The wicked sister-in-law is in charge; meals include fish and shrimp.

Chapter 126: Stay with me to the end

Lin Huaizhi, who was standing at the doorway, pushed himself up. A crowd of onlookers had gathered, pointing and whispering about him. Several people who had seen him and Guo Wencai coming and going from Chunxiang Garden were talking to their friends about it.

"Hey, isn't that the county magistrate's son's new mistress? I saw them together the other day!"

"Oh, don't tell me it's you, I saw it too!"

"I never expected the county magistrate's son to have such tastes! He looks just like a scholar!"

The men tried to keep their voices down, but Lin Huaizhi still heard them. He instantly felt so ashamed that he wanted to disappear into the ground.

Those watching the commotion became interested and started asking what had happened. The discussion grew louder and louder until they were almost asking the people involved themselves.

"What kind of filth are you spewing from your mouths!"

Zhang Chunhua heard the group of people calling her son a male prostitute from afar, and she ran over in anger, waving the bundle in her hand:

"I'm telling you, you idle good-for-nothings! My son is a real man, how could he be a gigolo! Get out of my way!"

She pushed the crowd away and grabbed Lin Huaizhi, "My dear son, someone sent a message saying you're sick? What happened?"

She barely had time to look at Lin Huaizhi when she saw that he had two bruises around his eyes and a bloody, scabbed nose, which startled her so much that she almost dropped the bundle in her hand.

"My darling, who hit you like this? I'll kill them!"

Zhang Chunhua gently blew on her son's eyes, but Lin Huaizhi impatiently brushed her away, saying, "Who else could it be but Wen Luozhi? That brat is too rude!"

If she hadn't exposed herself, there wouldn't have been so many people watching the spectacle, and no one would have dug up her past.

Even if he had ten mouths, he couldn't explain himself now!

Zhang Chunhua gritted her teeth in hatred and said, "Mother is going to find that wretched girl right now! I'll make sure her whole family pays several hundred taels of silver!"

"No need to look for Aunt Zhang, I'm right here."

Just as Zhang Chunhua was about to rush out into the street, Wen Luozhi leaned gracefully against the door, arms crossed, smiling as she watched the mother and son, who looked like monkeys.

Her eyes fell on Zhang Chunhua and she almost couldn't help but laugh. If she remembered correctly, today was the last day of the unlucky charm's validity.

I don't know what kind of bad luck she had a few days ago, but she looks pretty unlucky now.

His hair was messy with a few weeds stuck in it, and his clothes had several holes in them. He looked disheveled and unkempt.

Zhang Chunhua got angry when she saw Zhao Laohan's indifferent attitude, so she got up very early to hitch a ride on Zhao Laohan's oxcart.

Because she wanted to save money, she sat at the back of the cart and only charged one coin. As a result, halfway there, the oxcart ran over a stone, and she was shaken off and fell into the grass by the roadside.

Thinking about going to the academy, she specially changed into a newer outfit today, but it ended up getting a few holes torn in it.

Zhang Chunhua wanted to grab Wen Luozhi, but Jun Qianzi came out and coldly said to the mother and son, "Your son has no money to buy medicine and wants this girl to pay. They are not acquainted, so it's reasonable for him to hit her."

"Auntie, are you planning to cause trouble in front of my clinic? Then let's go to the authorities; I also want to get an explanation."

He had never seen such a spineless and unprincipled scholar. It was bad enough that he had contracted that venereal disease, but he even had to ask a young girl for money. It was a disgrace to his culture. All his education had gone to waste.

Some people initially felt that Lin Huaizhi had been beaten rather badly, but after hearing what Jun Qianzi said, they couldn't feel any sympathy for him at all.

This grown man is really struggling to make ends meet. That little girl, who looks no more than thirteen or fourteen, is shameless for asking him for money.

Gradually, voices began to condemn him from the surrounding area, along with increasingly loud and sarcastic remarks.

Lin Huaizhi buried his face in his hands, wanting nothing more than to leave this troublesome place as quickly as possible. As for medicine, which family didn't have it? Did he really have to buy it at this run-down clinic?!

Zhang Chunhua shrank back when she heard that she was going to the government office. If she went to the government office, wouldn't her son's reputation be ruined? Besides, after all, her son didn't seem to be quite right either.

She was still scared when she thought of Wen Youcai, who was crazy all the time. If she were really locked up in jail, she would go crazy!

But she couldn't swallow this insult! Her son was destined to become a scholar and a wealthy man; how could he be bullied like this?!

So she put her hands on her hips and said arrogantly, "You hit my son, you have to compensate my son with money!"

She felt that there was nothing wrong with what she said, while the onlookers around her were full of sighs.

How shameless! It truly proves the saying "bad bamboo produces bad shoots"! What good can a mother like that raise? What good is a scholar anyway?

He was the one who asked the young girl for money, and she got angry and that's why she hit him!

Wen Luozhi snorted coldly, "No money, but if you want to report me to the authorities, I'll fight you to the end!"

Anyway, she wasn't afraid at all. She didn't believe Lin Huaizhi would dare to take the imperial examination!

Lin Huaizhi was so angry that his chest heaved. He didn't care about being improper at this moment. He grabbed Zhang Chunhua, pushed through the crowd, and rushed out.

Reporting this to the authorities would be unacceptable! Absolutely not!

The county magistrate is Guo Wencai's father. If this is reported to the authorities, won't he be exposed? If this matter gets to the academy, he's finished!

He had previously thought of using Guo Wencai's relationship to make things difficult for Wen Luozhi, but now that he thought about it carefully, it was simply not going to work and he couldn't extricate himself from the situation!

"Mother! You should go back now."

When he reached the entrance of the academy, he lifted his leg to step inside, but Zhang Chunhua reached out and grabbed his hand. "Son, are you alright?"

Aside from the injuries on his face, she couldn't see anything else, but just that made her heart ache.

That damned Wen Luozhi! How could she hit so hard!

"Mother will take you to see a doctor!"

As she spoke, she reached out to pull him away, but Lin Huaizhi took a step back and said, "I'm fine, you should go back quickly."

He was feeling very upset and just wanted to go back and tidy himself up, since he looked quite disheveled.

Hopefully, this won't get out!

The effects of the medicine he applied seem to have worn off, and he's starting to feel a little uncomfortable. He needs to go back and reapply the medicine as soon as possible.

"My son, why don't you come home with me? I'll talk to you!"

As Zhang Chunhua spoke, she had already stepped into the academy, which startled Lin Huaizhi, who quickly pulled her out.

He usually tells his classmates that his mother runs a small business and his family is quite well-off. If he goes in now and people see his mother's appearance, they will definitely become suspicious!

"Mom! I have medicine here. I'll ask for leave in a little while and study in my dormitory. How can I concentrate on my studies when I go back?"

Zhang Chunhua's eyes darted around. It wasn't the first or second time that the group of peasants from the village had disturbed her son's reading with their noisy noise when they passed by her house.

My son is going to take the imperial examination to become a scholar! It seems better for him to rest at the academy and study properly there!

Thinking this way, she didn't insist. She simply took out a small tael of silver from her sleeve, stuffed it into his hand, and said to Lin Huaizhi, "Take this silver. Buy some good food to nourish yourself later."

Lin Huaizhi naturally didn't care about one or two taels of silver now, but he still took it and walked inside without looking back. He still had hundreds of taels of silver at home! One or two taels wasn't even enough to buy a piece of ink!