Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 9

The man was none other than Lin Zhixin, who had recently been taught a lesson by Shen Xian. Lin Qinghan hadn’t expected her younger brother to shamelessly follow her again.

Under the dim voice-activated hallway light, Lin Zhixin could clearly see the pair — one adult and one child. He stood up lazily and said to Lin Qinghan, “Sis, why are you back so late? Went off to see another lover again? And even brought a kid along? What if the kid saw something they shouldn’t? That’d be a bad influence, wouldn’t it?”

“Lin Zhixin, watch your mouth. The child is here,” Lin Qinghan snapped, not expecting her younger brother to go this far. Before, he’d only knocked on the door from outside. What did he want this time? Waiting out here all this time?

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Tian Tian, did you miss your uncle? Haven’t seen you in more than half a month now. Gotta say, I missed you,” Lin Zhixin said as he tried to touch Shen Tian’s face. Shen Tian was so frightened she hid behind Lin Qinghan, tears falling like broken pearls, plip-plop.

“Wuwuwu… Mom, Tian Tian’s scared. Don’t… don’t let uncle come over,” Shen Tian cried, stammering.

“Lin Zhixin, are you done yet? What do you want?” Lin Qinghan shielded the child behind her, eyes slightly reddening.

Lin Zhixin patted the dust off himself, shook his head, and smiled, “Nothing, really. Can’t a little brother come see his dear sister when he’s got nothing to do? You’re not even letting me in the house now? I’m your real brother. If you don’t let me in, I’ll just keep knocking. And not just knocking — I’ll yell too. Come one, come all, look at this! Big sister won’t let her own little brother into the house! What kind of situation is this? Everyone come out and judge for yourselves!”

At that moment, the door across from Lin Qinghan’s opened, and a middle-aged woman with curlers in her hair stuck her head out halfway. “What’s all the yelling? Can’t you argue at home? Don’t you see what time it is? People are trying to sleep and you’re out here making a racket in the hallway.”

“Fine, we’ll talk inside.” Lin Qinghan opened the door while comforting the still-sobbing Shen Tian in her arms. If she let Lin Zhixin keep shouting, things would only get worse for her and Tian Tian.

Lin Zhixin didn’t think he was in the wrong at all. With arms crossed and a smirk on his face, he watched Lin Qinghan open the door, muttering as he did, “I knew it. No way you’d really not let me in. Just wait till I tell Mom — you’ll be in trouble too.”

Lin Qinghan shot Lin Zhixin a sharp glare. With a soft clunk, the security door opened. Lin Qinghan carried Shen Tian into the apartment, and Lin Zhixin followed close behind like he owned the place.

Shen Tian was still crying, her face completely tear-streaked. She had always been most afraid of her grandmother, uncle, and mom’s family coming to their home. Every time they did, they would yell and scream. Mom would always end up in tears, and she herself was terrified of them. They would glare at her fiercely, and whenever they picked her up, they would always hurt her. She didn’t want Uncle in their home.

“Wuwuwu… I don’t want uncle, Mom… Tian Tian’s scared…” Shen Tian buried her tear-streaked face into Lin Qinghan’s chest, breathing unevenly through her sobs.

Lin Zhixin still acted like it was nothing, not at all bothered by the fact he had scared the child to tears. He opened the fridge and immediately spotted the big bag of fruit Shen Xian had bought. His eyes lit up when he saw the mangosteens — the most expensive ones. They cost about twenty per jin here. Lin Zhixin instantly took them out, flopped onto the sofa, and started eating.

Shen Tian, already crying, saw her Mommy’s mangosteens being eaten by her uncle and immediately burst into even louder sobs. “Wuwuwu! Mom! The mangosteens Mommy bought for Tian Tian were eaten by Uncle! Wuwuwu! Tian Tian doesn’t have her little moons anymore! Wuwuwu~.”

“There, there, Tian Tian, don’t cry. Mom will buy you more tomorrow. Don’t cry, okay?” Lin Qinghan tried to calm her down as gently as possible.

Then she turned to Lin Zhixin with a cold tone. “What exactly do you want? Didn’t I give you a thousand at the beginning of the month? I still have to send Tian Tian to kindergarten, and we need money to live. I really don’t have anything left to give you. Just go.”

“What do you mean you don’t have money? You give it to Mom whenever she asks, but not to me? I’m telling you now — if I don’t get the money today, none of us are going to sleep tonight. Isn’t that right, Tian Tian?” Lin Zhixin gave a lazy grin in Shen Tian’s direction.

“Wuwuwu… Mom, Tian Tian’s scared… Tian Tian doesn’t want bad uncle…” Shen Tian’s tiny body curled up tighter into Lin Qinghan’s embrace in fear.

“Lin Zhixin, are you seriously trying to play this game with me now? Get out. I don’t care what Mom says next time, I’m not giving you a single cent. I’m done with all of you,” Lin Qinghan said, her eyes red with frustration.

“Sis, you could’ve just given me the money in the first place. Don’t you still have a few lovers? Just act cute with them and the money will roll in. I think that Doctor Lu guy’s pretty good — better hold onto that one. Find me a brother-in-law with some decent family background. That Shen Xian? What a joke. Even dared to hit me?” Lin Zhixin mumbled with his mouth full of mangosteen.

Lin Qinghan was furious and wanted to yell at him, but seeing that her child was still crying, she decided to carry Shen Tian into the bedroom first and deal with him afterward. She started walking, but Lin Zhixin stepped forward and blocked her way with a smirk.

“Sis, didn’t we agree? No money, no sleep. Where are you going now?”

“Lin Zhixin, don’t push it. If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police.” Lin Qinghan’s eyes were bloodshot, and Shen Tian was still sobbing in her arms.

“Go ahead, call them. At most it’s just a family dispute. The worst they’ll do is lecture me a bit. And if you do call the cops, I’ll call Mom and tell her you had me arrested, that you’re living a messy life, flirting with random men all the time, and being all unclear with Shen Xian. You know how much Mom spoils me — go ahead and guess what she’ll do?” Lin Zhixin blocked the bedroom door, not letting Lin Qinghan pass.

Lin Qinghan had no choice but to take a few steps toward the sofa, where she placed Shen Tian down and began to soothe her. At this point, she was already completely worn out by Lin Zhixin’s antics. Recalling what Shen Xian had said to her earlier that day, Lin Qinghan calmly turned on her phone and dialed Shen Xian’s number. At the same time, she said to Lin Zhixin, “Heh, Lin Zhixin, you’re not going to stop until you get money, are you?”

“What are you saying, sis? We’re family — of course you should help me. It’s really not much this time, just thirty thousand yuan. I know you can afford it,” Lin Zhixin said as he sat down on the sofa, picked up some fruit, and continued eating. While chewing, he added, “Otherwise, we’ll just sit here and wait it out. Let’s see who lasts longer. I often stay up all night anyway — the question is, can Tian Tian handle it?”

On the other end of the phone, Shen Xian waited for a while but got no response. All she heard was Lin Zhixin noisily demanding money. Thinking it over, Shen Xian figured Lin Zhixin had probably gone to Lin Qinghan’s place again. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she quickly changed clothes. After greeting Fang Jinglan in the living room, she hurried out the door.