On the way back home with Grandpa Lin, Lin Baiyu occasionally stopped to greet villagers who were familiar with him.
Because their home was located in a rather remote corner of the village, by the time they had covered more than halfway, there were almost no households around.
Along the way, Grandpa Lin asked about Lin Baiyu’s health. Lin Baiyu responded with the same explanation she had given Grandma Lin.
Whether he fully believed it or not, Grandpa Lin simply smiled with relief and said, “Good, as long as you are better. Your grandma will be overjoyed. When you have time, remember to write a letter to your brother and tell him the good news.”
From Lin Baiyu’s memories, she knew Grandpa Lin was an extraordinary man.
He had lived through war and famine, and his only son had died young, leaving no strong working-age man in the family. Yet the old couple had still done everything they could to protect the two children, raising them safely and well, and both had grown up outstanding.
Although Grandpa Lin was already in his later years, he remained remarkably wise. He could not possibly fail to notice that his once-weak granddaughter had suddenly recovered so well, something unnatural must be behind it.
Yet he said nothing. Lin Baiyu once again felt the deep love from the old man.
He was showing her through his actions that he would not ask about the reason, as long as his granddaughter was healthy and well.
At that moment, the invisible restraints that had quietly bound Lin Baiyu since arriving in this world seemed to shatter completely.
She began to understand why she had transmigrated into “Lin Baiyu,” why her handwriting matched hers so perfectly, and why she had so easily accepted the Lin family.
Perhaps she was “Lin Baiyu,” and Lin Baiyu was her.
This was the true reason the system had chosen her.
So she asked the system, “Xiao Bai, is that right? It’s not that I replaced Lin Baiyu, but that we were originally the same person?”
“Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked the mystery of your identity. Reward: one Lucky Grand Spin draw. Remaining Lucky Grand Spin attempts: 2.”
“You can understand Lin Baiyu as your past life.”
“Because the original novel’s author rushed the ending, the world of the novel developed a flaw, causing many plot deviations.”
“The system needs to collect various forms of energy to upgrade. Only then can it repair the world’s loopholes.”
Lin Baiyu now understood why she had so coincidentally come across a novel with a character sharing her name.
“Xiao Yu? Why did you stop walking? Are you feeling unwell?” Grandpa Lin’s worried voice came from beside her.
Only then did she realize she had slowed down while talking with the system and had fallen behind him, likely startling him.
“I’m fine, Grandpa,” she said quickly. “I just haven’t walked this much in a while, my legs feel a bit uncomfortable. I’ll be fine after resting at home.”
After breaking free from the constraints of this world’s rules, Lin Baiyu felt increasingly at ease when speaking to Grandpa Lin.
“As long as you’re fine,” Grandpa Lin said, knowing she was a girl with her own ideas and not pressing further. “Walk slowly, Grandpa will go with you.”
The two continued home together. Thinking of the system’s earlier task completion rate of only fifty percent, Lin Baiyu decided to ask Grandpa Lin about it.
“Grandpa, I noticed the new educated youths today seem a bit different from the previous ones,” she said casually.
Grandpa Lin did not deny it. Their family never believed in raising children to be naïve and ignorant of the world.
On the contrary, the elderly couple, who together had lived more than a hundred years, believed children should see both the good and the bad in the world to understand right from wrong.
So when he saw that his granddaughter, who had no direct contact with them, could still keenly notice their differences, he felt quite gratified.
“You’re becoming more perceptive,” Grandpa Lin praised.
He then told her about what had happened earlier that morning when he met the brigade leader and went to the commune to pick up the educated youths.
The commune secretary had assigned ten newcomers to Lin’an Village Production Brigade, and even specially explained the arrangement, saying their brigade had managed the educated youths well in the past.
The brigade leader had no choice but to accept them.
Because the second production team was originally short of one person, and one of the long-term educated youths had been recommended to attend university last year, four people were assigned to their team.
Fortunately, there were still empty rooms in the educated youth quarters, so the brigade leader only needed to bring them back and hand them over to the team’s educated youth group leader as usual.
But things did not go entirely smoothly.
Other production teams received fairly ordinary educated youths, but the four assigned to their second team were rather… unusual.
According to Grandpa Lin, the wealthy-looking female educated youth was named Zheng Peizhen. The slightly taller one was Gao Lanying. The young man helping them carry luggage was Xu Guangyao. And the last male educated youth, the one Lin Baiyu had found somewhat mysterious, was named Xie Qingyuan.
Zheng Peizhen had the temperament of a young lady, clearly unused to hard labor. Although she had been instructed by her family to restrain herself before coming, she still stood out as high-profile and somewhat arrogant.
Gao Lanying appeared more capable, but along the way she noticed Zheng Peizhen’s naivety and tried to take advantage of her. However, Zheng Peizhen had a sharp temper and immediately confronted her, making the situation clear.
Later, when the brigade leader asked about the argument, Gao Lanying acted wrong and claimed Zheng Peizhen had misunderstood her kindness, which only angered Zheng Peizhen further.
If Grandpa Lin had not witnessed everything nearby, one might have believed Zheng Peizhen was the one bullying her.
Xu Guangyao appeared gentle and refined, but was actually quite slippery. He tried to mediate between the two, occasionally helping carry their luggage, clearly trying to please Zheng Peizhen, while treating Xie Qingyuan rather coldly.
Xie Qingyuan, on the other hand, was difficult to read. He was from the capital and spoke very little the entire journey, seemingly deliberately reducing his presence.
After finishing his account, they had already reached home.
Before entering, Grandpa Lin added his conclusion. None of these people were simple characters, and the village would likely be lively for a while.
Little did he know that his assessment perfectly aligned with Lin Baiyu’s own conclusions.
Along the way, while she appeared to be listening attentively, her mind was far from calm.
Only then did she realize that aside from Xie Qingyuan, the other three were exactly the supporting male and female characters from the original novel.
No wonder the system had asked her to go to the village entrance to “eat melon.” And since the supporting characters had already appeared, the female lead would likely not be far behind.
After understanding everything, she asked the system again and received confirmation that the task had been completed.
“Host has completed the assigned task. System level: 1. Energy collection progress: 20%.”