Chapter 46: The Truth

With Lin Zhixia’s help, Bai An and Cui Ju quickly finished the task assigned by the teacher. Seeing that it was still before the designated school dismissal time, Bai An curiously asked,
“Have you finished your soil work? Why are you here helping us pull weeds?”

Lin Zhixia glanced at Bai An, unbothered, and said, “Not yet.”

“Not yet and you’re already here?” Cui Ju exclaimed in surprise, “What if you don’t finish your task?”

“What if I don’t?” Lin Zhixia sat down on the ground, bored, and started pulling at the remaining weeds. There was a hint of confusion in his voice as he added, “Has there ever been a time when the teacher’s tasks for me were actually completed?”

Bai An furrowed her brows, feeling a bit puzzled by Lin Zhixia’s nonchalant attitude.

Cui Ju didn’t say anything further. She knew that her brother’s tasks from the teacher were never completed in just a few days. Even on the last day of the task, the teacher would assign him new tasks, which meant his tasks were never truly finished.

“Why?” Bai An asked in confusion.

Lin Zhixia looked at Bai An, her gaze containing an unreadable emotion. Before Bai An could figure out what it was, Lin Zhixia turned her head away.

“If you want to know why, you’ll have to ask the teacher.”

Bai An glanced at her but didn’t say anything, sitting down and staring at the sky, also a little bored.

When the teacher arrived, they found the three of them sitting on the ground, lost in thought.

“Are you all done?” the teacher asked, looking at them.

Bai An nodded.

“Then help the other students with their tasks. When school dismissal time starts, you can go home.”

Hearing the teacher’s words, Bai An sighed and took Cui Ju’s hand. “Let’s go help Da Zhuang.”

“Okay,” Cui Ju smiled and replied, following Bai An as they ran toward Da Zhuang.

Lin Zhixia, helpless, sat on the ground, watching as Bai An and Cui Ju seemed to forget about him and ran off in another direction.

With a sigh, Lin Zhixia got up from the ground, respectfully nodded to the teacher, and slowly walked toward Da Zhuang.

When Da Zhuang saw Bai An and Cui Ju coming over, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, asking, “Why did you two come here?”

Cui Ju also smiled and helped Da Zhuang pick up the leftover wood from the ground. “We’re done with our work. The teacher told us to come help you.”

“Better hurry up and finish, school’s almost out,” Lin Zhixia said, patting Da Zhuang’s shoulder to urge him on.

By the time school ended, Da Zhuang still hadn’t finished his work, but it could be continued the next day.

When they reached the school gate, Bai An immediately spotted her parents and Lu Jin’an standing at the entrance. Her eyes flashed with surprise.

She waved at Da Zhuang and Cui Ju, then ran toward her parents.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?”

Wan Qing patted Bai An’s head, smiling as she said, “Cui Ju’s mother asked us to come here and wait for her. Maybe she wants to talk about something.”

Lu Demin didn’t say anything, quietly watching the direction where Cui Ju was standing. There were still many people gathered around her.

Bai An didn’t quite understand what they were talking about. She looked up at Lu Jin’an, who just smiled at her and gently pulled her to stand beside him, waiting for things to unfold.

Gradually, more and more people gathered at the school gate, as if the whole village had shown up. The most noticeable was the village head, who stood at the very front.

“Is everyone here?” The village head cleared his throat and then continued, “As you can all see, Cui Ju has been found.”

The villagers looked at Cui Ju, who appeared perfectly fine, and began whispering to each other, their voices growing louder and louder.

Cui Ju stood there in a daze, unsure of what was happening next. She turned to look at her mother but saw her mother’s face flushed red, unable to look her in the eye. She just silently stared at the ground.

When the village head saw that no one from Cui Ju’s family was stepping forward to speak, he turned to look at Bai An’s family, silently asking what to do.

Lu Demin and Wan Qing exchanged a glance, and from the look in each other’s eyes, they understood the message. Lu Demin turned around and nodded at the village head, signaling that they were ready for whatever would happen next.

Although they appeared strong, deep down, they still felt a bit of sympathy for Cui Ju’s family.

The village head understood their feelings, thought for a moment, and then spoke heavily.

“I’ve also looked into the matter of Cui Ju’s disappearance privately, and it has nothing to do with Bai An’s family.”

The village head spoke to the villagers seriously: “We all remember, don’t we, how we disregarded everything and barged into Bai An’s home to search for Cui Ju? Everyone knows what we did.”

The group, which had been chattering loudly just moments ago, suddenly fell silent. They exchanged glances, all feeling guilty as they looked at each other.

Before they could say anything, the village head’s voice rang out again, “Since everyone is aware of what happened, let’s not stir up unnecessary trouble. Take a look inside yourselves and see if you still have any conscience left.”

Some of the jealous farm wives, who had been gossiping about Wan Qing behind her back, nervously tugged at their sleeves, anxiously patting their husbands’ shoulders. They thought the village head might have overheard their gossip about their neighbors and felt embarrassed.

The village head spoke only a few more words before telling everyone to disperse.

Cui Ju’s family, glancing at where Bai An was standing, quickly hurried away.

Throughout the entire process, Bai An was completely confused.

“Is that it?” Bai An tugged at her father’s sleeve and asked, “We’ve gone through so much, and it’s just over like that?”

Lu Demin patted Bai An’s head and replied, “It’s over now. Everything has been said. Let’s see how they’ll continue living here.”

Lu Jin’an glanced at Lu Demin but didn’t say anything. He simply took Bai An’s hand and started walking toward home.

On the way, Bai An thought about it more and more, and something didn’t sit right with her. She secretly tugged on Lu Jin’an’s hand, making sure her parents weren’t paying attention, and asked quietly, “Do you think this was the right thing to do?”

Lu Jin’an raised an eyebrow in surprise at Bai An’s question, then asked in return, “What do you think?”

Bai An paused, deep in thought. Even though Cui Ju was her good friend, after how her family had treated hers, part of her didn’t want the matter to just be swept under the rug.

Lu Jin’an understood what she was feeling and smiled as he tapped her nose. “Why are you thinking about this at such a young age? Your parents did this for a reason. Don’t worry about it too much.”

“I know…” Bai An lowered her head, feeling a little deflated. “It just feels unfair.”

“Unfair? How?”