Meanwhile, at the Lin Family home.
Lin Xi never would have imagined that Zhao Mingze’s uncle was actually Xiao Jingwen!
Why didn’t this uncle even have the same surname?
It was all because the original novel had barely introduced Zhao Mingze at all. He was only a supporting character meant to serve as a contrast, so there had been almost no information about his family background.
Well, look at her now. She had brought this upon herself.
What she had thought would be nothing more than a brief fling had turned into Xiao Jingwen not only coming to find her, but also being a soldier!
Judging from his attitude today, he seemed very much like he intended to hold her accountable.
Could it be that he wanted her to take responsibility?
At that thought, Lin Xi startled herself.
Sure, Xiao Jingwen was handsome, but no. She had no intention of getting married.
Getting married in this era was practically a death sentence. Not only would she have to take care of the entire family, she would also have to deal with the complicated relationships between her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, as well as among sisters-in-law. For all she knew, she might even have to give birth to three sons!
That was a responsibility she absolutely could not afford to take on.
She still preferred farming!
Fortunately, she already had the house.
Thinking of that, Lin Xi felt much more at ease and happily went to sleep.
The next day, she slept until the sun was already high in the sky before being awakened by the sound of things being moved around.
It was obvious that Li Yufen was eager to marry into the Xiao family.
It wasn’t even ten o’clock, yet Lin Ran and her mother had already returned from shopping.
In the living room, Lin Ran was holding up the wedding clothes she had just bought and comparing them against herself. Beside her were a television and a refrigerator.
“Wow~ That’s quite a splurge. These must have cost several thousand yuan, right?”
As she spoke, Lin Xi slowly walked down the stairs.
The moment the family of three saw her, their expressions changed.
Li Yufen struck first.
“Xiaoxi, we agreed yesterday. The house goes to you, and the money will be used as Xiaoran’s dowry.”
“That’s what we agreed on.”
Lin Xi readily nodded.
Li Yufen and Lin Jianguo both found it somewhat unbelievable.
And that was exactly the point.
Lin Xi glanced at them with a smile on her face. Anyone with common sense knew that after slapping someone, you had to give them a sweet date afterward.
There was no fun in bullying people nonstop.
It was much more entertaining to keep their emotions swinging up and down.
Sure enough, the family of three immediately became uneasy, afraid that she had another trick up her sleeve.
She did have another move.
But there was no rush.
First, she needed to eat.
Lin Xi leisurely went back upstairs to wash up.
The kitchen was cold and empty. She had no intention of eating leftovers.
She stopped in front of Lin Jianguo.
“Dad, give me some grain coupons.”
The moment he heard that she wanted something again, Lin Jianguo naturally refused.
“We don’t even have enough grain coupons at home. What do you need them for?”
“What else would I need grain coupons for? To eat, obviously. Do you have to ask such a simple question? Do you have no brains?”
In the past, Lin Xi would never have dared to speak to him like this.
But ever since the house had been transferred into her name, she had become even more fearless.
Lin Jianguo was so angry that the veins on his neck bulged.
“Lin Xi! You have no manners!”
“Oh, yes, yes, I know.”
Lin Xi impatiently rubbed her ear and reminded him, “But if I have no manners, that’s because the two of you raised me that way. Go reflect on yourselves.”
She impatiently curled her fingers twice.
“Hurry up and give them to me. If you don’t have enough grain coupons, give me money instead. I refuse to believe I can’t buy grain coupons at a higher price.”
As she spoke, her eyes casually swept over the two appliances in the living room.
The excuse that the family had no money wouldn’t work anymore.
Lin Jianguo had no choice but take out two grain coupons and hand them to her.
Lin Xi happily left the house.
Since she wasn’t short of money, the moment she reached the entrance of the alley, she hailed a three-wheeled taxi.
“Three-wheelers” were a unique form of transportation during this period—small motorcycles with three wheels. They could mainly be found in the busier areas of Beijing.
Lin Xi had the driver take her to the entrance of a restaurant.
When she got out, she noticed a department store directly across the street.
Perfect. She could go shopping after lunch.
Lin Xi ordered a plate of stir-fried pork with chili peppers and a bowl of braised chicken with mushrooms.
The mushrooms were hazel mushrooms, wild mushrooms gathered from the mountains and then dried.
They were extremely valuable.
It took seven jin of fresh mushrooms to make one jin of dried mushrooms. Before Lin Xi had crossed over, dried mushrooms like these sold for more than two hundred yuan per jin at the supermarket.
Lin Xi happily ate a huge bowl of rice.
“Is it good?”
A chair scraped against the floor across from her.
“It’s good…”
Lin Xi answered before her brain could catch up.
Only after she finished speaking did she realize something was wrong.
She looked up—
Xiao Jingwen was sitting across from her!
“Comrade.”
Lin Xi put down her chopsticks.
“There are so many empty tables. Why don’t you eat somewhere else?”
Apparently, something about her words pleased the man.
Xiao Jingwen crossed his arms, leaned back against the chair, and smiled.
“I’m not here to eat. I came to discuss our marriage.”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Lin Xi nearly choked to death on her own saliva.
In broad daylight, she glanced around before lowering her voice.
“What marriage? Who said I was getting married?”
Xiao Jingwen wasn’t surprised by her answer at all.
He simply asked, “You knocked on the door and entered my room yourself that day, didn’t you?”
The point in time when Lin Xi had crossed over was after Zhao Mingze had been drugged, so she really had knocked on the door and made the choice to enter herself.
She said nothing.
Xiao Jingwen seemed not to have expected an answer from her in the first place. He continued on his own.
“After you entered, you were the one who took the initiative, right?”
Well… only halfway.
Because at first, she had genuinely only wanted to borrow the bathroom.
But the effects of that drug had been far too strong.
The moment she entered and saw a six-foot-two handsome man opening the door, her rationality had completely gone out the window.
It was true that she had been the one to go weak in the knees and hug Xiao Jingwen first, but she hadn’t been the one who initiated everything!
She absolutely refused to take the blame for that.
Lin Xi cleared her throat and corrected Xiao Jingwen.
“At most, we’re each fifty percent responsible.”
Recalling what had happened that night, Xiao Jingwen curled his lips into a smile and acknowledged her reasoning.
“Fifty-fifty works.”
“I plan to marry you to take responsibility for my half. As for your half, how do you plan to take responsibility…”
After going around in circles, Lin Xi ended up getting herself tangled in the argument. She listened in bewilderment.
She interrupted Xiao Jingwen.
“Stop. I don’t need you to take responsibility.”
Xiao Jingwen silently looked at Lin Xi.
“I need you to take responsibility.”
“Unfortunately…”
As someone who had been trained by an exam-oriented education system and had become a top student, Lin Xi reacted quickly.
She shrugged.
“My way of taking responsibility is to give you money.”
“Three yuan?”
Xiao Jingwen smiled.
Lin Xi pressed her lips together.
“How much do you want? Name your price.”
Xiao Jingwen stared at Lin Xi’s face.
“I only want you. I don’t want money.”
His unwavering gaze immediately reminded Lin Xi of that night—the man trapping her in his arms, the overwhelming sense of dominance and pressure.
Goosebumps rose along the back of her neck.
Lin Xi decisively refused.
“Then I can’t give you that.”
Soldiers were very good at reading people’s expressions.
Xiao Jingwen caught the fleeting worry in Lin Xi’s eyes and guessed that she had remembered what happened that night.
He had a sex addiction.
It rarely acted up after all these years.
Even he didn’t know why he had lost control the moment he encountered Lin Xi that day.
That night, he had indeed been somewhat rough with her.
“I’m sorry about what happened that night.”
Xiao Jingwen looked at Lin Xi and swallowed.
His voice was so gentle it seemed almost capable of melting.
“But I’m sincere about wanting to marry you.”