There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

Thursday arrived in the blink of an eye.

Lu Fang still hasn't been able to go to Pet Love Pet Hospital. He's been quite busy these past few days and hasn't had time to cash out the gold bars.

There's no need to go too early; that place is hard to transfer, so you can wait for the other party to lower the price.

He planned to go back with Qin Zhuyan first, and then go to Pet Love Pet Hospital to find out more information.

"Let's go." Lu Fang and Qin Zhuyan hadn't talked much these past few days. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Qin Zhuyan's gaze towards him was a little strange.

But I'm really not a pervert!

The only thing that makes him feel a little better now is thinking about the little yellow fish in his pocket.

The bus bumped along the uneven country roads for more than three hours before finally arriving at Qin Zhuyan's hometown in the afternoon.

Baoying Village.

A somewhat isolated and underdeveloped village nestled at the foot of mountains.

On a quiet summer afternoon, the village was punctuated only by a few lazy barks from dogs and wisps of smoke still rising from earthen stoves.

As they passed the big banyan tree at the village entrance, several elderly people who were staying behind and fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans looked at the two young people whose clothes and appearance were out of place in the village with their cloudy eyes, and whispered among themselves.

Qin Zhuyan ignored those gazes and led Lu Fang through several narrow dirt alleys with practiced ease, stopping in front of an old red brick house.

"This is it. I wonder if Qin Zhiqiang and the others have returned yet."

She stood at the doorway, somewhat worried, peering inside, afraid that Qin Zhiqiang would discover their arrival.

"I don't think they're here. They rarely go to Yanling City, why would they want to come back so early?" Lu Fang made up an excuse. The two of them had already been tried and imprisoned, and they wouldn't be out anytime soon.

"How can you be so sure?" Qin Zhuyan looked at him with some suspicion.

"I studied divination years ago, didn't I tell you?" Lu Fang examined the brass lock on the iron gate of the courtyard and looked around.

Most of the houses in the village are connected together, and the wall of the Qin family's courtyard is not very high, probably only a little over two meters.

"We probably can't get in through the main gate." Lu Fang walked to the courtyard wall, patted the dust off the top of the wall, then slightly bent his knees, placed his hands on his thighs, and said, "Step on my shoulders, let's climb over."

Qin Zhuyan was taken aback for a moment, but looking into the other person's eyes, she didn't hesitate.

She stepped on Lu Fang's shoulders, using the upward lifting force of his arms to easily climb onto the top of the wall, and then carefully jumped into the weed-covered yard.

Lu Fang followed closely behind, grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands, and easily flipped over with a neat pull-up.

The courtyard was dilapidated, littered with beer bottles and trash, clearly indicating that the father and son never cleaned it up. Qin Zhuyan walked straight to the main room, pushed open the half-closed wooden door, and entered the master bedroom at the far end.

The room reeked of mold and decay, and there were obvious signs of ransacking. The wardrobe door was half-open, and several old clothes were scattered on the floor.

"There it is."

Lu Fang, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted a small household safe that had been dragged out from under the bed and thrown into the corner.

The safe lay to one side, covered in pry marks. Lu Fang chuckled coldly, "Judging by the age of these marks, it must have been Qin Zhiqiang. That old bastard, he wouldn't even spare your mother's belongings just to find money. Luckily, this safe was sturdy enough that he didn't manage to pry it open."

Qin Zhuyan took a deep breath, squatted down in front of the safe, looked at the badly worn numeric keypad, hesitated for a moment, and then entered her birthday.

"Drip—drip—drip—"

The screen flashed a red light twice, indicating that the password was incorrect.

She bit her lip and tried Qin Sheng's birthday again, but to her surprise, the password was still wrong.

I tried several numbers in a row, but the safe didn't respond at all.

This is the last chance. If I enter it wrong again, the safe will be locked forever.

Qin Zhuyan's hand hovered in mid-air, trembling slightly.

What else could it be? In this cold, patriarchal home, what days could a mother possibly remember?

Lu Fang didn't dare to breathe loudly. He stood behind Qin Zhuyan with gentle eyes.

Suddenly, a distant and chilling day flashed through her mind.

It was late autumn seven years ago. To raise money, Qin Zhiqiang sold Qin Zhuyan's pet dog, Ah Huang. That same day, she boarded a green train leaving the town and left her home forever.

With red eyes and trembling hands, she pressed the date.

"Click".

A crisp, mechanical sound rang out in the silent room. Immediately afterwards, a green light illuminated, and the heavy iron door of the safe slowly opened a crack.

Qin Zhuyan's tears welled up instantly.

Inside the safe was a slightly faded red velvet jewelry box, where Qin Zhiqiang kept thinking about the little gold bracelet he longed for.

This gold bracelet was Wang Xiulan's only dowry when she got married. Qin Zhiqiang forced her to sell it countless times, but she stubbornly protected it and refused to hand it over.

They said they would leave this to Qin Zhuyan as her dowry.

There was a letter pressed under the jewelry box.

The handwriting on the envelope was crooked but forceful, reading: "To my dear daughter."

Qin Zhuyan opened the letter, and after reading just one line, tears streamed down her face, falling onto the yellowed paper and blurring the words.

"My dear, Mom knows that my health is failing."

This bracelet is the only thing I can leave you.

The night you left, Mom didn't actually sleep.

Mom watched you climb over the wall and leave. Mom didn't dare make a sound because she was afraid that if your father woke up, you wouldn't be able to leave.

All these years, your dad has been scolding you every day, but your mom is happy.

My little girl has finally flown away and will never have to suffer again.

The year before last, your father went to town to play cards, and I secretly hid some of the money from selling the pigs at home and went to Yanling City.

I didn't dare to recognize you. I was standing right across the street from yours. I saw you in that brightly lit shop, dressed in clean clothes, bathing the kittens and puppies.

You smiled, my dear. I haven't seen you smile so beautifully in so many years.

Don't resent Mom for not coming to find you. Mom knows she's useless and will only be a burden to you.

Take good care of yourself, and please don't come back.

This place is a quagmire; once you leave, never look back.

"My dear, you must keep moving forward."

The letter slipped from Qin Zhuyan's hand.

She could no longer hold back, covered her face with her hands, and cried her heart out in the dimly lit, dilapidated room.

For years, she had believed herself to be a completely abandoned orphan, and that her cowardly mother, like her father, only cared about her younger brother.

Only at this moment did she understand how Wang Xiulan, with her unwavering love, had given her a push in the quagmire of utter despair, granting her freedom.