Trouble Upon Trouble, How to Troubleshoot

Among the crowd.

Lin Chen's gaze was sharp, and he took a step forward. First Aunt was so scared she retreated several steps.

"Lin Chen, you... what are you going to do?"

"First Aunt, what are you afraid of? You are an elder. How could your nephew not understand the hierarchy between elders and juniors?"

Lin Chen's words made First Aunt breathe a sigh of relief. "Since you know, then..."

"Since First Aunt has said this much, then this nephew also has something to say that I've kept bottled up." Lin Chen's gaze swept over his grandfather Lin Chaoyang, not lingering at all. This old man was just a stranger to him now.

The desolation on the old man's face only made him feel better inside.

"When Lin Ming entered the Martial Arts Hall, the family paid two guan a month. Every ten days or half a month, First Aunt, you would take eggs and eels caught by the family to the Martial Arts Hall to supplement Lin Ming's health. In the half a year this nephew was in the Martial Arts Hall, the family never even asked about me. We are all grandsons, so why such differential treatment?"

First Aunt pursed her lips, wanting to argue, but couldn't find a way to, because what Lin Chen said was the truth.

"It wasn't easy for the family to support Lin Ming's martial arts training, and this nephew understood that. I even made an agreement with grandfather that if I could pass the half-year assessment at the Martial Arts Hall, the family would then provide money to support my martial arts training."

"Because I had no money, this nephew couldn't afford meat at the Martial Arts Hall and was ridiculed by other students. Gu Fei and two other villagers can testify to this."

"This nephew finally passed the Martial Arts Hall assessment, but how did grandfather act?"

Lin Chen's face showed sarcasm. "He just dismissed it with a simple 'we don't have money.' My mother said she would borrow money, but he disagreed. I really thought he was afraid the family couldn't repay the debt, but it turns out he was saving the valuable Land Deed to borrow money for Lin Ming."

"This nephew could tolerate the grievances in front of others, but the betrayal from family, this nephew absolutely cannot accept."

"How can I acknowledge a grandfather like this? From the night we split the family, my family and yours are already two separate families."

Every word cut deep, every sentence was a question.

First Aunt's face was pale, and she dared not meet Lin Chen's gaze.

The villagers present looked at Lin Chen with sympathy. They knew Lin Chaoyang was biased, but they never expected it to be to this extent.

Aren't they all grandsons?

If the youngest grandson is promising, they should let the youngest grandson learn martial arts.

Seeing the sympathetic looks from the villagers, Lin Chen wasn't surprised. Half the reason he said these words was because he had held them in for a long time and had to let them out.

The other half was specifically to say to the villagers. His family and his grandfather had no more ties. He, Lin Chen, would not acknowledge this grandfather.

He had cultivated Essence Energy. If he didn't make things clear, who knew if his grandfather and First Aunt wouldn't use his name to pull strings behind his back again.

"If you don't want the ancestral land to be lost, then take out the Land Deed. My family and Second Uncle's family can pool the money. Or does grandfather think that this land is only considered not lost if it's with First Aunt's family, and if it's with Second Uncle and my family, it's considered lost?"

After speaking, Lin Chen looked directly at his grandfather Lin Chaoyang. He wanted to see what decision this biased grandfather would make at this point.

Lin Chaoyang mumbled a few times but couldn't make a sound. The Village Chief on the side couldn't help but say, "Chaoyang, Lin He and Lin Jiang are also your sons. Dividing the land among them doesn't count as losing the ancestral land. If you lose the land, how will you face the ancestors of the Lin Family in the future?"

By the end, the Village Chief's voice was a bit heavy.

Originally, Lin Chaoyang's biased and unfair treatment as a grandfather was a Lin Family matter, and even as the Village Chief, he couldn't easily interfere. But now it was different. Lin Chen had cultivated Essence Energy, which was a good thing for the entire Lakeside Village.

Lin Chen was going to the city to learn martial arts. The ones staying in the village were Lin Jiang and his wife. The few acres of barren land Lin Jiang received were practically nothing in terms of family property. In a few years, when Lin Chen made a name for himself in martial arts, his entire family would just move away.

Dividing those few acres of ancestral land to Lin Jiang would at least provide a sense of connection.

"Divide it. As long as the debt is repaid, those few acres of land from the eldest son's family will be divided between you two brothers."

Lin Chaoyang finally agreed. After saying this, his already hunched back seemed to collapse, completely losing all spirit.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, your family takes four acres, and my family takes one acre. Is this distribution acceptable?"

Lin Chen looked at Second Uncle, who nodded. Second Aunt's mood was better now, and she said between sobs, "Little Chen, you can decide."

"Dad, Mom..."

"No need to ask. Mom agrees, just do as Little Chen says." Mother Lin immediately agreed.

Lin Chen looked at the strong man. "Fifteen taels, you can come back tomorrow to collect it."

The leading strong man said in a booming voice, "Okay, we'll come back tomorrow."

Come back my foot!

He wouldn't come back tomorrow even if you beat him to death. If someone came, it would be someone else.

The strong man left with his people. The Village Chief looked at Lin Chen and said, "Little Chen, let's go welcome the people from the Martial Arts Hall."

"Okay," Lin Chen nodded, then looked at Second Uncle. "Second Uncle, go to town and invite a doctor. Explain Brother Hui's situation to the doctor first and ask the doctor to bring good medicinal herbs. Don't be stingy with this money."

Usually, when villagers went to town to invite a doctor, the doctor would prescribe medicine, and the villagers would then go to a pharmacy to get the medicine. Of course, the doctor could also bring the medicinal herbs, but the price would be more expensive.

Second Uncle left in a hurry. Second Aunt and Mother Lin helped Lin Hui home, sighing as they walked, "You still have to learn martial arts. Look how impressive Little Chen is. Sister-in-law... you'll be enjoying a comfortable life from now on."

"How can I enjoy a comfortable life? Learning martial arts will probably cost more money later. Besides, as a mother, I still have to save money for Liang'er to get a wife. I won't be biased like some people."

"With Little Chen as his brother, is Liang'er still afraid of not finding a wife? Many girls probably won't even ask for a dowry and will want to marry into this family."

Second Aunt flattered her, and Mother Lin's laugh stretched her crows' feet long. Several village women followed alongside, all saying pleasing things.

Lin Chen and his father followed the Village Chief to greet the celebratory party not far away.

Only the grandfather, Uncle, and First Aunt were left in front of the ancestral home.

"Dad." First Aunt looked at her grandfather with a pitiful expression.

His grandfather shook his head, his expression dejected. "Everything is my own fault. I'm old now and won't be managing things anymore."

Seeing her grandfather turn and hobble into the house, First Aunt was a bit unwilling. She turned to her Uncle beside her and said, "This land..."

"Enough." Uncle suddenly glared at First Aunt. "Little Chen wasn't wrong about one thing. To let Lin Ming practice martial arts, we really did let the second and youngest sons down too much. Since Ming'er has cultivated Essence Energy, he can walk his own path from now on. As his father, I can't help him anymore."

"Lin Hai, what do you mean? Now you're talking about brotherly feelings? Do you think your nephew is about to become successful, so you, as his Uncle, want to be the good guy? You didn't object when Dad didn't give Lin Chen any money back then."

"What do you know, you woman!"

"I don't know? If I wasn't saying good things in front of Dad every day, serving your father more attentively than my own, would Dad have given Ming'er so much money?"

Lin Chen was unaware of the argument between Uncle and First Aunt, and even if he had been, he wouldn't have paid it any mind.

At this moment, he was entertaining the team from the Martial Arts Hall who had come to announce the good news.

What surprised Lin Chen was that the team was led by Steward Zhang. It was only after Steward Zhang spoke to him privately that he learned this was arranged by Instructor Yu.

This kind of congratulatory ceremony hadn't happened before.

Unless he had officially joined the Martial Arts Hall and placed in the Martial Arts Hall competition, only then would the Martial Arts Hall arrange for someone to announce the good news, and the Martial Arts Hall would also send people to accompany them.

Lin Chen only needed a moment's thought to understand why Instructor Yu had done this.

He had told Instructor Yu about his family's situation, so Instructor Yu was creating an opportunity for him to show off.

Steward Zhang and his team sat at Lin Chen's house for a while. Lin Chen's inner rooms weren't large, so some villagers directly moved tables and chairs from their own homes to the Lin Family courtyard.

Seeing this scene, the other villagers also reacted immediately, bringing over any melons, fruits, or pastries they had at home.

This was a great opportunity to curry favor with the Lin Family.

Everyone knew that from today onwards, the Lin Family was about to soar.

Steward Zhang sat in the courtyard for about half an hour, praising Lin Chen's performance in the Martial Arts Hall to the skies, causing gasps of astonishment from the villagers sitting in the courtyard and those listening outside.

Lin Chen found it amusing as he listened. Steward Zhang had a talent for storytelling. His own relatively uneventful time at the Martial Arts Hall became a tale of twists and turns in Steward Zhang's mouth. How it twisted... anyway, it was a good way to brag about himself.

After completing his bragging mission, Steward Zhang took his leave, and the villagers were still somewhat reluctant to see him go.

"Little Chen getting first place at the Martial Arts Hall is a great joyous occasion for our village. In my opinion, our village should hold a banquet tomorrow..." the Village Chief said with a smile.

"Village Chief, that might be a bit too ostentatious. I haven't even joined the Martial Arts Hall yet."

Lin Chen frowned. He hadn't thought about holding a banquet; that stuff was expensive.

However, Father Lin and Mother Lin's eyes lit up. As parents, there was nothing that made them prouder than seeing their child succeed.

Holding a banquet would mean that the entire village, and even other villages, would know that their son had cultivated Essence Energy and was even the first place at the Martial Arts Hall.

"Little Chen, don't worry about this. This is our village's custom. I will personally handle it for you."

Hearing the Village Chief say this, Lin Chen knew that the cost of the banquet would be covered by the village. Seeing his parents' expectant eyes, he nodded and agreed.

"Alright, if you want to watch the excitement, come back for the banquet tomorrow. Everyone else, head back for now."

The Village Chief dismissed the villagers and then whispered a few more words to Lin Chen before leaving. As Lin Chen watched the Village Chief depart, he fell into thought.

"Chen'er, did the Village Chief mention something to you? If it's difficult, then we'll just cancel this banquet. I'll go talk to the Village Chief," Father Lin asked, somewhat worriedly, seeing his son standing still in place.

"Dad, the Village Chief told me something good. It's related to Scholar Jiang."