Why was the Xu family able to get a courtyard? What gave the Xu family the right to get a courtyard?
Could it be that they had already secretly reconnected with the fake daughter?
Was this courtyard obtained by borrowing the fake daughter's influence?
The moment Xu Lin thought of this possibility, she felt utterly terrible.
Carrying a belly full of doubts and fury, she arrived at the Bureau of Finance, where her biological father, Qin Jiaxing, worked.
Although Old Master Qin came from humble peasant roots, he was an old revolutionary who had risked life and limb for Longguo, charging into battle and earning great merits.
He later married Feng Ying, a young lady from an aristocratic family that had fallen on hard times but held progressive ideals. Feng Ying was also the aunt of Qin Jiaxing's wife, Feng Huimei.
Because the marriage strengthened family ties, Feng Huimei enjoyed considerable standing in her husband's household. She could weigh in on anything and lived even more comfortably than she had in her own natal home.
With the strong backing of both the Qin and Feng families, Qin Jiaxing had long since secured the top seat at the Bureau of Finance, and in the past two years, there was hope he might move up to the ministry level.
His future was truly bright.
Xu Lin remembered that in her previous life, Qin Jiaxing had risen steadily all the way to the position of Minister—a height that many could only dream of but never reach.
He had brought the Qin family to a whole new level.
Xu Lin lowered her head to look at the letter in her hand. It detailed the circumstances of how she and the fake daughter had been switched at birth, and included a family photo of the Xu household.
However, the fake daughter was not in this family photo.
Xu Lin had never appeared in any of the Xu family photos, as if she were not a part of the family at all.
Xu Lin didn't have to wait long before Qin Jiaxing appeared in her line of sight.
Seeing those familiar peach-blossom eyes, Xu Lin took a deep breath, suppressed the churning thoughts in her mind, and quickly stepped forward.
Today, Xu Lin didn't plan to speak with Qin Jiaxing face to face. Instead, as the two passed each other, she slipped the letter into his hand and hurried away.
Receiving the letter, Qin Jiaxing furrowed his brow, squeezed the envelope in his hand, stared at Xu Lin's retreating figure for two seconds, then quickly entered the Bureau of Finance.
Afterwards, Xu Lin repeated the same tactic, slipping a letter with a family photo to Feng Huimei before quickly walking away.
Xu Lin had decided to go down to the countryside like everyone else, so she needed to take a good stroll around Jingdu, the capital of Longguo, before she left.
She wanted to familiarize herself with the environment and prices in Jingdu, and preferably find an opportunity to earn a large sum of money to bring with her.
Even if she couldn't earn money, she'd at least stock up on supplies to take down to the countryside.
Xu Lin lightheartedly launched into her shopping expedition, but Qin Jiaxing and Feng Huimei's hearts were anything but at ease. After reading the letters, they were still half-convinced and half-doubtful.
But when they saw the photographs, they believed without a shred of doubt.
Because their daughter Qin Fang bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman in the photo—both had long faces, big eyes, and thick lips.
They had originally assumed their daughter's face shape took after Qin Jiaxing's lean, elongated features. Now it was clear—ha, this was a counterfeit.
The thought that the daughter they had cradled and cherished for sixteen years was a fake left both Qin Jiaxing and Feng Huimei deeply unsettled.
Most importantly, Qin Fang had a very close relationship with the Su family's son, and both families were very optimistic about the match.
Barring any accidents, once the two turned eighteen, they would be formally engaged, serving as the bond for a further alliance between the Qin and Su families.
This would expand the influence of both families and allow Qin Jiaxing's political career to climb higher and farther.
If word got out that Qin Fang wasn't really a Qin, would the marriage alliance with the Su family be affected?
And most importantly, what did their biological daughter look like? Could she shoulder the corresponding responsibilities?
All morning, Qin Jiaxing and Feng Huimei were restless and distracted.
Before work was even over, Feng Huimei couldn't hold it in any longer and called Qin Jiaxing, vaguely mentioning that she had received a letter.
Qin Jiaxing's eyelids twitched wildly upon hearing this. They agreed to meet after work and talk face to face at home, afraid of leaking anything over the phone.
Qin Jiaxing didn't wait until quitting time—he left early to pick up Feng Huimei from the Health Bureau.
After meeting up, they didn't rush home. Instead, they stopped at a park.
They looked around, sat down by the river, and exchanged information in hushed tones.
While they were exchanging information and discussing what to do, Xu Lin was browsing the black market. During her visit, she discovered that ten yuan really didn't go far.
Ten yuan couldn't even buy ten jin of wheat flour on the black market. It was only then that Xu Lin realized just how black the black market prices were.
At the grain shop, wheat flour cost only fifteen cents per jin plus ration tickets, but on the black market, the price had multiplied tenfold—one yuan fifty per jin without tickets.
In 1975, when the average monthly wage was only a few dozen yuan, ordinary working-class families truly couldn't afford rice and white flour.
Ordinary? Xu Lin's eyes suddenly flew wide open. That "ordinary" should include the Xu family, yet the Xu family had never gone without rice and white flour.
Why was that?
Had the fake daughter been the one providing it again?
With doubts swirling in her mind, Xu Lin hurried back to the Xu residence. She decided she wouldn't go out that afternoon and would instead thoroughly investigate the house.
She wanted to find out what secrets the Xu family held that she didn't know about.
Her timing was remarkably coincidental—when Xu Lin arrived home, the people from the Educated Youth Office had just left, and the two parties crossed paths not far from the Xu family's front door.
After seeing off the Educated Youth Office staff, Mother Xu frowned and asked in a low voice: "Kun's father, are you really going to let that good-for-nothing girl go down to the countryside?"
"What do you have in mind?"
Father Xu did not answer but instead asked a question in return. Old Mrs. Xu sat nearby, glaring with her triangular eyes as she listened to the two of them talk, in no hurry to voice her opinion.
"That worthless girl is getting more and more out of line. I'm afraid she'll spiral out of control once she's sent to the countryside. As long as her household registration stays with our family, we can keep a grip on her fate. If this—" Mother Xu trailed off mid-sentence, signaling Father Xu to think it over himself.
Old Mrs. Xu nodded repeatedly as she listened. She understood her daughter-in-law's concern—if that girl's household registration were moved out, she'd be far beyond their reach, and anything could happen that they couldn't control. What worried her most was the possibility of that worthless girl running into the Qin family. With that face of hers, if anyone recognized her, it would be trouble. Better to keep her trapped at home—she could help with the chores, and they'd have her firmly in their grasp, her life and death entirely in their hands.
With that thought in mind, Old Mrs. Xu joined the discussion.
Father Xu still didn't rush to voice his opinion. After hearing both his wife's and his mother's concerns, he finally spoke slowly: "If it comes down to it, we could just break her legs and keep her at home."
"Hmm, that's a good idea." Old Mrs. Xu gave a thumbs up. "Better yet, break both legs, so she can't run off and start blabbing."
"But can we even beat her?"
Mother Xu cut in, dousing cold water over the whole plan, leaving both Father Xu and Old Mrs. Xu speechless.
Not being able to beat her really was a big problem.
And it was a problem that had to be solved.
After a long pause, Old Mrs. Xu gritted her teeth and said, "It's fine. After you two go to work this afternoon, I'll go get some medicine."
Father Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief at that. Mother Xu didn't ask what kind of medicine, just nodded in agreement and swayed her hips into the kitchen. As she walked, she muttered curses under her breath, complaining about how Xu Lin had gone off who knows where and hadn't come back to cook even at mealtime. She'd worked half a day and still had to come home and cook—was that girl trying to exhaust her to death?
Just as she was cursing up a storm, she looked up and met Xu Lin's pitch-black eyes. In that instant, Mother Xu felt her consciousness plunge into a black hole.
Before she could snap out of it, Xu Lin's fist was already flying toward her. Father Xu and Old Mrs. Xu both went pale with shock.