After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Lin Guodong held the copper coins in his pocket, feeling the ninety copper coins burning hot.

He stood there, unsure whether to leave or stay, his face contorted as if he'd been slapped. The surrounding villagers watched; some lowered their heads, pretending not to see, others craned their necks to watch the spectacle, and a few women huddled together whispering, their voices just loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Old Mrs. Lin is here to cause trouble."

"Exactly, they didn't give us any face at all in front of so many people."

She didn't even glance at Old Mrs. Lin again, but instead looked down at the account book in front of her, drew a line on the paper with her vermilion pen, and slowly called out, "Next."

Following Lin Guodong in line was Li Laosan from the village entrance.

Li Laosan looked around, shrank his neck, and still gritted his teeth and carried the bamboo basket onto the scale.

"Sixty catties, sixty copper coins." Lin Qianqian counted the copper coins and handed them over, then looked up and smiled at Li Laosan, "Uncle, take it."

"You..." Old Mrs. Lin's fingers trembled as she pointed at Lin Qianqian, her knuckles turning white. "You unfilial wretch!"

She paused, then added, "I accepted the poisoned potatoes from my second grandfather's house. I didn't break the law, violate the village rules, or owe the Lin family anything."

The courtyard was so quiet you could hear the clinking of coins.

Grandma Lin opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but a breath got stuck in her throat, her face turned red, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Lin Xiaohua quickly went to support her, patting the old lady's back to help her catch her breath while scolding Lin Qianqian, "You brat, look what you've done to Grandma! If anything happens to Grandma, you'll see what happens to me—"

"Since you know my grandma isn't in good health, don't bring her out. At her age, she's prone to getting easily agitated and her liver fire is on edge. What if she gets sick? Let's go back!" Lin Qianqian said slowly.

"You..." Lin Xiaohua stomped her foot in anger and helped the old lady Lin away.

Lin Guodong hadn't left yet. He stood there the whole time, the ninety copper coins tucked into his pocket like a burning flame.

After everyone had mostly left, he slowly walked over, his voice barely audible, "Qianqian, you... you shouldn't have argued with your grandma for our sake."

Lin Qianqian was tidying up the coins on the table, not even looking up: "I didn't have a falling out with her. I just wanted to make things clear."

"But--"

"Uncle," Lin Qianqian looked up, "Is Second Grandfather's leg any better?"

Lin Guodong's words caught in his throat.

"The last time the villagers said he'd been bedridden since last winter, more than half a year has passed now. Has he taken his medicine? Has the doctor come to see him yet?"

Lin Guodong's eyes reddened, and he shook his head.

"So," Lin Qianqian put the coins into her cloth bag and tied it shut, "some things are more important than saving face. Don't you think so?"

Lin Guodong nodded vigorously, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, then turned and left.

After walking a dozen steps, he turned back and saw Lin Qianqian bending over to pick up the poisonous potatoes that had rolled away on the ground.

The sun shone on her, casting a long shadow on the ground.

The shadow was thin and straight, like a bamboo growing in a crack in a rock.

Lin Guodong suddenly remembered something.

His father—who is also Lin Qianqian's second grandfather—had a falling out with Lin Qianqian's grandfather back then, also over a piece of land.

A small plot of land, less than two acres in size.

Lin Qianqian's grandfather occupied her second grandfather's land and refused to admit it. When the second grandfather went to argue with him, he was yelled at and kicked out by her eldest brother.

From then on, the two brothers never spoke a word to each other again.

It's been ten years.

Lin Guodong clutched the copper coins in his pocket and quickened his pace.

He wanted to go back and tell his father.

Not everyone in my uncle's family is ungrateful.

At least Lin Qianqian is not.