“Room 211, Huang Guixiang—come downstairs to collect your parcel!”
At six in the morning, just as Huang Guixiang had gotten up and was preparing to wash up, she heard someone shouting from downstairs.
Under the curious gazes of her neighbors, she hurried down.
She received a woven plastic sack from the mail carrier and signed her name in a small booklet the postman took out.
Parcels and remittance slips were usually handed directly to the recipient. Letters, on the other hand, were all left at the reception desk.
“Guixiang, who sent you a parcel?”
“Yeah, you’ve been married here for so many years—this is the first time we’ve seen you receive a package!”
“Your parents’ home is nearby anyway. If they had something for you, they could just bring it over. Why spend money mailing a parcel?”
“What’s inside it?”
A group of women surrounded Huang Guixiang curiously.
She almost instinctively wanted to curse them out, but then she thought of her daughter and son-in-law and forced herself to swallow the words, even managing a smile.
“Probably from Wanwan’s aunt. She’s in Heilongjiang.”
The sender’s address was indeed written as Heilongjiang Province.
“Isn’t Wanwan getting a partner? I sent a telegram to her aunt asking her to help find some decent gifts for Wanwan to bring to her future in-laws.”
She made it up on the spot.
In her mind, this package was probably sent by Old Lin’s old comrade.
There was absolutely no way it was from that vile woman Lin Guizhen.
Her relationship with her sister-in-law had never been good. When she married into the Lin family, they looked down on her for being from the countryside. Her sister-in-law Lin Guizhen not only treated her coldly but also loved taking her things and then falsely accusing her of pushing her when she fell.
After giving birth to Wanwan, she had very little milk. Old Lin felt sorry for their daughter and wrote to a comrade in the military to send milk powder—but that woman even secretly ate it.
She would pour it straight from the bag into her mouth.
Not afraid of choking herself to death at all.
In short, she was no good person.
As for why she thought it might be Old Lin’s comrade, it was because when Old Lin was still alive, that comrade often sent him local specialties and hunted game from the mountains.
As for her current address, he must have asked around to find it.
Huang Guixiang’s logic was self-consistent—perfectly closed loop.
When she returned home, the whole Zhang family was already awake. Everyone was curious about who had sent the package and what was inside.
Huang Guixiang repeated her earlier explanation and took the parcel into Lin Wan’s room to open it.
Lin Wan was already up. As soon as the door closed, she saw her own handwriting on the parcel slip—written with her left hand.
When Huang Guixiang cut open the sack, she revealed the cloth bundle inside.
It had been packed by Lin Wan herself.
Opening it, they indeed found everything she had taken from her spatial storage: dried wood ear mushrooms, dried lion’s mane mushrooms, dried hazel mushrooms, pine nuts, hazelnuts, and more.
It was all set.
“Wanwan, you should have Xiao Huo send these back to his family. It counts as your gift,” Huang Guixiang said happily. To her, it felt like free goods.
“Your Uncle Wen is the same—he didn’t even leave a detailed address. Now I don’t even know how to return a gift.”
How thoughtful of him—saving her money.
“Speaking of which, back when he came home on leave and drank with your father, they got drunk and even arranged a childhood engagement between you and that chubby kid Wen Jianhua.”
“Later your father came back and I scolded him for it.”
“Your father said drunken words don’t count, and I suppose Uncle Wen forgot after sobering up too.”
Lin Wan: “……”
“In the future, if there’s a chance, we can send something back to Uncle Wen.”
Lin Wan took half of the items from the bag and handed them to Huang Guixiang.
“Mom, keep these. We’ll eat them ourselves later.”
“I’ll just take half to give to Huo Xiao.”
After thinking about it, Huang Guixiang didn’t object. She only told Lin Wan to keep them in her room for now and take them out when they eventually split households.
Lin Wan had no objections.
After eating the sour soup egg noodles Huang Guixiang made, she slung her military bag over her shoulder and headed out.
Not long after leaving, she saw a bus approaching and hurried to catch it.
But as she ran past the entrance of an alley—
Someone suddenly yanked her into it.
Bang.
Her body was slammed against the wall.
Her mouth was covered, and both hands were pinned above her head.
A burning pain shot through her back and hands.
The back of her head hurt too.
The pain made her skull feel like it was swelling.
She finally saw who was restraining her—it was Guo Xuyang!
His face was very close, his eyes cold and sharp.
“Lin Wan, I’m warning you. If you keep causing trouble in the future, I won’t agree to let Qin Qin spare you again!”
Lin Wan lifted her leg and tried to kick him in the groin.
But he dodged it.
Now freed slightly, Lin Wan’s eyes turned red with rage.
“Guo Xuyang, are you f*cking sick in the head?!”
“If you’re sick, go get treated! Why the hell are you always clinging to me?”
“You still won’t let me go? I’m going straight to report you for sexual harassment!”
“Damn it!”
“Did I kill your whole family or something?”
“Why are you so persistent?!”
Lin Wan yanked off her military shoulder bag and swung it hard at him.
But Guo Xuyang instinctively grabbed her arm again, twisted it behind her back, and pinned her against the wall.
“You had Jin Cuicui drug me. If it weren’t for Qin Qin begging me, do you think I would’ve let you go?”
“Lin Wan, you’ve crossed my bottom line!”
Lin Wan tried to reach for her electric baton.
But it was Guo Xuyang.
She didn’t dare expose it in front of him. As the original male lead, he always carried some strange “plot aura.”
“Guo Xuyang, are you an idiot?!”
“You believe whatever Jin Cuicui says?”
“Did you even check the time, place, evidence? Did you investigate anything at all?”
“Is this how you lead people as a cadre?”
“You hear one rumor and run with it. If you lead a team like this, you’ll drag them straight into a ditch sooner or later!”
“Comrade Lin Wan!”
“Stop harassing Comrade Lin Wan!” At that moment, a bespectacled man passing by saw the scene, picked up a stone, and rushed in, swinging it toward Guo Xuyang’s head.
But Guo Xuyang kicked him flying.
“Sun Zhi!” Lin Wan’s eyes widened.
It was Sun Zhi—the one from the fishpond… from the textile factory.
Sun Zhi curled up on the ground in pain, mouth wide open, but no sound came out.
“Sun Zhi, go report to the police!” Lin Wan shouted.
Guo Xuyang’s expression changed instantly.
He stepped forward in a single stride, pinned Sun Zhi down as he tried to get up, and flashed his military ID.
“Comrade, I’m an active-duty officer. You just attempted to attack me. If I pursue this, you’ll go to prison.”
Sun Zhi: “!!!!”
Enduring the pain, he struggled up and looked apologetically at Lin Wan.
“Comrade Lin Wan… I’m sorry, I…”
Lin Wan immediately understood.
He had been intimidated by Guo Xuyang and didn’t dare go to the police, afraid of getting himself implicated.
She could understand that.
“Go to the hospital first. I’ll reimburse your medical expenses later.”
After all, he had been dragged into this because of her.
Sun Zhi quickly shook his head, still worriedly looking at her.
Guo Xuyang: “Lin Wan, are you sure you want to say everything I came to talk about in front of him?”
Lin Wan was furious beyond reason.
She screamed:
“Guo Xuyang, if it weren’t for me saving you, you would’ve already been f*cking ruined!”
“And now you repay kindness with revenge?!”
“Who the hell do you think you are? The Qing Dynasty is long gone—there’s no emperor anymore!”
“I don’t need Qin Qin to plead for me. Call the police!”
“Follow proper criminal procedures. If I’m guilty, I’ll admit it. If I’m not, you’ll be the one getting stripped down and investigated!”
Guo Xuyang frowned at her, his emotions complicated.
He couldn’t tell whether she was bluffing to scare him into backing off…
Or whether she truly hadn’t done anything and therefore had nothing to fear.
He asked himself—did he dare to gamble?
At that moment, he regretted it.
Regretted laying hands on her.
He truly hadn’t expected Lin Wan to be this difficult to deal with.
(Lin Wan: Difficult? Your damn father! Who exactly is clinging to whom here?!)