Chapter Thirty-Eight: Who Dares Not to Come?

Separated by a large courtyard and the main gate, Lin Qingxue couldn't quite hear what her mother was shouting, only that she was anxiously running back home, pushing open the door.

Inside, all her uncles stood to the side, while a man she did not recognize sat brazenly in the seat of honor.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Lin Qingxue asked in confusion.

“Daughter, run! Don’t come back! These people want to take you!” Her mother, disregarding the Fang family’s presence, could think of nothing more important than protecting her own child.

Fang Sheng immediately scowled when he saw Lin’s mother shouting, afraid she would ruin his plans.

“This woman is far too meddlesome! Shut her up! Beat her until she stops screaming!”

At his command, several bodyguards stepped forward menacingly. Lin’s uncles were instantly enraged and tried to intervene. But the bodyguards, arrogant after long service to Fang Sheng, paid no heed to these lowly Lin family men. One of them grabbed a wooden club and swung it at Lin’s mother without a hint of mercy.

“Ah!”

Lin Zhengxing, quick as lightning, shielded his wife, taking the brutal blow himself.

Fang Sheng sneered at the sight. “Well, twenty years have passed, and your backbone is still as hard as ever, Lin Zhengxing?”

“But a hard spine only means you’ll be trampled beneath my feet! Just like that wretched woman twenty years ago!”

“Enough. Now that your daughter is back, I’ll take her and be done with this wretched place!”

No sooner had he finished than Fang Peng, unable to contain himself and drooling at the mouth, lunged toward Lin Qingxue, his body quivering with fat.

“My bride! My wonderful bride!”

Fang Peng licked his lips, greedily stretching his thick, fleshy arms in an attempt to seize Lin Qingxue.

Startled, she barely managed to dodge him by quickly stepping back several times, escaping his grasp.

“Who are you people?” Lin Qingxue asked, her voice tinged with fear. Though she had taken over the family business from her father, Lin Zhengxing, she lacked the experience to face such a dire situation.

Fang Peng, frustrated, lunged again, this time with more force, certain that the frail Lin Qingxue would not escape. But one of her uncles could bear it no longer and shoved Fang Peng aside.

“Fang Sheng, you and your son have gone too far!”

“A marriage requires the consent of both parties! What you’re doing is no different from the old landlords who seized women by force!”

Fang Sheng laughed coldly. “So what if the Fang family takes by force now?”

“Look at your Lin family! Destitute and broken. My son choosing your daughter is a blessing your ancestors must have prayed for! We’re helping your family live on!”

He sat back in the seat of honor, crossing his legs arrogantly, utterly convinced that today he would have Lin Qingxue.

Lin Qingxue quickly understood the situation and the nature of these people from the Fang family—especially Fang Peng, the disgusting man who had just tried to seize her.

Fang Peng still stood nearby, eyes fixed hungrily on her, drool slipping from his lips. Remembering how she had nearly been caught twice, Lin Qingxue trembled with fear.

“I am a daughter of the Lin family! I will never marry you!” Lin Qingxue declared firmly.

“No matter, my lovely bride. Once you marry me, you’ll be Fang Qingxue, and the Lin family will have nothing to do with you.” Fang Peng fantasized shamelessly, already imagining their wedding night.

“Come! Into your husband’s arms!”

Fang Peng stomped forward, this time with the bodyguards flanking him, ready to break the limbs of anyone who dared interfere.

Lin Qingxue, terrified, retreated step by step until she was cornered against the wall, her face as white as a sheet.

“My good bride, why are you hiding?”

Just as Fang Peng was about to grab her, his hideous face closing in on Lin Qingxue—

“You ugly brute! You don’t deserve my Lin sister! Get away from her!”

A young girl, only sixteen or seventeen, broke free from her mother’s grip, snatched a stone from the ground, and hurled it at Fang Peng, her voice ringing clear and full of courage despite her delicate frame.

“Peipei!” Lin Qingxue’s second aunt cried out in alarm, rushing to snatch her daughter back, but was stopped halfway by a bodyguard who shoved her aside.

“Well, aren’t you Lin family people lucky? Hiding another little beauty all this time?” Fang Peng turned, delighted to see Lin Peipei, the girl who had thrown the stone. Though young, she too was a budding beauty, her small tiger teeth showing as she bit her lip, utterly adorable.

“Come here, little one,” Fang Peng chuckled, the lust in his eyes all too clear.

“You beast! Let go of my daughter!” the second aunt screamed in agony.

“Let Peipei go!” Lin Qingxue shouted in disbelief. Fang Peng’s shamelessness was beyond belief—one victim wasn’t enough; now he set his sights on Lin Peipei.

“Father, I’ve changed my mind. I want them both, as first and second wives!” Fang Peng giggled.

“As you wish,” Fang Sheng replied grandly, as though distributing livestock.

The men of the Lin family watched in fury and despair, nearly coughing up blood in their hatred. To have Lin Qingxue and Lin Peipei abducted and forced to marry such a man—this would destroy their family completely.