“Since you don’t even want to give Coco a job, are you lying about leaving Yue City to deceive Dad and Mom?”
Wang Xiujuan said in a low voice when she saw Lin Yunchu hesitate.
Lin Yunchu raised her eyes and met Wang Xiujuan’s fierce gaze. She used to think Wang Xiujuan had a kind smile, but now she could clearly see the malice hidden in her eyes.
Now was still not the time to confront her head-on. Lin Yunchu lowered her head and said softly, “Mom, don’t worry. Before I leave, I’ll properly hand over my job. I just want to go around a bit before leaving. Can I deal with it in a few days?”
Her tone was obedient enough.
Wang Xiujuan asked impatiently, “How many days exactly?”
“Two days later,” Lin Yunchu replied.
Wang Xiujuan didn’t press further.
Seeing that Lin Yunchu was cooperating, she even made a decent dinner that night.
“Yunchu, after you return to the countryside, if you run into any problems, you can call us.”
“If there’s nothing going on, your dad, I, and Coco will go visit you in the countryside,” Wang Xiujuan said with a changed expression.
Lin Yunchu kept her head down and ate without responding.
After finishing her meal, she returned to her room.
She opened her backpack and began packing for tomorrow’s trip.
“Mom, I still feel like everything Lin Yunchu said was just brushing us off.”
In Wang Xiujuan’s room, Lin Keke walked in with a frown.
“She went to see Grandpa Si, but she didn’t tell us what she said.”
“And her job—will she really give it to me? Will she really go back to the countryside?”
In her previous life, Lin Yunchu refused to return to the countryside no matter what, and in the end, she never did.
She also refused to give up her textile factory job, leading to fierce arguments with the Lin family.
Later, she moved into the factory dormitory and stayed in Yue City because of that job.
It was precisely this that gave her the chance to change everything…
Thinking of Lin Yunchu’s future marriage with Si Zheyan, Lin Keke felt as if a thorn had pierced her heart.
“She already said it. If she refuses to go back, I have a hundred ways to deal with her! Don’t worry about this, Coco,” Wang Xiujuan patted her hand to comfort her.
“In my heart, you will always be my most beloved daughter. If it weren’t for that mistake eighteen years ago… just thinking about you suffering in the countryside breaks my heart.”
Lin Keke lowered her gaze and looked quietly at Wang Xiujuan.
If she weren’t someone who had been reborn, she might have believed her.
A wrong baby swap?
That was clearly intentional—just because she didn’t want to raise a sick child.
Now being so good to her was only because…
“Mom, let’s not talk about the past. From now on, let’s live well together. As long as you and Dad are healthy, I’ll be satisfied,” Lin Keke said sincerely while holding Wang Xiujuan’s hand.
“I’ve always believed you love me the most.”
Since Wang Xiujuan wanted to use her, she would use her right back.
After Lin Keke left the room, Wang Xiujuan looked at her thin figure and sighed slightly.
Her biological daughter was still too naive, too kind, too easily trusting.
It seemed that dealing with Lin Yunchu—making her obediently withdraw from the Si family marriage, hand over her job, and return to the countryside—would still require her to take action.
However, she was not in a hurry. She would first observe Lin Yunchu’s behavior. If she did not fulfill her promise within a week, then she would not blame her for being ruthless!
The next morning, Lin Yunchu left early.
No one in the Lin family paid attention to her.
In fact, they believed that the more attention they gave her, the more she would cling to the Lin family, so they deliberately ignored her.
That suited Lin Yunchu perfectly.
Where she was going, she couldn’t tell the Lin family anyway.
It was a place more than ten kilometers away from Yue City, called Jinsha Town.
She was going to find a boy who had been sold by Wang Xiujuan and take photos of him to send to his biological parents.
Directly confronting Wang Xiujuan about the baby swap was extremely difficult.
Public opinion would think the Lin family raised her, yet she was turning against her adoptive parents—morally and logically, she would be at a disadvantage.
But if it were the victim’s real parents coming to deal with Wang Xiujuan, the situation would be completely different.
The place was remote, the roads were rough, and finding the person would not be easy. Lin Yunchu estimated the trip would take at least two to three days.
Before leaving, she returned to the textile factory to speak with the director.
The factory director, in his forties and slightly overweight, frowned as soon as he saw her, clearly guarded and unwelcoming.
“Director Zhou, I have two matters to discuss with you,” Lin Yunchu said with a smile.
Director Zhou frowned but said nothing.
“First, I need a few days of leave—maybe two or three days, maybe four or five. If I don’t return in four or five days, then consider it ten to fifteen days of leave.”
“…Do you think I must approve your leave?” Director Zhou said darkly.
Lin Yunchu didn’t get angry and continued, “Second, after I come back, I will be returning to my biological parents. So my job will be transferred to a relative. I’ll trouble you to help with the paperwork.”
Director Zhou’s eyes showed disbelief, followed by visible relief.
Finally, this troublesome girl was leaving.
“Fine,” he said.
“Then I’ll go.”
After leaving the factory, she bought supplies needed for mountain travel, then purchased a bus ticket to Jinsha Town.
Jinsha Town was even more remote than she had imagined.
Dust filled the air on the road.
The old bus bumped along uneven mountain roads, stopping frequently to pick up passengers. A journey that should have taken one or two hours took more than four.
When she got off the bus, Lin Yunchu felt dizzy, weak, and nauseated.
“Hello, comrade, may I ask how to get to Qiu Family Bay?”
A local resident frowned and asked, “Why are you going there? Outsiders are usually not welcome.”
That place was very poor. Many men there remained single because they couldn’t afford to marry.
In recent years, many women and children had been tricked or sold there.
“I’m a journalist from National Geographic. Someone wrote in saying there’s a newly discovered cave there. My leaders asked me to investigate whether it has development value.”
Lin Yunchu raised the camera in her hand.
In this era, very few people here had ever seen a camera.
The villager immediately became enthusiastic and gave her directions.
After confirming the route, she set off again.
The road was harder than expected, but she did not turn back.
After climbing hills, crossing thorns, and passing another mountain, she was nearly there.
Exhausted, she stopped to rest.
Just as she sat on a stone by the path—
From the quiet mountains behind her came faint rustling sounds, mixed with heavy breathing.
The hairs on her body instantly stood on end.
Wild animal or bad person?
Then, suddenly, the sound stopped.
As if it had never existed.
Her nerves tightened to the extreme.
“Who’s there?!”
After a moment, she steadied herself.
She turned around abruptly—but saw nothing except wind moving through the trees.
She stood up and continued forward.
Then the sound appeared again behind her.
“Who are you?”
Following the direction of the sound, she precisely located its source.
In a thicket of overgrown vines, she saw a man curled up, covered in injuries.
The man looked up at her, eyes full of caution.
“You…” When she clearly saw his face, Lin Yunchu gasped.