Chapter 193

Yes, such a gruesome job, who would dare to take it?

Lin Qingshuang dared.

Her embroidery skills had always been good, and besides, that corpse was not someone else, but her own mother who loved her to the bone, so Lin Qingshuang was naturally not afraid.

But her father, Lin You Tian, did not agree, "Shuang'er, you are not yet married, so you absolutely cannot touch such bad luck."

If it spread, let alone finding a husband, she wouldn't even be able to marry into a good family.

Lin Qingshuang, however, was indifferent, "At worst, I'll be an old maid for the rest of my life; I don't care."

She didn't care, but Lin You Tian could not afford not to care.

Anyway, no matter what Lin Qingshuang said, Lin You Tian just wouldn't agree. In the end, he spent two taels of silver to find a blind old woman in the village, who fumbled around and sewed Aunt Lin's head and body together.

The coffin was also temporarily pieced together from a few wooden boards, and she was stuffed into it along with the straw mat that had wrapped the corpse earlier.

A layer of burial goods was spread on top, which were nothing more than the old clothes Aunt Lin used to wear, the bowls, chopsticks, and spoons she used daily, and a porcelain pillow.

Then the funeral was held in a rush.

It is worth mentioning that none of Lü Xiue's maternal relatives came, and they even threatened to sever ties with the Lin family.

They even scolded the Lin clan member who delivered the message, saying that Lü Xiue had harmed others and herself, dragged down the reputation of her maternal family, and caused the niece's already-arranged marriage to be called off by the man's side, and so on.

That Lin clan member returned in low spirits and was also in a bad mood.

He simply ran to the Clan Head to complain.

Now this was good; the Lin Clan Head thought about it and it seemed to be the case. How did Lü Xiue die? She broke the law and was beheaded by the county magistrate.

Such an insidious and vicious woman, yet she was a wife of the Lin family; if the ancestors knew about this, could they still keep their coffin lids down?

No, Lü Xiue must never enter the Lin family's ancestral grave!

Several clan elders discussed it and called Lin You Tian over, taking turns to force him to write a letter of divorce and burn it in front of Lü Xiue's corpse.

Since she was no longer a member of the Lin family, she naturally could not be buried in the Lin family's ancestral land.

Lin You Tian had no choice but to finish it hastily, burying his wife of many years in a desolate and remote place far from the village, without even a tombstone.

"Xiue, don't blame me; I was also forced."

Lin You Tian knelt in front of that dirt mound, sighing while burning paper, "They said that if I didn't agree to divorce you, I would have to adopt a boy from the clan and leave all the family property to that boy in the future."

"The family business we worked so hard to save naturally should be left to Shuang'er; why should it be given to an outsider? Don't you think so?"

"So Xiue, you must understand my difficulties..."

Before he finished speaking, a cold breeze blew by, rolling up a few withered yellow leaves and hitting his mouth.

Lin You Tian inexplicably felt a bit creeped out.

His eyeballs rolled around, and then he tugged at Lin Qingshuang, who was kneeling beside him, "Alright, Shuang'er, don't be too sad; it's getting late, let's hurry back."

Lin Qingshuang said "um" and stood up.

The father and daughter left the desolate graves and walked toward the village.

Not until they entered the village entrance did Lin You Tian breathe a sigh of relief and have the mood to talk to his daughter.

"Shuang'er, tomorrow I will go to Matchmaker Hua's place and let her find a young man for you as soon as possible to settle the marriage."

Lin Qingshuang's steps paused slightly, "Why so anxious? Mother just passed away; how could I have that mood?"

"It is precisely because your mother just passed away that I am anxious."

Lin You Tian enlightened her, "According to the rules, when your mother passes away, you must observe mourning for two years before you can get married. But you are already nineteen; if you wait another two years, you will be twenty-one. By then, besides those crooked melons and cracked dates, where will there be any good ones left?"

Lin Qingshuang bit her lip and remained silent.

Yes, for the sake of Jiang Li, she had dragged herself into becoming an old maid.

But in the end, it was all for nothing, and even her mother's life had been sacrificed...

"The only way now is to get married during the period of deep mourning. So Shuang'er, you cannot continue down this dead end. If there is a suitable, honest man, I will make the decision to recruit him as a son-in-law. You have no objections, right?"

As he spoke, Lin You Tian turned his head to observe his daughter's expression.

Lin Qingshuang was still like a mute, with not a trace of expression on her pretty face, which was not exactly fair.

Clearly, she was unwilling.

However, Lin You Tian had already made up his mind; with the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers, this time, he would absolutely not let his daughter have her way again.

"Don't blame your father for acting on his own; I'll tell you the truth."

Lin You Tian sneered, "Those uncles and brothers of yours are not good people; they have long been eyeing our house, fields, and the more than one hundred taels of silver in the box. They are wishing for me to die early; as long as I die and our family has no son, they can take the opportunity to 'eat the extinct household'."

"'Eat the extinct household'?" Lin Qingshuang was finally moved.

"That's right, 'eating the extinct household'!"

Lin You Tian gave his daughter an ultimatum, "We only have two paths now: either recruit a son-in-law to keep the family business, or if you are really unwilling and still thinking about that damn Jiang Li, it doesn't matter; if you refuse to marry, I will marry."

Although he was over forty, he had been the village head for these years and was not short of food or drink at home, so he was quite well-maintained.

Marrying another wife, it was not certain that he couldn't produce a son.

Anyway, no matter what, the savings he had worked so hard to earn, even if thrown into the big river, must never benefit those wolf-hearted brothers!

Lin Qingshuang understood Lin You Tian's words.

She began to weigh the pros and cons in her heart.

People often say that with a stepmother comes a stepfather; now her father's thoughts were all on her, his daughter, but once the stepmother entered the door, it would be hard to say.

After all, the power of pillow talk is enormous.

For example, Jiang Li; although he didn't give her many good looks in the past, he had never been as cold and heartless as he was now. If she said that Du Shi had no contribution to that, she wouldn't believe it.

Therefore, there must not be a stepmother.

Then there was only one path left.

Lin Qingshuang clenched her handkerchief and nodded with difficulty, "Fine, Father, I will listen to you."

"Then it's settled," Lin You Tian was overjoyed, "Don't worry, Shuang'er, Father will definitely pick a good one for you, one hundred times, one thousand times better than Jiang Li!"

Lin Qingshuang twitched the corners of her mouth.

So what? Even if he were ten thousand times better than Jiang Li, he still wouldn't be Jiang Li.