Shrewd wife of Lin brothers

Chapter 501 Lin Chen’s memories.

Ever since he was a child Lin Chen had been different from his brothers. His elder brother was agile on his feet and knew how to set traps and hunt games, his second brother was quick-minded and knew how to make a profit from even the smallest thing, Lin Rui was smart and he knew how to use things to his advantage and Lin Yu- he was loveable enough to make others dote on him without any slightest doubt. Only he alone was born with a body that was like a troll, Lin Chen has been taller than his peers and his strength was no joke either, just one hit was enough to make anyone go dizzy but that was all he had- he wasn’t quick on his feet and couldn’t catch a game even if his life depended on it, unlike his eldest brother who was silent as a ghost, Lin Chen was like an elephant that was running wildly in the forest when it came to hunting.

And his mind wasn’t exactly sharp when it came to all that profit and loss mathematics that his second brother can do within seconds, asking him to calculate this and that was simply asking for his life! 

As for reading poems and writing them that was even harder for him, he couldn’t even think of any proper words that he can use to write a poem to describe his feelings, and why will he write a poem to tell others how he was feeling? If he was sitting by a river enjoying a cup of wine while watching the moon, he will just say it in words that were that were understandable enough alright? But that wasn’t good enough for the so-called scholars either, they called him uncouth when his father took him to the academy to get him registered in the end the chance was given to Lin Rui who gallantly rose to the task and fulfilled it.

Even Lin Yu was better than him at least he knew how to use that loveable appearance of his to his advantage, can someone like him whose body that was twice of the men in the village even act all adorable? He didn’t think so, if he were to act all cute then the aunts and the girls in the village might think of him as someone who was creepy. His tough face couldn’t be used to sell meng.

And with his big and sturdy build no one in the village liked to play with him, they even called him ‘Giant Chen’ behind his back, when he found out the name that he was being called by the kids in the village, he laughed and said that there was nothing wrong with that but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t hurt, after that he stopped playing with the kids in the village and tried to forget that ugly nickname that he was called.

When his father got lost in the sea,  everyone in the family rose to their feet to earn money. Lin Chen did the same too, he believed that he wasn’t good with his feet and his fingers weren’t nimble enough but he will definitely make money with his strength. He will do something about the situation he was in and bring lots of money for his mother. Thus, he went to the docks and worked hard for an entire day, after a day of hard work he returned to his house with the money that he earned. He was proud of his first salary but when he returned home, he found out that the money he earned through his physical labour was a lot less compared to his brothers. His eldest brother sold the game that he hunted for fifty cents, his second brother who worked as an accountant at a shop earned sixty copper coins, and even Lin Rui who copied the books at a scholar’s house earned fifty copper coins. Heck, even Lin Yu who sewed clothes with their mother earned more than him – only him alone earned twenty copper coins. 

After a day of work compared to his brothers he earned the least amount of money.  Lin Chen’s confidence shattered again and he couldn’t even bring himself to say anything. Though his mother said that he worked hard and there was no need for him to do so, he still felt like she was telling him to stay at home and do nothing since him going out and working wouldn’t make a difference. 

Lin Chen knew his mother didn’t mean it like that but his low self-esteem took it in that sense. 

His mother who was proud of the achievements of her sons boasted about it, the villagers all praised them for working hard and looking after their mother but when he went out they all talked behind his back, calling him a burden saying that he was useless and a bumbling idiot who only knew how to eat twice the amount of his brothers and nothing else.

Then Lin Chen started to cut the size of his meals.  When his mother asked why he was doing that, he just said that he was worried about their family’s condition but then two weeks later all the people who called him a bumbling idiot started avoiding him and his brothers cut started to cut their meals too, when asked why they were doing so they just repeated what Lin Chen has said earlier – now that he thought about it, they all were idiots.

Lin Chen slowly gained his smile but then the incident with Lin Yi happened, he was beaten until he died- surrounded by men with unfamiliar faces who stomped on him without listening to a thing that he has to say, Lin Chen cursed his big physique that looked like a thug because back then he was the only one beaten up while his second brother was let off, what did those villagers say? Yes. When they took a look at his second brother their first words were ” eh? You don’t look like a thug.” That was all they said and then they started beating him. 

And if that wasn’t enough his second sister sort him out later on and said those cruel words to him, ” You know Chen, I have always hated you. You act all kind and nice like you care about your family but you are just pure selfish, you ate like you were some sort of a hungry ghoul and let us all starve! Do you know how many times we have to go hungry because of you? Who eats like that, you idiot? If you earned that much money I wouldn’t have said anything but you are just – how can you be so useless and eat everything? Such a hypocrite! If you are going to be a burden at least know your place and let us all have our fill why eat when you aren’t going to do anything, you bumbling giant.”

He wasn’t a hypocrite, he really cared for his family but he never knew that because of his big appetite, his family went hungry. 

Bumbling giant that was what his second sister called him and the look in her eyes was filled with nothing but disgust. Maybe she was right but- it was fine if the villagers were the ones who called him that but when his sister called him-

” oh” Lin Chen who was washing the dishes, felt something warm trickle down his cheek and hurriedly wiped his tears, dang it. If anyone saw him crying-

” Here you go, use this or else you will get the soap in your eyes” a small hand holding a petite looking handkerchief stretched out in front of him and Lin Chen was shocked speechless.