She looked troubled.
Su Zhaoying understood what she meant and felt speechless—there was clearly important business to discuss, yet she still had to waste time on all this nonsense.
Little did she know that both matters were equally important to Lin Jinghong, and she planned to handle them simultaneously.
“How much money do you need?” he asked.
“No idea. The more, the better.” Lin Jinghong thought, who in this world would ever complain about having too much money?
“…How about I find you a job in the city?” Su Zhaoying considered for a moment.
“No.” Lin Jinghong shook her head without a second thought.
“Don’t think I don’t know—you’re trying to repay a life-saving debt with a job. I told you, you have to give yourself to me.”
Su Zhaoying: “…”
“Was the meat you bought that day from the black market?” she asked directly. “You know people in the black market.”
The latter statement was said with absolute certainty.
Su Zhaoying’s eyes narrowed slightly. He looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then met Lin Jinghong’s gaze. “The black market is dangerous. Don’t even think about getting involved.”
“I understand.”
Seeing that he hadn’t denied it, Lin Jinghong had a rough idea forming in her mind.
“Alright, I’m off. Just wait for my good news.”
She moved incredibly fast, disappearing before Su Zhaoying even had a chance to speak.
Su Zhaoying watched the shrinking figure in the distance, his brow furrowing slightly.
She ate lunch at home, rested for half an hour, and went back to work in the afternoon.
Lin Jinghong and Wu Sankui worked well together and completed all their tasks.
Both of them earned full work points.
Zhao Chunmei and Du Mingkang weren’t so lucky—their sloppy work didn’t pass inspection, and they had many points deducted. The two of them bickered, each blaming the other.
Looking at the man with his neck craned forward, spittle flying as he argued, Lin Jinghong shook her head inwardly.
The original owner’s taste in men really wasn’t great.
After two consecutive days of farm work, Lin Jinghong felt that this kind of labor truly wasn’t for just anyone.
She once again silently paid her highest respects to the farmers.
But on the third day, she didn’t go.
She disappeared early in the morning.
Lin Erjun and his wife were worried, but they also understood somewhat—their daughter now was beyond their control.
They could only take the remaining two kids to work.
Lin Jinghong was currently roaming the mountains, hoping to catch some wild game to try selling at the black market.
She’d always had the idea of making money at the black market, but after thinking it over, money earned that way couldn’t really be spent openly anyway.
That’s why she hadn’t made a move yesterday.
But today she’d thought it through. What was she afraid of? Anyone who dared to run their mouth would get a beating from her.
“BANG!”
She’d barely entered the mountains when she heard a loud crash—the sound of something falling.
Lin Jinghong scurried over.
There was a large pit ahead, originally dug by people to trap wild animals, which had grown bigger over time as water eroded it. Everyone in the brigade knew about it—who would be careless enough to fall in?
Could it really be wild game?
A lucky find!
Lin Jinghong’s excitement came to an abrupt halt when she saw what was in the pit.
She turned and walked away.
“Wait!” Xu Shengli in the pit saw her and clung to her like a lifeline.
“Help! Save me! I saw your face, old man. If you don’t save me now, when I get out of here, I’ll kill you!”
He made his threat in a cocky, careless manner.
Lin Jinghong paused mid-step, turned back, crossed her arms, and looked down at him from above. “You want to kill me?”
“Lin Daya, don’t think I’m scared of you just because you’re strong. I’ve got plenty of brothers. You can’t fight all of us with just two fists. Think carefully about whether you’re going to save me or not.” Seeing it was Lin Jinghong, Xu Shengli relaxed.
This one could go crazy like a mad bull, but usually she wasn’t that brave.
He looked at his broken leg. “Get me out of here, and I’ll be grateful. Don’t save me, and you can wait for my revenge.”
Lin Jinghong smiled, a bright, radiant smile.
She said leisurely, “Fine, I’ll save you. Just don’t regret it.”
Xu Shengli had a gut feeling something was off, but he was used to being a troublemaker and just assumed Lin Jinghong was genuinely scared of him.
“Smart choice.”
Lin Jinghong told him to wait, then tossed down the hemp rope she’d brought from home.
Xu Shengli was also from Qingyan Brigade—one of the brigade’s rotten apples.
Didn’t do any real work, loafed around all day, wandering from house to house, and stealing chickens and dogs along the way.
The whole brigade despised him.
He’d probably been in the city causing trouble and had just come back.
Lin Jinghong pulled him up and dumped him on the ground.
“Lin Daya, you—”
“BANG!” He was about to run his mouth when a fist slammed into his stomach.
It doubled him over, curling him up, his face contorting in pain.
“BANG BANG BANG!”
Fists rained down on him like hail. Xu Shengli could only let out miserable screams.
Lin Jinghong stopped only when she’d had her fill of beating him.
The man before her was now a swollen, bruised mess—his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.
She chewed on a blade of wild grass. “Regret it?”
Xu Shengli’s eyes were swollen into slits. “Wuu… you… I, old man, won’t let you get away with this.”
“Oh, so I didn’t hit you hard enough.” Lin Jinghong kicked him.
CRACK.
Someone’s rib seemed to break.
Xu Shengli’s eyes bulged wide, pain making him break out in a cold sweat all over.
Lin Jinghong’s expression didn’t change at all. This man had previously stolen Old Mrs. Lin’s chicken but thrown the feathers in her backyard, causing Old Mrs. Lin to drag the speechless Lin Erjun into a beating, and Li Dongxiang got slapped a few times.
He’d also taken five yuan from Lin Jinghong’s family.
Seeing him in too much pain to speak, Lin Jinghong directly searched him.
This guy was a petty thief; there was a good chance he had some money on him.
Sure enough, she pulled out a pile of colorful bills, totaling eleven yuan and twenty-five cents.
Tsk, not bad.
Seemed like this kind of money-making method was the fastest way to get cash, huh.
“Don’t take my money!” Xu Shengli gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
“It’s my money now.” Lin Jinghong bared her teeth in a grin.
She stuffed the cash into her pocket, casually hoisted the man up, and headed into the deep mountains and forests.
“You, you, what are you going to do?” Xu Shengli sensed something was wrong, panic creeping into his heart.
“Taking you to feed the wolves.” Lin Jinghong smiled without any warmth.
“…”
Xu Shengli began to struggle violently, but with every struggle, his broken ribs stabbed into his organs, making his heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys all ache.
Who knew if there was internal bleeding.
Lin Jinghong didn’t care. She simply tied him up with a hemp rope, stuffed a rag in his mouth, and carried him along with light steps.
“I’ve wanted to kill someone for a long time. My hands have been itching, but I never had the chance. You’re really lucky.” Her airy words were utterly terrifying.
“You stole the chicken but threw the feathers in my backyard. Sorry for letting you live this long.”
Xu Shengli’s eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. He struggled violently, trying to defend himself one more time.
How could such a small matter lead to his life?
He’d also had a loose tongue—seeing it was Lin Jinghong, he still had to beg her to save him.
Wuwuwu, well, now she’d just sent him straight to his end.
Lin Jinghong seemed oblivious to his fear, getting more excited as she spoke. “Don’t worry. The wolf should bite straight through your neck first, then start eating you. It won’t make you watch your own legs and arms get devoured. It’s not that cruel. At most… it’ll tear open your chest first…”