Lu Ming’an borrowed a car, and the two of them drove to the cemetery.
Since Lin Chenian had not been buried long ago, there were not many weeds around the grave. The two tidied up the area a little.
“Dad, I came to see you. Look what I brought you—your favorite pastries and Pu’er tea,” Lin Zhitao said as she carefully arranged the pastries and tea.
Lin Zhitao stroked the gravestone gently, softly expressing how much she missed her father. Tears had already filled her eyes.
In her previous life, her greatest regret was not being able to personally bury her father. She did not even know whether Su Ya had given him a proper burial. Until the day she died, she had never once visited his grave.
But in this life, she had personally buried him and could come pay respects to him herself. She no longer had any regrets.
“Dad, Tangtang can protect herself now. You’ve seen it from heaven, haven’t you? Aren’t you proud of your daughter? Dad, this is Lu Ming’an, the fiancé you chose for me. We’ve already gotten married. Are you satisfied with this son-in-law?”
“Dad, I’m Lu Ming’an. Tangtang and I came to visit you. Please rest assured. In the name of a soldier, I promise you that I’ll care for and protect Tangtang for the rest of her life.”
Lu Ming’an saluted solemnly toward Lin Chenian’s grave as he spoke.
“Dad, Tangtang is about to leave Shanghai with Brother Ming’an. Don’t worry, Tangtang will live well. The next time I return, I’ll come visit you again.”
Lin Zhitao remained silent for a long time. Eventually, she wiped away her tears and spoke softly.
Dad, I think you probably knew Su Ya’s true nature already, didn’t you?
Did you think Su Ya wouldn’t go too far?
Sadly, you underestimated human nature. Once wealth becomes tempting enough, people turn into demons and abandon the bottom line of being human.
The suffering and grievances I endured in my previous life aren’t anyone else’s fault. I was simply too naïve and too poor at judging people. There is always a price to pay for that.
But I’ve already taken revenge for myself. I drove them out of the Lin family. Whatever happens to them from now on has nothing to do with me anymore. That can be considered repayment for giving me life.
“Tangtang, it’s getting late. Let’s head back. Next time, I’ll accompany you here again. Dad, don’t worry. Whenever I have time, I’ll definitely bring Tangtang back to see you.”
On the drive back, Lin Zhitao’s mood remained low, and Lu Ming’an said nothing. He simply stayed quietly by her side.
After all, the pain of losing a loved one was a wound that could never truly be overcome.
When the two arrived at Lin Residence, someone suddenly rushed out toward them.
It was Su Yun.
After hearing what happened to Su Ya and Song Zhiqiang, Su Yun had wanted to escape. Taking advantage of Old Madam Wu returning to her room, she ran out.
But she had no money, no introduction letter, and nowhere to go.
As she wandered aimlessly, she eventually arrived at Lin Residence. Just as she was about to leave, she saw the warm and harmonious atmosphere between Lin Zhitao and Lu Ming’an.
The jealousy and hatred in her heart immediately spiraled out of control, and she rushed forward.
Yet after standing before them, Su Yun suddenly did not know what to say—especially with Lu Ming’an seeing her in such a miserable state.
“Su Yun?” Lin Zhitao looked her over.
Su Yun was wearing patched-up clothes, filthy from head to toe. Her complexion was waxy yellow, and the exposed skin on her body was covered in bruises.
Seeing Lin Zhitao remain seemingly unmoved by her appearance, Su Yun ignored her embarrassment at being seen like this by Lu Ming’an and angrily shouted,
“Lin Zhitao, seeing me become like this, don’t you feel guilty? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
“Why should I feel guilty or ashamed? What does this have to do with me? Isn’t this all your own doing?” Lin Zhitao replied lazily.
“How can it have nothing to do with you?! If not for you, how could I have ended up marrying that bastard Wu Jianguo? Do you know what kind of life I’ve been living in the Wu family?”
“Look at my face! Look at the injuries on my body! Not a single person in that family is human! You turned me into this, and yet you don’t feel anything at all?”
“And Mom—Mom treated you so well. Why did you have to ruin her? If not for you, Mom and Uncle Song would still be living happily together. This is all because of you! All because of you! You deserve to die!”
Hearing Lin Zhitao’s response, Su Yun’s blood surged upward in rage. Her fingernails dug deeply into her palms, her knuckles turning white from the force. She shouted so loudly that even her lips trembled.
After accusing Lin Zhitao, she turned toward Lu Ming’an.
“Brother Lu, Lin Zhitao is a vicious woman with the heart of a snake and scorpion. If not for her, Mom and I would still be fine. Are you really going to marry her? She’s not worthy of you!”
Su Yun’s furious shouting attracted nearby neighbors.
However, because everyone already knew about the Lin family’s affairs, and Lin Zhitao had previously spoken with them in advance, no one reacted much upon seeing Su Yun or hearing her words.
They simply gathered in a circle to watch the drama unfold.
Lin Zhitao suddenly raised her hand and slapped Su Yun hard across the face with every ounce of strength she could muster.
Afterward, she even adorably blew on her hand, complaining silently that hitting Su Yun had hurt her palm.
Seeing this side of Lin Zhitao, a trace of amusement flashed across Lu Ming’an’s usually expressionless face.
“Lin Zhitao, you actually hit me?!”
Su Yun clutched her face and stared at Lin Zhitao in disbelief.
“Yes. Didn’t you feel the pain?”
“What right do you have to hit me?!”
Su Yun tried to strike back, but Lin Zhitao gave her no opportunity and shoved her directly to the ground.
“I’ve wanted to hit you for a long time already.”
“Su Yun, you really don’t know when enough is enough. I have a clear conscience in everything I’ve done. You and your mother ending up like this is entirely your own fault. Neither I nor the Lin family have ever wronged you in the slightest.”
“You’re an illegitimate daughter who spent years eating and using the Lin family’s things, yet you still schemed against me—the true daughter of the Lin family. And now you actually think you’re justified? Who gave you that confidence?”
“Lin Zhitao, yes, I ate your family’s food and used your family’s things, but those were merely your leftovers thrown to me!”
“You looked down on me everywhere. On the surface, you treated me well, but in reality, everything I had was just whatever was left after you were done with it. You could buy whatever you wanted, but if I bought even a little more, people mocked me, saying I wasn’t born to enjoy a good life.”
“To please all of you, I fought to do housework and learned to cook. But what about you? No matter when, you were always high above everyone else, your hands never touching household labor. How is that fair?!”
Su Yun looked up at Lin Zhitao with complete self-righteousness, as though every word she said was perfectly reasonable.
The neighbors had all seen how Su Yun lived in the Lin family over the years. Listening to her now, they could only feel that the Lin family had raised an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.
“Su Yun, you want to talk to me about fairness?”
“Don’t forget—when you first entered the Lin family, you had absolutely nothing. No one in our family ever forced you to do housework or cook. You insisted on doing those things yourself.”
“And even if everything I gave you was merely charity, you still lived a life hundreds of times better than most people. Back then, why didn’t you complain about fairness?”
Lin Zhitao burst into laughter, as though she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
She walked closer to Su Yun and looked down at her from above.
“Su Yun, people should at least know gratitude. The way you are now truly brings the phrase ‘repaying kindness with betrayal’ to its fullest extent.”
After saying that, Lin Zhitao turned and walked back into Lin Residence.
The surrounding crowd pointed at Su Yun and whispered among themselves.
“I’ve never seen someone so shameless.”
“Exactly. The Lin family’s kindness all these years was completely wasted on her.”
…
Even now, Su Yun remained furious and unconvinced. She still believed she had done nothing wrong.
Wasn’t it only natural for the Lin family to treat her well after adopting her?
“What are you all staring at?! What’s so interesting?! Get lost!”
Su Yun stood up, shoved through the crowd, and ran away.
Having nowhere else to go, she eventually returned to the Wu family.
And naturally, once she returned, another brutal beating awaited her. After that, Old Madam Wu watched her even more closely than before.
“Tangtang, you don’t need to pay attention to what she said.”
“Brother Ming’an, you’re overthinking it. Why would I care about anything she says?”
“Oh right, Brother Ming’an, what time are the train tickets for the day after tomorrow?”
“The train leaves at eleven in the morning.”
While Lu Ming’an went to return the borrowed car, Lin Zhitao also prepared one final grand gift.
She carefully thought through whether there was anything else left unfinished, afraid she might forget something before leaving Shanghai.