Chapter 161: The Crybaby Mother-in-Law

Mrs. Lin was so frightened that she dropped the food box aside, hurriedly holding her son, and screamed, "Son, son, what’s wrong with you?"

Lin Ziqi already had a headache, and his mother’s shouting pierced his eardrums, making his head throb as if someone were pounding it with a sledgehammer.

Qin Siyuan, who was studying hard in his room, was called over. He saw Lin Ziqi holding his ears tightly, lying on the ground, motionless, and his clothes soaked with sweat. Mrs. Lin was crying and begging everyone to take her son to the clinic.

Qin Siyuan and two classmates quickly carried him on their backs, and Mrs. Lin followed, crying and wailing that if something happened to her son, she wouldn’t want to live anymore.

At the clinic, the doctor felt his pulse but didn’t find anything. He checked the tongue and eyelids and only said that Lin Ziqi was probably too hot and overworked from studying, but it wasn’t heat stroke.

The doctor stroked his beard, pondered a while, and finally wrote a prescription to cool the body and calm the heart.

Mrs. Lin did not pay, only sobbed.

Qin Siyuan had no choice but to front the payment for the consultation and medicine.

Half an hour later, Lin Ziqi slowly woke up.

The clinic’s apprentice had already prepared the medicine. Mrs. Lin fed it to her son herself, advising him earnestly: "Ziqi, you need to take care of your health better. Spring exams are not far off. If something happens to you, wouldn’t we waste three more years? I’m getting old, I can’t bear this."

Lin Ziqi quickly said, "Mother, I’ll be more careful about my health in the future."

After taking the medicine, Lin Ziqi got up, found he could move normally, and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "It’s nothing, it’s nothing, probably just from the heat."

Seeing that it was late, Lin Ziqi coaxed his mother to go home, while he and Qin Siyuan returned to the Imperial College.

It was only when Mrs. Lin got to the alley by her house that she remembered she had left the food box at the entrance of the Imperial College, so she hurried back to find it.

The gatekeeper of the Imperial College said, "The food box has already been handed to Lin Junren."

Mrs. Lin thanked him repeatedly, and by the time she got home, all the lights were out, and the kitchen was cold and empty, with nothing left for her.

"What’s the point of living, I might as well not live," Mrs. Lin cried in the courtyard, having worked till so late without a bite to eat or a drop to drink.

The courtyard that Lin Ziqi rented was extremely small; any slightly loud noise could be heard by the neighbors.

As Mrs. Lin cried, the neighbors were all aware of it.

Even though it wasn’t right to visit so late, they could still peek over the fence to see what was going on.

"The old lady of Lin Junren next door is crying again. Ever since Lin Junren got married, the old lady has cried countless times."

"Isn’t it so, Lin Junren is studying at the Imperial College, and his wife doesn’t honor the old lady. Lin Junren doesn’t even know."

Qin Wan was also full of pent-up anger.

She originally wanted to see Lin Ziqi, but not only did Mrs. Lin beat her to it, she didn’t return once she left.

Qin Wan waited and waited but didn’t see them. Thinking Lin Ziqi and his mother might have eaten together, she ended up eating by herself. There was still a lot left, and since it was so hot and easy to spoil, she threw it all out.

She had just gone to bed, still fuming, when she was awakened by Mrs. Lin’s sobbing.

Mrs. Lin didn’t cry in her own room but sat in the courtyard, sobbing, keeping everyone awake.

Qin Wan was outraged but couldn’t scold Mrs. Lin, so she tried to vent enough to calm down before getting up to change and ask Mrs. Lin, "Mother-in-law, why are you crying in the courtyard? Is something wrong with Ziqi?"

Mrs. Lin cried, "Why wouldn’t I cry? My life is hard. I have a son who only knows how to study and understands nothing. I worked hard on a hot day to bring him a food box without even hiring a carriage, returning to a cold stove and nothing to eat."

Qin Wan asked in surprise, "Didn’t Ziqi ask you to have dinner together?"

Mrs. Lin was at a loss for words.

If she said that, people might think her son was unfilial.

Ignoring Qin Wan, she wailed, "My poor son, my poor son, got sick from studying. Every day he studies hard, and now he’s sick from the heat. I took him to the clinic; who has time to eat?"

Only then did Qin Wan realize Lin Ziqi was ill and worriedly asked, "What’s wrong with Ziqi? Is it serious?"

The maid standing nearby understood and immediately said, "If the Old Madam hasn’t eaten yet, I’ll cook some rice porridge."

Mrs. Lin cried again, "There was clearly a table of dishes, and you didn’t leave me any. Do I mean anything to you?"

Qin Wan tried to comfort her all night, but instead of soothing her, it riled her up even more.

Neighbors leaning over the walls gossiped about her, claiming she was unfilial, only cared about herself, and didn’t leave any soup for her mother-in-law while sending food to her husband.

Qin Wan, infuriated, also started crying, shouting about wanting to return to her parents’ home.

The commotion kept both neighbors awake, even attracting the Military Department patrol, who scolded them from over the wall, finally calming things down.

By the next morning, Mrs. Lin rose early out of hunger to cook, only making enough for herself and, after eating, went around lamenting that having a daughter-in-law was useless; she went to her parents’ home all the time and didn’t leave any of the good food for Mrs. Lin after delivering it to her son.

In Mrs. Lin’s mouth, Qin Wan was lazy, bad, and unfilial.

The maid overheard and told Qin Wan.

The previous night’s issues hadn’t subsided when Mrs. Lin once again slandered her, infuriating Qin Wan, who went after her to confront her in front of everyone: "Ever since I entered the Lin Family, all our food, clothing, and expenses depend on my dowry. Every visit to my parents’ home, I bring you food and necessities. When you enjoyed them, you didn’t mind my going back. Now you criticize me. Yesterday, with the meal silver, I bought groceries from my own pocket to make something nice to send to Ziqi. You insisted on delivering it yourself. I had already gone to bed; how would I know you hadn’t eaten? I waited until the food almost spoiled before daring to eat. I threw out the leftovers. I dared not make any mistakes while now being accused of not saving food for you. Apparently, you disapprove of me. How about I move back to my parents’ home while Ziqi studies at the Imperial College, so I’m out of your sight?"

Qin Wan, having lived a lifetime, had no trouble causing a scene.

Mrs. Lin couldn’t argue, so she sat on the ground, crying pitifully.

The crowd, initially thinking Mrs. Lin went too far, now switched to advising Qin Wan to respect her elders, acknowledging it wasn’t easy for Mrs. Lin to raise Lin Junren as a widow.

At this moment, Qin Wan understood what Mrs. Cui meant when she said Mrs. Lin cried too much and feared Qin Wan would suffer.

"Mother, I can’t do this anymore; I’m investing time and money to be disliked. Mother, I want to go back to my parents’ home."

Qin Wan, no longer caring about Mrs. Lin’s cries, grabbed her maid and rushed home to pack jewelry and silver notes to return to the Qin Mansion.