Chapter 196 Shameless_1
Lin Yue was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when she heard the sound of crying and fussing outside, which seemed to be Zhao Yunxiang’s youngest son, Lin Youjin. A few children were causing a ruckus outside, but it wasn’t clear what had happened. Lin Yue quickly went out to see what was going on, and Lady Liu also came out after hearing the noise.
"What’s going on here? What are you making a fuss about? Ajin, why are you crying? What happened? Tell your auntie." Lin Yue might not have liked Zhao Yunxiang, but she would not take it out on the children, so she gently pulled Lin Youjin aside and asked.
"I want the wooden sword. Auntie, can you ask my brother to give it to me, please, please?" Even though Lin Youjin had been spoiled by Zhao Yunxiang, it wasn’t to say that he wasn’t clever. In fact, the boy was rather cunning, but he was using his wits in the wrong ways. Seeing Lin Yue approaching and speaking to him softly, he grabbed her sleeve and began to pester her relentlessly, as if he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Lin Youjin was the youngest in the family and had been pampered by Zhao Yunxiang since he was little. Whenever he saw something he liked, he had to grab it for himself. The little wooden sword was made by Dalang and his brothers as a gift for Zhao Dahuo’s son, Zhao Lin, and Lin Youjin, upon seeing it, insisted on taking it. Dalang and his siblings were somewhat like little tyrants in the village and certainly wouldn’t put up with Lin Youjin’s demands, and so the children ended up in a commotion.
Lin Xiaoxiang saw her brother insisting on taking someone else’s belongings. This wasn’t like it was at home, where she and her older brother would give in to his tantrums. Obviously, it was an unreasonable demand, and the little girl knew right from wrong. She immediately pulled her brother aside and said, "Alright, Ajin, that’s your cousin’s toy, and you can’t snatch it away. If you really like it, we can ask dad to make one for you when we get home."
"I don’t want another; I want that one! Go get it for me," Lin Youjin ordered his sister directly, his imperious attitude revealing how he must have been used to bossing Lin Xiaoxiang around.
"Ajin, I’ll be angry if you keep this up, and I’ll stop caring for you," Lin Xiaoxiang responded, feeling upset with her brother’s relentless behavior, especially in front of so many people.
"I want it! I want it! Bad sister, totally useless, a dowry-loser who’s supposed to be married off. If you don’t snatch it for me, I will have mother punish you." When Lin Xiaoxiang wouldn’t comply, Lin Youjin was both hitting and scolding her, using the threat of Zhao Yunxiang to intimidate her. As for the abusive language, Lin Youjin, being young, didn’t fully understand what they truly meant; they were words he often heard Zhao Yunxiang say and had remembered.
"Ajin, please don’t be like this; it’s not yours to begin with, and I will not snatch it," Lin Xiaoxiang pleaded, her thin skin as a young girl making her feel extremely embarrassed by Lin Youjin’s scolding and threats in public. She already felt awkward about it, and the thought of her mother’s blatant favoritism only worsened her distress—if her brother actually went and complained to their mother, she was sure to be unjustly punished without question. Thinking about this, her eyes began to redden. Sometimes she couldn’t understand why her mother treated her this way, questioning if she wasn’t really her mother’s own child, but her grandmother had told her she had seen her born from her mother’s womb with her own eyes.