Chapter 4: They Are Not My Biological Parents

Bihua: “What do you mean ‘given to her’? That money was given to me!”

“But Weiwei said, if it was given to you, then why didn’t you marry into that family instead?”

Bihua: “…”

The Public Security officer spoke up, “Alright, we’ve understood the situation. As the one who reported this case, what outcome do you want?”

Lin Wangsheng, fuming with rage, snapped, “I want her arrested!”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

“What do you mean it’s not possible? She robbed us and tried to kill someone! How could she not be arrested?”

Bihua quickly pushed Lin Yaozu forward for the officer to see.

“Look, this is where she slashed him with the hatchet!”

But earlier, the neighbor women had helped clean Lin Yaozu up, and the small cut he had was already barely visible—just a faint mark.

The officer was speechless. “This tiny scratch? You’re telling me it was from a hatchet? I’ve seen grass scratches that are deeper than this.”

“It’s true! Officer, if you don’t believe me, ask them!” Bihua pointed at the villagers.

The officer turned to the villagers. “Did you all see it happen?”

See it? How could they have seen anything?

The villagers shook their heads.

“They had the door closed. We didn’t see anything. From the sounds, it seemed like a knife was involved.”

“This is a serious matter. ‘Seemed like’ isn’t good enough. Either you saw it or you didn’t. Making false statements carries consequences.”

Hearing that, the villagers didn’t dare to make random guesses.

“We didn’t see anything. We only heard them arguing, and the argument was about the 888 yuan.”

Lin Wangsheng grew desperate. “How can you all lie with your eyes wide open?”

“But we really didn’t see anything. You were the ones who shut the door.”

The officer said, “Alright, even if it was a knife wound, a scratch like that isn’t enough to put someone in jail. Let’s focus on the real issue—the 888 yuan. Was it a bride price or money from selling a daughter? Because if it was the latter, that’s a serious crime—human trafficking carries a prison sentence.”

The officer had plenty of experience and could tell right away that this was a typical case of a family favoring sons over daughters.

A poor daughter had been sold off and had come back to seek justice for herself.

This kind of situation left even law enforcement feeling helpless. As officers, they wanted to help, but in most cases, daughters simply endured it and never reported it.

Very few, like Lin Bingwei, had the courage to fight back. The officer couldn’t help but admire her.

As soon as Lin Wangsheng and Bihua heard the words “human trafficking” and “prison,” they shook their heads frantically like rattles.

“No, no, it wasn’t human trafficking! She’s our biological daughter! It was just a normal marriage, and that 888 yuan was the bride price given by the Zhang family!”

“Who was the bride price given to?”

“To…” Bihua hesitated, no longer daring to claim it was given to her. Instead, she said, “It was Weiwei’s bride price. We originally planned to use that money to buy her the ‘Three Turns and One Sound’ as part of her dowry, but we didn’t have enough industrial vouchers. We were saving up to buy them later, but Weiwei misunderstood and thought we sold her.”

“Oh, so this was all a misunderstanding?”

Both of them nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, just a misunderstanding!”

“Since it’s just a misunderstanding, then let it go. If anything else comes up in the future, sit down and talk it out. You’re family—there’s no need to make a big scene and become the laughingstock of the whole neighborhood.”

“What?” Bihua was unwilling to accept it. “Let it go? But that was 888 yuan! How can we just let it go?”

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? Didn’t you just say the money was for your daughter’s ‘Three Turns and One Sound’?”

“Yes, but—”

“If she took it, then let her buy it herself.”

Bihua: “…”

“Alright, it was just a misunderstanding. Nothing more to see here—let’s go, case closed.”

Lin Wangsheng and Bihua could only watch in stunned silence as the officers left.

“The money’s gone, Yaozu was scared half to death, and we’re just supposed to let it go?”

“What else can we do?”

Bihua gritted her teeth. “That ungrateful wretch—there’s no way this is over. Just wait and see!”

…

After getting the money, Lin Bingwei didn’t go back to the Zhang family right away. Instead, she wandered around town, looking for ways to make money.

She didn’t feel that she and Zhang Tingyuan were close. He had only returned because his parents pushed him into marriage, and for all she knew, he wasn’t even willing. Their future together was uncertain.

Besides, there was no guarantee Zhang Tingyuan would even survive.

If he died, she wasn’t about to be like the original host, spending the rest of her life looking after his parents and nephew.

She couldn’t stay in a village forever. If she made money in the future, she could give them some and visit when she had time—that would be enough to repay the fate of their one-night marriage.

After getting a general sense of things in town, Lin Bingwei returned to the Zhang family in the afternoon.

All three members of the Zhang family were in the courtyard.

Zhang Yuanxiu was smoking with a troubled expression.

Zhang Jianguo was crouched on the ground, completely focused on poking at ants with a stick.

Li Yurong sighed and said to Lin Bingwei, “We’ve already heard about what happened. We waited for you for a long time, but you never came back. I even went up the mountain to look for you but couldn’t find you. Then I heard that your family had called the police, so I went over to check and finally learned what had happened. Weiwei, what’s going on?”

Lin Bingwei pulled out a red cloth bundle. She unfolded it to reveal 888 yuan inside. “I went to get back the bride price.”

Zhang Yuanxiu frowned. “It’s not worth the risk. There are a lot of them—what if something happened to you? How would we explain that to Tingyuan?”

Li Yurong also said, “Exactly. It’s not worth it for the money. Once they took it, we never planned on asking for it back. Besides, they’re your parents. Forcing them with a knife—it wouldn’t sound good if word got out.”

This family had suffered a lot, but they were good people.

In the original story, after Zhang Tingyuan died, they kept urging Lin Bingwei to leave, telling her to remarry while she was still young. They were even willing to give her the compensation money from Zhang Tingyuan’s death as part of her dowry, but the original host refused.

She had been a child starved for love. No one had ever treated her so well before—how could she possibly leave?

Lin Bingwei mentally counted the days. Her biological parents would be back soon. There was no need to hide the truth anymore.

So she said, “They are not my biological parents. They are my enemies.”

“Huh?”

Both of them stared at her in shock.

To Lin Bingwei, the entire Lin family was her enemy.

Back then, raising the original host hadn’t been an act of kindness—they hadn’t done it for free. The Ye family had given them money—three thousand yuan, no less.

More than twenty years ago, three thousand yuan was a fortune.

The Lin family had only agreed because of the money. It was a transaction—one they entered willingly.

If they hadn’t wanted to, the Ye family could have taken their money elsewhere and found someone else.

But the Lin family took the money and still mistreated the Ye family’s daughter.

When the Ye family sent someone to take their daughter back, the Lin family even hid the truth and sent their own daughter, Ye Bingyu, instead.

Later, when the Ye couple returned, they were grateful to the Lin family for their supposed kindness. They let Ye Bingyu recognize Lin Wangsheng and his wife as her godparents, showered them with money and gifts, and gave them endless benefits.

They even paid for Lin Yaozu’s education, found city jobs for the couple, and helped their entire family rise to a good life.