By the time she got home at her usual hour, she had already thought up all kinds of excuses, ready to deal with the Lin family’s questioning.
But she’d overthought it. This time, no one asked her a single question—no one even cared why she had left so early that morning.
She let out a self-mocking laugh. Of course the Lin family wouldn’t care where she went. If she didn’t eat at home, it just saved them some grain. What they cared about was whether she earned enough work points that day.
In a way, that was good—she didn’t have to rack her brain coming up with ways to deal with them.
Over the next few days, she didn’t go into town again. After breakfast each day, she headed straight into the mountains.
There was already enough fodder in her space now. When she had nothing else to do, she dug up wild vegetables, and if she spotted pheasants or rabbits, she’d catch them too.
As for wild boars, she wouldn’t take the initiative to go after them—she still needed to keep her life intact to find Lu Yi.
But Lu Yi… where are you now?
In her previous life, she met Lu Yi in the county town, after she had already graduated from high school.
Back then, she had fallen for Xu Jinghua. After graduation, his family had arranged a job for him in the county, and she didn’t want to be too far away from that scumbag, so she stayed behind and found temporary work there as well.
She actually had a chance to become a permanent employee, but it required five hundred yuan.
The opportunity was rare, but she also knew that letting her attend high school had already been the Lin family’s limit. Originally, they hadn’t even planned to let her continue studying after junior high. Later, for some unknown reason, they changed their minds.
Now that she thought about it, it was after those cheap parents of hers had taken a trip to the provincial capital. When they came back, they agreed to let her continue her studies.
Thinking about it now, they had probably gone to look for their biological daughter. What was her name again?
Right—Jiang Zhuyue. She didn’t know what that girl had said to them, but somehow it convinced them to let her keep going to high school.
Later, she still told her family about the job, clinging to a sliver of hope.
The family did come up with the five hundred yuan—but the one who got the job was her second cousin.
That job had only cost five hundred because her classmate gave her face, and it was also her classmate who helped handle all the arrangements.
But when it came time to fill in the name, it was her cousin’s.
She had been completely stunned. Her father told her that this time, they would give the job to her cousin first, and that next time there was an opportunity, it would definitely be hers.
Thinking back to the day she met Lu Yi—it was after she got off a night shift. Looking back now, she really had been foolish.
Temporary work was dirty and exhausting, and it didn’t pay much. Most of what she earned had to be handed over to her family.
With what little she had left, she would still buy things for Xu Jinghua. Sometimes, when she had no money at all, she survived on just one steamed bun a day.
Once, she even fainted from hunger. After that, with no other choice, she would drag her exhausted body out after work to collect scrap, selling it just to afford food.
Even so, whenever Xu Jinghua mentioned wanting something, she never once thought of refusing him. She always did everything she could to buy it for him.
He told her that his mother was ill, and all his earnings went toward the family. Once his mother recovered, he wouldn’t be short of money anymore.
At the time, she believed him completely. Sometimes, she even borrowed money from coworkers. They all tried to persuade her otherwise, but she stubbornly believed Xu Jinghua was just going through a difficult time.
If she didn’t help now, why would he marry her in the future? All this suffering was only temporary—or so she thought. She had truly been blind with obsession.
When she met Lu Yi, he was in a miserable state, badly injured. She found him near her shabby little rented room.
She saved him.
From then on, he clung to her, saying he liked her and wanted to marry her.
But at the time, her heart was completely occupied by Xu Jinghua—how could she possibly pay Lu Yi any attention?
Back then, Lu Yi didn’t even have a job and was seen by others as a hooligan. She didn’t believe a single word when he said he liked her and wanted to marry her.
She thought he was just teasing her, which only made her dislike him more. She even openly declared that the one she liked was Xu Jinghua.
Lu Yi immediately said Xu Jinghua wasn’t a good person—that he had seen him with a girlfriend.
She had been furious, thinking Lu Yi was deliberately slandering Xu Jinghua, and she drove him out.
Later, Lu Yi came back a few more times to tell her the same thing, and each time she chased him away.
It wasn’t until one time, by accident, that she overheard some of Lu Yi’s subordinates talking. They said he had come to Jiangcheng two years earlier, and that things had been very hard for him at first.
He had no money, had to pay for his grandfather’s medical treatment, and was bullied by local thugs—he had lived a miserable life.
Judging by the timeline, that would have been her first year of high school, back when high school only lasted two years.
As for where Lu Yi had been before that, she had no idea. In her previous life, she had never cared, so now she had no clues to follow.
All she could do was wait—wait until Lu Yi came to Jiangcheng. When he did, she would go find him. Before that, she needed to earn as much money as possible. Maybe she could help him when he arrived.
As for whether they could become husband and wife in this life, that would depend on fate. Maybe in this lifetime, Lu Yi wouldn’t fall in love with her at all—if that were the case, she wouldn’t force it.
If it came to that, she would simply do her best to help him, as a way of repaying everything he had done for her in her previous life.
Seeing that it was about time to deliver fodder to the production team again, she packed the grass into her basket and headed out.
Today was the last day of the holiday. Tomorrow, she had to go back to school.
She would have to leave early again. Over the past few days, she had caught two more pheasants and a nest of six rabbits—four adults and two young ones. She planned to take them to the black market and sell them.
These days, Lin Yuxi had been living quite comfortably, occasionally enjoying a good meal in her space.
But the rest of the Lin family was exhausted. Spring planting and autumn harvest were always the hardest times for farmers.
Her eldest aunt noticed that Lin Yuxi didn’t seem tired at all, while her own legs felt like they didn’t even belong to her anymore—she could barely lift them.
In the past, with Lin Yuxi helping, she had never been this worn out. Now, the more she looked at her, the more displeased she became.
“Yuxi, come massage Auntie’s legs for a bit, will you? I’m about to drop from exhaustion.”
Her eldest aunt plopped down onto a chair, propping her feet up on a stool.
“Auntie, that posture of yours looks exactly like a landlord lady. Aren’t you afraid the Red Armbands will come arrest you?”
The moment Lin Yuxi said it, her aunt’s face turned pale. In times like these, if such words got out, the consequences would be unimaginable.
She hurriedly stood up. “You silly girl, don’t talk nonsense! What if someone hears you?”
“Then why are you acting like that? And if you want someone to massage your legs, shouldn’t you call your own children? Why call me? Am I your maid?”
“My dear girl, stop talking, please! I won’t ask you again.”
This wretched girl really said whatever came to mind. If someone overheard and reported her, she could end up paraded through the streets with a placard.
This aunt of hers really needed to be taught a lesson—always trying to bully her. If she pushed her too far one day, she might just set her up for trouble and have her paraded through the streets. Let’s see if she’d still dare act up then.
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