Lin Shuyang’s words drew everyone’s attention, especially Lin Shuxing’s.

She was seven years older than Lin Shuyang. He was only ten when he was lost. Hearing that Lin Shuyang still remembered her, Lin Shuxing’s hands trembled. “You still remember Big Sister?”

“What about Second Sister? Do you still remember Second Sister?” Lin Shuyue also stepped forward to join in the fun.

Lin Shuyang nodded and then shook his head at Lin Shuyue, then pursed his lips and smiled, saying, “I actually don’t remember very clearly. I only remember having a big sister and a little girl who was a bit older than me. We often played together. My big sister has a mole on her ear.”

Lin Shuyang’s words made Lin Shuxing subconsciously touch her left ear. Her mole was on her earlobe, about the size of a grain of rice. Luo Zhengjun always said her mole was pretty and looked like she was wearing an earring from a distance.

Lin Shuxing said, “Mom used to be busy, so I took care of you. Your Second Sister couldn’t carry you, so you would let me carry you. Your favorite thing to do was to pinch my ears while playing. That little girl who was a bit older than you must be your Second Sister. When you were little, you both loved to follow behind me. Wherever I went, you went. Sometimes I found you very annoying.”

Lin Shuxing still remembered how annoyed she used to be when Ah Yang played with her ears. Every time she carried him, she would warn him, but the three-year-old child didn’t understand and would play even more. When she was most angry, she would even slap him a few times.

He would cry, and she would get scolded. But things that seemed annoying at the time, when she recalled them after Ah Yang was lost, only felt very precious.

Lin Shuyue didn’t find it strange. It was said that children before the age of three had no memory, but they actually did, except that, compared to older children, young children’s memories were too vague.

Lin Shuyue thought that Lin Shuyang always remembered the mole on Lin Shuxing’s ear because he saw it so often, it was too deeply imprinted in his memory.

“Do you remember anything else?” Lin Shuyue asked softly.

Lin Shuyang said, “I remember a girl who was always crying. I had to go and comfort her.”

Lin Shuxing burst into tears and then laughed. “That’s your Second Sister. Among the three of us siblings, only your Second Sister loved to cry the most. She would cry over every little thing. I was so annoyed by her when I was little.”

The three siblings chatted again, talking about Ah Yang’s life over the years.

Lou Fengqin, listening to Lin Shuyang’s words, cried again.

Seeing her like this, Aunt Zhou also felt very sad. She was also a mother of three children, and she especially understood Lou Fengqin’s feelings. The year her eldest son went to boarding school for the first time in junior high, she missed him terribly.

Ah Yang had been separated from Lou Fengqin for fourteen years. Aunt Zhou still remembered what Ah Yang looked like when he was first brought back and felt very emotional.

“When my younger brother brought Ah Yang back, he was fair-skinned and chubby. You could tell at a glance that he wasn’t lacking in food. He was also well-behaved and sensible, but he loved to cry for his mother, Big Sister, and Second Sister.”

“At that time, I told my younger brother that Ah Yang was definitely given away without his mother knowing. If someone really wanted to give away a child, they wouldn’t have raised him to be so big and so well-cared for.” The Shancheng area had always favored boys over girls. Aunt Zhou had seen many, many children who were given away to others to raise since she was little.

Most of those children were girls. They were either given away as soon as they were born, or at most, they were raised until they were one year old. Because children who understood things were harder to give away.

Lou Fengqin, who had been crying non-stop like a leaky faucet since entering the Zhou family’s house, said after hearing this, “Every one of my children is my precious treasure, flesh that fell from my body. Usually, even if they just stumble and scrape themselves, my heart as a mother aches. How could I bear to give them away! It’s all the sin committed by that inhuman father of theirs.”

Lou Fengqin told them about what Lin Jianxin had done back then to curry favor with the wealthy and powerful. Everyone present was filled with righteous indignation. Especially Aunt Zhou, who cursed Lin Jianxin back and forth several times, using different insults each time.

After cursing, she patted Lou Fengqin’s hand and said to her, “My younger brother went to Pengcheng to look for you several times before he left. But the construction site where he and Ah Yang’s father worked together back then had long since disbanded. Pengcheng is so big, and there are so many construction sites. He went to them one by one. He did see many people he knew back then, but no one had Ah Yang’s father’s contact information.”

“He also wanted to look for you, but Ah Yang’s father never said where his home was, and my younger brother had never seen you. He could only work and inquire at the same time. So many years have passed, and there’s still no news. No one thought about going to the police. It would have been great if we had gone to the police earlier.” Since ancient times, ordinary people had been afraid of seeing officials. It wasn’t like now, where the police station and the Public Security Bureau often went to the countryside to promote policies.

Santai Village was also remote, and everyone’s mentality was to avoid going to the police if possible. After all, in their view at that time, the police were only for catching bad people. Who knew that the police could also help children find their families?

Aunt Zhou could say these words, but Lou Fengqin couldn’t. She only cursed Lin Jianxin for being a worthless person and thanked Zhou Longxiang for raising her Ah Yang. Finally, she said, “All these years, we’ve searched all over the country to find Ah Yang. We’ve even been to Shancheng, but we’ve never been to Gongliang Town. Just think, how great it would have been if we had come to Gongliang Town back then.”

“It’s never too late for family to reunite.” A native of Santai Village nearby advised.

Lou Fengqin wiped away her tears and affectionately called Aunt Zhou “sister.” She also proposed that the two families treat each other as relatives from now on. She had thought about this deeply for more than ten years. She had thought before that if Ah Yang’s adoptive family treated him well and was willing to let her take Ah Yang away, then she wouldn’t be an unreasonable person. She was willing to let Ah Yang have two families.

She wasn’t doing this because she was so kind-hearted. It was because she knew that her Ah Yang had been away from her for too long. More than ten years was enough time to turn a close mother and son into strangers.

It was just that when she thought this way before, it was to win the child’s heart over from the adoptive family. It was somewhat reluctant. But towards the Zhou family, Lou Fengqin was sincere.

Old Man Zhou’s eyes lit up instantly, and Aunt Zhou was also very happy. “Thank you, younger sister. I thank you on behalf of my younger brother and my father.”

Zhou Longxiang had a disability, with one leg shorter than the other since childhood. He had married once, but later his wife left him because she looked down on him for being incompetent and ran away with someone else. He went out to work on construction sites, originally intending to earn money to marry again, but then he brought Lin Shuyang back. He was afraid that if he remarried, his new wife wouldn’t treat Lin Shuyang well, so he never married again.

Aunt Zhou had tried to persuade him for a long time, even suggesting that he could bring Lin Shuyang back to raise after he married, but he didn’t agree.

Zhou Longxiang worked outside, and Lin Shuyang had grown up in front of Old Man Zhou ever since he was brought back. Old Man Zhou was a man, and it was good enough if he could take care of himself. How could he take care of a child who was just over three years old? Aunt Zhou was married in the same village. She had two sons soon after she married and had established herself.

Her parents-in-law weren’t bad people. No one said anything when she often came back to take care of the grandfather and grandson. Because Lin Shuyang was good-looking, well-behaved, and sensible, and he also did well in his studies when he grew up, not only Aunt Zhou but even her husband’s family liked this nephew, Lin Shuyang, very much.

Now that his biological mother had found him, it was only right and reasonable for them to let the child go. They weren’t the kind of people who would occupy someone else’s child and not let them leave, because they hadn’t originally intended to buy a child.

Raising Lin Shuyang was out of Zhou Longxiang’s kindness. He was afraid that Lin Jianxin would give the child to those other people, who were not good.

Aunt Zhou and Old Man Zhou had long been mentally prepared for Ah Yang to leave. Even on his deathbed, Zhou Longxiang had told Lin Shuyang to go find his biological parents.

The Zhou family was certain that Lin Shuyang wasn’t an ungrateful person. Even if he found his biological parents, he wouldn’t forget the Zhou family’s kindness in raising him. But that still couldn’t compare to Lou Fengqin personally proposing that the two families become relatives.

Firstly, it was open and aboveboard, and secondly, Lin Shuyang wouldn’t have to be stuck in the middle of two families.

Although Pengcheng and Shancheng were far, they weren’t very far apart. The young people in the village all went out to work. Aunt Zhou’s two sons worked in an electronics factory in Pengcheng. If Lin Shuyang returned to Pengcheng, it would be easier for them to meet than if they were at home.

If Aunt Zhou and Old Man Zhou missed Ah Yang, there was a bus going to Pengcheng from the county town.

“I should be the one thanking you. If it weren’t for your family, our Ah Yang would have suffered so much.” Lou Fengqin had been looking for her child for so many years, and her demands for Lin Shuyang had become lower and lower, from initially hoping he would have a good life and someone to love and cherish him, to now only hoping he was alive.

Compared to what she had hoped for, Lin Shuyang was already so much better off.

Lou Fengqin was satisfied.

Seeing that the two sides had talked enough, Lin Shuyue suggested going to town for a celebratory meal.

Aunt Zhou was unwilling. How much would it cost to eat out in town? She could just go home, kill two chickens, and buy some meat to cook a meal.

Lou Fengqin disagreed. “Elder Sister, this is the first meal we’re having after finding Ah Yang. It’s also a family recognition feast for both of our families and a thank-you feast for your family. You must agree!”

Aunt Zhou’s husband also returned, and he made the final decision to agree. So, everyone headed towards the town.

From the moment they left the house, Lou Fengqin and Lin Shuxing each held tightly to Lin Shuyang’s hand, unwilling and unable to let go.

The village secretary drove out the village tractor and piled all the Zhou family relatives onto it. Bai Wenhua, as Lou Fengqin’s soon-to-be husband, whose relationship had now been made public, sat on the tractor with them.

Lin Shuyue led Aunt Zhou, Lin Shuxing, Zeng Xiaoyi, Lin Shuyang, and Lou Fengqin at the front of the convoy.

The police drove behind them.

The group went to the restaurant where they had eaten last night. The restaurant owner was overjoyed to see so many people. He used all his skills to cook, determined to spread the reputation of his restaurant’s delicious food.

Lin Shuyue and Lin Shuxing, following Lou Fengqin’s instructions, went to the clothing store in town and bought two sets of clothes for Old Man Zhou, choosing the most expensive and best quality ones that fit him well.

They didn’t forget Aunt Zhou and her husband either.

The same went for shoes.

When they returned to the restaurant, the dishes had been served one after another. A total of four tables were filled with people, occupying all the large tables in the restaurant.

Everyone chatted lively.

When Lin Shuyue and the others arrived, everyone’s gaze turned to her. Aunt Zhou even held her hand and kept praising her.

They all praised her for being excellent, for being able to get into university, and for being a news reporter, a profession that sounded very prestigious.

Aunt Zhou liked people who were good at studying. It was a pity that she had three children, none of whom were academically inclined. Her second son, who had the highest education, only studied until the first year of high school before refusing to go anymore.

Only Lin Shuyang had a talent for studying. His high school teachers all said he was a good candidate for university. Now it seemed that he had inherited that from his biological parents’ side.

Halfway through the meal, Lou Fengqin led her daughters and son to kowtow three times to Old Man Zhou. Old Man Zhou accepted their bows and tremblingly gave the four of them red envelopes that Aunt Zhou had secretly prepared. Aunt Zhou’s family wasn’t wealthy, and there wasn’t much money in the red envelopes, it was just a token of their appreciation.

After kowtowing, they gave the clothes to Aunt Zhou and her husband. This familial bond between the two families was now officially established.

The group stayed another night in Gongliang Town. The next day, they took Lin Shuyang back to Pengcheng. Old Man Zhou and Aunt Zhou, wearing the clothes Lin Shuyue and the others had bought for them yesterday, also went along to get familiar with the Lin family’s home.

The moment Lin Shuyang stepped into the Lin family’s home, the Good and Evil Detection System issued a notification.

[Ding! Limited-time mission: Search for the abducted younger brother has been completed.]

[Ding! Calculating task rewards….]

[Calculation complete, rewarding system 2000 RMB, 500 points. Lifespan increased by 6 months.]

When this mission was issued, the time given to find Ah Yang was 12 months, which was one year. Now, in just three short days, she had found Ah Yang.

Lin Shuyue still felt a bit unreal. Now that her lifespan had increased so much, coupled with the settlement time from the previous few missions, Lin Shuyue’s remaining lifespan was already one year.

She breathed a big sigh of relief. The shadow of sudden death at any moment had finally moved further away from her.

Besides that, what surprised Lin Shuyue the most was the cash reward given by the system.

She had received a reward of 1000 RMB when she caught Duan Taoyong, but the rewards for the next two completed missions hadn’t exceeded a thousand. Now this mission’s reward was two thousand.

There was no pattern at all. When she asked the Good and Evil Detection System, it was just an AI that issued missions, not intelligent at all. She couldn’t expect to chat with it. At most, it would execute some of the commands she gave it based on its existing functions.

But for some unknown reason, Lin Shuyue didn’t pursue it too much. She was happy that Ah Yang had been found.

Lou Fengqin took the Zhou family of three to play in Pengcheng for a few days before they returned. The two families exchanged phone numbers, and Lin Shuyue and the others also met Aunt Zhou’s two sons.

These two sons, like Aunt Zhou and her husband, didn’t have high good-evil values. They were also a bit shy, like Lin Shuyang.

Bai Wenhua hadn’t gone back. These days, whether it was taking the Zhou family out to play or meeting Aunt Zhou’s sons, he had been running around helping out.

Lin Shuyue and her sister just watched coldly. He was a good person and good to Lin Shuyang. He secretly took Lin Shuyang out once, and when they came back, Lin Shuyang had a bunch of electronic products in his hands. Electronic game consoles and Walkmans, he didn’t miss a single one. He hadn’t forgotten Lin Shuyue and Lin Shuxing either.

Lou Fengqin glared fiercely at Bai Wenhua.

Bai Wenhua smiled apologetically. “Ah Feng, look how old Ah Xing and Ah Yue’s phones are. They’re about to break down. It’s not a waste for me to buy them new ones.”

Bai Wenhua had two supermarkets in Yangcheng, both managed by hired staff. He only checked the accounts every six months, so he had quite a bit of money. He had noticed the sisters’ phones before. They were old models from many years ago. Although they still worked, they weren’t really suitable for two young girls.

He hadn’t felt he was in a position to replace them before, but now that his relationship with Lou Fengqin had taken a big step forward, Bai Wenhua felt that although Lin Shuyue and Lin Shuxing didn’t call him “Dad,” they were like his daughters. What was wrong with a father buying his daughters a phone? It was only right and proper.

Lou Fengqin knew this too. Now that Ah Yang had returned, she had also saved some money. She had originally planned to take the three children to buy phones in a couple of days, but now that Bai Wenhua had taken the lead, she wanted to give Bai Wenhua the money. She didn’t like owing people.

But after seeing the look in Bai Wenhua’s eyes, she sighed. “But you can’t buy such expensive ones. How much would those flip phones for Ah Xing and Ah Yue cost? Just buy them Nokias, wouldn’t that be fine? They’re cheap and durable.”

The unease in Bai Wenhua’s eyes dissipated, and a smile appeared. “How can we compare? Girls should have prettier things.”

The two had a meaningless argument over this matter. Later, when Bai Wenhua returned to his place, Lou Fengqin held a meeting at home. Everyone, including Luo Zhengjun, was present. Zeng Xiaoyi also came to join in the fun.

Lou Fengqin hesitated for a long while during the meeting. Urged by Lin Shuyue and Lin Shuxing, she mustered her courage and asked her three children:

“You all know about me and your Uncle Bai. What are your thoughts?” Lou Fengqin asked this, mainly looking at Lin Shuyang.

She knew her two daughters. They had no objections to her remarrying as long as the person was decent and treated her well.

What Lou Fengqin was worried about was Lin Shuyang’s opinion.

Because of Lin Shuyang’s personal experience, Lou Fengqin couldn’t completely disregard his wishes and be with Bai Wenhua. She had already decided that if Lin Shuyang didn’t agree to their relationship, she would explain things clearly to Bai Wenhua.

Under Lou Fengqin’s gaze, Lin Shuyang said with a smile, “Uncle Bai is a very good person. And generous.”

Lin Shuyang didn’t mind his mother remarrying. He was already seventeen years old. He was very satisfied that his mother had found him and that he knew he hadn’t been abandoned by her back then.

During the few days after being found, he also knew how much hardship and suffering Lou Fengqin had endured on the road to find him. He was deeply moved.

He had experienced the fatherly love of Zhou Longxiang, and now he felt Lou Fengqin’s motherly love. He was very content.

Today, Bai Wenhua had taken him out and talked to him a lot. He had also tentatively accepted Bai Wenhua as a person. “As long as you’re willing, Mom, I have no objections.”

Lou Fengqin’s eyes were filled with tears, but she smiled. Half of her life had been bitter, but heaven had ultimately been kind to her. Her three children were smart, well-behaved, filial, and sensible, all treasures given to her by heaven.

Lou Fengqin told her children about Bai Wenhua.

He only had one daughter, named Bai Pingping. When she was two years old, she was snatched off the street by human traffickers. His wife passed away a few years after their child was lost. To find his child, he had formed a family-finding team. Now, fifteen years had passed, and there was still no news of his daughter.

Lou Fengqin had been searching for her child with him for ten years, and the two were already very familiar with each other. Five years ago, Bai Wenhua had proposed the idea of them being together, but at that time, Lin Shuyue was in high school, about to take the college entrance examination, the most important time in her life, so Lou Fengqin hadn’t agreed.

Later, Bai Wenhua asked once a year, and Lou Fengqin had refused each time on the grounds that she was afraid of affecting Lin Shuyue’s studies. Now the two had agreed to live together at the end of the year, and Bai Wenhua was already starting to prepare to move his business from Yangcheng to Pengcheng.

Now that their relationship was out in the open, Bai Wenhua had even fewer reservations about coming and going from the Lin family’s home, but like Luo Zhengjun, he didn’t stay overnight at the Lin’s house.

After finding Lin Shuyang, things at home also got back on track. Lin Shuxing and Luo Zhengjun continued their lunchbox business. After being off for a few days, their business was exceptionally good when they started selling again.

Lou Fengqin and Bai Wenhua worked together to find a school for Lin Shuyang. They looked for one of the top schools in Pinghu District in terms of teaching quality, and Bai Wenhua used his connections with his former comrades.

They also solved the matter of Zeng Xiaoyi going to school at the same time.

When Zeng Xiaoyi learned that she could go to high school with Lin Shuyang, she cried immediately.

She didn’t say she wouldn’t go to school, because going to school was one of her dreams. She just promised the Lin family that she would write them an IOU and would repay them after she graduated from university.

Lin Shuyue and Lin Shuxing hadn’t planned on having Zeng Xiaoyi repay them, especially Lin Shuxing. She was earning money now and had money in hand. Sponsoring Zeng Xiaoyi’s university education was nothing to her at all.

But since Zeng Xiaoyi wanted to write an IOU, she didn’t stop her. Instead, she carefully kept the IOU and then quietly said to Lin Shuyue, “I used to see those rich people doing charity on TV every day, sponsoring some children in mountainous areas today and building a few schools in mountainous areas tomorrow.”

“I was so envious back then. Now I can also sponsor someone to go to school. Rounding up, I’m also a rich person.” Lin Shuxing’s eyes narrowed when she said this.

Lin Shuyue smiled and congratulated her, then asked, “Elder Sister, now that Ah Yang has been found, you’re not very old either. Are you interested in going to night school?”

Lin Shuxing was momentarily dazed when she heard about night school, then shook her head. “I wanted to study when I was seventeen or eighteen, and felt it was a regret that I didn’t get to. Now that I’m in my twenties, I’ve grown up and struggled in society for too long. I can still read novels, but I can’t read serious books anymore.”

Luo Zhengjun had mentioned going to night school to Lin Shuxing, and Lin Shuxing had also tried going to the library to read. Math and Chinese were okay; she had some memory of them, but English and chemistry were completely beyond her.

She decided not to make things difficult for herself. She had also secretly signed up for a training school, but after attending an afternoon class, she could only understand one or two questions at the beginning, and later, she just kept feeling sleepy.

She couldn’t concentrate anymore, and she didn’t have the same quick-wittedness for studying as she did when she was a child. She decided not to make things difficult for herself. She would leave the matter of going to a good university to the next generation.

“Your Brother Zhengjun said that he wants our two children to study hard in the future.” Lin Shuxing said, her eyes full of longing as she spoke of the future.

“What are you two sisters talking about? It’s been so long. Hurry up and come out, we’re just waiting for you.” Lou Fengqin called them from outside.

“Coming,” Lin Shuyue replied, and the two sisters walked out together.

The weather was very good today. The sun wasn’t too strong, and the breeze was gentle. Their family of four, along with Bai Wenhua, Luo Zhengjun, Zeng Xiaoyi, plus Ah Hao, and Zhou Bingrong, who had come to join in the fun, were going to the beach for a day trip before Ah Yang and Zeng Xiaoyi started school.

Halfway through their fun, Lin Shuyue received a call from Wang Guiquan.