After lunch, while Lin Xiangbei went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, Lin Wanwan slipped out of the house.
She went straight to the nearest telephone booth and, using the address and phone number Lin Xiangbei had brought back, placed a call to Xu Hongying’s hometown.
Long-distance calls in those days had to go through multiple transfers, and it took a long time to get connected.
Lin Wanwan paid extra for an expedited connection.
Even so, she waited nearly half an hour before the call finally went through.
Lin Wanwan spoke in a serious, formal tone: “Hello, I’m a friend of Zhuang Yufei’s. I’m looking for her parents.”
The old man in charge of watching over the telephone booth eyed her with suspicion.
The person on the other end was stunned for a moment, then told her to wait and hurriedly called for someone over a loudspeaker.
After waiting a while, a breathless voice came through the receiver: ”Hello… hello? May I ask what this is about? I’m Zhuang… Yufei’s younger sister…”
It was a young woman’s voice, but when she said the name “Zhuang Yufei,” there was an odd pause and hesitation.
Lin Wanwan’s eyes lit up: Was her luck really this good? Had she reached Zhuang Yufei herself?
So she said quickly, “Something has happened to Zhuang Yufei at school. You’d better come at once!”
The person on the other end was clearly alarmed: “What happened to her?”
“She offended someone she can’t afford to offend. That person demands her parents come apologize and beg for mercy in person, and that Zhuang Yufei marry him—or else he’ll ruin her! She doesn’t dare tell her family. You’d better hurry and get your parents to Haicheng, or Zhuang Yufei is finished! Remember, my name is Lin Wanwan, Zhuang Yufei’s best friend. Don’t forget it!”
With that, Lin Wanwan hung up and asked the old man, “How much do I owe you?”
The old man’s face darkened. “Did Zhuang Yufei wrong you somehow? Making her parents travel all that way—isn’t that just deliberately tormenting people?”
Lin Wanwan: “…”
This was the downside of telephone booths these days—someone was always standing nearby while you made your call. Not a shred of privacy!
Lin Wanwan looked at him righteously. “Old sir, you’re wronging me. I’m saving Zhuang Yufei, not tormenting anyone! If you tell them I’m lying, that’s what would truly harm Zhuang Yufei! You look like a kind-hearted, good man, old sir. Surely you wouldn’t want to see a lovely young girl like Zhuang Yufei forced to marry some scoundrel?”
The kind-hearted old man: “…”
Seeing that she had him firmly in hand, Lin Wanwan paid with satisfaction and left.
But the moment she turned around, she saw Shen Yan.
Shen Yan’s face was ice-cold.
“Come with me.”
He dropped those words and walked off.
Lin Wanwan followed, annoyed.
Shen Yan took her back to the Shen household, and the moment they entered the courtyard, he questioned her in a low voice: “Why did you lie to Zhuang Yufei’s family? They’ll have to travel a long way to Haicheng, and the fare won’t be cheap. Even if you’re unhappy with Zhuang Yufei, you shouldn’t make up lies like this to deceive people.”
His gaze was frigid.
【Shen Yan’s Hatred value +1. Reward: 1,000 yuan】
Lin Wanwan stared back at him just as coldly. “It seems you really don’t know Zhuang Yufei well at all—you don’t even know about her stealing someone else’s identity to get into university.”
“What did you say?” Shen Yan’s face changed instantly. “How do you know about that?”
Lin Wanwan said righteously, “She insulted me yesterday, saying I’d never get into university. I felt upset, so I had my brother go to the school and look into her grades.
“Her grades at school were always at the bottom of the class, and she often failed her exams. Don’t you find that strange?”
Shen Yan narrowed his eyes in displeasure. “So based on just that, you suspect she committed identity theft to get into university?”
Lin Wanwan lifted her chin. “Am I not allowed to suspect? If she really did steal someone’s identity, then wouldn’t the real Zhuang Yufei be pitiful? If you don’t believe me, let’s make a bet. If I’m wrong, you take 200 yuan from my allowance and compensate her. If I’m right, you give me 500 yuan. Do you dare bet with me?”
Shen Yan: “…”
Shen Yan gave Lin Wanwan a deep look, then suddenly spoke. “I won’t bet with you, but I will investigate. If Zhuang Yufei really did impersonate someone, I’ll report her directly. If she didn’t, I’ll take 200 yuan from your allowance to compensate her.”
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Xiangbei walked out. “Little sister, hurry up and pack. We should get going.”
Lin Wanwan nodded at Shen Yan. “Fine.”
With that, she returned to her room briskly and efficiently packed up the Original Owner’s belongings.
The Original Owner’s things weren’t too many, but they weren’t few either.
She had come to Haicheng with no intention of ever going back, so she had brought quite a lot of clothes.
The aesthetic of these clothes was absolutely eye-searing—Lin Wanwan truly couldn’t appreciate them.
But since she was leaving now, it wouldn’t be right to leave the Original Owner’s things behind at the Shen family home.
She could only pack everything up and take it with her, then deal with it once she returned to the village.
What if someone in the village happened to like them?
After packing, Lin Wanwan carried her luggage out the door.
Shen Yan was sitting on the living room sofa. Seeing her leave so decisively, he couldn’t help feeling a little surprised.
But he said nothing, only watched Lin Wanwan with an expressionless face.
Lin Wanwan thought for a moment and decided that leaving without a word would be a bit rude, so she still said goodbye to him. “I’m heading off. Remember to work hard and make money, and stop fooling around with shady people.”
Shen Yan’s face darkened. “You don’t need to remind me of that. I’ve always kept myself clean. Besides, once you’re back, you can find a man who suits you. There’s no need to hang yourself on my tree.”
“Oh.”
Lin Wanwan gave him a cool glance and walked off with her things.
Lin Xiangbei hurriedly took the luggage from her hands. “Let me carry that. Don’t tire yourself out.”
Lin Wanwan looked at this cheap Fourth Brother of hers with satisfaction and smiled at him. “Let’s go. We’re heading back to make big money right now!”
Lin Xiangbei couldn’t help smiling too.
But the moment he thought of Lin Qingyu, his heart filled with bitterness again.
Shen Yan had originally stayed seated, but seeing the two of them walk off without so much as a backward glance, he rose and followed them out.
Lin Wanwan walked quickly, never once looking back.
Shen Yan stared at her resolute back, frowning slightly:
What exactly was wrong with this person? Lately she hadn’t made a scene at all, and now she was leaving with unusual decisiveness.
It was as if she had become a completely different person.
How could a person change so drastically overnight?
…
Lin Wanwan and Lin Xiangbei took the bus to the train station, waited in the waiting hall for over half an hour, and successfully boarded the train.
Unfortunately, Lin Xiangbei had bought hard seat tickets, so the two of them would have to sit the whole way back.
There was no helping it—sleeper tickets were simply hard to come by these days.
Lin Xiangbei sat beside Lin Wanwan and quietly urged her, “Little sister, listen to your brother. You and Shen Yan aren’t suited for each other. He doesn’t care for you, so let’s quit while we’re ahead. Before things escalate to a complete falling-out, while the Shen family is still willing to give money, you should agree to the divorce.”
“That way everyone can part on good terms, and maybe if the Shen family is pleased, they’ll even help arrange a job for you. Then you could be a Haicheng person too.”
Lin Wanwan shot him a disdainful glance, suspecting something was wrong with his brain.
“Fourth Brother, are you an idiot? How could the Shen family possibly arrange a job for me in Haicheng?”
Of course she was going to divorce Shen Yan—but not now.
If she divorced this early, how would she go about making the Shen family hate her?
Three days later, the train arrived in Jincheng.
Lin Wanwan and Lin Xiangbei got off the train and boarded a long-distance bus.
After transferring three times and walking five kilometers of dirt road, they finally made it back to their rural hometown.
When Lin Wanwan climbed down from the bus, she looked like an eggplant wilted by frost.
If she hadn’t secretly taken a body-refining pill on the train, which had strengthened her physique considerably, she would have thrown up long ago!
There was no air conditioning on the train or the bus. There were fans, but they were barely better than nothing.
The vehicles were packed with people, and even with the windows open, it was stuffy and sweltering.
All sorts of unpleasant smells mingled together, making the journey even more unbearable.
When Lin Wanwan got off the bus, she felt as if she had escaped with her life!
As for Lin Xiangbei, he too let out a long sigh of relief.
After resting for a while, it was nearly mealtime by the time they walked back into the village.
The moment the villagers spotted them, they excitedly crowded around.
An auntie asked with barely disguised glee, “Lin Wanwan, didn’t you say you were going to stay in the city and become a city person? So why are you back? Don’t tell me Shen Yan didn’t want you and kicked you out?”