OBS Chapter 373 Preemptive Strike
Chapter 373 Preemptive Strike
The already buzzing restaurant erupted into chaos. At first, everyone was whispering, but as soon as Lin Xiaotang finished speaking, the discussion turned into a heated debate.
A customer exclaimed in shock, "My God, did we hear that right? The restaurant owner's son looks almost three years old, and his father and brothers don't even know that their eldest son has a new baby? This isn't a family! Even if a neighbor's family had a new addition to their household, they would know at least a few years later! This...this..."
"This is too heartless and ungrateful. What's the point of having family like this? No wonder the owner of this restaurant has been running it in this county for several years and I heard he also has a large medicinal herb field of over a thousand acres. We've never heard of him having any other relatives. Maybe he only came to claim kinship because he saw that they were living a life of wealth and luxury?"
A guest asked in confusion, "Hey, I arrived early and heard them arguing in the lobby about wanting to see Shen Qingchuan. The owner of Qianzhenlou is clearly surnamed Lin and named Qingchuan, and another person who doesn't come often is surnamed Shen. So their whole family is surnamed Shen, and the owner of the restaurant is this old gentleman's son and the elder brother of these young people. Then why is the owner surnamed Lin? How can there be a family with two surnames?"
Everyone found it very strange, thinking that there must be something more to it, and they all craned their necks to see the earth-shattering secret.
Old Master Shen was getting on in years and considered himself the father of several sons, holding an absolute position in the family. Now, being discussed by so many guests, he felt he was losing face and was afraid that the matter of dividing the family property would be exposed. So he took the initiative.
"Qingchuan, many things that happened in the past are years ago. Let's not bring up who was right or wrong anymore. Let them go with the wind. There are many children in the family. I neglected you in the past, and you, Feng'er, suffered a lot and were wronged. But in the end, they are all my flesh and blood. I have reflected on this in the past few years, and I will definitely make it up to you in the future. You are the eldest brother, and I shouldn't have made you always give way to your younger brothers. From now on, I will make decisions for you and let you be the proper eldest brother in the family. As the saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father. From now on, those few rascals will all have to listen to you, and I will listen to you more. Whatever you ask them to do, they will do it. Is that okay?"
Ha ha……
Lin Xiaotang almost couldn't help but sneer out loud. Sure enough, the old fox is shrewd. If her father didn't back down after saying such nice words, he would be seen as ungrateful, disrespectful to his elders, and unloving to his brothers.
Within half a day, the guests of Qianzhenlou would surely spread these words throughout Dushui County, making it the talk of the town.
She sneered, "Grandpa, it's such a waste that you've spent all these years as a schoolteacher in Guihua Village after finally passing the imperial examination. You should go to the capital and work as an accountant for a wealthy family. You're really good at making calculations."
Mr. Shen's breath hitched, and his face turned pale and then red. He thought to himself that this brat was the most cunning of them all, and her tongue was always sharper than that of his eldest son and his wife. She never said anything nice.
He suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "Xiao Tang, you're just a little girl, don't act like an adult. You don't even know what you should and shouldn't say, so don't interrupt."
She's not a real child. Whether or not she should speak, or whether or not she interrupted, is for her to judge for herself!
"Grandpa, that's why I say you're good at scheming. Back when the family was poor, the whole family depended on my father and mother to work. You went to school as a teacher, but you didn't even get a few tuition fees a month. All four of my uncles were able to go to school with you, but my father, the eldest son, was the only one who couldn't step into school. Why wasn't he allowed to study? Why don't you tell everyone why?"
Looking at her grandfather's increasingly dark face, Lin Xiaotang felt very relieved. As long as they didn't come to cause trouble, these past events could be forgotten. But as long as they kept causing trouble, these things would resurface and linger.
"Can't explain it, can you? Because there are so many mouths to feed in this big family, and none of the sons you had with your stepmother do any work. Your stepmother bosses my parents around all day, and they just lie down after eating. If my father had gone to school, the whole family would probably have starved to death."
Oh... I almost forgot, Grandpa was a live-in son-in-law. Because my father's maternal family died out and my grandmother also died, you changed my father's surname to Shen and married a second wife who had four sons. My father was the eldest, so it's normal that he did all the hard and tiring work at home. After all, no one cares about a child without a mother, right?
But when the family was poor and life was tough, you didn't respect your eldest son, and your uncles didn't respect their eldest brother either. My parents suffered greatly at home, and after finally separating from the family, changing their surname back, and upholding the Lin family's reputation, they opened a restaurant, planted medicinal herbs, and lived a prosperous life. Why do they all suddenly think of respecting my father now?
Hmph, she's not like her father, who would care about her grandfather's feelings. If she's disrespectful to her elders, she shouldn't blame the younger generation for disrespecting him!
Mr. Shen never expected that his granddaughter's mouth would be even more eloquent than before, and she rattled off all their past stories.
His old face turned deathly pale in an instant, his eyes darted around, and he felt extremely ashamed.
The patrons in the restaurant were talking so much that their spittle flew three feet high.
"Good heavens, I was wondering what was going on. The owner of Qianzhenlou is actually the son of the first wife of the Shen family. This old gentleman is also a son-in-law. No wonder the owner changed his surname to Lin. He was originally a member of the Lin family, and the entire Lin family's property should belong to him."
However, to be fair, this son-in-law's life is truly enviable. Not only did his first wife's family die out and he inherited her property, but he also married a second wife and had several sons.
Let the son of the first wife work to support the whole family, while the sons of the second wife go to school. Brilliant, truly brilliant!
"That's right, these are things that no human being would do. No wonder people say that those who eat into the family fortune of the childless live off the children. Isn't this a living example?"
A woman angrily said, "If I were that first wife, I would be so angry I'd come back to life. We only brought in a son-in-law to keep the family together, but I never expected that after he gave birth to a son, his surname would be changed, our family property would be gone, and my son would be tormented by his second wife's family. They're so inhuman!"
"I never expected there to be such a person in this day and age. I really didn't realize that this is a schoolteacher who came from a family of scholars. What kind of students can he possibly teach?"
"They've produced a bunch of ungrateful bastards!"
"Otherwise, what would people say? Righteousness is often found among the lowly butchers, while ungratefulness is often found among the scholars. This is absolutely true."
Someone looked the four members of the Shen family up and down and said with a sneer, "Look at their shabby clothes. This is retribution. They are ungrateful ingrates and deserve to get poorer and poorer. Lin Dongjia, on the other hand, has opened a restaurant and planted medicinal herbs in this county through his own efforts and is very wealthy. This proves that even God couldn't stand it anymore and blessed the good people, ensuring that the Lin family line will not end!"
"That's right, that's right. Even if some people are heartless and exploit others, they still have their mother's blood in their veins. If they have guts, they can naturally make a comeback!"
"This Mr. Lin didn't just make a comeback; he started from scratch..."
"Sigh, I must have suffered so much in the past..."
"Having a father and brothers like these is truly bad luck..."
"..."
"..."
The guests were talking amongst themselves, pointing and whispering about the four members of the Shen family.
Most of the people who come here to eat are wealthy and come from well-off families, so they are not afraid of trouble and dare to speak their minds.