Chapter 9

Seeing that all of Lin Dawei and Ma Guixin’s lifetime of hard work had been completely looted, Lin Qian felt that all the grievances she had endured in both of her lives had finally been vented.

She left the Lin family house quickly.

Finding a quiet place where no one was around, Lin Qian entered her private space and checked through all the things she had hastily moved out from the Lin household.

She realized that large items like pots, pans, and furniture would have to be sold off in bulk to a scrap yard when she had the chance.

From the pile of miscellaneous belongings, she fished out the Lin family’s bankbooks and some household cash. Even more surprisingly, the bankbooks were stored together with the household registration documents.

Just in case, Lin Qian took the bankbooks and registration papers to a bank far from the Lin house and withdrew all the money inside.

Though it wasn’t much, the Lin family’s total savings still added up to over 3,000 yuan.

Thinking about how, years ago, all the child support money given to the Lin couple had been spent entirely on Lin Yuanyuan, and how she herself had been doing housework like cooking and laundry since the age of five, Lin Qian felt no guilt at all as she held the 3,000-plus yuan in her hands.

With money in her pocket, her heart felt steady.

Feeling content, Lin Qian rode her bicycle back to the market near the Lin family home to buy some vegetables and meat. By this time, Ma Guixin was about to get off work, and she planned to return home with her groceries and join in the excitement.

However, just as Lin Qian rode into the alleyway, she ran right into Ma Guixin, who was on her way home from work.

The moment Ma Guixin saw her daughter, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You’re already married. It’s not a holiday—why are you back at your parents’ house? Don’t you know that you and Lu Zhanting haven’t officially registered yet? You should be behaving properly at the Lu household!”

Lin Qian noticed the large chunk of pork in Ma Guixin’s hand and instantly understood why she was being so unwelcome today.

After Ma Guixin finished speaking, she also noticed the vegetables and meat in Lin Qian’s hand. Although it wasn’t as generous as what others gave her to curry favor, meat was still meat.

She reached out and directly grabbed the groceries from Lin Qian’s hands. “Alright, we’ve received your kind gesture of coming home to visit your parents. Now go back, go cook dinner for your in-laws at the Lu family.”

Lin Qian looked at the meat in Ma Guixin’s own hand and asked, “Mom, did you win the lottery today? Why’d you suddenly buy so much meat?”

Ma Guixin smugly tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “Thanks to your cousin bringing honor to our family. Someone interested in proposing to her brought me this pork as a gift.”

“You need to work harder too. Even though you’ve been promised to the Lu family, you’re still our biological daughter. You can’t let your cousin outdo you when it comes to honoring your parents.”

In truth, Lin Yuanyuan was actually her biological daughter. Thinking about how her real daughter was about to marry into a wealthy family filled Ma Guixin with joy.

Although part of today’s meat had come from meat coupons given by the Huo family, she had no intention of telling Lin Qian that someone surnamed Huo still hadn’t given up on her.

The Huo family was simple and easy to get along with, but compared to the Lu family’s background, they were still lacking. So she had decided Lin Qian should marry into the Lu family instead.

Lin Qian deliberately said, “Mom, I actually came home today to tell you that I plan to call off the engagement with Lu Zhanting. Can you give back the betrothal money that the Lu family gave us?”

“You want to break off the engagement?”

Ma Guixin only heard the part about returning money she had just received, and immediately raised her hand to strike Lin Qian. “You little brat! Don’t you know how important a girl’s reputation is? Your dad and I worked so hard to raise you, and you want to call off your first engagement? Are you shameless?”

“Mom, Lu Zhanting’s got some shady business going on with a recently widowed woman. We haven’t even officially married yet—what’s wrong with breaking it off now?”

As she spoke, Lin Qian deliberately ran toward the Lin family home, eager to see Ma Guixin’s reaction upon discovering that the house had been cleared out.

Hearing the argument between mother and daughter, some nosy neighbors in the alley chimed in, “Guixin, no matter what, Qianqian is your biological daughter. Our mechanical factory isn’t far from their textile factory, and we’ve all heard the gossip coming from their family compound. You really don’t know any of it?”

The Lu family lived in the same compound as the textile factory. Naturally, many people there were aware of the ambiguous relationship between Lu Zhanting and Bai Aiyun.

In her previous life, Lin Qian had been young and naive. Combined with the matchmaking efforts of her “biological parents,” she had been blinded by Lu Zhanting’s initial behavior.

Now enraged, Ma Guixin turned to yell at the neighbor who had dared to interrupt, “Yes, she’s my biological daughter! Of course I want the best for her. You people are just jealous that my daughter got chosen by the Lu family. The Lu family has three generations of military men—Lu Zhanting is already a company commander. If he had someone else in his heart, would he have agreed to be engaged to my daughter?”

Then she continued chasing after Lin Qian, shouting, “Lin Qian, I’m telling you, you absolutely can’t break off this engagement! Lu Zhanting is a great match. It’s normal for others to get jealous and try to sow discord. Don’t let them get in your head!”

Truthfully, it was because the Lu family had offered a very generous betrothal gift, and she had no intention of giving it back.

Lin Qian said, “Mom, you clearly like my cousin more. She’s old enough to be getting married now too. Since the Lu family is so good, how about I let her have Lu Zhanting instead?”

Ma Guixin flew into a rage. There was no way she’d let Lin Yuanyuan marry Lu Zhanting. Not only did Lu Zhanting still carry a torch for Bai Aiyun, but his parents were troublesome and he had an immature younger sister—there was no way she’d let her real daughter walk into that mess.

She kept yelling at Lin Qian, “You shut your mouth! Your cousin has her own match. You’re the one who suits the Lu family. She doesn’t!”

Many neighbors shook their heads as they watched the scene. They used to think the Lin couple were good people, treating both girls equally. Now they saw the truth—they had foolishly doted on someone else’s child while neglecting their own.

Lin Qian finally stopped at the Lin family courtyard gate, waiting.

Ma Guixin raised her hand again, about to strike her.

“Mom, if you hit me again, I will break off the engagement with the Lu family.”

Ma Guixin put down her hand but glared at her and snapped irritably, “It’s not that I don’t want you around, but there’s nothing for you to do at home. Hurry back to the Lu house and help with the chores. Don’t let your in-laws think you’re lazy—it’ll reflect badly on how we raised you. Your cousin is about to get married too; you need to set a good example for her.”