Chapter 594: Lin Yongcheng Humiliated (4)_1
After circling a wide arc, Lin Yongcheng finally found the back entrance to Li Mansion. Following his previous lesson, he no longer carried his initial arrogance. With a jocular smile, he clasped his hands together and said to an old woman cracking melon seeds by the door, "Sister, I’d like to see Maternal Aunt Lin; could you please announce my arrival?"
The fat old woman didn’t even lift her eyelids; melon seed shells were scattered all over, and with a "pfft," one of the shells sprayed onto the back of Lin Yongcheng’s hand.
Lin Yongcheng almost vomited with disgust, but remembering he was the supplicant, he dared not make a fuss. Instead, he smiled and flicked the melon seed shell off, rubbing the back of his hand against his clothing.
The fat old woman still did not look at him and didn’t say a word. She just wiped the corner of her mouth with her right hand and then stretched out her hand toward him, her two fingers pinching and twisting.
Lin Yongcheng was startled and took a moment to realize that the fat old woman was hinting for a tip. He wanted to curse, but he dared not offend the only person who could relay his message. He painfully took out the last three copper coins from his sleeve, thought for a moment, put one back, and then placed the remaining two in the palm of the old woman’s hand, saying cheerfully, "Thank you for the trouble, sister."
The old woman weighed the coins disdainfully, sneered, tucked the two copper coins into her bosom, and grunted impatiently, "Maternal Aunt Lin just left the mansion and isn’t here. Go wait elsewhere."
Lin Yongcheng wanted to curse even more! He had spent two copper coins for information, only to be told that Lin Siyu was not at the mansion! Obviously, this old woman was deliberately trying to swindle his Silver!
"Why didn’t you say that earlier?"
With a contemptuous flick of her eyelids, the fat old woman replied, "Say earlier? I don’t even know who you are, why should I tell you? Besides, what standing does Maternal Aunt Lin have to be seeing someone like you so readily, a poor and lowly scholar?"
Being called a poor and lowly scholar infuriated Lin Yongcheng. Since he had arrived in Zhuma Town at the age of fourteen to study, no one had ever looked down on him. He could not believe that today he was being humiliated by an old hag!
"Who are you calling a poor and lowly scholar? Huh? Make yourself clear!"