Chapter 6

After Gu Jinchuan helped Wang Wei crack the espionage case that had shocked Yang City, he remembered that he still hadn’t bought a train ticket. So, he bid farewell to Wang Wei and Lin Xiaoxiao, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed to the train station to get one.

Wang Wei saw Gu Jinchuan out, then returned to the police station and immediately began interrogating Yan Zhaodi, Lin Jiaojiao, and Lin Yaozu.

At this point, Yan Zhaodi knew that if she didn’t confess honestly, she might be executed.

In hopes of getting a lighter sentence, she admitted that she had used her position as a maternity nurse as a cover to steal newborns and sell them to human traffickers.

When Wang Wei questioned her—“You also gave birth to a daughter, so why would you steal someone else’s?”—Yan Zhaodi explained:

“My daughter was born weighing just over three jin, skinny like a little monkey.

I was afraid she wouldn’t survive, so I wandered around the hospital looking for a baby to swap.

As luck would have it, a beautiful woman in the next ward had just given birth. She wore brand-name clothes and gold earrings and rings—clearly a wealthy lady.

The key was that her daughter was chubby and fair, weighing at least seven jin. I was so jealous!

So, on the day of discharge, while she was sleeping, I quietly put my own daughter by her side and carried hers home.”

Speaking of this, Yan Zhaodi’s face twisted in regret. “If I’d known I was raising an ungrateful brat, I should have let her die in the chamber pot back then!”

“You vicious woman! You steal someone’s child and still think you’re in the right?”

Wang Wei scolded her harshly, then moved to the next room to interrogate Lin Jiaojiao and Lin Yaozu.

The Lin siblings were sixteen and fourteen—both minors—and claimed they knew nothing.

Wang Wei ruled them out as suspects and released them that afternoon after a stern lecture.

When Wang Wei stepped out after wrapping up the case, he saw Lin Xiaoxiao still sitting in the lobby.

He asked with concern, “Comrade Lin Xiaoxiao, is there something else?”

Lin Xiaoxiao said, “Chief Wang, I want to sever ties with the Lin family. Please help me draft a severance letter.”

“Alright! I’ll draft it for you and act as a witness.” Wang Wei agreed without hesitation.

He quickly wrote three copies of the document, and after Lin Xiaoxiao signed her name, he also signed as the witness.

Then he took the document into the holding cell and ordered Lin Jianmin and Yan Zhaodi to sign.

The couple, furious at Lin Xiaoxiao’s decision, refused to do so.

So Wang Wei forcibly pressed their fingerprints on the document.

He then handed it to Lin Xiaoxiao. “Comrade Lin Xiaoxiao, what’s your plan now? Will you return to the Lin household or find your biological parents?”

Lin Xiaoxiao replied, “The Street Committee’s Youth Office issued a notice: every household must send one person to the countryside. I’m the eldest, so naturally, I’ll go as an educated youth.”

The notice had arrived days ago but had been withheld by Lin Jianmin, who planned to sell her to the pockmarked scholar as a mistress.

Fortunately, she had crossed over early—otherwise, she would have died unjustly.

Wang Wei said, “Given your situation, I can report to the Youth Office so you won’t have to go until your birth parents are found.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Chief Wang, but I don’t want to contact them.” Lin Xiaoxiao said firmly, “The movement of educated youth going to the countryside is a basic national policy. As a young person of this era, I should respond to the call and go to the vast rural areas to take part in production and help build a socialist new countryside!”

Chief Wang: …

Another girl brainwashed by the neighborhood committee into eagerly going to the countryside.

In truth, her biological parents already knew how poorly she’d been treated by the Lin family, but they simply didn’t want her back.

Lin Xiaoxiao had no intention of seeking them out.

She was not the one at fault—it was the Jiang family who had failed to protect her and lost her. She would not lower herself to beg them for acknowledgment.

After bidding farewell to Chief Wang, Lin Xiaoxiao went to the Youth Office to register.

Director Li at the office sighed in relief when she finally arrived.

“Comrade Lin Xiaoxiao, do you want to go north or south?”

Without thinking, Lin Xiaoxiao replied, “South.” She hated the cold and didn’t want to freeze in the northeastern provinces.

“If you choose south, you’ll leave tomorrow. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Alright, sign here.”

After signing her name, Lin Xiaoxiao added, “My younger brother and sister are also eager to serve in the countryside. Can I register them too?”

Lin Jiaojiao and Lin Yaozu had bullied the original owner often, so she intended to send them to the countryside as well.

Director Li’s eyes lit up. “Of course. But southern slots are full—only the northeast provinces are available.”

“That’s fine! They’ve been wanting to go to Heilongjiang to toughen their willpower!”

“Alright, sign here.”

Director Li happily handed her the forms. No one wanted to go to Heilongjiang, and now she had two more names.

Lin Xiaoxiao signed their names herself and ticked Mohe County in Heilongjiang as the destination.

Then she left the registration site, took a street vehicle to the Yang City Evening News office, and spent 20 yuan to place a large notice in the center of the front page—a public announcement of severing family ties.

It would run for a week straight.

She wanted her biological parents to see it and decide whether they still wanted her as a daughter.

After leaving the newspaper office at around 5 p.m., she decided not to return to the Lin home.

She had already taken everything of value—no need to bother with a few ragged clothes.

She found a state-run restaurant and ordered stir-fried pork with green peppers (0.75 yuan), mapo tofu (0.25 yuan), and two bowls of white rice.

The food was delicious—real ingredients, homemade tofu, local pork.

After eating her fill, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy clothes, shoes, bedding, and toiletries. She also purchased candies, biscuits, chocolate, and malted milk powder.

Once outside, she stored everything in her space.

Passing a grain and oil store, she bought 200 jin of rice, astonishing the sales clerk with her strength.

She continued to buy more rice and flour from other stores until she’d spent more than half her money, then checked into a hostel for the night.

The next morning, she woke early, ate breakfast, checked out, and slung her bag over her shoulder to head to the train station.

Just as she stepped outside, a young woman stopped her. “Lin Xiaoxiao, don’t leave yet—I have something to say to you.”