The steamed soup dumplings were plump and round. The moment the lid of the lunchbox was lifted, hot steam carrying the rich aroma of meat rushed toward Lin Xiaxia’s nose, making her mouth water.
“Sis, what are you doing? You really didn’t have to spend so much on me.”
“You silly girl, why are you being so polite with me?” The older woman sat across from her, smiling happily as she watched Lin Xiaxia enjoy the food.
“But I actually have a favor to ask you.”
Lin Xiaxia had just picked up her spoon when she paused. She put it back down and said seriously, “Sis, I’m leaving with the other educated youths today. We’re being sent all the way to the Northeast, and I have no idea when I’ll be able to come back. It’s so far away that even if you need my help, I’m afraid there won’t be much I can do.”
The older woman immediately grabbed her hand and looked at her earnestly.
“You can help. You definitely can! Xiaxia, you have a way to get grain, don’t you? Why don’t we keep in touch from now on? It doesn’t matter if you’re not here. As long as you can make phone calls or send letters from there, that’ll be enough. I know plenty of families who are short on grain. If you can get some, we’ll pay the market price. I promise we won’t let you suffer a loss.”
Lin Xiaxia froze for a moment.
That could work?
“Sis…” She was about to say something when the older woman interrupted her.
“My dear Xiaxia, don’t worry!” The woman patted her chest confidently.
“The people I introduce to you will definitely be trustworthy. They’re all neighbors I’ve known for years, so there won’t be any trouble. My husband also has some connections at the factory. If you ever get tired of living in the countryside and want to return to the city, I might even be able to pull some strings and help you find a way back. What do you think?”
That immediately caught Lin Xiaxia’s attention.
Having a possible way back to the city could only be a good thing.
She thought it over and decided the arrangement was worth considering. It wouldn’t interfere with her departure for the countryside, and it would give her another useful connection.
Why not?
“All right.” She nodded. “Let’s exchange contact information first. I’ll write down your home address and phone number. I still don’t know what things will be like where I’m going, though. Once I arrive at the educated youth station and get settled in, I’ll write you a letter and explain everything in detail.”
“Of course, of course!”
Seeing that she had agreed, the older woman smiled so widely that her eyes narrowed into slits. She quickly took out some paper and a pen from a drawer and wrote down her address and the factory’s phone number.
“Hurry up and eat while it’s still hot. I need to get back to work. I’ll take you to the train station later!”
“All right. Thank you, Sis!”
Lin Xiaxia picked up another soup dumpling, feeling much more reassured.
She hadn’t expected to make such a valuable connection right before leaving.
Not long after she finished eating, a commotion suddenly erupted downstairs.
Among the noisy voices, one shrill woman’s voice was particularly piercing.
“Lin Xiaxia! Lin Xiaxia, get out here!”
Lin Xiaxia frowned and walked out of her room.
The moment she reached the staircase, she saw Zhang Shufen standing in the guesthouse lobby with her hands on her hips, causing a huge scene. Spittle flew from her mouth as she shouted, attracting numerous guests who poked their heads out to watch the commotion.
The moment Zhang Shufen spotted her, she pushed through the crowd and rushed over, pointing a finger straight at Lin Xiaxia’s nose.
“You ungrateful wretch! No wonder you suddenly had money to buy new clothes and stay at a guesthouse! So you swindled the money out of Changming! How can you be so heartless? You actually dared to demand two thousand yuan from him! Are you obsessed with money? How could you even bring yourself to ask for that much?”
As soon as those words were spoken, whispers immediately spread through the crowd.
Several people turned to stare at Lin Xiaxia, their curious gazes carrying traces of contempt.
Seeing the situation, Sister Wang from the guesthouse quickly stepped forward and blocked Zhang Shufen.
“Comrade, if you have something to say, then talk it out properly. Don’t shout and make a scene here. You’re disturbing the other guests!”
She then glanced meaningfully at Lin Xiaxia, signaling for her not to confront the woman head-on.
Lin Xiaxia merely shook her head and calmly said, “It’s fine, Sister Wang. This woman is my biological mother.”
“You still know I’m your mother?”
Zhang Shufen exploded like a firecracker, her voice becoming even shriller.
“If you know I’m your mother, how could you do something so heartless? What did Changming ever do to you for you to cheat him like this?”
“Cheat him?”
Lin Xiaxia let out a mocking laugh before sweeping her clear gaze over the surrounding spectators.
“Wei Changming gave me that money willingly. I didn’t force him. He likes Xue Baozhu and wants to marry her. That’s true, isn’t it? But the marriage agreement between the Wei and Xue families was clearly arranged with me, the Xue family’s biological daughter—not Xue Baozhu, the daughter who was mistakenly switched at birth. That’s also a fact, isn’t it?”
She paused.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word was perfectly clear.
“If he wants me to give up the engagement so he can marry Xue Baozhu without any trouble, shouldn’t he pay some compensation? He willingly gave me that money as compensation. We even have a written agreement, clearly stating that he did it of his own free will. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Wei Changming himself!”
Her explanation was clear and logical, laying out the entire situation from beginning to end.
After hearing the truth, the surrounding crowd immediately began looking at Zhang Shufen differently. Their whispers quickly turned into open criticism.
“So she wants her biological daughter to give up her engagement without even receiving compensation?”
“If that man likes the other daughter, then it’s only right that he compensate the biological daughter.”
“What kind of mother is this? She’s far too biased…”
Under everyone’s judgmental gazes, Zhang Shufen’s face alternated between red and pale.
Most of her earlier arrogance immediately disappeared, and for a moment, she stammered without knowing what to say.
“You… How am I supposed to explain this to the Wei family?” Zhang Shufen trembled with anger, her voice shaking as anxiety and fury filled her eyes.
Lin Xiaxia laughed, the sound dripping with mockery.
“Hahaha! You’re still worried about explaining things to them? You’re going to be sent down to the countryside the day after tomorrow. Instead of worrying about whether you’ll even be able to survive there, you’re still concerning yourself with the Wei family?”
“Lin Xiaxia!”
Her indifferent attitude infuriated Zhang Shufen, who screamed her name.
“I can hear you. There’s no need to shout.”
Lin Xiaxia casually rubbed her ear, her expression completely calm.
“How can you be so shameless?” Zhang Shufen gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with rage.
“Shameless?”
The smile instantly disappeared from Lin Xiaxia’s face, and her gaze turned icy cold.
“Who was it that abandoned her biological daughter in the countryside for sixteen years? Who would rather shower a daughter switched at birth with love and affection than spare a single glance for her own child? Do you have any idea what kind of life I lived with the Lin family for those sixteen years? Going hungry and freezing because I didn’t have enough clothes was normal. Being beaten and cursed at happened all the time. In the end, they even planned to sell me to an old man in exchange for a bride price! Did any of you ever bother to ask me about any of that?”
Her voice suddenly rose, carrying sixteen years of suppressed pain and anger.
The entire crowd fell silent.
Zhang Shufen was momentarily speechless. Her eyes darted around guiltily, but she still stubbornly argued, “Your father and I… we’ll make it up to you in the future.”
“Make it up to me?”
Lin Xiaxia looked as though she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
“Is that what you call compensation? Leaving all the family’s money and ration coupons to Xue Baozhu so she can live comfortably in the city, while your so-called ‘compensation’ for me is a few empty words about family affection? You wanted to use those lies to keep me obedient so I’d follow you to the countryside, work myself to the bone, and spend my days serving you and taking care of your every need?”
She stared coldly at the woman before her.
“Zhang Shufen, a person should have at least some conscience.”
She deliberately called her by her full name.
There was no longer the slightest trace of closeness between them.