Chapter 179: I'll Kick You Again, Dammit!

In an instant, absolute silence fell.

The passersby were dumbfounded. They had originally thought this gentle and delicate young girl would be taken advantage of when she crossed paths with a notorious troublemaker. Who could have expected... the girl was far from delicate.

The woman who had been slammed to the ground was dazed for a moment, her face twisting in pain. Hearing the ripples of laughter breaking out around her, she finally snapped back to her senses, "You, you..."

"Auntie, stuttering is a medical condition, and it needs to be treated." Lin Jingyue leisurely produced a handkerchief and gracefully wiped her hands.

She said blood-boiling words with a radiant, beaming smile.

"You wretched little wench..."

"Slap!"

Lin Jingyue half-crouched beside her, a half-smile playing on her lips, "Auntie, having a dirty mouth is bound to cost you, oh—"

Her voice was infinitely gentle, terrifying not only the woman on the ground but also sending chills down the spines of the onlookers, who looked at her as if she were a ghost.

It was just around quitting time, and the number of people on the street was steadily growing.

"Well, well, Xu Huijuan, are you lying down there performing a play?" Some of the passersby actually recognized the woman.

They immediately crowded around to watch the spectacle with relish. "If you don't put on a show every three days or two, we start to feel unaccustomed."

"Hahaha, who's the unlucky soul this time?"

"Look over there, that young girl. Tsk, Xu Huijuan has really bitten off more than she can chew this time."

"How so?"

"Let me tell you..."

Whispers broke out all around. Though called whispers, the voices were loud enough for Lin Jingyue and the others to hear every word clearly.

So she was a habitual offender. Lin Jingyue stood up, dusted off her hands, and prepared to leave.

The next moment, someone grabbed her ankle. "You can't leave! You must compensate me. You bumped into me and then you hit me..."

"Damn it, I even kicked you!" Annoyed by the harassment, Lin Jingyue kicked the person away with a single sweep of her leg.

Lying on the ground, Xu Huijuan sucked in a cold breath. She had never imagined that in broad daylight, Lin Jingyue would dare to be so brazen.

"Keep pestering me, and see if I don't beat you half-paralyzed," Lin Jingyue said leisurely.

Yet her voice carried a tangible sense of danger.

Carrying her suitcase, she gave Xu Huijuan one deep, lingering look. Satisfied that the woman would no longer dare to pester her, she strolled away with unhurried grace.

It was only after her figure vanished from sight that the crowd finally erupted into animated discussions.

***

Xu Huijuan scrambled back to her feet, rubbed her chest, and silently cursed Lin Jingyue back and forth multiple times before her ruffled feathers began to smooth out.

Lin Jingyue turned down a street, found an inn, and rented a room for a night's stay.

There were several large residential compounds in the Wutong District. Upon entering the area, it might not look particularly different on the surface, but Lin Jingyue sensed that security here was noticeably stricter than near the railway station.

It was purely a gut feeling.

The Song family lived in that exact compound just around the corner from the inn where she had rented her room. She never fought battles without preparation; she had already scoped everything out long ago.

When mealtime rolled around, she headed to the state-run restaurant. The scale of the restaurant here was simply incomparable to the one in Bai County.

The menu offerings were also much richer, though they mostly consisted of wheaten foods. Lin Jingyue ordered a portion of mutton-filled dumplings, along with a plate of stir-fried seasonal vegetables. Noticing a table of patrons finishing their meal, she quickly seized the opportunity, carried her tray over with practiced agility, and dropped unceremoniously into a chair.

A young man and a woman who were trailing her by a couple of steps instantly stared in disbelief.

Yet they couldn't bring themselves to snatch the seats away. The young girl among them managed a faint smile, walked over, and asked, "Comrade, hello, may we sit here?"

The man chimed in as well, "There are no seats left anywhere else."

Naturally aware of this herself, Lin Jingyue nodded and said, "Please, sit."

The place was naturally crowded during peak dining hours, so sharing tables was quite common.

The pair had ordered quite a few dishes: beef noodles, shredded stir-fried triple delights, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a plate of scrambled eggs.

They appeared to be courting, and visible traces of shyness lingered on their faces as they looked at each other.

The woman kept casting curious glances at Lin Jingyue until she finally could no longer contain herself. "Comrade, hello, my name is Song Xinran. May I ask what your name is?"

Song?

Lin Jingyue arched her brows by an imperceptible margin and offered a gentle smile. "Lin Jingyue."

"Comrade Lin, are you from the capital?" Seeing the smile on Lin Jingyue's face, Song Xinran's eyes flickered slightly.

"Don't misunderstand, I just feel like you look very familiar."

Those eyes always gave her a sense of deja vu, as if she had seen them somewhere before.

Lin Jingyue smiled softly. "No, I'm just visiting relatives in the capital."

The two of them chatted back and forth until Lin Jingyue finished her meal. With refined composure, she took out a handkerchief to dab at the corner of her lips, nodded slightly, and said, "Please enjoy your meal. I have matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."

With that, she stood up and walked away with graceful poise.

Every gesture and movement was steeped in elegance and restraint. At a single glance, one could tell she was a young woman raised in a prestigious family.

Song Xinran stared blankly for a moment, murmuring to herself, "Perhaps I really was just mistaken..."

***

After all, the ancestors of her family three generations back had simply been peasants with mud on their shins.

"What are you muttering about? Do you know her?" The man withdrew his gaze from Lin Jingyue.

"We just met," Song Xinran narrowed her eyes. "And what kind of look was that? Were you admiring how pretty she was?"

"I've been wronged! Appreciating beauty is human nature, but my heart holds only you."

Such words were already crossing the boundary. Song Xinran cast a shy, reproachful glare at him and let out a soft huff.

Meanwhile, after stepping outside, Lin Jingyue strolled down the streets while turning thoughts of Song Xinran over in her mind.

She had come to the capital to settle old scores, so she hadn't planned on seeking out old acquaintances. But if Song Xinran truly belonged to the Song family, then this would be an acquisition achieved without the slightest bit of effort.

Having spent three days in the capital, Lin Jingyue finally found her opening.

Two days ahead of schedule, she checked out of her inn and even purchased a return ticket for that very day, though she never actually boarded the train.

Instead, she slipped directly into her spatial dimension while still in the outskirts, spending two whole days inside with Big Ash.

Judging that the timing was right, she changed into a brand-new outfit, altered her appearance completely from head to toe, and applied skillful makeup. For this, she had to thank the wildly popular short videos of her past life; by studying makeup gurus, she had naturally mastered a few disguise techniques.

Around ten o'clock, outside the entrance of the Wutong District Department Store, a woman in her mid-twenties appeared, dressed in a long skirt with her hair pinned up. Her ordinary facial features and mundane demeanor made her the kind of person easily lost in a crowd.

"Mom, since Xinran is getting engaged, shouldn't we at least go to the Friendship Store? What kind of decent things can you possibly buy in this department store?" A woman dressed in rather fashionable attire linked arms with an elderly woman.

The elderly woman had slightly graying hair, though her complexion was exceptionally healthy with very few wrinkles on her face. Her hair was combed into meticulous perfection, mirroring her own disciplined character. Hearing this, she replied calmly, "This is just the engagement; there's still the wedding to come. What's the rush?"

"Mom, Xinran is your only granddaughter!" the woman protested, refusing to let the matter drop.

"Enough, I know what I'm doing." The old Mrs. Song was entirely unsatisfied with this daughter-in-law of hers.

The woman would shout about everything in public, oblivious to the fact that eyes were currently watching the Song family and that maintaining a low profile was paramount.

Disregarding the objections of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Song made the final decision to purchase the items she deemed necessary.

In truth, there weren't many; the most valuable item was a wristwatch priced at over eight hundred yuan.

Shortly after, they walked out of the department store.

On the way back, the woman remained deeply unreconciled, chattering away incessantly until the old lady finally muttered something into her ear, which at last coaxed her into a satisfied silence.