Chapter 60 Suspension

Western Side Room, Kitchen.

Qin Huairu leaned against the doorway, watching傻柱 (Shazhu) cook. She wasn't trying to steal culinary secrets from Shazhu; she was simply worried that the food inside belonged entirely to Lin Shaowen, and she was afraid Shazhu might mess with it.

Shazhu, however, remained entirely oblivious, assuming that Qin Huairu had come specifically to see him.

He poured every ounce of his skill into the meal, spending a solid hour before it was finally ready.

"And the final dish, braised pork elbow, complete."

After serving the last dish, Shazhu sat down happily beside Lin Shaowen, though his eyes kept darting toward Qin Huairu.

"It really takes a master chef to pull this off. It smells amazing," Qin Huairu praised, instantly bringing a broad, beaming smile to Shazhu's face.

"Sister Qin, I'm not boasting. Forget about Nanluoguxiang, even if you look across the entire Four Nine City, my culinary skills are one of a kind."

"You said it. In our Eastern District, who doesn't know Master He Yuzhu?"

Lin Shaowen uncorked a bottle of Moutai, then dashed back into his room and returned with a bottle of red wine and two crystal goblets.

Yet, just as he emerged, the courtyard was already packed with people.

Everyone had brought their entire families out to watch the excitement. After all, Shazhu's cooking had made the scent drift through almost the entire quadrangle. Furthermore, ever since Lin Shaowen had renovated his courtyard, his front gate had remained shut year-round; but this time, it was wide open, naturally prompting everyone to come and take a look.

Even so, they knew Lin Shaowen wasn't a man to be trifled with, so none of them dared to step inside the room. They simply lingered outside, peering around curiously.

"Goodness, these flowers are growing exceptionally well, aren't they?" Yan Bugui exclaimed in surprise. "My dear nephew, where on earth did you get those seeds?"

Pfft!

The title "my dear nephew" instantly caused both Qin Huairu and Lou Xiaoe to burst out laughing.

"A patient gave them to me," Lin Shaowen replied with a smile, pulling the cork from the red wine.

With a soft "pop," a sweet aroma filled the entire courtyard.

"You even have red wine at home?" Lou Xiaoe asked in pleasant surprise.

She had thought she already held Lin Shaowen in very high regard, but it turned out she still knew next to nothing about him.

"A friend gave it to me."

After pouring two glasses, Lin Shaowen poured a glass of white liquor for himself and Shazhu.

The sight instantly made many people's mouths water, especially when they laid eyes on the six dishes and one soup spread across the table.

Five of the hearty dishes were meat, accompanied by a vegetable dish and a bowl of kelp soup—more lavish than a wedding banquet.

"Damned little beast, choke on it, choke on it..." Jia Zhangshi muttered under her breath.

Even though Lin Shaowen had put in a good word for her, she felt no gratitude whatsoever. If Lin Shaowen hadn't captured the fake Taoist priest Feng, she wouldn't have pissed her pants on the spot, nor would she have been jolted awake by nightmares for days on end. That only made her hate Lin Shaowen even more.

Yi Zhonghai watched Lin Shaowen and the others exchanging toasts with an impassive expression, while boiling with hatred inside.

Ever since Lin Shaowen had moved into the courtyard, his status had plummeted drastically. Even some of the younger residents no longer showed the elders the respect they used to command.

That aside, Jia Dongxu—the person he had pinned his hopes on to provide for his old age—had suffered a few massive setbacks at Lin Shaowen's hands and no longer obeyed him blindly. That was something he found utterly unacceptable.

Therefore, he had been constantly plotting ways to drive Lin Shaowen out of the courtyard or utterly ruin his reputation.

As for Liu Haizhong, every time he heard someone address Lin Shaowen as "Director Lin," jealousy consumed him to the point of murder.

Yan Bugui was temporarily at peace with Lin Shaowen, but for a skinflint like Old Man Yan, the fact that Lin Shaowen had helped secure his son a permanent position... well, that peace would last at most half a month. Given enough profit, he would turn on Lin Shaowen without a single pang of conscience.

Everyone harbored their own hidden agendas as they wandered around Lin Shaowen's courtyard.

"Hah, Lin Shaowen, you actually have two electric fans?"

Xu Damao gasped in astonishment as he peered into Lin Shaowen's bedroom.

The crowd hurriedly swarmed over.

And sure enough, there were two! One in the bedroom, and another mounted on the frame of the shaded patio.

"Where on earth did you get the ration coupons for these?" Yi Zhonghai asked, frowning.

Bicycle coupons were hard enough to come by, but fan coupons were even scarcer. After all, who wouldn't want a cool summer?

"A friend gave them to me," Lin Shaowen replied calmly.

"How many friends do you have? If you ask me, you either extorted them from patients or embezzled them using your official position..." Liu Haizhong sneered.

Before Lin Shaowen could speak, Lou Xiaoe slammed her hand down and stood up. "Old man, do you know how to speak? Where my family's fans came from is none of your business!"

"You..."

Liu Haizhong was instantly so furious that smoke practically billowed from his seven facial orifices.

He was the Second Master of the courtyard; since when did it become a little girl's place to lecture him?

"What about me? It's just an electric fan! My family has plenty of them. What are you going to do about it?" Lou Xiaoe said dismissively.

Clap, clap, clap!

Seeing the fiercely formidable Lou Xiaoe, Lin Shaowen couldn't help breaking into applause.

Qin Huairu wore a look of utter astonishment as well. She had truly underestimated this "capitalist's" daughter.

That fiery temper of hers was even more formidable than Lin Shaowen's.

"You just wait!"

Leaving behind that furious threat, Liu Haizhong turned and stalked off.

"Old man, my family doesn't welcome you. If you ever dare to come back, see if I don't throw you out!" Lou Xiaoe shouted after him.

"Fine, fine, fine! Lin Shaowen, Lou Xiaoe, you're both something else!"

Liu Haizhong's face turned livid with rage.

"Get lost."

After waving her hand as if shooing away a stray dog, Lou Xiaoe sat back down, raised her wine glass, and clinked it against Qin Huairu's.

"Ha, a woman this fierce? Lin Shaowen's got plenty of suffering coming his way," Jia Zhangshi gloated with malicious satisfaction.

"You can say that again," Jia Dongxu sneered as well. "Is a capitalist's daughter really that easy to marry? Just watch, the days of Lin Shaowen crying are yet to come."

The others nodded in deep agreement.

Only Xu Damao felt a profound and bitter misery churning within him.

When Lou Xiaoe said her family had plenty of electric fans, she certainly wasn't bragging.

At least one-fifth of the ration tickets issued to the rolling mill were in the hands of the magnate Lou Bancheng. As for money... well, to Lou Bancheng, that was practically meaningless.

"Lin Shaowen, Shazhu, you two just wait..."

With a dark, venomous glance at the two men clinking glasses, Xu Damao turned and left.

With the commotion caused by Lou Xiaoe, the others lost all appetite for spectating, and before long, the crowd dispersed. However, Lin Shaowen's extravagant lifestyle had planted seeds of resentment in many hearts. He was already well-off, and the fact that he practically ate meat at every single meal had long left certain people deeply disgruntled.

Now, with him courting Lou Xiaoe, soaring to greatness in the future was practically guaranteed.

In this courtyard, there were simply far too many people who "resented others for having what they lacked and mocked others for having nothing." Thus, many of them unconsciously ended up doing the exact same thing.

The next day.
The Rolling Mill.
The Clinic.

The moment Lin Shaowen sat down, he prepared to slip into the island dimension to cast a few lines.

His luck lately hadn't been great; he kept catching everyday household goods, and once he even reeled up half a box of gold bars, which had given him quite a headache.

He didn't actually have any exceptionally high demands for life; he was well-fed and warmly clothed right now. What good were all these gold bars to him? He would much rather receive some reliable medical knowledge instead.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in."

"Little Lin, did you offend someone recently?"

Factory Director Yang walked in, accompanied by Deputy Factory Director Li and a group of leaders, holding over a dozen letters in his hand.

"Why do you ask?" Lin Shaowen asked, bewildered.

"Take a look for yourself. These are all letters reporting you for accepting bribes from patients and engaging in illicit sexual relations..." Factory Director Yang sighed.

Deputy Factory Director Li also shook his head, while the others wore wry smiles.

Among everyone present, counting every single one of them, who hadn't given Lin Shaowen gifts?

Aside from the illicit relationship part, the contents of the accusation letters were basically the truth.

However, would they ever admit to having sent gifts to Lin Shaowen?