Chapter 26: Let Him Know What Treacherous Human Hearts Are

The Song family worried endlessly over Lin Wanjun, their hearts aching with concern. Li Yuetang was so distressed that she could hardly eat, and whenever she mentioned her “pitiful” daughter-in-law, tears streamed down her face.

Meanwhile, in the confinement room, Lin Wanjun’s little life was surprisingly indulgent.

The peach pastries were too sweet, so she ate a few slices of braised pork. The braised pork was too salty, so she had an apple instead. When the apple left her mouth still parched, she grabbed a bottle of soda to wash it down…

After eating her fill and drinking to satisfaction, she slept a long, peaceful sleep. It had been ages since she had felt so pampered and relaxed.

The confinement room had no windows, and even the door seams were tightly sealed—no light could seep through. With a flashlight in hand, Lin Wanjun had nothing to fear.

Time didn’t exist in this place, so she entered the space and took a proper tour of the White Palace from top to bottom, inside and out.

Tsk, it wasn’t impressive at all—pale in comparison to the Forbidden City!

At the end of the corridor, Lin Wanjun pushed open a door and stepped inside.

The first thing that caught her eye were the eight large characters on the wall: “我國存我死國存”—“If I live, my country lives; if I die, my country still endures.” The room itself retained its original tent-like setup, and even the blood-stained German gray military uniform remained in its place.

Lin Wanjun studied the bloodstains on the uniform, murmuring to herself, “This must be Great-Grandfather’s uniform. He must have entered this space wounded, took off his clothes, folded them neatly, and then…”

And then? Where did he go? Could there be a mysterious realm deep within this space that she hadn’t yet discovered?

Lost in thought, Lin Wanjun walked to the rose garden behind the White Palace.

The wall was not far off, and the white roses bloomed brilliantly. She stepped forward a few meters, only to notice that the wall seemed to retreat several meters backward.

Thinking she was hallucinating, she took another ten steps forward, but still couldn’t reach the cluster of roses.

After repeating this several times, Lin Wanjun finally gave up.

This spatial realm was like an endless ocean—its boundaries could never be touched.

“Great-Grandfather!”

Giving up on futile efforts, Lin Wanjun simply stood on the lawn and shouted.

“Great-Grandfather, I am Lin Wanjun, your great-great-granddaughter-in-law. If you can hear me, just squeak once!”

“Squeak…”

Suddenly, a sound came from behind, making Lin Wanjun’s body go cold with goosebumps.

Startled yet delighted, she turned around, only to see a door swinging open in the wind, producing a dull, lonely creak—like an old, decaying melody from a bygone era.

Lin Wanjun walked to the door and peeked inside. It was an empty room, completely bare.

She felt disappointed and couldn’t help but laugh through her frustration. “Great-Grandfather, are you teasing me?” she said.

Moving on, she began patrolling the rooms ahead like a lioness inspecting her territory. With her hands behind her back, Lin Wanjun checked every storage room brimming with supplies, touching the small mountains of rice and flour. A strong sense of security washed over her.

When she reached the presidential office, she saw the plump, cute pigs hanging neatly in the air, some still dripping with bright red blood.

Lin Wanjun felt even more reassured. In her mind’s eye, the table was already laden with braised pork, steamed pork, crispy pork, and other fragrant, oily delicacies.

Ah, she was drooling with hunger.

After inspecting her “territory,” Lin Wanjun’s stomach rumbled again. This time, she opened a can of sweet soup as an appetizer.

With nothing else to do, she retrieved a honeycomb coal stove, lit a fire, washed some vegetables, and cooked a steaming, aromatic bowl of egg noodles, adding a few slices of braised beef. The scene was slightly comical.

In the grand, luxurious state banquet hall of the White Palace, a small Chinese-style honeycomb coal stove sat on the table, an aluminum pot bubbling with hot steam, filling the air with fragrance.

Too lazy to use a bowl, Lin Wanjun simply carried the small aluminum pot to the table.

The flavor was a bit bland.

She then rummaged through the seasoning pantry, found a bottle of chopped chili sauce, and mixed it into the noodles, devouring the meal with the speed of a storm.

After eating, she went straight back to sleep.

Half-asleep, Lin Wanjun suddenly remembered the door that had been blown open.

Wait, how could there possibly be wind inside this space?

Never mind, she thought, I’ll sleep first and investigate later!

Lin Wanjun drifted into a deep slumber, unaware that behind the door that had been blown open, someone slowly opened their eyes…

Lin Wanjun had no sense of days or months while confined in the room, but outside, people were burning with worry.

Ever since Lin Wanjun had been locked in the confinement room, Song Zhanjin hadn’t slept a wink.

He couldn’t get close to the room, so he watched from afar, silently keeping vigil, trying to maintain the closest distance possible to Lin Wanjun, even if she had no idea.

Seventy-two hours—the longest, most excruciating period in Song Zhanjin’s life.

When Wei Yifu finally announced that the confinement period was over and she could be released, Song Zhanjin dashed forward as if possessed, his hands trembling as he opened the door.

He was nervous. He was scared. He feared that Lin Wanjun might not have endured the three days, that she might have fainted from hunger, or panicked from fear of the dark.

Afraid that the light from outside might hurt her eyes, Song Zhanjin opened the door slowly, inch by inch.

“Junjun! Junjun, are you still there?”

No response came from inside. Song Zhanjin’s heart leapt to his throat.

Had something happened to Junjun?

In that instant, it felt as if someone had hollowed out his heart. The pain was raw and bloody, almost suffocating.

“Junjun!”

Unable to control his emotions, he yanked the door open and rushed inside.

The next moment, Song Zhanjin forced back the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

Lin Wanjun was sitting on the bed, one leg crossed over the other, grinning at him with a mischievous, triumphant look.

“Heh, did I scare you?”

Gone was the pale, weak, hungry-looking Lin Wanjun he had imagined. Standing before him was a spirited, fair-skinned young girl, full of life.

She rose and stretched luxuriously, even letting out a rather unladylike belch—still tasting of chicken drumstick—after eating her fill.

Song Zhanjin was dumbfounded.

He had seen soldiers confined before; even the strongest-willed among them would be weak and haggard after three days. Some could barely stand. Yet here was Lin Wanjun, energetic and unscathed.

While he was still in a daze, the neighboring confinement room opened as well. Out crawled the bully, wailing and sobbing, grabbing at anyone’s leg like a beggar in desperation.

The bully had lost a lot of weight; his beard was unkempt, his eyes bloodshot, and even his forehead bore streaks of dried blood—likely the result of self-harm from spending too long in darkness.

Someone brought over some watery rice porridge, so thin it reflected one’s shadow.

Lin Wanjun glanced at it once and immediately turned away in disgust.

What is this?!

Compared to her egg and beef noodles, plus the various pastries and fruits she had enjoyed, this rice porridge was utterly inedible.

The bully, however, devoured it greedily, finishing it in just two bites. He even snatched Lin Wanjun’s noodles as if possessed by hunger, like a starving ghost dragging a corpse.

“You—bitch! Just you wait!”

His hoarse voice trembled with rage as he pointed at Lin Wanjun, gnashing his teeth.

“You made me suffer like this—one day, I’ll kill you!”

Song Zhanjin could not bear to hear his wife threatened. He was about to step forward and deal with the bully when Lin Wanjun stopped him.

“Forgot my words again, huh? Don’t make trouble!” she said firmly.

The bully continued to rant at Lin Wanjun, oblivious to Wei Yifu and Meng Shuanggou approaching.

Wei Yifu sneered. “Looks like confinement wasn’t enough—you still haven’t learned your lesson!”

Meng Shuanggou kicked the bully and shouted, “Meng Fugen, shut your mouth! Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

Lin Wanjun let out a cold laugh. Hmph, the bully was Meng Fugen.

Since this brat couldn’t change his disgusting ways, she decided to give him another lesson—one that would show him just how treacherous human hearts could be.

“Principal Wei,” Lin Wanjun said with a smile, “he still isn’t convinced and wants to argue with me some more. Fighting is wrong, of course, but there has to be a winner and a loser, right? So I request another match with him!”

Wei Yifu’s gaze at Lin Wanjun was filled with shock.

This girl had truly been hungry for three whole days—so why was she bouncing around here as if nothing had happened?

And, perhaps it was just his imagination, but Wei Yifu felt that Lin Wanjun actually looked a bit plumper!

Being an experienced principal, Wei Yifu asked cautiously, “What exactly do you want to compete with him in?”

Lin Wanjun flashed a cunning, mischievous smile and pointed to two large water jars not far away.

“A water-carrying contest,” she said. “Whoever fills their jar first wins!”