Having dropped that bombshell, Lu Jiaxin didn’t continue, but instead waved at the awkward-looking teenage boy standing a short distance away.
“Xue Mao, let’s go upstairs.”
Lu’s father was the general manager of the department store, and as the top executive he’d been assigned an eighty-square-meter apartment on the third floor. As the only daughter, the original owner had had her own room since she was little. Many families in the housing complex had eight or nine people crammed into thirty or forty square meters, and just for that alone plenty of people envied the original owner.
Auntie Zhao, who’d just been left speechless by Lu Jiaxin’s words, wanted to explain herself, but the girl wouldn’t even look at her again.
She could only change the subject, feigning curiosity. “Jiaxin, who is this child?”
Lu Jiaxin said, her expression sour, “Auntie Zhao, stop staring at me. What you should be doing right now is hurrying to tell that venomous woman that I’m back. If you’re too slow, don’t expect to squeeze any more benefits out of her next time.”
Everyone’s attention had been on exactly how Ding Jing had sabotaged Lu Jiaxin’s exam, and with this remark, they all turned to stare at Auntie Zhao in surprise.
Someone who didn’t get along with Ding Jing deliberately chimed in, “Sister Zhao, Jiaxin says you’re awfully close with the manager’s wife, quietly tell us, how exactly did this Ding Jing scheme against Jiaxin?”
Auntie Zhao’s face changed the instant she heard this. “Jiaxin’s been scared witless by the kidnapping and is talking nonsense, why are you all going along with it?”
“Jiaxin, dear, you mustn’t talk nonsense, I was just now expressing my concern for you.”
Lu Jiaxin sneered. “Whether it’s nonsense or not, you know, I know, Ding Jing knows, and heaven knows too.”
Naturally Auntie Zhao wouldn’t admit to it.
Lu Jiaxin had already known this old woman would never admit to being Ding Jing’s lackey, and she didn’t care. “Auntie Zhao, in the past I was naive and let you lead me around by the nose. From now on, I’ll be settling accounts with interest.”
Looking into her sharp eyes, Auntie Zhao felt an inexplicable unease rise in her heart.
Not caring what was going through the old woman’s mind, Lu Jiaxin turned and explained the boy’s identity to the crowd. “His name is Xue Mao. When I collapsed, he’s the one who saved me, otherwise the grass on my grave would already be tall by now.”
When she’d woken up, she’d lost too much blood, her head was foggy, and she had no strength left in her body, and it had happened to be pouring rain at the time. If she hadn’t run into Xue Mao, who’d been out looking for food, she might well have died.
In the housing complex, the mole-faced auntie and Auntie Zhao had never gotten along. Although she too had just been rebuked by Lu Jiaxin, she hadn’t done anything underhanded, so seeing the Zhao woman reduced to silence now filled her with glee, and she looked at Lu Jiaxin more favorably than ever.
The mole-faced auntie said, “Jiaxin, how could you be so careless? Knowing your stepmother had bad intentions toward you, you should have spoken up sooner, with your father protecting her, how would she ever have dared to scheme against you?”
“And another thing, once you got your memory back you should have called your father first and had him come pick you up from the ancient capital. You’ve already learned this lesson the hard way once, so you’d better be more careful from now on!”
Hearing that lecturing tone, Lu Jiaxin found it grating, but she wasn’t the original owner and wouldn’t be foolish enough to snap at the woman, that would only play into certain people’s hands.
The corner of her mouth curled into a cold smile, and she dropped an even more chilling line. “If I’d called my father, that really would have been the end of me coming back.”
With that, ignoring the crowd’s shocked expressions, she led Xue Mao upstairs. She’d handed out enough gossip for today, it should be enough to satisfy the housing complex’s pack of chattering aunties.
On the third floor, Lu Jiaxin found the door locked, and without hesitation pulled a brick out of her bag and smashed it at the lock.
The few people who’d followed them upstairs were stunned at the sight.
Lu Jiaxin used to be willful and delicate, a pampered little girl, how had she become so fierce all of a sudden?
Auntie Zhao, who’d followed them up, thinking of the favors Ding Jing had given her in the past, gritted her teeth and stepped forward to grab her arm. “Child, if you want to get inside there’s no need to rush, your Auntie Ding will be back from buying groceries soon.”
Lu Jiaxin was thoroughly disgusted, this old woman clung like a piece of gum stuck to a shoe, practically begging for trouble.
Since the woman refused to take a hint, Lu Jiaxin simply shook her off hard. Caught off guard, Auntie Zhao stumbled back a couple of steps, and only the crowd behind her kept her from falling flat.
Lu Jiaxin looked at her coldly as she rubbed her lower back and cried out in pain. “Don’t put on an act, whatever little favors Ding Jing gave you, they weren’t worth working this hard for.”
Auntie Zhao endured the pain and said, “Jiaxin, I have nothing to do with Ding Jing, stop talking nonsense, child.”
Lu Jiaxin sneered. “You have nothing to do with Ding Jing, and I’m the one slandering you? Should I list off everything she’s given you, one by one, for everyone to hear?”
In fact the original owner hadn’t known any of this, but a guilty conscience can’t stand being bluffed.
Auntie Zhao’s face turned pale, then green, she regretted ever following them up here.
Lu Jiaxin looked at the crowd gathered at the door and said fiercely, “All you aunties and sisters, bear witness for me. Ding Jing and Zhao Siyi ruined my future and nearly cost me my life. They are my enemies, enemies I can never share the same sky with.”
Zhao Siyi was Ding Jing’s daughter. Although the original owner had left home of her own accord, Zhao Siyi was the root cause of it all. If she hadn’t pulled that stunt right before the college entrance exam to upset the original owner, with her grades she’d have had no trouble getting steadily into a university in the capital.
The original owner was gone now, and mother and daughter owed her a life for it. She couldn’t kill the pair of them in revenge, but she could make sure they never knew peace again.
The crowd was shaken by the hatred in her eyes. But thinking it over, it was understandable, cutting off someone’s path to wealth was like killing their parents, and blocking someone’s future was even worse.
Xue Mao stepped forward and took the brick from Lu Jiaxin’s hand. The crowd thought the boy was quite sensible, until he took the brick and kept smashing the lock. A boy’s strength was no joke, after a few hits, the lock came loose.
Lu Jiaxin was satisfied.
The moment the lock broke, Lu Jiaxin pushed the door open and walked in. Once Xue Mao was inside, she locked the door again, shutting the crowd out. As for what the people outside thought, she couldn’t care less.
Xue Mao stood in the middle of the living room, looking at the clean, tidy apartment and its dazzling array of furniture, feeling like his eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.
He pointed at the square iron contraption on top of the cabinet and asked, puzzled, “Sister Xin, why is your family’s television so much bigger than everyone else’s?”
Lu Jiaxin was switching on the electric fan and glanced back. “That’s a color television.”
Once the fan was on, she took two bottles of soda out of the refrigerator. She opened one and handed it to Xue Mao, then opened the other for herself. It was late summer heading into early autumn, and she’d been about to melt from the heat. One bottle of ice-cold soda down, and there was only one word for it, refreshing.
Xue Mao took the soda but didn’t drink it right away, instead studying the refrigerator carefully. “Sister Xin, is this a refrigerator? It’s really nice-looking.”
Lu Jiaxin thought the refrigerator was hideous, but these days it was still a rare item, only families that were especially well-off could afford to use one, since it wasn’t just expensive to buy but also cost a fair bit in electricity. She smiled and said, “There’s plenty more soda in the fridge, help yourself.”
Xue Mao finished his bottle of soda, then asked, somewhat worried, “Sister Xin, what if your father gets angry when he finds out what you said just now?”
That rainy night when he’d seen how Lu Jiaxin was dressed, he’d known she came from a wealthy family, after all, an ordinary person couldn’t afford a dress like that. And it turned out Sister Xin’s family was even richer than he’d imagined.
Lu Jiaxin said, unconcerned, “Let him get angry, worst case, we go our separate ways. I made it through with no one to rely on in the ancient capital, back in the capital I won’t end up on the streets.”
“Sister, if we get kicked out, where will we live?”
Having once slept on the streets and been chased off from wherever he settled, what Xue Mao feared most was having nowhere to stay and having to wander around.
“Don’t worry, we have a place to land.”
Hearing this, Xue Mao relaxed at once. As long as they had somewhere to live, not having money wasn’t scary, they knew how to make street food, and they could keep selling snacks, the money would be more than enough for the two of them to live on.
Lu Jiaxin set the empty soda bottle down on the table and picked up the phone to dial a number. The call connected quickly, and she recognized Lu Hongjun’s voice. “It’s me. I’m back, I’m home now.”
Before Lu Hongjun could say anything, she hung up, then quickly dialed another number. This time the phone rang for a good while before it was picked up.
Lu Jiaxin heard an unfamiliar voice and said, “I’m looking for Lu Jiaguang.”
Lu Jiaguang was the original owner’s eldest paternal cousin, twenty-eight years her senior. He’d enlisted in the army at eighteen, back then, joining the military was one of the few paths out for a farmer’s son, and plenty of people had fought tooth and nail for the chance. It was also Lu Hongjun who’d helped him get it, and he’d finally gotten his wish.
After enlisting, he’d been bold and hardworking and had risen well within the military, but at thirty-five he’d been injured on a mission and could no longer stay in the service. At the time Lu’s father had been under scrutiny and hadn’t dared to help, so it was the original owner’s mother who’d gone and pleaded with connections to get him a position at the capital’s railway bureau.
Lu Jiaguang was deeply grateful to the original owner’s mother, so he doted on this little cousin like his own daughter. Whatever his own children had, he made sure to prepare a share for the original owner too.
The one who answered the phone was a secretary, and hearing a young woman’s name, spoke politely. “Miss, our station chief is in a meeting. If you have something to say, you can leave a message and I’ll pass it along once the meeting ends.”
Lu Jiaxin thought this secretary seemed quite competent, and didn’t beat around the bush. “I’m Lu Jiaxin. Please tell my elder cousin that I’m waiting for him at home.”
Based on the original owner’s memories, this elder cousin doted on her dearly. Right now Lu Jiaxin needed someone to back her up, and Lu Jiaguang was naturally her first choice.
Secretary Li was startled to hear Lu Jiaxin introduce herself, and quickly asked once he’d recovered, “Miss Lu, Miss Lu, where are you right now?”
When Lu Jiaxin had gone missing, the Lu family had mobilized every connection they could to search for her. Once they discovered the original owner had bought a train ticket back to the old hometown, they’d reported it to the police. The police’s analysis was that she’d most likely been taken by traffickers. Everyone believed the odds weren’t good, and Lu Hongjun had already given up the search, only Lu Jiaguang had refused to give up and kept looking.
Hearing the urgency in the secretary’s voice, Lu Jiaxin felt a small warmth in her heart. A subordinate who worries over what his boss worries over, and rushes for what his boss needs rushed, Lu Hongjun as a father might be worthless, but this cousin was truly good.
Lu Jiaxin said lightly, “I’m back. I’m at home right now.”
Secretary Li said hurriedly, “Miss Lu, don’t hang up, I’ll go get the station chief right now. Miss Lu, please, whatever you do don’t hang up, three minutes, no, two minutes at most.”
Lu Jiaxin laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait for my cousin without hanging up.”