“Comrade Qiaoyun, is your injury feeling better?”
Lin Qiaoyun touched her head.
“It’s already much better.”
“Comrade Qiaoyun, I’m a soldier. If you truly don’t want to marry me, you can tell me. I—”
“I’m willing to marry you, but I have one condition. Can you agree to it?”
Before Zhao Tiezhu could finish speaking, Lin Qiaoyun interrupted him.
“What? What condition?”
“I already got accepted into high school. Can your family let me continue studying? As long as you agree to let me go to school, I’ll agree to marry you. We can get our marriage certificate tomorrow.”
She wanted to study.
And she also wanted to marry this man.
Lin Qiaoyun had made that decision the moment she first saw Zhao Tiezhu.
“I thought you didn’t want to marry me?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to marry you. I just couldn’t accept them refusing to let me go to school. You should know how hard it is to get into high school. I finally got accepted, and now they won’t let me go.”
As she said this, the young girl pouted, clearly unhappy.
“Alright. I agree to let you continue studying. Study however long you want. If you get into university, I’ll support that too.”
“Really?”
“Really. Truer than pearls.”
“That’s great! Come pick me up tomorrow.”
Even Zhao Tiezhu did not understand how things had turned out this way.
Just moments ago, he had a whole basketful of things he wanted to say.
But after only a few exchanges, they had somehow already decided to register their marriage the next day.
Still, since it had already been settled, he stopped overthinking it.
As long as this girl sincerely wanted to marry him, he would treat her well for the rest of his life.
“Alright then, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow. Get some good rest.”
Zhao Tiezhu walked outside, greeted Xu Nian’en, and left.
As soon as he was gone, Xu Nian’en hurried into the room.
“Daughter, have you really thought it through? You’re really willing to marry into the Zhao family?”
“Yes, Mom. I’m willing. I don’t have any say in this family anyway. It’s better to get married and leave.”
“Mom, why don’t you and Dad come with me?”
“You and Dad have worked like old oxen your whole lives in this family, working yourselves to the bone to support other people.”
“I’m your only daughter. It’s only right for you to come with me. I’ll take care of you when you’re old.”
“What nonsense are you talking about, child? Since when does a girl take her parents with her when she gets married?”
“Maybe nowhere else, but I’ll be the first. Don’t worry, Mom. Your daughter is capable. I can support you and Dad.”
“Yes, yes, my daughter is the most capable.”
Xu Nian’en smiled helplessly.
“Now lie down and rest for a while. Lunch will be ready soon.”
She tucked the blanket around her daughter to make her more comfortable before heading out to prepare lunch.
At noon, the Lin family returned home.
Lin Qiaoyun’s father, Lin Youshui, also came back from outside.
He had been working on a reservoir construction project and had not been home for some time.
Otherwise, none of this would have happened to Lin Qiaoyun.
The moment he heard his daughter had gotten into trouble, Lin Youshui immediately dropped his work and rushed home.
He had only gone to dig the reservoir to earn money for his daughter’s school fees.
If something happened to his daughter, then what was the point of working at all?
“My precious girl! Daddy’s treasure! You absolutely can’t let anything happen to you! You’re Dad’s only precious child! If anything happens to you, Dad won’t want to live anymore!”
Before he even entered the house, his crying could already be heard from outside.
Lin Qiaoyun was Lin Youshui’s entire world.
He treasured her like the apple of his eye.
Otherwise, there was no way she could have gone to school for so many years.
The original Lin Qiaoyun had simply been too protected by him.
Her ability to handle pressure had been too weak.
Something like this had pushed her into despair.
Lin Youshui rushed into the room.
When he saw his daughter’s pale face and the cloth wrapped around her head, tears flowed even faster, as if a flood were about to burst forth.
“Dad, I’m fine now. Can you stop crying?”
“Hic…”
“Okay, daughter. Dad won’t cry anymore. Dad was just too worried about you.”
“Alright, Dad. Go eat first. We can talk after you’re full.”
“Okay…”
Lin Qiaoyun climbed out of bed and followed her father into the Lin family kitchen.
This was the first time she had entered the kitchen to eat since transmigrating here.
The Lin family had a very large table.
The whole family sat together to eat.
At that moment, everyone was waiting for Lin Youshui’s family to sit down before starting the meal.
Mainly because Old Master Lin had said they should wait for the second son to return.
Otherwise, they would have finished eating already.
Lin Youshui helped his daughter sit down, then took the seat beside her.
Xu Nian’en, who had been busy in the kitchen, sat on Lin Qiaoyun’s other side.
Once everyone was seated, Old Master Lin gestured for Wang Chunhua to begin serving the food.
Whether intentional or not, when it came to Lin Youshui’s family of three, Wang Chunhua only gave each of them half a bowl of mixed-grain rice.
As mentioned before, Lin Qiaoyun could tolerate almost anything.
The one thing she absolutely could not tolerate was being deprived of food.
A hungry Lin Qiaoyun was dangerous.
“Grandma, why do I only get half a bowl while everyone else gets a full one?”
“You’re just a money-losing girl. You should be grateful to get half a bowl at all. Eat it or don’t—your choice.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“So what you’re saying is that women are worthless and don’t deserve to eat?”
“Isn’t that true?”
“Fine. Got it.”
The moment she finished speaking, Lin Qiaoyun stood up.
She grabbed the bowls belonging to Lin Qiaofeng and Lin Baoyu and dumped their rice into the bowls of herself and her parents.
“Dad, Mom, hurry up and eat.”
Holding her bowl, Lin Qiaoyun stood there and started eating.
In less than two minutes, she had finished the whole thing.
Lin Qiaofeng and Lin Baoyu were so stunned by her actions that they forgot to protect their bowls.
Seeing everyone at the table staring at her instead of eating, Lin Qiaoyun reached over, grabbed little Lin Qiang’s bowl, and shamelessly finished that too in just a few bites.
Only after his food disappeared did Lin Qiang react.
“Waaah!”
He burst into loud sobs.
“What are you crying for? You’re so little and don’t even work. You don’t need to eat that much. One meal a day is enough.”
Those were words Wang Chunhua had once said to Lin Qiaoyun.
Now, Lin Qiaoyun returned them to Lin Qiang.
Seeing her grandson’s food stolen, Liu Dani let out a howl and charged over, raising her hand to slap Lin Qiaoyun.
But Lin Qiaoyun kicked her aside with one foot.
Then she snatched Liu Dani’s bowl, split half the rice into her parents’ bowls, and ate the rest herself.
When Lin Youshui saw how fierce his daughter had suddenly become, he immediately started eating as fast as he could.
Who knew what would happen later?
Better fill up first.
The others quickly followed suit.
If they did not hurry and eat now, there might not be any food left.
“What a disgrace to this family! What terrible luck! Where did this lunatic come from? Lin Qiaoyun, you’ve gone completely crazy! You’re even stealing food from a child!”
“Hmph. Nothing matters more than eating. Who told you not to let me eat enough? Hungry people can do anything. You should be grateful I didn’t take yours too.”
“You dare threaten to steal my food?”
“Hmph. If you don’t let me eat my fill tonight, then nobody gets to eat.”
“Second son, is this how you raised your daughter?”
“Mom, the child was hungry. There’s nothing I could do. Don’t be angry. How about I just eat less tonight?”
Lin Youshui was still desperately shoveling food into his mouth.
He was afraid his mother might stop him from eating.
It had been a very long time since he had eaten a full meal.
“You—!”