“Very serious, right?”
Lin Yunchu’s heart sank as she asked carefully.
When she spoke, it felt as if her throat was stuffed with cotton.
Elder Si nodded. “The wounds are severely infected. Several ribs are broken. There are many injuries on his body as well. He was operated on after being sent to the hospital, but you don’t need to worry—once he entered the military hospital, our comrades will definitely save him.”
For others, such details could never be disclosed.
But Lin Yunchu was different.
Of course, Elder Si did not tell her everything.
He did not tell her that although Pei Huaiyuan had undergone surgery, his condition was still extremely dangerous.
His wounds were infected, causing persistent high fever; the blade had injured his internal organs, and internal bleeding would not stop—he went into shock as soon as he entered emergency care; and multiple organs in his body were beginning to fail.
His survival was uncertain.
Right now, he was only hanging on by his own willpower and life force.
“He really is badly injured,” Lin Yunchu said, admiration in her eyes. “He truly is a hero.”
“Yes. The country will never mistreat any hero. Once the provincial military hospital learned about this, they immediately formed a treatment team. They’ll be here soon.”
“Then I can feel at ease.”
Lin Yunchu took another sip of lemon tea.
She seemed to want to ask Elder Si the name of that comrade, but after a brief hesitation, she chose not to.
He was from the military.
Someone who would constantly be on missions—there would likely be no intersection between them in the future.
Whether she knew or not, the result would be the same.
Being a helpful citizen was enough.
“Yunchu, Grandpa Si actually invited you for tea today because I want to talk to you about something—your engagement with Zheyan…”
Before he could finish, Lin Yunchu had already anticipated it and stated her position.
“Grandpa Si, you don’t need to feel troubled. I am not the Lin family’s biological daughter. The person who should marry Si Zheyan is not me. You don’t need to feel sorry.”
“…”
Elder Si frowned slightly, displeased. “Yunchu, is this how you see Grandpa Si? Although you and Zheyan didn’t marry, I’ve always treated you as my granddaughter-in-law.”
This surprised Lin Yunchu.
She had assumed he would persuade her to step aside, but instead he had not looked down on her at all.
“Thank you for your kindness, Grandpa Si, but I have already decided not to be involved in this marriage anymore. Between the Si and Lin families, I am now an outsider. I have already told my adoptive parents—I will return to the countryside in a few days.”
“I’ve never met my biological parents, but I would like to see them.”
“Was it your adoptive parents putting pressure on you? If so, I can handle it for you.”
Lin Yunchu shook her head. “No.”
“You look down on Si Zheyan?”
“…”
She froze for a moment. The old general really had sharp eyes—he saw right through it.
“It must be that brat! I’ll go back and deal with him!” Elder Si said angrily.
“It’s not that,” Lin Yunchu said calmly. “Grandpa Si, I just don’t want to marry right now.”
Elder Si’s gaze softened even more. Such a good child—she had suffered verbal mistreatment from that useless grandson, yet she did not say a single bad word about him.
What a wonderful girl.
How could Si Zheyan not cherish her?
During their conversation, Lin Yunchu also asked about Qiu Jiawan.
“Qiu Jiawan is classified as a major murder case. The situation has mostly been clarified. The old doctor’s daughter was abducted there years ago. She was repeatedly abused, gave birth to several children, and after childbirth was locked inside a cattle shed. The family there was vicious and lazy—whenever villagers paid money, they would let men take turns abusing her. She endured inhuman torture every day.”
“The old doctor and his wife had once been wrongfully accused, and even after regaining their innocence and finding their daughter, they were powerless to help her.”
“On the second day after they found her, she used an axe to kill several of her children, then drowned herself in the river.”
“The parents had not even managed to properly reunite with her before she died. It was a devastating blow. The murder case likely began after they decided to stay in Qiu Jiawan.”
Lin Yunchu felt chills run down her spine.
Qiu Jiawan truly was a living hell.
Now she understood why, at first glance, Granny Qiu had looked somewhat warm yet carried an eerie aura of killing intent.
She sometimes seemed cold and sinister—but she had never intended to harm them.
She had actually been saving them.
“Grandpa Si, the reason I and that comrade survived last night was because Granny Qiu protected us. She arranged for us to hide in a cellar. She is not a bad person.”
“We will handle that properly,” Elder Si replied.
“And what about the women and children who were trafficked in Qiu Jiawan?” she asked.
“Our comrades are already carrying out rescue operations. Those rescued are being sent to shelters.”
Lin Yunchu nodded, but her heart remained heavy.
She felt an overwhelming urge to tear apart every person involved in trafficking women and children in Qiu Jiawan.
To shred into pieces those who treated human beings as commodities.
“Uncle Si, what a coincidence! Keke and I just happened to pass by and didn’t expect to see you here.”
A familiar, deliberately sweetened voice rang out.
A mocking smile appeared on Lin Yunchu’s lips.
As if Murphy’s Law truly existed—just when she thought of Wang Xiujun, she appeared.
Wang Xiujun glanced at Lin Yunchu and smiled without warmth. “Yunchu, meeting your Grandpa Si and not telling us? You child, you really can’t keep your mouth shut—what if you say something wrong?”
Lin Yunchu’s eyes turned cold.
Just thinking about Qiu Jiawan made her want to stab Wang Xiujun a few times.
So many women and children in that place—who knows how many of them were connected to her?
A heartless butcher.
But since Elder Si had said the case was not yet closed and nothing could be disclosed, she had to endure a little longer.
“Mom, whether you say the wrong thing or not, it’s still better than doing the wrong thing. Saying something wrong only causes emotional harm. Doing something wrong ruins someone’s entire life.”
Lin Yunchu smiled faintly, but that smile was colder than the northwest wind of Siberia.
Wang Xiujun felt a chill in her heart.
Did Lin Yunchu know something?
“Yunchu, what do you mean by that?” Wang Xiujun asked with a deep frown.
But as soon as she spoke, she felt a sharp, piercing gaze fall upon her.
Elder Si frowned, staring at her coldly.