The agreement was finalized without further trouble.
Qin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her room with the support of her mother, Ming Shuangfeng. The moment she reached the bed, she collapsed onto it in exhaustion.
Ming Shuangfeng’s heart ached for her daughter. With reddened eyes, she pressed a small roll of crumpled bills into Qin Yuan’s hand.
“I have a little over eighty yuan here. This is all the money we have left, and it’s your father’s death compensation. If the Xia family demands money, we can’t exactly refuse to pay them. But if this isn’t enough, what are we going to do…?”
Qin Yuan silently put the money away, unable to conceal the hatred in her voice.
“Mom, don’t worry about the money. I’m not giving them a single cent. I’ve thought about it carefully. Me falling through the ice wasn’t an accident at all! You know I originally planned to leave early yesterday, but Xia Min suddenly came over.
“She took just one sip of our water and immediately complained that her stomach hurt. Then she refused to leave my room, making the two of us fuss over her for half the day. She only got better after the barefoot doctor came and gave her some medicine. Because of her, I missed the bus to the county town, which meant I was bound to come home late…”
She paused, her gaze sharpening.
“And when I was pulling myself along the rope across the ice on my way back, I clearly felt someone on the opposite bank yank the rope until it snapped. That was why I lost my footing and slid away from the section of ice everyone usually walks on. So I suspect they deliberately set me up because they wanted my university admission spot!”
Ming Shuangfeng tensed all over.
Just as she was about to speak, Qin Wang’s urgent knocking came from outside.
“Sis, can I come in? I have something to tell you!”
Qin Yuan gave her permission, and Ming Shuangfeng quickly got up to open the door.
Qin Wang had at least been clever enough to keep some things to himself in front of everyone. As soon as he entered, he said,
“Sis, there were too many people around earlier, so I didn’t mention everything. I told the police that someone might have deliberately caused you to fall through the ice, but they said we can’t rely on suspicion alone. We need evidence.
“There are only twenty or thirty officers in the county public security bureau, so they don’t have time to investigate based on nothing but our guesses. But they said that if we find evidence, we can ask the production brigade’s security team for help. The security team has a responsibility to investigate things like this. If they refuse, they’re neglecting their duty.
“After I hung up, I told the brigade leader what they said. At first, he didn’t want to agree, so I did exactly what you taught me. I told him that if nobody inspected the hole in the ice, someone else might fall through it in the future and die.
“Only then did the brigade leader agree. He said he’d immediately send the head of security to check whether there were signs that someone had deliberately cut the ice. Sis, did I handle it properly?”
Qin Yuan let out a heavy sigh.
She had only just been reborn and had forgotten that at this point in her previous life, the county public security bureau had been severely understaffed. Unless someone was confirmed dead, they were reluctant to get involved in matters concerning a small village.
Qin Wang had already done extremely well by persuading the brigade leader to send the head of security to inspect the hole in the ice.
If Qin Yuan wanted to uncover the rest of the truth, she would most likely have to rely on herself.
She reached out and rubbed her younger brother’s head, her voice softening.
“Xiao Wang, you did a great job. This is already enough. But from now on, everyone in our family needs to be careful.”
Qin Yuan carefully explained all the suspicious details she had noticed to her mother and brother. Then she solemnly instructed Qin Wang,
“Keep a close eye on Xia Min. Her family favors daughters over sons, and Hu Yinglian listens to practically everything her daughter says. Yesterday, Xia Min deliberately came to our house and delayed me, causing me to return late and fall into the river. And what they really want is my university admission spot.
“That makes me think Xia Min is probably the one behind this whole scheme.
“So in this freezing weather, if she ever goes out alone, secretly follow her and see where she goes and what she does. We might be able to uncover the truth that way!”
“Got it! I’ll keep a close eye on her!” Qin Wang promised, patting his chest confidently.
The moment he finished speaking, Hu Yinglian’s loud voice rang out from the courtyard.
“Xiao Min, hurry up and check the agreement! See if it was written the way we wanted!”
Hu Yinglian was fierce and overbearing, but she couldn’t read, so she had no choice but to ask her daughter to check it for her.
Qin Yuan got up and walked out of the room just in time to see Xia Min holding the agreement and reading it aloud.
“…Qin Yuan of the Xia Family Bay Production Team fell into the river and was rescued by another person, causing her rescuer to suffer injuries. Therefore, she voluntarily agrees to marry her lifesaving benefactor and will never go back on her word. In addition, she must compensate her benefactor’s family with one hundred yuan…”
Hu Yinglian repeatedly nodded in satisfaction.
The moment she saw Qin Yuan emerge, she stretched out her hand impatiently.
“Where’s the money? Hurry up and hand it over!”
Although she had already changed her clothes and wrapped her hair in a cloth, every time she nodded or moved her hands, an unpleasant stench still wafted from her.
Qin Yuan turned her face away and replied coldly,
“You’re not getting the money yet. I need to see the person first. If the one who was rescued isn’t Xia Junsheng, why should I pay to treat some stranger’s injuries?”
“You!”
Hu Yinglian was about to explode into curses when the clan chief, who had already accepted Qin Yuan’s cigarettes, hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Enough, enough. Finding Junsheng is more important. We have the agreement, so are you really afraid Qin Yuan will run away? Hurry up. Let’s go!”
No one delayed any longer, and the group set off for Baomen Forest Farm together.
The forest farm was located across the river. Normally, they would have to take a three-li detour to cross the bridge. But in the depths of winter, the river was covered by a thick layer of solid ice, so the group simply walked straight across it.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the opposite bank.
As Qin Yuan stepped across the sturdy ice, the doubts in her heart only grew stronger.
It was all the same frozen river.
So why had the ice broken only where she had been walking?
There had to be a conspiracy behind it!
The perimeter of the forest farm was enclosed by wire fencing. The group walked around for quite some time before finally finding the infirmary Qin Wang had mentioned.
It was nothing more than a crude mud-brick building.
As soon as they entered, the strong smell of medicine and disinfectant assaulted their noses.
After hearing why they had come, a man in a white coat pointed toward a small room inside.
“Oh, you mean the man they pulled out of the river? He’s in there!”
Hu Yinglian couldn’t wait another second.
She rushed inside, and the moment she spotted the figure lying on the bed from a distance, she threw herself toward him, wailing at the top of her lungs.
“My son! My Junsheng!”
But the instant her hand touched the man’s cheek, her cries abruptly stopped.
She froze in place.
Her eyes widened in horror as though she had just seen a ghost.
Xia Min followed close behind. She had already pulled out a handkerchief and was preparing to cry, but the moment she saw the man on the bed, she froze as well.
Her face turned deathly pale.
Their strange reactions made Qin Yuan, who had been anxious and hesitant to approach, immediately rush forward.
A young man lay unconscious on the hospital bed.
Gauze was wrapped around his forehead, with bright red blood faintly seeping through the thin white fabric. Against it, his face looked as pale as paper, and even his lips were almost colorless.
His eyelashes seemed longer than most men’s, resting weakly against his skin, yet there was nothing delicate about his appearance.
His brow was sharp, his nose high and straight, and his clean-cut jawline carried a cold, unyielding edge.
Even lying unconscious, the man radiated a quiet yet imposing presence that seemed to warn strangers to keep their distance.
Based on Qin Yuan’s experience from living more than thirty years in her previous life, this was the kind of presence that could only come from someone accustomed to being in a position of authority—or someone who had endured years of rigorous discipline and hardship.
It was completely different from the rough manner of ordinary Xia Family Bay villagers.
His left shoulder seemed badly injured. The gauze wrapped around it had already been soaked dark with blood.
The hand resting outside the thin blanket had long, well-defined fingers. His fingertips were firm, and there were only a few shallow scratches across his palm, without the thick calluses that came from years of gripping farm tools.
His wrist, however, was covered in alarming red and purple patches of frostbite.
His left leg was firmly secured between two wooden splints, clearly indicating a fracture.
This man was injured from head to toe!
Yet despite being so weak that he seemed barely alive, the outline of his body beneath the thin blanket still revealed the strong physique of someone who had maintained strict physical training for years.
Even in such a battered state, there was an unmistakable strength and sharpness about him.
Even with his eyes closed and his body motionless, anyone could tell at a glance that he and Xia Junsheng were worlds apart.
This man couldn’t possibly be Xia Junsheng!
Hu Yinglian was already backing away as she shrieked,
“No! This isn’t my son! Who is this?! Where’s my Junsheng? Where is Junsheng?!”
Hu Yinglian: Who is this?
Xia Junsheng: Who is this?!
Qin Yuan: Who is this…?
Little Wangwang: Sigh. He took off the padded jacket and trousers, and now you don’t recognize him?