One Household Register

  Lin Jingcai had been thinking about coming here for many days, and he hadn't seen Lin Ruhai even once, but now the opportunity had finally arrived.

  This eighth day of April is Lin Ruhai's birthday. The government had been preparing for many days in advance. On the actual day, the front outer courtyard was bustling with people coming and going to offer gifts and congratulations. Lin Ruhai, mindful of his official reputation, closed the door and refused guests, and didn't even go to the yamen, instead holding a small gathering with family members in the inner courtyard.

  On his birthday, his son always comes to give him a head bow. Jia Min is reluctant to let Lin Jing appear in front of Lin Ruhao, but on the surface, he still does it very well, and today he has someone bring Lin Jing to the main house early.

  Lin Jing followed Feng Pozi and had just passed on the message outside the main room, when he was allowed to enter. As soon as he entered the house, Lin Jing saw a middle-aged man sitting in the middle of the door, slender and handsome, a beautiful uncle, no need to say anything else, that must be his father Lin Ruhai.

  Lin Ruhai saw this "son" come in, and didn't even greet him or ask how he was doing. He just stared blankly, his eyebrows furrowed slightly before relaxing again, his eyes sliding right past Lin Jing's body as if there was no one there at all.

  Lin Jing naturally knew that Lin Ruhai didn't like his current self, but seeing him in this state, he couldn't help but feel a pang of surprise.

  Lin Jing's face was dull and timid, but he didn't miss the fleeting look of delight on Jia Min's face. Then, he heard Jia Min say in a gentle tone: "This child is probably fond of being foolish. Come, kowtow to Master and wish him a long life." After that, she gave a nod to Feng Baozi behind Lin Jing.

  Mrs. Feng immediately gave Lin Jing a push, and quickly said: "That's right, I've been teaching Jing Ge some auspicious words these two days." She deliberately lowered her voice and reminded him, "Jing Ge, kowtow to the old master and say 'I wish the old master good fortune, peace and prosperity, may every year be like this day, and may every year have a day like today'."

  Lin Jing knelt down and kowtowed, stuttering out a few short sentences. In her heart, she was coldly laughing, thinking that the back house was indeed a place where people were killed without seeing blood. Who had taught her these things? It was just that now she said this, not wanting Lin Hai to think that he himself was a useless piece of wood, uncarvable and stupid.

  Originally, I was thinking of ways to prevent Lin Jing from appearing in front of Lin Ruhai, but now that this unavoidable scene has occurred, it's even more necessary to splash dirty water on Lin Jing and intensify Lin Ruhai's disgust towards him. Incidentally, it's also a good opportunity to show off Jia Min's magnanimity, listen to what she said, isn't it just to make excuses for Lin Jing?

  Lin Jing, even if he didn't know the ancient etiquette, he should have seen that when meeting elders, one should ask after their well-being, which is also a basic courtesy for modern people. Now, his behavior is not only somewhat calculating but also intended to test Lin Hai's attitude. The result, however, was far from pleasant.

  It's said that ancient people attached great importance to the etiquette of ruler and subject, father and son. She just now showed no manners at all. As long as Lin Hai still treats her like a daughter, he must scold her severely. The sage has said, "If you don't teach your child, it's the fault of the father."

  Ke Lin Hai saw her, but didn't ask or care, treating her like air. What does this show? It shows that Lin Hai doesn't care about her life or death, so he can't be bothered to mention her, pretending not to see her, and probably doesn't consider her existence in his heart either.

  If we look at it from a different angle, with Lin Ruhai and Jia Min as the male and female leads, based on Lin Jingyuan's decade-long experience in writing Taiwanese Hokkien, I can say without hesitation that this is a typical Taiwanese Hokkien novel. You see, the male and female protagonists deeply love each other, but then a third party appears, causing misunderstandings between them. The female lead endures the pain and wants to help the third party and the male lead, but the male lead is deeply in love with the female lead and doesn't care about the third party. He analyzes his feelings for the female lead, clears up the misunderstanding, and they get back together. The third party also gets their due punishment and is left out in the cold. As for the child of the third party, it's completely unnecessary - who would even care? Of course, to show the male lead's deep love for the female lead and her kindness, the author must write that the male lead doesn't care about the child at all and wants to abandon them, but the female lead says that the child is innocent and should be raised and educated. The male lead is once again moved by the female lead's kindness and their love deepens, becoming unshakeable until death!

  It's just that when reading books, the love story of the male and female protagonists can be so touching. But now, in Lin Jing's situation, it really is a case of "the words are right but the situation is wrong".

  Putting aside those unnecessary things, Lin Jing only wants to live a good life. Now that she has figured out Lin Ruhai's attitude towards her, Lin Jing still needs to think carefully about her future plans.

  Lin Jing stupidly paid his respects, stupidly wished him a long life, and entertained a large crowd. But still, some people were not satisfied.

  Lin Jing just stood up and heard a soft voice laughing and saying: "Brother Jing is going to celebrate the old man's birthday, what gift has he prepared?"

  Lin Jing raised his head to look in the direction of the sound, then quickly lowered it again, looking as if he was too timid to glance around. With this one glance, he saw a young woman dressed like a lady sitting on a stool rather than a chair, smiling and covering her mouth while talking.

  The girl looked quite good, wearing a peach-red dress and dressed in a flowery green. Looking at her attire, Lin Jing had some suspicions about her, but she lowered her head, as if wanting to curl up into a ball. The girl didn't stop there, continuing: "Look at your sister, so small, yet she wrote a longevity couplet for Master. As the older brother, you're two years older than your sister, what gift have you prepared?"

  Upon hearing the three words "your sister", Lin Jing naturally knew that it referred to none other than the celestial maiden Lin Meimei.

  Actually, from the moment she entered, Lin Jing had been circling around the house, of course, mainly to take a look at Lin Ruhai and Jia Min, but Lin Meimei was not ignored either, sitting right under Jia Min's hand, it was hard to ignore her.

  Now she heard the woman mention it, and looked up to take a glance. The little girl was indeed delicate, but looked thin and small. Of course, precisely because of this, her own frail body, which had been weakened by abuse, didn't seem out of place either.

  I have been fond of "Dream of the Red Chamber" since my last life, starting from junior high school. I extremely like this great work and Lin Daiyu is my favorite character. Every time I read about her death, I cry once for every time I read it.

  Of course, that's just limited to the characters, now, Lin Jing is indeed a bit entangled with this little girl.

  Let's put it this way, to make an improper analogy, if your neighbor is not on good terms with you, often quarrels, has smashed the glass of your house, and scratched your car, then even if their daughter is as beautiful as a goddess and has a unique temperament, you won't necessarily get close to her or like her. Not disliking her family's entire household register is already a good thing. And let alone worshiping her, wanting to save her, treating her with all your heart and soul... what? Excuse me, are you sure you're not an M?

  Now, Lin Jingyuan's own life has been ruined, and she herself is struggling to make a living under Jia Min's control. The piercing gaze of Lai Erjia's family surrounds her all the time, and she has to pretend to be stupid and timid all the time. How can she possibly truly love the current Lin Meimei?

  Lin Jing naturally knew that what these adults did had nothing to do with a little girl, and Lin Mei was innocent. But human emotions are like this, would you be kind to the children of your enemies? If it were really possible, then where did the saying "the father's debt is paid by the son" come from? In those stories of revenge, if one didn't wipe out the entire family, including ancestors and descendants for three generations, they would probably be ridiculed as being too soft, or even be called a holy mother Mary.

  Lin Jing certainly couldn't do anything to hurt the little girl, nor would he deliberately dislike her. However, his reserved liking for Lin Mei could only remain in the two-dimensional paper book. As for now, he could only take it one step at a time and plan carefully for the future. Some things are better left to unfold naturally.

  Lin Jing was still thinking about the complicated thoughts here, Jia Min spoke up, "Bai Niang's words reminded me. But I forgot to put out the birthday gift for Brother Jing. Brother Jing found a good inkstone from Fang some time ago and asked me to take a look, saying it was going to be a birthday gift for Master. Huai Yi, go get the box on the case inside."

  What? How can Jia Min help herself?

  Lin Jing was slightly surprised, but after turning it over in her mind for a bit, she understood.

  To say, all these days, she came over to ask for peace twice a day. Not to mention that she had never met Lin Hai, but even the eldest daughter and that precious child had not seen her before. Not having seen Lin Hai means that Jia Min didn't like her showing off in front of Lin Hai, and not having seen the eldest daughter and that little kid is also for the same reason. Listening to these titles, Daiyu is the eldest daughter, with a ranking, but that child, very straightforwardly, is just "brother", while she is not the big brother, only Jingge'r. What do these imply?

  This white aunt, mouth and mouth saying you are my sister, also said that she is doing brother's business, I don't know if she wants to flatter Jia Min or not. As a result of a momentary lapse, her hand slipped and patted the horse's hoof, or was it intentional to provoke Jia Min?

  Bai Yiniang's thoughts were temporarily ignored by Lin Jing, who only secretly looked at Lin Hai.

  Just now when the white aunt spoke, Lin Hai was very dissatisfied, frowning tightly. Others might have mistakenly thought that Master's dissatisfaction was because Lin Jing didn't know to prepare a birthday gift for his father. But Lin Jing guessed that this was because he disliked the white aunt being too nosy, and this child Lin Hai had already ignored her, yet she still wanted to repeatedly bring it up, truly having no insight.

  Now, Lin Hai glared at Bai Niang with a stern expression, "Too much talk!", then turned to face Jia Min with a gentle tone: "How could a young child like him find such good things? Madam, you're too kind-hearted."

  This principle, everyone knows in their heart, but Lin Hai said it so bluntly, and adding the previous sentence "talkative", is like a slap in the face to Bai Niang.

  The white girl's face turned pale, her body swayed, and she lowered her head.

  Jia Min gently pulled Lin Hai and softly called out "Master", shaking her head with a hint of meaning.

  It turns out that Lin Jing originally thought this was her debut show, but now it seems like it's actually the loving couple Lin Hai and Jia Min's affectionate show!

  (slept for a bit)

  Book is not easy to get, asking for clicks, asking for long reviews, all kinds of requests ~

  If you have a friend who likes it, can you help promote it? Thank you!