Chapter 16

Ah, moral coercion. Too bad, Lin Tian didn’t fall for it.
She said, “Sorry, I won’t forgive you. I was sitting here quietly waiting, and you insisted on coming down from your high horse to criticize me. Not even my mother-in-law treated me like this, let alone you, who are nothing more than distant classmates. Huaqing is so big, and he has so many classmates. If I forgave you today, would you all have the right to interfere in our private life, and then a simple ‘sorry’ would settle it?”
Xue Li, dissatisfied, asked, “Then what do you want?”
Lin Tian smiled unconcernedly. “I don’t want anything. I just don’t want to say ‘it’s okay.’ Apologizing is what you should do, but forgiving you is not my obligation. Not everyone who makes a mistake deserves forgiveness.”
Her words carried weight. As Xue Li was about to retort, Yang Jiajia tugged her sleeve to stop her. “Comrade Lin Tian, we truly know we were wrong.”
Lin Tian glanced at her, uninterested, and returned to eating.
Chu Ci stood in front of her and addressed the three girls: “You should leave. I will report today’s incident to your department heads. Do not disturb my wife again. She’s pregnant, and I will hold you accountable. Today, she was strong. What if it had scared someone else?”
Chu Ci’s firm words forced the three girls to slink away.
The little farce was over. Onlookers either praised Lin Tian and Chu Ci or thought they were too aggressive. Xu Yuan looked at Lin Tian admiringly. “Sister-in-law, you’re amazing. I thought you might be at a disadvantage, so you called Chu Ci over? But he trusts you so much, taking his time to finish getting food before coming.”
Hearing this, Lin Tian smiled at Xu Yuan. “Is that so?”
Xu Yuan nodded. Chu Ci, observing Lin Tian’s expression, knew she had been angry, after all, the three girls came in his name.
After chatting briefly, Xu Yuan left, but Lin Tian invited him over for a meal sometime, and he naturally agreed.
Once Xu Yuan left, Chu Ci hurried to explain: “I was thinking you couldn’t go hungry. Next time, I’ll come immediately.”
Lin Tian wasn’t upset about that. She just thought Chu Ci was troublesome sometimes. But since some of his actions were good, she said, “Next time, handle this yourself. And are you really going to tell their department heads? Will that even work?”
Chu Ci picked up a piece of food for her and said, “It probably won’t do much, at most they’ll get a verbal scolding. But they will have to face the consequences of what they’ve done. And I need to vent a little for you.”
Lin Tian finally smiled. “Good, you know your place.”
Chu Ci rubbed his nose, a little helpless, yet inexplicably relieved.
After Chu Ci finished his exams, he had more free time during summer vacation.
Lin Tian, however, became busier. After getting to know their neighbor, Aunt Ma, more thoroughly, she thought teaching Aunt Ma and Dong Juan to make cold dishes was a good idea.
She first tested the waters by asking their opinions. Aunt Ma was bold and open to business, and even Dong Juan didn’t object.
So Lin Tian straightforwardly asked if they wanted to learn the recipes, and proposed splitting the profits forty-sixty.
Aunt Ma had hesitated initially, but after tasting Lin Tian’s cold dishes once, she quickly agreed.
With the affirmative answer, Chu Ci helped her draft an agreement, one copy for each of them.
Aunt Ma wasn’t very skilled, but Dong Juan turned out surprisingly capable and well-suited for this task. The cold dishes she made from the recipes were about two-thirds as good as Lin Tian’s, which was already impressive.
They didn’t sell the dishes openly. Lin Tian came up with the method: Aunt Ma would give small portions to nearby neighbors, Professor Ma’s colleagues, her son’s colleagues, relatives, etc.
The portions were small.
But people in that era had never tasted such delicacies. They savored every bite and soon felt compelled to pay for them.
Fortunately, the environment at the time was more lenient than before.
So every morning, Lin Tian went to Aunt Ma’s house, either guiding Dong Juan or helping Aunt Ma sell the cold dishes.
After some time, Aunt Ma’s dishes became well-known locally. For Lin Tian, this was a simple word-of-mouth effect.
Her cold dishes were similar to marinated dishes, perfect for summer, especially when it was hot and people didn’t feel like cooking. Lin Tian had also given Aunt Ma many recipes.
That morning, she went to Aunt Ma’s as usual. Chu Ci stayed home working on something, and she told him before heading next door.
Halfway there, a father and son arrived. Aunt Ma’s face immediately dropped.
Curious, Lin Tian watched as the older man, trying to be polite, held a bag of apples. “Sister-in-law, I never visited after my brother returned. Seven or eight years, right? Your nephew has grown, greet your elder aunt properly.”
He nudged his son. The boy quickly responded, “Hello, elder aunt. I often played at your house when I was young. It’s nice to see you again.”
Aunt Ma’s face darkened even further, sneering: “I don’t acknowledge that. Your father publicly cut ties with us. Call whoever you like ‘elder aunt,’ I don’t care.”
Lin Tian finally understood their relationship.
Professor Ma’s younger brother laughed awkwardly. “Sister-in-law, I was foolish back then. But the child is innocent. He’s still my brother’s nephew, so I apologize. We’re family; we can’t truly sever all ties, can we?”
Aunt Ma wanted to kick him out immediately but decided to let him decide, remembering he was family. “Then you should go see your brother. Come back when he’s here.”
Because of them, she had closed the door. Meanwhile, she didn’t know if she’d missed any potential buyers for the cold dishes.
But they weren’t here to see Professor Ma, they’d heard his wife was making money selling dishes. They were interested in the recipes and came to cozy up.
Humbly, the man said, “Sister-in-law, even without your brother, you can handle things. I just came to show goodwill. Our families should maintain contact.”
He glanced toward the kitchen and nudged his son: “I hear you’ve been busy. Let Ma Rong stay here to help.”
Ma Rong had just graduated high school and hadn’t been accepted to college, spending his days idle at home.
Upon hearing this, he quickly agreed. Knowing the recipes, he could sell them himself later if he wanted.
Lin Tian saw through their schemes. As the saying goes, “Flattery hides ulterior motives.” They hadn’t visited all this time and suddenly appeared now, she wasn’t fooled.
Before Aunt Ma could speak, Lin Tian called her inside.
Ma Fengshou didn’t recognize the beautiful pregnant woman and ignored her, this was a private matter. He only saw the two enter, and then Aunt Ma came out alone.
Afterwards, Aunt Ma’s face darkened further. She threw the fruit back at Ma Fengshou and scolded, “Get out. I never want to see you again. Ma Fengshou, you’re heartless. Your brother raised you and helped you marry your wife. Later, when your wife divorced you, leaving Ma Rong at five, my brother asked me to raise him. And you, when he was reported, severed ties without hesitation. Years later, not a grain of rice sent. Now that there’s benefit, you crawl back. Heartless man, get out of my house.”
Ma Fengshou’s face shifted between green and white. He sneered, “If you’re that ruthless, don’t blame me for being unfeeling.”
He took his son and left. At least he was straightforward once exposed.
Aunt Ma clutched her chest in anger. Dong Juan hurried to help her sit, awkwardly saying, “Mother, calm down. He won’t come again.”
Lin Tian wasn’t so optimistic; Ma Fengshou seemed like he still had schemes.
After resting a while, Aunt Ma finally recovered.
She looked at Lin Tian: “Xiao Lin, luckily you were smart enough to see through them. If they had come a few more times, I might have wavered.” She sighed: “Ma Rong was good when I raised him, but now his father has spoiled him. You’re going to be a mother too, children’s upbringing is important.”
Lin Tian nodded and reassured her, not revealing her own suspicions, and went home.
Chu Ci was doing wood carving, recently obsessed with making toys for their unborn child. Though not skilled, Lin Tian never discouraged him.
Seeing her come home early, Chu Ci was puzzled: “Why are you back so early?”
Lin Tian told him what happened at Aunt Ma’s and asked, uncertainly, “What do you think Ma Fengshou might do next? He won’t let this go.”
Chu Ci put down his tools and said: “Two possibilities: he asks Professor Ma for help, sending his son over to try his luck. Or he reports Aunt Ma. Although people usually turn a blind eye, there’s no official order yet. If reported, your business would definitely be shut down.”
“I just made a few days’ profit, and this happens,” Lin Tian sighed.
“What will you do?” Chu Ci asked.
“Better to stop for now,” Lin Tian said. Even if being reported probably wouldn’t cause a major issue, Aunt Ma’s family didn’t know that.
“Don’t be upset. Stopping is fine. I’ll take you sightseeing around Beijing. You’re almost six months pregnant. The doctor said soon you won’t be comfortable going out.”
Hearing this, Lin Tian instantly forgot her worries about money and looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Really?”
Chu Ci smiled: “Of course.”