Chapter 43: Moral Kidnapping

Lin Zhixia’s words echoed in Bai An’s ears, one by one.

“Everyone in the village has taken quite a few things from your room. I have to say, Bai An, I didn’t realize your family was this wealthy.”

“Even after so many things were taken, you’re still living as well as before. Before you arrived, that family wasn’t doing so well. Did you come across some opportunity, or are you just a little lucky star?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Bai An couldn’t help but furrow her brows, noticing the strange expression on Lin Zhixia’s face. Though he was still smiling, she saw no trace of amusement in his eyes.

“What I’m trying to say is, everything that’s happened is because of you,” Lin Zhixia said, eyeing Bai An’s beautiful face, which seemed out of place in the village. With malice, he continued, “It’s your so-called kindness that has harmed your own family.”

“Don’t you understand the situation in the village? Natural disasters, man-made misfortunes—none of us can lift our heads. Everyone is struggling in the muck. We are all the same, so why should some people be able to live so well, surrounded by such a good environment?”

Lin Zhixia reached out and pulled the stiff Da Zhuang over, then said, “When you celebrated his birthday that day, you gave him so many things. Those things are so precious here, yet his parents took plenty from your house and still hid it from you.”

Da Zhuang, listening to Lin Zhixia’s words, angrily pushed him off of him.

Lin Zhixia smiled mockingly and spread his arms to Da Zhuang, saying disdainfully, “Feeling guilty now? You know how much you’re disliked.”

“Enough,” Bai An stepped in front of Da Zhuang and addressed Lin Zhixia. “It’s my choice to give them things. Whether or not their parents hid it from me is their business, not mine. The two things are unrelated.”

Bai An looked at Lin Zhixia with a strange expression, not understanding. “This isn’t your problem. Why are you acting like this?”

“You don’t have some sort of histrionic personality disorder, do you?”

Lin Zhixia’s smile froze on his face. Although he didn’t know what Bai An meant by “histrionic personality disorder,” from her expression, he could tell it wasn’t a compliment. After talking so much earlier, he had thought she would have some reaction, but she showed no real concern.

“The reason my mom sent people to search your house is because that day, Cui Ju accidentally exposed the food you gave him. My mom forced it out of him and found out it was you who gave it. That’s when she assumed you had a lot of good things at home, which is why she did what she did.”

Lin Zhixia calmly explained everything, looking at Bai An. Bai An, however, just stared back at him calmly, signaling for him to continue.

“So, all of this happened because your kindness ended up harming your family.”

“Are you alright?” Bai An’s face scrunched up in confusion, her expression resembling a bitter melon. She looked at Lin Zhixia and said, “I already told you, it’s my business who I give things to. As for you guys wanting to search my house for our things—that’s an issue with your morals.”

“Stop twisting things and blaming me for your problems.”

Da Zhuang admired Bai An from the side. Lin Zhixia had just said all those things and managed to confuse him, but Bai An not only understood but also shot back at him.

Lin Zhixia hadn’t expected Bai An to understand his words. After all, to him, Bai An seemed like just a half-grown child.

“My family can’t just take this humiliation. Let your parents come to my house and talk about how to resolve this, or I’ll just expose the whole thing.”

Lin Zhixia fell silent for a while, then slowly spoke up, “My mom wasn’t like this before.”

“Eh?” Bai An was confused about what Lin Zhixia was trying to do. Just a moment ago, he had been acting crazy, and now he was suddenly switching to this melancholic prince persona.

“My family used to be fairly well-off, a small landowner. My grandfather treated the workers exceptionally well and was kind to the villagers. Back then, no one had anything but praise for him. But one day, everything changed.”

“They not only took all the land, but they also burned all the valuable things from our family. My mom didn’t understand why they did it at the time, but they just did.”

“So, my mom carried this resentment, and she accidentally took it out on your family.”

Bai An nodded. “Your family’s past is indeed tragic. I can understand why your mom did what she did.”

Seeing Bai An seeming to waver, Lin Zhixia was about to shed some fake tears to gain her sympathy when Bai An spoke again.

“But none of this has anything to do with my family. At that time, my family wasn’t even in this village. Why did your mom choose to take out her anger on my family? My parents are also very wronged.”

“So,” Bai An looked Lin Zhixia in the eye with determination, “You must give my parents a satisfactory answer.”

Lin Zhixia slowly raised his head and looked at Bai An walking ahead, confusion flickering in his eyes.

If he remembered correctly, Bai An wasn’t the biological daughter of Lu Demin’s family, right?

“Really?” Wan Qing exclaimed, surprised, covering her mouth as she looked at Bai An. “Why would they do such a thing?”

Lu Demin also looked at Bai An with a troubled expression. Their family had always prioritized harmony in the village, and they never expected such troubles to come their way.

Bai An shook her head, recalling Lin Zhixia’s earlier words. When she saw the tears in his eyes and heard him choking up as he spoke of his misfortunes, she had indeed been moved.

“Maybe because of certain things, but in any case, they have to give us an answer.”

Lu Demin nodded. “Bai An is right. We can’t let people falsely accuse us like this.”

Lu Jin’an quietly sat by the side, smiling as he watched Bai An speak passionately about her secret visits to Lin Zhixia’s house.

Wan Qing then turned to Bai An with a serious tone, “In the future, you must get the owner’s permission before entering someone else’s house. Otherwise, it’s impolite.”

“But they didn’t ask for our permission either,” Bai An muttered quietly.

Lu Demin then added, “No matter how others behave, we must stick to our own principles.”

Bai An responded with a few words and then noticed Lu Jin’an sitting next to her with an indifferent expression. She turned to him with some confusion, “Aren’t you surprised at all?”

“I’m pretty surprised. I can’t believe you actually snuck into someone else’s house,” Lu Jin’an said with a laugh.

Bai An lightly slapped Lu Jin’an’s arm. “That’s not what I meant.”

When Lu Jin’an didn’t answer, Bai An suddenly had a thought. “You must have known about this earlier, didn’t you?”