Chapter 84: Handling and Deterrence
The crowd was even more curious when they heard Lin Qi’s angry voice come from Lin Yuelan’s hut. What was inside the hut that everyone who entered the room came out cursing and swearing?
Lin Qi exited the house with Lin Dawei and Lin Yiwei’s help. His walking stick knocked heavily on the ground.
His face was livid, and he angrily questioned the three people sitting by the door, “You three are preposterous! What a disgrace!” Lin Qi was really disappointed.
Then, Lin Qi walked toward Lin Yuelan. He looked a little embarrassed as he said, “Girl, although this matter is their fault, we all come from the same village. How about you find it in your heart to forgive them? After all, they’ve learned their lesson from being scared by your tiger, haven’t they? They didn’t do much other than mess up your house, right?”
Lin Yuelan then was sure that Lin Qi was not going to be on her side. Perhaps, he was not even angry. He scolded the three women so that he could use that as leverage when negotiating with Lin Yuelan.!!
Lin Yuelan surmised that Lin Qi was someone who loved face. He was trying to protect the Lin family Village’s reputation. After all, there were suddenly not one but four new thieves in the village. Plus, they didn’t steal from a normal house. But instead, they had stolen from a girl who had been chased out of her family. If word of this got out, Lin Family Village would lose face.
Lin Yuelan couldn’t accept Lin Qi’s arrangement. Even Lin Dawei and Lin Yiwei didn’t agree with it.
Lin Qi was clearly trying to sweep the matter under the rug. These people were thieves and bullies. If they were forgiven so easily, the villagers would use this excuse to continue bullying Lin Yuelan. They knew that they wouldn’t be punished severely anyway.
Based on the rumor she heard, Lin Yuelan had expected this reaction from Lin Qi. But would she go along with his arrangement? If she did, her life would be hard in the future.
Lin Yuelan stared at Lin Qi with determination and defiance in her eyes. She said sharply, “Great-grandfather Qi, if these people only came to my house and made a mess of it, I’d let it go. However, great-grandfather Qi, the thirty taels of silver, and a hundred silver bank note that I had in the house are also gone. Everything that I bought yesterday is now lying around them. They have done far more than just riffling through my house.”
Lin Yuelan was not going to submit so easily. The villagers came to a boil once they heard Lin Yuelan.
Thirty taels of silver and a banknote for a hundred taels of silver. This was a sum that they wouldn’t be able to earn even if they worked their entire lives in the fields. But now, they had been stolen by Li Cuihua and her gang.
In an instant, many villagers looked at them with envy.
Some of them were envious of Lin Yuelan’s wealth, but some were also envious of Li Cuihua and her group, who had the foresight to come early to steal from Lin Yuelan. Thankfully, they were caught, or else they would have enjoyed a good life with those silver. Therefore, those who envied Li Cuihua started to feel better.
They even felt lucky that they had decided to steal from Lin Yuelan later because if not, they’d be the ones lying on the ground now. This was not something that they could recover from.
These people started to have greedy thoughts again. The jinx had said the tiger for 400 taels of silver. Li Cuihua and her group had only gotten away with 150 taels, so it meant that the rest of the silver was still inside the hut.
Therefore, they had to find an opportunity to sneak into her hut. Perhaps, they could find the remaining silver.
It was not just one or two people who had such an idea. There were many people. Everyone was greedy. Even though they knew it was wrong, they couldn’t reject the easy money.
These were the quality of the people in Lin Family Village. They didn’t want others to get better things than they did. If someone did well, they would curse them in their hearts. When someone failed, they would comfort them on the surface, but they’d mock them behind their back.
Even though Lin Yuelan had only transmigrated for three days, she had a good grasp of the villagers’ thoughts. Therefore, she wouldn’t go along with Lin Qi’s arrangement for her to suffer this loss silently. She would not compromise!
Lin Qi’s face turned ashen. He glared at Lin Yuelan with anger. He thought the girl would cower under him, but she was not so easily bent.
She knew that he wanted to protect the village’s name, but she had purposely opposed him in public. Lin Qi asked sternly, “little girl, do you know what you’re saying?”
Lin Yuelan replied firmly, “Great-grandfather Qi, I know what I’m saying. These people are trying to deprive me of the tools I need to survive, so it’s impossible for me to let them go.
“Besides, if I forgive them, doesn’t this mean that I would be expected to forgive everyone who steals from me?
“If everything that I gain from me risking my life can be taken away whenever people feel like it, how am I supposed to live? Great-grandfather Qi, don’t you agree with me?”
Lin Qi was old and stubborn. He knew that stealing was wrong, but the village couldn’t have thieves to tarnish theLin family Village’s reputation.
Even though the thieves had been caught red-handed and everyone knew about it, he still wanted to cover it up. He assumed that everything would be over once he berated the culprits.
However, the girl refused to cooperate.
Just as Lin Qi was about to berate Lin Yuelan, Lin Yiwei stepped forward and said to him, “Uncle Qi, I know you’re trying to protect the Lin family Village’s reputation by covering up this matter.
“But you saw the situation inside the girl’s house. Look at what these people have done to her home. Can she still live there? Plus, they have not only taken away the new things Lan ‘Er has bought but also her 130 taels of silver. We can’t just let this go.
“If Lan ‘Er decides to bring this to court, the lightest punishment the four will receive is two years in prison, and the heaviest will be decapitation!
“Then, the reputation of our village will really be ruined!”
Lin Qi glared at him and shouted, “She wouldn’t dare to bring this to court!”
Lin Yuelan sneered sarcastically and said sharply, “Why wouldn’t I dare? These people don’t give me the chance to live anyway, so why should I give them the chance to survive?”
The crowd became silent!