No.
Lin Ting quickly dismissed the thought.
Jiang Yu was not only a medical genius but also a master hacker.
If anyone had installed hidden surveillance software on his phone, he would definitely have detected it.
“Or perhaps…” Lin Ting’s mind raced.
The red cord around Jiang Yu’s neck suddenly aroused her suspicion.
It was a protective talisman given to Jiang Yu by Lin Weiwei.
Lin Ting had heard about it before.
When Jiang Yu was in a car accident, Lin Weiwei had gone to Qingquan Ancient Temple, kneeling for 9,999 steps to pray for Jiang Yu’s safety and specifically requested this talisman.
“Mr. Jiang, could it be that the protective talisman you’re wearing has been fitted with a listening device?”
Lin Weiwei was being falsely accused, and Jiang Yu’s expression grew even more disgusted with Lin Ting.
Moreover, he immediately defended her:
“Lin Ting, stop slandering Weiwei in front of me.”
“Only someone like you would stoop to such despicable and dirty tricks.”
“Weiwei would never do that.”
Seeing how fiercely he protected Lin Weiwei, Lin Ting had no desire to persuade him.
She only wanted to secure a chance of survival for Xiao Youzi.
But what should she do?
“Lin Ting, is it that your conspiracy hasn’t been exposed yet? Next time, when Lin Jiang Pharmaceuticals’ specific anticancer drug is successfully developed, will you hold fake blood in your mouth, pretend to cough up blood in front of me, and act out another tragic drama of impending death, just to successfully swindle away the research efforts of both families over the past twenty years?”
“Mr. Jiang, it’s not like that, I…”
Jiang Yu harshly cut her off:
“Enough, Lin Ting.”
“From now on, don’t appear in front of me again.”
“Every word you say, every syllable, makes me feel utterly disgusted.”
“Consider my more than ten years of youth wasted on a dog.”
“I don’t want to have any further contact with you.”
Jiang Yu’s final glance at her was one of zero tolerance.
Hatred transformed into a sharp blade, piercing coldly from his eyes through her body.
Lin Ting knew that now, no matter what she said, Jiang Yu would neither listen nor believe her.
The more than ten years of youth in the past no longer mattered to her.
If Jiang Yu called her a dog, then so be it.
She was only worried about what she should do for her Xiao Youzi?
When she sat back down in the restaurant chair, feeling utterly hopeless and helpless, she didn’t notice the people in the restaurant watching her.
Nor did she notice that Jiang Yu had already left heartlessly.
Her mind was filled only with the image of Xiao Youzi—obedient, adorable, clever, and sensible.
Lost in thought in the restaurant for a long time, Lin Ting kept pondering Xiao Youzi’s situation.
Everything around her was cut off by this heavy, contemplative mood.
It wasn’t until someone politely asked her a question that she returned to reality.
“Madam, would you still like to order?”
Yes, she needed to eat properly.
The doctor had said she must ensure her nutrition.
So, she ordered three dishes and a soup for herself.
Even though she had no appetite, she forced herself to shovel down white rice and eat the fish.
But this meal tasted only of one thing: boundless bitterness.
As she ate, she could no longer hold back and broke down crying.
In front of Xiao Youzi, she dared not cry.
In front of Jiang Yu, if she cried, it would be seen as acting out a tragic drama.
She had no right to cry, nor could she cry.
But at this moment, she couldn’t hold back any longer.
A waiter approached and asked with concern, “Miss, is there anything I can help you with?”
She swallowed the food in her mouth bitterly:
“I am a single mother with terminal lung cancer. I’m not afraid of dying, I’m only afraid that no one will take care of my daughter after I’m gone. But no one believes me.”
“Little sister, do you believe me?”
These two short sentences filled the young waitress with deep sympathy and shock, yet she couldn’t find the right words to comfort her.
In the end, she made a gesture of encouragement:
“Fairy sister, you are so beautiful, your daughter must be adorable and pretty too.”
“For your daughter, stay strong, you will get better.”
She smiled, “Thank you!”
After saying these two words, she buried her head again, taking big mouthfuls of rice, big bites of fish, and large gulps of pork rib soup.
For Xiao Youzi, she needed to live a little longer.
At the very least, she had to hold on until she found an adoptive family for Xiao Youzi before she could let go.
Afternoon.
Lin Ting was still the first to pick up Xiao Youzi from kindergarten.
Today, Teacher Li still had her hair braided, but instead of a fishtail braid, it was a ponytail, her entire face radiating youthful energy.
However, when Youzi’s homeroom teacher, Teacher Li, saw her, that sweet smile suddenly froze.
“Youzi’s mom, Youzi’s uncle already picked her up.”
“Uncle?” Lin Ting was completely baffled.
“Half an hour ago, I called you, but your phone was turned off.”
Teacher Li, with her ponytail, continued anxiously explaining.
“Mr. Lin even video-called you right in front of me, and you agreed in the video, didn’t you?”
“Oh, right, he also added me on WeChat.”
Teacher Li showed her the WeChat of the so-called Youzi’s uncle.
One glance was enough to know it was Lin Zhenyu.
The same Lin Zhenyu who had slapped her after Jiang Yu presented the paternity test results at the Hibiscus Pavilion in Dingsheng Hotel last time.
Only then did Lin Ting remember that Lin Zhenyu worked in AI.
Using AI to swap faces during a video call was something Lin Zhenyu was all too skilled at.
This wasn’t Teacher Li’s fault.
But Lin Ting politely stated her request:
“Teacher Li, next time, unless I come in person to pick her up, no matter who comes for Xiao Youzi, you must not let her leave.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Two minutes later, Lin Ting stood by the roadside across from the kindergarten and called Lin Zhenyu.
Lin Zhenyu could be said to be her only family in this world.
When she was twenty-one, Lin Jianguo said she wasn’t his biological child.
Several paternity test results negated the twenty-one years of father-daughter relationship between her and Lin Jianguo.
But Lin Zhenyu, like her, came into this world full of suffering from the same mother’s womb.
When their mother, Tang Wanhua, was framed, Lin Zhenyu didn’t speak a single word in her defense.
When Lin Weiwei, the Lin family’s illegitimate daughter, was recognized and brought into the family, Lin Zhenyu was instead overjoyed to have another sister.
Later, when the Lin Jiang pharmaceutical secrets were leaked.
Lin Zhenyu sided with Lin Jianguo, convinced that she was an ungrateful, heartless bastard, disregarding their sibling bond, and together with Lin Jianguo and Jiang Yu, sent her to prison.
After their mother Tang Wanhua died, Lin Jianguo, Jiang Yu, and Lin Zhenyu were the people she loved most in this world.
Now, they all stood by Lin Weiwei’s side.
Lin Zhenyu, without her consent, tampered with WeChat and took Youzi away, undoubtedly for Lin Weiwei’s sake.
“Mr. Lin, where is Youzi?”
“Can’t even call me brother anymore?”
On the other end of the phone, Lin Zhenyu sounded somewhat pained.
The sister she had doted on for over twenty years actually refused to acknowledge her now.
“Mr. Lin, have you forgotten? It was you who said we should sever all ties from now on.”
“That was just said in anger, Lin Ting. Can’t you learn to be as understanding as Weiwei? You…”
Lin Ting interrupted, “Where is Youzi?”
With someone like Lin Zhenyu, she didn’t want to waste any words.
Lin Zhenyu: “After all, I am Youzi’s uncle. I cherish her dearly. Come home for a reunion dinner. Dad actually mentions you often.”
Lin Ting: “He is your and Lin Weiwei’s father, not mine.”
Lin Zhenyu: “Over twenty years of upbringing, and you just decide not to acknowledge it? Lin Ting, don’t be so ungrateful. Heaven sees everything people do; otherwise, just as Jiang Yu said, you will face retribution.”
Lin Ting understood—Jiang Yu must have told the Lin family everything that had happened.
They wanted to protect Lin Weiwei.
To bring Youzi back, she had to go to the Lin family today.
Half an hour later, Lin Ting went to the Lin residence.
The Lin family had long since moved.
Like Jiang Yu, they had moved to Star River Bay.
It was an antique-style luxury villa district.
Because Lin Weiwei liked classical things.
When Lin Ting stepped into the Lin residence, she had no time to appreciate the Song Dynasty aesthetic style of the Lin family villa. She searched everywhere for Youzi’s figure.
Lin Jianguo sat on a classical-style sofa, brewing tea.
She got straight to the point, “Uncle Lin, where is my Youzi? I’m here to take her home.”
Not seeing Youzi’s figure, her heart was filled with panic!