Miss Yuqiu, my young master said that he will never see a fallen heiress who has fallen on hard times and can no longer maintain her dignity.”
At the Xie family’s door, a fashionable and stylish nanny looked the woman up and down with a mocking gaze.
Dressed in faded coarse cloth clothes, she looked nothing like the noble lady she once was; she was just a poor, wretched girl.
The nanny, still arrogant and affected, said, “My wife also said that given the current situation, the marriage agreement between the Xie and Lin families is null and void. You must never come to our door again, lest someone see you and implicate the Xie family.”
“However, I heard that your mother is bedridden. Here is a hundred dollars. Take it and use it to treat your mother. Consider it a small token of our friendship between the Xie and Lin families.”
After saying that, the nanny casually scattered the wad of money on the ground, and looked at the young lady from a prestigious family who had once been in love with her young master with utter sarcasm.
Lin Yuqiu trembled all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She felt that even her fingertips were cold and stiff, and her heart was so cold that she had no feeling at all.
She stared blankly at the money, which seemed like thin, sharp knives, scraping her pitiful self-esteem to shreds.
He swallowed a mouthful of sharp, bitter acid, like a branding iron.
A moment later.
Her slender neck was slightly raised, and her jawline formed a delicate yet stubborn arc.
He raised his hand and decisively pulled off the silver pocket watch around his neck. The thin chain scraped against his skin, leaving a faint pink mark on the side of his neck, but he didn’t react at all.
He handed the pocket watch to the nanny, his voice colder than the autumn dew, yet each word clear: “No need. Tell Mrs. Xie that I’ve come to return the token of our love to Xie Qingwei.”
“Please rest assured, I will not come again.”
After saying that, she turned and left.
The nanny hurriedly picked up the pocket watch from the ground, wiped it, and put it in her pocket. Looking at the stubborn back that stood straight, her tone was full of disdain.
“They’ve all fallen on hard times, wearing coarse clothes and not even having a decent meal, yet they still insist on putting on airs like rich young ladies. It’s laughable.”
Lin Yuqiu didn’t let a single tear silently slide down her cheek until she walked out of Xie Family Alley.
It fell silently down her pale, soft cheek, staining her collar and leaving a small, dark, damp patch.
She looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining brightly, but she couldn’t feel any warmth.
She thought that being jilted by the Xie family could no longer hurt her. The death of her eldest brother, the misfortunes of her father and brothers, and her mother’s illness had already made her numb to tears.
Unexpectedly, the boy who grew up with her and promised to protect her for a lifetime still made her shed tears.
A bitter smile appeared on Lin Yuqiu’s lips, and she closed her eyes to swallow this extreme despair.
She has a problematic political background, and during this special period, no one is willing to help her.
But she can’t afford to collapse yet.
My mother is still in the hospital and could wake up at any time. She can’t be left unattended, so I have to go back to the hospital first and then figure out what to do.
At the corner, she didn’t notice a group of people suddenly blocking her way.
“My dear Miss Lin, are you going to see that young master of the Xie family?”
A nonchalant male voice came from above. When Lin Yuqiu looked up and saw that face, she felt dizzy and a surge of hatred welled up in her chest.
A few days ago, this was the same face who led a group of people into her home, vandalizing and looting, taking her father and brothers away, driving her mother to the brink of despair. This is the murderer who caused her family’s ruin.
Lin Yuqiu stared at the man’s wolfish eyes, his buzz cut, a hideous scar on his sideburns, and the menacing aura he exuded, along with the group of accomplices behind him who were watching him intently.
It’s not hard to guess that another family will suffer next.
She concealed her inner panic, only boundless anger remained: “Shen Lichuan, what have we Lin family done to offend you that you would persecute us like this? Where did you take my father and brothers?”
Shen Lichuan, however, stood with his hands in his pockets, casually and wantonly sizing her up, his eyes filled with greed.
In the past, Miss Lin was the most famous young lady in Rongcheng. He didn’t dare to look at her too much, as even a glance would seem like a desecration of this celestial being.
Now that the fairy maiden has been banished to the mortal realm, she is nothing more than a helpless little rabbit, prey in the eyes of all men!
Shen Lichuan did not respond, but instead approached step by step, his eyes filled with a frantic desire to plunder: “I heard that your mother is paralyzed. Even Miss Lin, who used to look down on us from humble beginnings, has to beg for help. Why do you look like this? Did your fiancé from the Xie family abandon you? And refuse to help you?”
“The good days for these rich people are over.”
“Just wait, your future man will avenge you and confiscate the Xie family’s property as well.”
Lin Yuqiu’s face paled slightly, and she sneered, “And what kind of good person are you? You’re the real culprit.”
Shen Lichuan was indifferent to her insults. He suddenly grabbed her wrist, feeling its smooth and delicate texture. Before he could savor it, she abruptly pulled it back.
The next second, the hand that had just been pulled from his palm was slapped squarely across his face.
He felt no anger whatsoever; instead, he was somewhat dazed by the slap, the faint, alluring fragrance lingering around his nose.
Upon seeing this, Lin Yuqiu suddenly retreated and immediately turned to run away, but her path was deliberately blocked.
Lin Yuqiu stared at the bustling street, her clear eyes glaring angrily at Shen Lichuan: “What exactly do you want?”
Shen Lichuan said with a half-smile, “I originally wanted to let the Lin family go, but your father looked down on me and called me a toad trying to eat swan meat. Xie Qingwei is just better off than me, more knowledgeable and cultured. What is there about him that makes you interested? Now that you’re desperate, where is he?”
“If you become my wife, your mother will be my mother, and I will take care of her for you.”
Lin Yuqiu found this face extremely repulsive and warily avoided him, saying, “Get away from me.”
After saying that, he turned to run away.
Shen Lichuan lost his patience, strode after him, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him into the alley: “Believe it or not, I’ll call the neighborhood committee right now and have you sent to the countryside for labor reform, to live a life worse than pigs and dogs, just like your father and second brother!”
“But I can’t bear to let your delicate and frail body go to the countryside and benefit those peasants.”
Lin Yuqiu suddenly bit down on Shen Lichuan’s hand, her teeth trembling, but she bit down with extraordinary force, even biting through the flesh.
Shen Lichuan cried out in pain and released his grip.
Lin Yuqiu quickly ran in the opposite direction.
Like a wild dog driven mad by that fragrance, Shen Lichuan licked the bitten flesh and narrowed his eyes with a determined look: “Arrest her and take her to my house. From today onwards, the precious Miss Lin will be my wife, Shen Lichuan’s wife.”
The followers immediately swarmed after her. Lin Yuqiu staggered, her body trembling violently, and she let out broken but resolute cries for help, but she dared not stop for even a moment.
“Help!”
“Help.”
Just then, a military jeep drove by and passed her.
Lin Yuqiu only caught a glimpse of a cold, stern face flashing past the car window before she panicked and fled in all directions.
Her hair was disheveled over her shoulders, one of her shoes was missing, and she was running for her life on the rough muddy ground with her bare white feet.
The man in the pine-green military uniform inside the car was taking in her disheveled figure through the car window.
She turned her head hastily, and her face suddenly came into the man’s view.
The woman was dressed in coarse cloth, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes filled with lingering fear, and her pale cheeks still bore traces of tears.
Like a mountain deer being chased by a wild beast, fleeing in panic.
The man’s gaze suddenly locked onto the woman’s delicate and beautiful face through the car window, and his eyes froze instantly.
He sat upright like a pine tree, his whole being still exuding that calm and restrained yet stern aura. Only his fixed gaze, with its intimidating penetrating power, silently fixed on that slender yet resilient figure.
Then, with his thin lips slightly pursed and his face expressionless, he ordered the guard beside him in a deep voice, “Get out of the car and see what’s going on?”
The guard replied, “Yes, Commander.”