A lonely, unlucky military officer with a stubborn fate insisted on marrying me.

Too many coincidences will eventually leave clues. He had already guessed seven or eight parts of the story; the biggest beneficiary behind this was Lin Yinyin, and the girl was probably pretending to be naive.

But regardless of the truth, the most important thing now is to reassure the public and prevent the scandal from spreading.

We absolutely cannot let this affect their Chaoyang Brigade's selection process!

So he made a quick decision: "Wang Fen, your family forced a marriage. One of the laborers will be punished by digging stones for three months, and the rest will undergo ideological education for one month."

Wang Fen's face fell, and she wanted to say something, but the captain's cold gaze forced her to shut up.

Wang Fen was still afraid of the brigade leader. Last time, the crazy girl from the next village was killed by his son, and the brigade leader was able to suppress the matter, which showed his ability.

After "sentencing" Wang Fen, the brigade leader said to Lin Xiulan, "Lin Xiulan, you abused your stepdaughter and committed fraud by demanding a dowry. You are hereby fined 50 yuan and ordered to return the dowry. You will also have to make a public apology at the village meeting."

"What?!" Lin Xiulan was extremely unwilling.

"Why am I being punished by having to write a self-criticism! It's the Wang family who wanted to buy a marriage, and Wang Dashan even... I'm the victim!"

"Victim?" The captain sneered. "If you don't accept my verdict, get out of my Lin Family Village."

"What?" Upon hearing this, Lin Xiulan immediately collapsed to the ground.

It's over! It's all over!

She knew the captain's character very well; he was a man of his word, and once he uttered the word "get out," there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

The captain's words were not a threat, but rather his true thoughts.

The captain is disgusted with her because he thinks she slept with the idiot, so he's going to abandon her.

No, she can't be kicked out of Linjia Village. It's just money; she can pay for it.

"Captain, I was wrong! I accept the punishment!"

"Um."

Then, the captain's gaze fell on Lin Yinyin again.

Lin Yinyin met the captain's gaze but remained silent.

She knew that the captain must have guessed something.

But so what?

She never intended to stay in Linjia Village forever.

The captain's biased "punishment" was just too blatant.

A human life, only to receive a simple moral lesson? Ha! She won't accept that.

The captain's gaze remained fixed on Lin Yinyin. He could see that Lin Yinyin's eyes no longer held the previous timidity and cowardice, but were instead filled with courage.

"Lin Yinyin, do you want to come back to the village together?" he asked.

"No, Captain, I'll go to the cowshed myself later."

"Okay." The captain didn't say anything more.

In his view, Lin Yinyin was merely someone who had been bullied too much and resorted to tricks to escape her fate of being sold. Now she dared to resist, but she wasn't audacious enough to be so brazen!

He didn't connect the village fire or the theft at the Lin family's house to her at all. He had many other things to deal with, so after giving his instructions, the brigade leader hurriedly left with his men.

After the crowd dispersed, Wang Erhua approached Lin Yinyin, patted her shoulder, and laughed, "Yinyin, well done! You've finally punished these people."

"Yes, Lin Yinyin got some revenge."

"What?"

Wang Erhua didn't hear it clearly, but she found it strange—who calls themselves by their own name?

"It's nothing, Aunt Erhua, I'm going back now. What about you?"

"I'll go back too, and go with you!"

"Wait a minute, I need to go back to my parents' house to say hello. Otherwise, they'll start wondering what's going on if I don't come back for a while." Wang Erhua said, pulling Lin Yinyin toward her parents' house not far away.

When she reached the courtyard gate, Lin Yinyin stopped in her tracks.

"Aunt Erhua, I won't go in. I'll just wait for you outside."

She knew her reputation as a "jinx" and that going to jail would cause trouble for Aunt Erhua.

Looking at her thin yet sensible appearance, Wang Erhua felt a pang of heartache. She opened her mouth to say a few words of comfort, but Lin Yinyin interrupted her with a smile: "I'm doing just fine outside."

Outside the courtyard stood an old locust tree, its branches and leaves lush and verdant. Lin Yinyin nimbly climbed up, sat on a thick branch, and gently swung her legs.

She looked up at the clouds in the sky, which were drifting slowly, and she felt very happy.

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of that man again.

Lin Yinyin rolled her eyes. "Are you bored?"

Li Jinye wasn't angry; he simply said, "The commotion was too loud, so I came out to check it out."

"Oh, then you can get lost!"

Li Jinye: "..." What an amazing little fox.

She was both cunning and fierce, showing no mercy when it came to harming others. However, one shouldn't advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering firsthand; he wouldn't interfere with her sharp edges, as long as no one was killed.

Not long after, Wang Erhua returned.

"Yinyin!"

Lin Yinyin turned around and saw that the man had disappeared again.

They really do appear and disappear like ghosts!

"Yinyin! Look what good stuff I brought you!" Wang Erhua held a handkerchief in her hand and waved it at her.

As soon as Lin Yinyin jumped down from the tree, a handkerchief was stuffed into her hand.

Upon opening it, two plump, white buns were revealed, and a meaty aroma wafted straight to my nose.

"This was brought back by my sister-in-law from her parents' home, but I kept it. Smell it! It's filled with pork cracklings and radish—it smells amazing!"

Wang Erhua held the steamed bun closer to Lin Yinyin's mouth, "Eat it."

"Auntie, you eat." Lin Yinyin knew that everyone was poor in this era, and meat was a rare commodity. Ordinary families might not be able to afford it even once a month.

Aunt Erhua has a son and a daughter to raise, so she probably couldn't even bear to eat herself.

"This is for you, eat it quickly, it won't taste good when it gets cold."

"Auntie, you should save it for Dani and the others."

However, no sooner had she finished speaking than a steamed bun appeared in her mouth.

The soft skin, mixed with the aroma of fried pork fat and the crispness of radish, instantly melts on the tongue.

She looked up and saw Wang Erhua secretly swallowing her saliva, and her heart warmed instantly.

When she came into this world, Wang Erhua was the first person who was genuinely kind to her.

Lin Yinyin grabbed another steamed bun and quickly stuffed it into Wang Erhua's mouth.

"Oh dear, Yinyin, what's wrong with you...?"

"Let's eat together." Lin Yinyin looked at her, a pair of dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth.

"Okay, let's eat together."

Wang Erhua laughed too, and the two of them took turns eating, quickly finishing the two buns.

Walking home, with lush green fields on both sides and the fresh scent of crops in the wind, even my mood lightened considerably.

"Yinyin, why don't you stay at my place tonight?" Wang Erhua suggested.

Lin Yinyin suddenly remembered that Lin Dani had been speechless before, which also seemed like she wanted to invite her, but considering Wang Erhua's husband, Lin Yinyin declined Wang Erhua's offer.

"No, Aunt Erhua, I'll go to the cowshed."

"That won't do!" Wang Erhua immediately objected.

"Let me tell you, there are a few sick people living there. What if you get infected?"

"Then I won't go to the cowshed, I'll go to the mountain."

"The mountain is even worse!" Wang Erhua exclaimed anxiously, "There are wild animals at night, it's too dangerous!"

"I know there's a hidden cave in the mountains. I used to live there when I had nowhere else to go."

"I still have some food and clothes that I secretly hid in the cave, so it's perfectly safe," Lin Yinyin explained sincerely.

"Really?" Wang Erhua asked, still somewhat skeptical.

"real."

"Okay." Wang Erhua breathed a sigh of relief, but then seemed to remember something. "Yinyin, come home with me first. I have something to give you."

"I don't want to," Lin Yinyin refused.

"Absolutely!" Wang Erhua insisted.

"This is very important to you; you'll understand when you get home."

On the way, Lin Yinyin pondered that since Aunt Erhua had been so kind to her, she should prepare a decent gift to express her gratitude.

Soon the two arrived at Wang Erhua's house.

In the afternoon, when everyone was at work, Lin Dani went to cut pig feed, and her younger brother Lin Chunlin went to pull weeds. The yard was quiet.

Wang Erhua pulled Lin Yinyin directly into the main room.

A moment later, she dug a cloth bag out from the corner of the wall.

She shoved this into Lin Yinyin's hand and said solemnly, "Child, you take this."

Lin Yinyin hesitated before opening it, and inside was a small wooden box, about the size of a palm.

Inside the box lay half a gourd-shaped jade pendant.

The jade pendant is translucent and emerald green, and you can even see the water patterns inside; it's clearly not an ordinary item.