novelsite Chapter 66: Keep the act going!
Chapter 66: Keep the act going!
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Man put his left hand on his hip, spun around twice, and then looked at his sixth sister-in-law:
"Sixth Sister-in-law, I remember there are several students in the village taking the college entrance exam this year, right? How did their results go?"
Hearing Lin Man mention other students, this sixth sister-in-law knew that Lin Man had something to do. She gritted her teeth and thought for a while, then stammered:
"Our Lin family has five, the Wei family has six, and the Mo family has four."
"My son was taking the college entrance exam before, and I was worried that it would interfere with his studies, so I went to ask them for advice."
After hearing this explanation, Lin Man rested his chin on his right hand, looked thoughtful, and started spinning around in place.
After circling around three times, he clapped his hands and said, "Sixth Sister-in-law, since you have connections with them, I'd like to ask you a favor."
"Could you help me contact the parents of these students who are taking the college entrance exam?"
"Tell them that we're having this celebration to celebrate a child getting into university."
"Let them bring the children over."
"There's a bonus!"
"10 for top-tier universities, 5 for regular first-tier universities, 3 for second-tier universities, 2 for third-tier universities, and 1 for vocational colleges!"
"Tell them to bring their acceptance letters over. We'll have a meal, drinks, and take photos to remember the occasion."
Upon hearing about the money, Sixth Sister-in-law immediately beamed with joy, then, looking embarrassed, raised her right hand and slapped her thigh forcefully: "Oh dear, how can I accept this?"
"The village is already short of money because of these things. If you spend more money, it will easily cause people to gossip."
As soon as these words were spoken, the people around couldn't help but turn their heads away and shift their gaze elsewhere.
Lin Man looked at his sixth sister-in-law in front of him and felt as if he were looking at his own mother.
When I was a child, every time we went to visit relatives for Chinese New Year, my mother would make me decline the red envelopes they gave us.
Then the relatives will force it on you.
After pushing it back and forth two or three times, the red envelope would end up in his pocket, and when he got home, it would end up in his mother's hands.
Is this a strategic retreat?
They won't fall for that!
Lin Man slapped his forehead, a look of sudden realization on his face. "Then forget it, let's just invite them over for dinner!"
"Ah, no, no, no! Xiaoman, what Sixth Sister-in-law means is that the bonus doesn't need to be set too high..." Sixth Sister-in-law quickly waved her hand, then pointed to the intersection next to her: "Then I'll go and inform them."
Before the sound had completely faded, the person had already turned into the intersection next to them, leaving only the echo.
Looking at the empty intersection, Lin Man shouted in the direction Sixth Sister-in-law had gone:
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Sixth Sister-in-law!"
After he finished shouting, Sixth Sister, who had left, responded to his call:
"I'll go and call them over right now!"
Turning his head, Lin Man continued to urge the group behind him to walk forward with music and fanfare, calling out to everyone they met to head towards the Lin Family Ancestral Hall.
The ancestral hall was in the very center, but Lin Man did not lead his people there immediately. Instead, he circled around the ancestral hall, trying to make sure the whole village knew about the commotion before heading towards it.
Upon arriving at the ancestral hall, a canopy had already been set up in front of the hall. Lin Yaodong, acting as the supervisor, was directing others to help the cooks wash the vegetables.
Upon seeing Lin Man approach, and noticing the group of people making a racket behind him, he gave him a look and pointed to the ancestral hall behind him:
"Go and offer incense to the elders!"
After speaking with Lin Man, he walked past Lin Man and toward the group of people behind her:
"Dear guests who have come from afar, please have a seat here. I will have someone bring you some herbal tea and fruit. There is mahjong over there, you can play for fun or for real money."
"Just make one piece, don't make it too big."
The Lin Family Ancestral Hall is not large; it is a courtyard with one entrance and two entrances. The statue enshrined in the front courtyard is the ancestor of the Lin family in Hongxing Village, namely Lin Man's great-grandfather.
Next to the statue of this heroic grandfather are the ancestors who went to fight against Japan and the Korean War in earlier years and were unable to return.
In the backyard are the memorial tablets of ordinary elders.
He took three incense sticks from under the offering table, lit a candle, and bowed three times.
Insert the incense sticks into the incense burner.
Just as Lin Man finished sealing the incense, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw his uncle, Lin Yaodong. Before he could speak, Lin Yaodong interrupted, "This time, are you planning to eliminate them completely?"
"Uncle, what are you talking about?" Lin Man rolled his eyes and pointed at the ancestral spirit behind him. "The ancestor is watching you, all you do is fight and kill all day long!"
"What does it mean to nip it in the bud? I call it popularizing the law and correcting young people who have gone astray."
Lin Yaozong narrowed his eyes, snorted twice, walked past Lin Man, reached under the offering table and took three incense sticks, lit them, bowed three times, and spoke as he inserted the incense:
"When my ancestor was fleeing, he brought his two brothers, my great-grandfather and his brother, from Fujian Province to settle here."
"The two brothers, Gaozu and his brother, had six children here, who then formed six clans."
"By now, it has been passed down for several generations, and they are basically beyond the fifth degree of kinship."
"Also, I heard that Lin Yaozong is scheming to steal money from your father's company's accounts."
"As your uncle, I'll give you a piece of advice: when you need to make a decision, make it decisively."
"Hesitation when a decision is needed will inevitably lead to chaos."
After speaking, Lin Yaodong bowed to the ancestral statue in front of him again, then turned and walked out of the ancestral hall.
Watching Lin Yaodong leave the ancestral hall, Lin Man turned back to look at the ancestor in front of him, made a face at the ancestor, and then turned and walked out of the ancestral hall, grumbling as he went:
"Ancestor, look at the monsters you've given birth to!"
After leaving the ancestral hall, Lin Man began to instruct people to set up the award ceremony stage.
After setting up the podium and confirming the prize money, he went to find the chef to confirm the meal time before finally dawdling at the entrance of the square, finding a shady spot to sit down and wait for others.
Not long after, the sound of an electric tricycle horn rang out, and with it came Sixth Sister-in-law, who had gone to call for help earlier.
Her electric tricycle was the fastest, followed by more than a dozen others. Lin Man recognized some of the drivers, but not others.
With a screech, Sixth Sister slammed on the brakes, bringing the electric tricycle to a stop in front of Lin Man.
"Xiaoman, I've brought everyone over to you."
"There are 14 people in total: 5 from the Lin family, 4 from the Mo family, and 5 from the Wei family."
"Lowest score: 389, Highest score: 623."
"The one with a score of 300 or so should be able to get into a junior college, and the rest are all bachelor's degree programs. Although there aren't any particularly good schools, they're still pretty good."
After explaining to Lin Man, Sixth Sister called to the children on the electric tricycles behind her to get off: "Come here, everyone. This is your Uncle Man. He is now the village secretary and village head of our village."
"Take out your acceptance letters and let your Uncle Man take a look."
As Sixth Sister called out, the children who got off the electric tricycle quickly opened the envelopes of mail they were holding, took out the admission notices inside, lined up and came to Lin Man to show him the admission notices.
Looking at these acceptance letters, Lin Man was overjoyed:
"Good, good, good, you're all good kids!"