The moment Lin Zhiyi turned around, she saw Wei Shiyu standing there with a dark expression on his face.
Her happiness over buying the black pork instantly froze. “Shiyu, why are you here?”
Wei Shiyu raised an eyebrow. “If I hadn’t come, how were you planning to get all this black pork home?”
“It’s fine, I have…”
Lin Zhiyi was about to explain, but suddenly stopped.
How was she supposed to explain this? Should she tell him that she had hired someone, or that she had a space?
And just how long had he been following her? Had he been following her ever since she left the house?
Seeing the variety of expressions on Lin Zhiyi’s face, Wei Shiyu suddenly felt like teasing her. “This handkerchief is pretty nice. How come I don’t have one?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I have a new one at home. You can keep this old one and use it to wipe your shoes.” Lin Zhiyi gave an awkward laugh as she rummaged through her pockets.
“Stop looking. Put the meat away.”
Seeing that it was getting late, Wei Shiyu wanted her to go home and rest, so he stopped teasing her.
He had been worried about Lin Zhiyi, so he had followed her as soon as she left the house.
He had already seen the two silk scarves and the handkerchief in her basket. Having lived in the military, he naturally knew how people dressed when going to the black market, and there was no reason for her to prepare those things just to visit her parents’ home.
As for the conversation between Lin Zhiyi and Lin Dongshan, he had heard every word clearly.
However, he had assumed that Lin Zhiyi simply did not want Lin Youwei to know about her situation, especially since Lin Youwei had previously tried to break the two of them apart.
“Put… put it away?” Lin Zhiyi asked cautiously.
Wei Shiyu raised an eyebrow. “Otherwise, are you really expecting me to carry these two sides of black pork home myself?”
He had clearly seen how the eggs had disappeared.
Knowing that she could no longer hide it from him, Lin Zhiyi put the black pork into her space right in front of him.
Wei Shiyu looked down at the embarrassed Lin Zhiyi, who had been caught red handed, and gently asked, “What else do you need to buy? I’ll go get it. You sit here and rest for a while.”
Lin Zhiyi did not stand during the ceremony and told him everything she wanted.
Only after watching him walk away did she finally let out a sigh of relief. She had felt as though she were a student being interrogated by a teacher.
“Sit here for a while.”
Wei Shiyu returned with a small stool, which he had bought for fifty cents from a vendor who was packing up his stall.
Watching Wei Shiyu run back and forth, Lin Zhiyi thought to herself, Where could she find another male lead this considerate? She truly could not understand why the original owner had abandoned such a good man to chase after Lu Bin.
Thinking of Lu Bin, she remembered that he had borrowed one hundred yuan from the original owner!
One hundred yuan. The original owner had truly been generous. That was equivalent to three months of an ordinary worker’s salary.
No matter what, Lin Zhiyi was getting that money back!
And there were also all the things she had previously bought for Lu Bin. That watch alone was worth quite a bit of money.
While waiting for Wei Shiyu, she took two cups from her space and filled them with spirit spring water.
When Wei Shiyu returned, he was still slightly stunned when he saw what Lin Zhiyi was holding.
Lin Zhiyi smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescents. “Honey, you’ve worked hard. Here, have some water.”
Wei Shiyu completely forgot about drinking. He stared at Lin Zhiyi for a long while before finally taking the cup when she spoke again.
“It’s dark now, so no one can see us. Hurry up and put everything away so we can go home.”
After drinking a cup of spirit spring water, Wei Shiyu felt noticeably lighter and more refreshed. He did not know whether it was because of the water or Lin Zhiyi’s smile from earlier.
“But before we go home, there’s one more thing I need to do.”
Wei Shiyu frowned. “You’ve already been tired all day.”
Lin Zhiyi pouted in dissatisfaction. “I’ve only been out for one afternoon.”
Wei Shiyu’s gaze fell on her rosy, full lips, and his eyes darkened slightly.
Why had he never noticed before how beautiful her lips were?
Lin Zhiyi waved a hand in front of his face. “Wei Shiyu, come back to your senses! What are you thinking about?”
Wei Shiyu picked up the small stool and followed behind Lin Zhiyi.
When they passed the post office, Lin Zhiyi asked Wei Shiyu to wait outside.
Ten minutes later, Lin Zhiyi came back out with a delighted expression.
For some reason, Wei Shiyu had the distinct feeling that someone was about to have a very bad day.
The two of them got into the car and returned to the city.
Lu Bin’s home was not far from the Wei family’s home. They were both located in the same residential compound.
Lu Bin’s parents were both employees at a textile mill, each earning around thirty to thirty five yuan a month.
In this era, they could already be considered a middle class family.
After graduating from high school, Lu Bin had found a job in the city watching over a shop, where he earned around twenty yuan a month.
But some people were never satisfied and always wanted things that did not belong to them.
For example, attaching themselves to Lin Zhiyi, the county magistrate’s daughter.
Lin Zhiyi remembered that in the original plot, Lu Bin claimed he was going away to do some big business. The original owner had practically given him all her valuables and had even taken quite a bit of money from Lin Dongshan to support him.
But when Lin Zhiyi needed help the most, he took advantage of her trust and sold her to someone else.
“Zhiyi, I’ll go by myself. Let the car take you straight home. The moment that kid Lu Bin sees me, he’ll hand over the money.”
Lin Zhiyi knew Lu Bin’s character far too well. Even if the evidence were placed right in front of him, he might not admit anything.
Just like what had happened at school that year.
She admitted that she had been the one to like Lu Bin first, but she had always been fickle and easily lost interest. Her feelings for him had been nothing more than a passing fancy.
Later, for some reason, a teacher found a love letter in Lu Bin’s desk, and he insisted that Lin Zhiyi had written it to him.
But Lin Zhiyi had never written any such letter. The handwriting on it had actually been imitated by Lu Bin.
Lin Zhiyi clearly remembered that Lu Bin had once visited her home and taken one of her notebooks, claiming that he wanted to borrow it for studying.
As for why he had written the love letter, the reason was obvious. Somehow, he had learned that Lin Zhiyi’s father was going to become the county magistrate.
He wanted to rise through marriage and change his fate.
And the quickest shortcut was to get together with Lin Zhiyi.
In the end, everyone knew that Lin Zhiyi liked Lu Bin.
After that, Lu Bin began following Lin Zhiyi everywhere. Wherever Lin Zhiyi was, Lu Bin was sure to be nearby.
He not only bought her breakfast but even went out early to buy lunch for her.
Lin Zhiyi thought Lu Bin was a decent person and gradually began to like him as well.
Even Lin Dongshan had believed that Lin Zhiyi would marry no one but Lu Bin.
If Lin Dongshan had not later remembered that Lin Zhiyi and Wei Shiyu had a marriage arrangement, he would never have forcibly separated Lin Zhiyi and Lu Bin.
“My body isn’t as fragile as you think. We’ll go together.” Lin Zhiyi took Wei Shiyu’s hand, asking him not to worry.
The moment their fingers touched, Wei Shiyu stiffened, and even his palms began to sweat.
Lin Zhiyi laughed at him. “It’s not like this is the first time we’ve held hands. Why are you so nervous?”
Wei Shiyu gave a few light coughs to hide his embarrassment. “I’m not.”
It was true that this was not the first time they had held hands, but it was the first time Lin Zhiyi had done so after opening her heart to him.
The two arrived at Lu Bin’s home, and Wei Shiyu helped Lin Zhiyi out of the car.