Chapter 95: It Was My Mother’s Idea; It Had Nothing To Do With Me

Lin Jingyue suddenly noticed that everyone was looking at her with sympathy, and she was a little bewildered.

But sympathy was fine.

She did not explain herself. Instead, she let out a sigh, a trace of bitterness creeping to the corners of her mouth. “Ever since I was seven, when my mother died in an accident and my stepmother came into the family, I was either beaten or scolded. Going hungry was a common thing.”

“Before, Lin Xinrou and her brother used to beat me together. Back then I was foolish. Thinking of our family ties, I never fought back. I thought we were one family, that they wouldn’t go too far. But in the end, I was the one who thought too much.”

“Once, I was beaten until I was covered in blood and couldn’t even get up. They still wouldn’t give me anything to eat, saying I was not even fit to feed a dog. I was half-conscious, thinking I was going to die. But in the end, I was lucky enough to pull through. After that, I understood that if I never resisted, one day they would beat me to death...”

As she spoke, Lin Jingyue gave a self-mocking smile and waved it away. “Forget it, it’s all in the past. Why am I even saying this? My mother’s family was willing to support me with spoiled broth just to keep me alive. I truly shouldn’t have laid a hand on Uncle just now.”

With a look of utter disheartenment, she waved again and turned back into the house.

Her silhouette was lonely, pitiful.

Only then did everyone realize: she was only eighteen. An eighteen-year-old girl with such a vicious temperament had been forced into it.

Sighs rose all around as a fine drizzle began to fall from the sky, making the scene even more desolate.

Lin Xinjian: “...”

Good and bad alike had all been spoken by Lin Jingyue, and she had already been hit. What more did she want?

Meanwhile, Jiang Xun and Zhou Yan, who had caught the sly glint at the corner of Lin Jingyue’s mouth as she turned away, nearly twitched with laughter.

Zhou Yan found the whole thing hard to describe, while Jiang Xun felt a heaviness in his heart.

He knew every word Lin Jingyue had said was true.

As a child, she must have suffered terribly.

When the onlookers dispersed, the people at the educated youth compound all looked toward Lin Jingyue’s room with complicated expressions.

Her life, too, had not been smooth sailing.

“She... she was actually bullied like that before?” Wang Xueping murmured inside the room.

Lin Jingyue looked fierce, and she had always been the kind to repay every slight. It was hard to imagine her having suffered so many losses.

“People only grow after they’ve been hurt,” Yang Ming said with a sigh.

Take him, for example. When he first came to the countryside, wasn’t he looked down upon by everyone, quiet and withdrawn?

One had to go through things before growing up, before learning how to protect oneself.

In Lin Jingyue’s room, she was pondering why Wu Zhenhua had suddenly come.

What exactly was his connection to Song Qinglan?

Just then, she heard a knock at the door and hurried to open it. Jiang Xun was standing outside.

“Everyone’s gone?”

“Yes. Are you all right?” Jiang Xun’s tone was gentle. Although he knew Lin Jingyue was probably fine, concern had become instinctive.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” She smiled.

The two sat on the heated kang. Lin Jingyue rested her chin in her hand. “Wu Zhenhua probably won’t leave Baixian anytime soon. Help me find someone to keep an eye on him.”

“You want to see whether this has anything to do with Song Qinglan?” Jiang Xun understood her thoughts at once.

“Mhm.” She always felt the matter was not so simple.

For more than ten years, the Wu matriarch had never thought of her. Yet the moment Song Qinglan set her sights on her, she suddenly took an interest in her.

“Fine. But I have another idea.” A flash of light passed through his eyes.

“Song Shiyun.” Lin Jingyue narrowed her eyes.

She had thought of Song Shiyun too. On the surface, Song Qinglan and Song Shiyun’s father were mortal enemies.

If this matter was true, then the enemy of one’s enemy was a friend. Besides, Song Shiyun was her senior brother.

If it was false, then they could still probe from the side what exactly Song Qinglan wanted to do to the Song family. For the sake of profit, she could also cooperate with other members of the Song family.

Lin Jingyue had always been someone with a very low bottom line. For her own sake, she did not mind a temporary alliance.

And Jiang Xun thought the same.

He was not in the capital now, too far away to reach, and some things were difficult to investigate. They would have to go through unconventional channels.

“Then let’s go straight to him.” They made the decision on the spot.

What they had not expected was that before they even had time to look for Song Shiyun, Song Shiyun had already learned of it.

That night, in the hospital.

Song Shiyun’s expression was dark and cold as he made his way to Wu Zhenhua’s ward.

He had been cracked open by Jiang Xun, suffering a mild concussion, and then beaten by Lin Jingyue, breaking a rib.

Now he lay on the bed, howling in pain.

Hearing movement at the door, he looked over warily. “Who’s there?!”

“What did Song Qinglan send you here to do?” Song Shiyun walked over, his tall frame exuding oppressive force.

The aura around him poured out without restraint.

Wu Zhenhua’s face turned white at once. He stared at Song Shiyun in terror. “Y-you... just who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. Just tell the truth.” A cool voice sounded, and then something cold was pressed against Wu Zhenhua’s forehead.

When he realized what it was, he nearly peed himself.

His heart pounded violently. Swallowing hard, he said, “I... I have nothing to do with Song Qinglan. I don’t know anything. She... she doesn’t know I came...”

“She doesn’t know?” Song Shiyun’s brows drew together.

“Y-yes, yes, she doesn’t know. My old lady sent me. She wants me to bring Lin Jingyue back to marry someone.”

Wu Zhenhua was on the verge of tears.

He had never even met Song Qinglan alone.

That woman was far too ruthless. For the sake of finding a job for Shanshan, his mother had somehow threatened her, no one knew how.

The job had been secured, but his mother kept saying it was not safe enough.

This time, she had even made him take leave and come here to bring Lin Jingyue back for marriage.

He had no idea what the connection was between the two things.

Song Shiyun’s brow furrowed tightly. “What is Song Qinglan’s purpose in coming to Anshi?”

“I-I don’t know.” How would he know? That woman was no simple character.

Even his mother would not allow them to come into contact with her.

“And where are you planning to marry Lin Jingyue off to?” Song Shiyun felt his guess had not been confirmed, and his mood turned irritable.

At the impatience in his voice, cold sweat beaded on Wu Zhenhua’s forehead. “Marry, marry her into the mountains. A, a family of fools is willing to pay two hundred yuan in bride price. My mother said to, to let her go and enjoy a good life.”

“Bullshit!” Song Shiyun slapped him hard across the face.

Wu Zhenhua was knocked onto the bed at once. His face burned with pain, but he did not dare make a sound.

This man had a weapon!

“Why don’t you marry a girl from the Wu family off there instead? Ruin someone else’s life, you scum!” Rage surged in Song Shiyun’s chest.

“It, it was my mother’s idea. It has nothing to do with me...” Wu Zhenhua was terrified.

“Pah. A worthless dog.” Song Shiyun looked at him with utter contempt.

He gave Wu Zhenhua two more punches before strolling out.

He left Wu Zhenhua behind, his face bruised and swollen, on the verge of tears. This trip to the northern province had been a complete loss!

No, he had to find a way to drag that damned girl Lin Jingyue back. Since she dared to hit him, she deserved to be married off to the deep mountains, where heaven would not answer and earth would not respond.

At the educated youth compound.

After supper, Lin Jingyue found an opportunity to pretend to go to the back mountain, where she left the wild boar in a cave and then had Jiang Xun and Zhou Yan go clean it up.