Chapter 167: Farming: Saving the Substitute Husband 10

Jin Chen frowned suspiciously, feeling it wasn't that simple.

Not long after, the village clan elder was indeed summoned, leading a crowd mightily toward the Jin Family.

Jin Chen glanced at the clan elder and village head, smirking sarcastically.

This didn't look like they had just prepared and hurried over.

It seems Jinbei had long plotted this, just waiting for me to come down the mountain.

"Husband, what should we do?"

Yelin had never seen so many villagers gathered before, and still worried Jin Chen might run into trouble.

"It's fine, I'll handle it."

Jin Chen showed no fear, even openly embracing his husband in front of everyone, too lazy to even glance at the burly men and the clan elder gathered in the middle.

"Shameless! Corrupting morals!"

The clan elder shouted, neck stiff.

He commanded great prestige in Fengshu Cun, also the elder in charge of the ancestral hall, no less than the village head, just stubbornly obstinate.

Jin Chen lazily lifted his eyes, "Your idioms are pretty good, better than Jinbei's."

"Jin Chen! Shut up!"

Jinbei immediately flushed red with anger, neck thick.

He claimed to be a scholar, studying since childhood, destined to become a licentiate—how could he compare to a country bumpkin?

"Enough, what's all this noise for!"

The clan elder coughed a few times, his hoarse voice full of vigor, "What exactly happened?"

Madame Song seized the chance, bursting into tears on the spot, every word accusing Jin Chen of lacking filial piety and wanting to exterminate their family of three.

"What? Ten taels of silver?"

The clan elder and several other elders were startled; they'd lived in Fengshu Cun their whole lives and never seen so much silver.

"Jin Chen! Explain why you're demanding so much silver from your uncle's family!"

The clan elder darkened his face, speaking unkindly, already judging Jin Chen and the shameless Shuang'er in his arms as greedy villains.

"My father died in an accident, and not long after they showed up claiming to care for me. Though I was young, I knew some worldly ways—saying they'd look after me, they were probably just after the silver and the house."

Jin Chen spoke as if recounting someone else's tale, emotionless yet logical, showing no trace of sorrow in his eyes.

"I refused the first day, and the next I hit a tree and became an idiot—what a coincidence that it happened while I was chopping wood with my uncle on the mountain!"

Jin Lao San trembled all over upon hearing it, seeming unable to face it, and shrank back.

"All I want now is ten taels of silver; my father's estate back then was surely more than twenty taels."

Hearing this, the villagers who had come to watch the show began to whisper among themselves.

They'd all lived in the village for decades; if anyone else claimed to have that much silver, they'd refuse to believe it, but given Jin Chen's father's hunting skill, there really was a chance.

An aunt whispered, "Never mind his father back then—even the now-not-stupid Jin Chen could have gotten this much silver in just a few days. Not to mention that tall horse, just the clothes on Yelin's back would be worth several taels."

The speaker was the village's famous seamstress, whom anyone with torn pants or clothes sought for mending; hearing her say that, who could still doubt?

"Goodness, clothes worth several taels of silver! Yelin's living well!"

"If you ask me, he took his sister's place to marry in, perhaps because he knew Jin Chen was no longer an idiot."

"Alright! No more talking!"

The clan elder tapped his wooden cane, the villagers' muttering annoying him; he'd been receiving favors from Jinbei daily, so even if the Jin Family had no justification today, he still had to voice some reason.

"Don't say your guess is baseless; just say your uncle's brother moved in to care for you, then once you're not stupid you demand silver—truly unfilial!"

Jin Chen chuckled, "You have filial piety? Then you give it to them."

"You!" The clan elder, who had domineered the village his whole life, couldn't stand being looked down on by a youngster; his white hair flew up in rage, "What an unreasonable person!"

"Keep this up! Aren't you afraid of being expelled from Fengshu Cun!"

Jin Chen smiled again, "You talk as if I still lived in the village."

He yawned, lazily hugging his fragrant, soft husband, chin resting on his shoulder, "They're so annoying, Linlin, what do you think?"

After all these days, Yelin had long grown used to Jin Chen's occasional intimate contact, naturally turning his head to let Jin Chen lean more comfortably, and also said.

"I also find it noisy, noisier than Fortune's nightly howling."

The listless 0731, basking in the sun, flicked its tail, showing great dissatisfaction with this.

"Yelin!"

Beside the clan elder, Shuang'er the granny glared at Yelin, "In broad daylight, how can you, a ger, be so shameless! It's no wonder you'd say such things!"

Yelin glanced at him, looking aggrieved, and shook the corner of Jin Chen's shirt.

Jin Chen clicked his tongue, kicked out hard, striking the granny's chest and sending her flying out of the crowd, where she landed with an "ouch."

The nearest Madame Song turned pale with fright, not daring to wail anymore.

"You gossipy busybody, my husband's affairs are none of your business to lecture."

After kicking, Jin Chen added, turning to the also‑startled clan elder, "Where do you get all this nonsense? Taking a silver ingot from Jinbei and turning black‑white, you're a living King of Hell."

He released Yelin, strode forward, grabbed the fleeing Jinbei, and punched him hard in the face, his features instantly swelling.

0731 instantly rose, roaring wildly at the people rushing to help, fierce and brutal, biting anyone it caught.

The Jin Family's outer courtyard instantly descended into chaos.

Madame Song and Jin Lao San treated their only son as their lifeblood, crying and shouting as they tried to pull the two apart, but Jin Chen kicked them both, sending them sprawling, unable to get up for a while.

Finally, the village head stepped forward, loudly ordering Jin Chen to stop, barely managing to halt him.

At this point Jinbei had been beaten beyond recognition, swollen worse than a pig's head, saliva and vomited blood mixing into a disgusting, horrifying sight.

Jin Chen released his grip and flung the rising Madame Song and her husband aside.

"This is a warning—if you don't pay by tomorrow, I can hit even harder."

The clan elder almost got bitten by 0731; at his age he was nearly frightened into being unable to catch his breath, his face turned deathly white as he panted heavily, looking at Jin Chen as if he were a devil.

Husband, are you injured?

Yelin finally waited until they finished fighting, then hurried over to Jin Chen's side, anxiously grabbing his arm to examine it closely, her brows furrowed with worry.

"I'm fine; Jinbei is just a good-for-nothing who lacks even the strength to truss a chicken—how could he possibly hurt me?" Jin Chen then embraced his husband, patting him reassuringly.

The village chief let out a deep sigh, then walked up to Jin Chen's side and said, "Young man Chen, for the sake of my friendship with your father, could you do me a favor?"

Please speak.

Jin Chen said.