Quick Travel: Dream Hunt

Old Lady Lin suppressed her anger. After listening to what Old Second Lin said, she slammed the table and roared:

"Shut up, you useless thing. Is Chunniang the only one in your eyes every day? It's okay that she can't stand up and can't give birth to a son, but how come she led you astray? Give your second house 500 taels and let Liu send it all to her mother's house to spend on her nephew? Then they will eat and drink the best food, and you two will suffer with them? You are damned, if it weren't for the fact that you crawled out of my belly, I wouldn't give you even a hundred taels. You want it or not, just come here and write the IOU, otherwise I won't give you a penny."

As expected, Lin Lao Er was frightened by Lin Lao Ma. He pursed his lips and kept silent. When the village chief came over with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, Lin Lao Da was still angry. Seeing this, he immediately stepped forward and asked the village chief to write the IOU on his behalf, and asked Zhaodi to write her name on it.

Ting He saw that the time had come, and smiled and said to the village chief:

"Uncle Village Chief, if I want to change my name, what procedures are required? If I sign it now, will the IOU become invalid after I change my name?"

The village chief shook his head and explained:

"It's valid, it's valid. No matter what name Zhao Di changes to later, as long as it's registered with the government, you can just change the name. Whether it's a red deed or a white deed, it's valid. You just need to sign it. When the time comes, you can take this loan deed and change the name."

Tinghe then nodded in relief and said, "Can I change my name now? I don't want to be called Lin Zhaodi anymore. Can you change it to Lin Tinghe?"

The old village chief stroked his beard and nodded:

"Sure, sure. I happened to have brought everything with me. You can just write down your new name on the name change document."

Tinghe said directly: "I can't read, so I have to trouble the village chief to write down my name - Lin Tinghe."

Tinghe finally took this opportunity to change her name to Lin Tinghe, and also wrote Lin Tinghe's name on the IOU. When she went to the town in the afternoon, she would go to the government to file a case. It would be valid for life and she would not need to change her name anymore.

Looking at the two IOUs, Ting He smiled with satisfaction and said, "Uncle Village Chief, please give me the triplicate IOUs first. Grandma will take me to the town to see my uncle this afternoon, and I will go to the government office to file a case. Do you think this is feasible?"

The village chief nodded in agreement, said goodbye to the Lin family, and left happily, stroking his beard while holding two pounds of meat in his hand.

Ting He carefully put away the three IOUs and handed them to Old Mrs. Lin.

"Grandma, please keep these three IOUs. I will go to the town with you in the afternoon and register my name with the government." Tinghe said with a smile.

Old Mrs. Lin took the IOU and looked at the three words "Lin Tinghe" on it. Although she was not very literate, she couldn't help but admire her intelligence. She also thought to herself that this was a promising girl, but it was a pity that she was delayed by the second son and his wife.

That afternoon, Tinghe and Old Lady Lin arrived in town on a ox cart. Old Lin insisted on driving the cart, and since Tinghe could not stop him, he took him along.

They first went to the government office and successfully registered Lin Tinghe's name and the loan note. Then, they went to the private school to visit Uncle Lin.

In the double room of the private school, Ting He saw Uncle Lin, his face was pale and his expression was haggard.

Ting He felt uncomfortable. She felt that Uncle Lin shouldn't be like this. Wasn't he a student? Why was he so tired and pale? Was he in so much pain? Was he sick?

Following Ting He's suggestion, Old Mrs. Lin also dragged Uncle Lin to the nearby clinic in a trance. Uncle Lin was reluctant to accept the offer, but Old Mrs. Lin would not let her refuse, so they went to the clinic together.

……

When they stepped out of the clinic, Mrs. Lin's face was frighteningly gloomy, and her eyes flashed with a fierce light. She grabbed Uncle Lin's ears tightly and shouted mercilessly:

"You are a damned thing, a shameless thing. Our Lin family spent all our money to support your studies, is it just for you to hang out in those places of prostitution? What did the doctor say? How is your health? What do you mean by lusting after sex? What do you mean by excessive indulgence? What do you mean by a weak body, and what do you mean by mental depression caused by excessive indulgence? I will beat you to death, beat you to death, you shameless thing..."

Old Mrs. Lin's voice was filled with anger and disappointment, as if she wanted to vent all her dissatisfaction. She pulled Uncle Lin's ears hard, forcing him to bend down to listen to her rebuke. Passers-by around looked sideways, surprised and curious about this scene, but no one dared to step forward to dissuade her.

Uncle Lin had a painful expression on his face. He tried to explain that he did not go to the brothel to fool around, but Mrs. Lin did not listen at all. She continued to scold:

"You still dare to quibble? Do you think I will believe you? Look at what you have become now! You have neglected your studies, idled away all day, and even contracted this kind of bad habit! You have brought shame to our Lin family!"

Uncle Lin was filled with grievance and helplessness. He knew that he was indeed a little slack in his studies, but going to the brothel was just a momentary impulse and not a normal thing. However, facing the scolding of Mrs. Lin, he could not refute and could only silently endure the humiliation.

Ting He didn't know what he was thinking. She just felt that Old Lady Lin was thinking about him wholeheartedly. She remembered to send him a portion of meat when she had it, and kept all the money in the family for his studies. How could he not care about his health and go to such a place of fireworks? It was simply unreasonable. If Old Lady Lin was not still angry, she would probably punch him to vent her anger.

But despite what she was thinking, Ting He still pulled Old Lady Lin's sleeve and whispered:

"Grandma, don't be impulsive. Family disgrace should not be made public. If others know about my uncle's affairs, what will happen if he is delayed in the imperial examination? Why not give my uncle some time off and let him go home to recuperate? When he calms down, let him come to the private school to try and see if he can pass the exam."

Old Mrs. Lin was about to curse when she suddenly choked and swallowed the words. She dragged Uncle Lin back to the private school, gave the half jar of braised meat directly to the headmaster, asked for a long vacation for Uncle Lin, and then took Uncle Lin's things and set out for Linjia Village.

When passing by the grain store and the pastry shop, Ting He stopped the ox cart driven by his uncle and suggested:

"We don't have enough food at home, grandma, let's go downstairs and buy some, and by the way, see if there are any delicious cakes. I love cakes."

Old Mrs. Lin couldn't persuade her, so she accompanied her downstairs to check the grain.