pear blossoms, claiming that her family was poor and couldn’t afford it, begging Father Li for help.

Father Li promised her that he would definitely provide the fee for the treatment, but he had no money.

Whenever he had money, he would use it for good deeds, so now he didn’t have enough money to cover the treatment fee.

Although he had some money on him now, it still wasn’t enough for the treatment fee.

Yesterday, Father Li was busy taking care of the widow’s family in town. It was only in the morning that he remembered this matter and awkwardly told the widow about it.

The widow burst into tears once again, her tears flowing. After crying, she cautiously asked Father Li, “Didn’t you say that your daughter got married yesterday? Can’t you borrow some money from your son-in-law’s family? You’re all family, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

If we were to say that Father Li had some conscience, although doing good deeds always took priority over his daughter, he still had Li Lanlan in his heart. Upon hearing the widow’s suggestion, he immediately rejected it, saying that his son-in-law’s family was also struggling, and he wouldn’t be able to borrow money from them. It would only make things awkward between the two families.

The widow cried pitifully, tears falling down her fair and beautiful face. In a soft voice, she pleaded, “I had no other choice but to ask Brother Li. I just thought that Scholar Lin is at least an educated man, and since you, Big Brother Li are in-laws with his family, he must be as kind-hearted as you...”

Father Li couldn’t bear to see her cry so miserably, and his thoughts immediately wavered.

He was borrowing money, not refusing to repay it. He could borrow money to overcome the crisis and repay it later.

After all, it was a matter of life and death.

With that in mind, Father Li set off immediately and arrived at the Lin family’s doorstep in the late afternoon.

When he arrived, Lin Shiheng was reading inside the house, and Li Lanlan was sweeping the courtyard. She heard the sound of the door and went to open it. When she saw it was her father, her expression instantly turned sour.

Upon seeing his daughter, Father Li rubbed his hands together and forced a smile, saying, “Lan Lan...”

It was this smile that seemed to show great affection for his daughter that made Li Lanlan’s eyes instantly turn red.

It wasn’t because she was touched, but because she was angry.

“What are you here for?”

Seeing that his daughter was unhappy, Father Li’s smile faded a bit awkwardly from his face, “I’m just here to see how you and your husband are doing...”

Li Lanlan was furious and sarcastically laughed, “Are you really that kind-hearted? When you left me alone yesterday, why didn’t you think about whether I was doing well or not?”

She was really heartbroken.

In yesterday’s situation, if anyone in the Lin family had an objection, Li Lanlan would be sent back the same day and would never get married for a lifetime.

How could his heart be filled with so much foolishness that he would even abandon his own daughter?

“1-1 had an urgent matter, you don’t know, the elderly lady from Changhe Village fell...”

Li Lanlan held back her tears and was about to close the door, “I don’t want to hear any of this, just leave.”

“No, wait, Lan Lan, I came today because I have something to discuss with my son-in-law...”

Under Li Lanlan’s incredulous gaze, Father Li revealed that he wanted to borrow money from his son-in-law to help the elderly lady.

She was initially stunned for a second, then tears streamed down her face as she turned around to grab a broom and chase him away.

“Are you really my Father?! Just when my life was starting to get a little better! You’re not happy for me, are you? Do you have a relationship with someone else? I’m your own daughter, aren’t I?!! Leave!! Just leave me alone!!”

“Hey, Lan Lan, Lan Lan...”

Father Li dodged her angry swings, feeling aggrieved and puzzled.

Amidst the chaos, when the eldest and second daughters-in-law came out to watch the commotion, and Lin Shiheng appeared.

He directly called out to Li Lanlan, “Lan Lan, let Father-in-law come in.”

Li Lanlan weakly lowered her hand, glared at her father with resentment, and with teary eyes, turned and entered the house.

As soon as she entered, she threw herself on the bed and burst into loud sobs.

Father Li stared at his daughter’s retreating figure, then looked at Lin Shiheng, and forced a smile, “So, you’re my son-in-law, right?”

Lin Shiheng also smiled at him and said, “Father-in-law, it’s me. You can call me Shiheng.”

“Come in, Father-in-law, please come inside.”

Father Li felt delighted and quickly entered the house.

As soon as he sat down, before he could say anything, he heard the scholar in front of him, dressed in a long robe, let out a long sigh and said, “Father-in-law, you came at the right time. I was just planning to seek you out.”

“You don’t know how difficult it is for me. My father is bedridden, my family has split, I need money for my education, and my mother, at such an old age, still has to work...”

Blah blah blah, blah blah blah.

When Li Lanlan finished crying, she rubbed her eyes to calm herself down, and was about to go out to tell her husband not to lend any money, the curtain was lifted, and Lin Shiheng walked in.

Seeing his wife, the scholar smiled lightly and handed her the money in his hand.

“Lan Lan, this money is from your Father. Keep it.”