Lin Qinghen had finally gathered all the Round Wheat he needed. He calculated the days; only seven had passed, but the crafting station still had over ten days to go. 

Not knowing what the next task would be, and since he wouldn’t be staying much longer, it didn’t make sense to dive into new research now. So he allowed himself a rare moment of relaxation, leaning against a field ridge, feeling a bit out of place.

Thinking he might as well change into clean clothes and pack up his meager belongings, he got up and made his way out of his tree hideout. But before he’d gone far, he noticed a group of people rushing toward his field from afar.

Still dressed as a field worker, Lin Qinghen shifted course and slipped into a nearby field, unnoticed. He watched the group move toward the Round Wheat field and, as they got closer, recognized most of them—led by none other than his father, Lin Zhongtian, whom he hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Without lingering, he turned and walked back toward his little courtyard. By coincidence, just as he reached his door, he ran into Shi Qi.

With his naturally lively personality, Shi Qi always had a pulse on the latest news and connections. Now, seeing Lin Qinghen, his eyes brightened as he eagerly beckoned him to a quiet corner, whispering with excitement, “Young Master Qinghen, I’ve got some good news for you!”

“What’s that?”

“Remember that annoying Lin Fei, the one who’s always bullying you and us field workers? Well, I heard he got into big trouble at the alchemy conference today. The Family Head was furious and sent him straight to the Discipline Hall!” Shi Qi’s voice was full of glee. “He’s already taken thirty lashes, barely alive, and now he’s in confinement. When it’s over, Ninth Elder said he’d be sent out for training, probably never to return to the Lin family!”

Shi Qi, just a servant, wasn’t privy to the full story, but Lin Qinghen instantly had a pretty good guess.

So, Lin Fei really was cheating, huh?

His downfall was his own doing—disgracing the family at an event like that was bound to be punished.

Yet Lin Qinghen had no inkling of how this all indirectly connected to him. Deep in thought, he considered what he’d just witnessed: why was the group heading toward the Round Wheat field?

It was strange.

Shi Qi had expected Lin Qinghen to be thrilled by the news. Even with a mask obscuring his face, his overall demeanor didn’t convey any happiness.

“Young Master Qinghen, isn’t it a good thing that Lin Fei won’t be bothering you anymore?” Shi Qi added, suddenly realizing something, blurting out, “Ah, right, Young Master Qinghen… Lin Fei might not even be the one you dislike the most. It’s Miss Qingshuang who…”

At this, Shi Qi finally realized he’d overstepped and clamped his mouth shut.

Lin Qinghen gave him a calm look and patted his shoulder, signaling him to relax.

It was just the truth, after all. Even Shi Qi understood that Lin Qinghen’s difficult position in the Lin family wasn’t due to Lin Fei’s occasional bullying but rather because of Lin Qingshuang.

To be blunt, most of Lin Fei’s actions were meant to curry favor with Lin Qingshuang.

His conflicts with his sister and Lin Zhongtian’s disdain likely stemmed from issues between their parents. Lin Qingshuang’s mother came from the prestigious Shen family, renowned for its alchemists. Lin Zhongtian’s father, as head of the Lin family, loved arranging marriages for the younger generation and had forced Lin Zhongtian to marry Shen Luo Ying, a young woman of great talent from the alchemist family.

But Lin Zhongtian had someone else in his heart, a woman he’d met during his travels named Fu Yi. Even after marrying Shen Luo Ying, he couldn’t let go of his romantic attachment, secretly keeping Fu Yi on the side. When he became the Family Head, he openly brought her into the household, placing her on equal footing with his legal wife.

The irony lay in the fact that, despite Shen Luo Ying being one of the most beautiful women on the continent, Lin Zhongtian’s heart slowly warmed to her over time, gradually pushing Fu Yi from his affections.

Once Fu Yi entered the household, she sensed the shift in Lin Zhongtian’s feelings, especially after both women became pregnant around the same time. Resentful and bitter, she believed that if Shen Luo Ying were gone, Lin Zhongtian’s love would return. Secretly, she began administering a slow-acting poison to the pregnant Shen Luo Ying.

As both women were expecting, Fu Yi also suffered from health issues, possibly contributing to Lin Qinghen’s inherent frailty at birth.

Despite being an alchemist, Shen Luo Ying’s health was delicate. Her pregnancy took a toll, and suddenly, she went into early labor. Lin Zhongtian was away and couldn’t make it back in time. She and Fu Yi gave birth on the same day, but Shen Luo Ying fell into a coma shortly after delivering Lin Qingshuang.

Lin Qinghen was the son of the increasingly unstable Fu Yi.

Initially, Fu Yi’s actions went unnoticed, but when Shen Luo Ying fell into a coma, Lin Zhongtian’s feelings crystallized—his heart belonged solely to her. Almost frenzied, he did everything to save his comatose wife, even considering sending Fu Yi away right after she’d given birth.

Lin Zhongtian’s desperate search for a cure finally bore fruit, but Fu Yi, now teetering on the edge of madness, stormed in at the crucial moment when Shen Luo Ying was on the brink of awakening, triggering all the poison she’d previously planted in Shen Luo Ying’s body by self-destructing.

Lin Zhongtian’s efforts were in vain. Shen Luo Ying fell into an even deeper coma, becoming little more than a living corpse. Fu Yi’s death also exposed all her misdeeds, leaving Lin Zhongtian seething with hatred for his former lover.

Thus, Lin Zhongtian’s favoritism toward Lin Qingshuang and disdain for Lin Qinghen became natural. Even if his younger son hadn’t done anything wrong, Lin Zhongtian treated him as if he didn’t exist, considering it the height of mercy.

As for Lin Qinghen himself, his memories of that time were hazy; much of what he knew was told by spiteful relatives who had even changed his name. His memories of Fu Yi were vague—what could an infant retain, after all? He recalled only that this deranged mother had little affection for him, seldom even holding him, often shoving him off to the servants.

In comparison, Shen Luo Ying was well-loved and respected in the Lin family, which deepened everyone’s hatred toward Lin Qinghen.

Truthfully, Lin Qinghen felt Shen Luo Ying was the most blameless of them all. The marriage was arranged by the family; Lin Zhongtian’s straying heart was his own doing. Shen Luo Ying had never done anything wrong yet suffered the most.

Even though Lin Qingshuang’s mother was a victim of Fu Yi’s cruelty, Lin Qinghen had come to terms with it. He was, after all, Fu Yi’s child, and in a way, “the debt of a mother” did make sense. In some respects, he had no right to fault Lin Qingshuang for disliking him.

Perhaps his lack of talent compared to Lin Qingshuang was his own way of repaying that debt, but sometimes, Lin Qingshuang went too far.

The true fault lay with Lin Zhongtian, who failed to protect his loved ones. And while Lin Qinghen was willing to bear the sins of “mother’s debt,” there had to be limits.

The original Lin Qinghen had even lost his life in the end. When Lin Qinghen had first arrived here, he discovered he had excellent memory, hoping this could earn him a place in the family.

Back then, he attended the Lin family’s private school. Though he lagged in combat, his theoretical scores far surpassed Lin Qingshuang’s, once earning him praise from Scholar Mei, the teacher.

That same night, however, Lin Qinghen’s courtyard was set ablaze. His notes, clothes, everything, burned to ashes. He nearly died again, and soon after, was expelled from the academy on fabricated charges, even losing access to private lessons.

With no new clothes, he was forced into servant garb, which he never shed since.

She was far crueler than Lin Fei.

With so many events, Lin Qinghen, once a proud young elite in his former world, learned to hide his sharpness. He could no longer stand out and became discreet and reserved, acting as the waste Lin Qingshuang wanted him to be.

But such a life couldn’t last forever.

Once Yu Yinyin returned, none of this would matter to him anymore.

Still, as he recalled these events, he thought about the group heading toward the Round Wheat field. A bit of caution couldn’t hurt.

Feeling something might be brewing, Lin Qinghen slipped out before the nightly curfew, returning to the tree hideout to retrieve the Bee Crystal Butterflies, which he tucked into his collar. He cleared out the two fields of Round Wheat entirely.

He’d made duplicates of all his research seeds. Under a stone slab in his shabby courtyard, he’d crafted a hidden compartment with backup seeds and research notes.

When it was time to leave, he’d take everything with him, leaving no trace.

Recently, the Lin family seemed on edge, like a brewing storm ready to break.