Chapter 118: I Came Back Mainly to Have Lunch with You

At most, all she could do was talk—who would have any evidence, anyway?
“Don’t worry about the Wu family; I’ll make sure they all pay the price!” Song Qinglan cautioned her, not wanting her dragged into the mess.
That was also another reason for her panic.
“Jingyue, listen to me. You’re still young, with your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let yourself sink into this mire.” Her words were earnest and heavy with meaning.
Lin Jingyue felt a pang of sorrow. “But what about you?”
“Me?” Song Qinglan’s eyes grew vague and distant. “I’ve long since…”
She didn’t finish, but Lin Jingyue could guess the rest.
The matter with the Xu family—it was indeed her doing.
“But have you ever thought, if something happened to you one day, what would become of cousin Yizhou…”
Most mothers in this world cherish their children; Song Qinglan was no exception. At the mention of Han Yizhou, she hesitated, her smile twisting with pain.
She was silent for a long time before finally speaking, her voice hoarse and thick with suppressed emotion. “Yizhou… he’s not actually listed under our household registration…”
What?
“On the official records, he and Xingye are brothers,” Song Qinglan explained, looking at Lin Jingyue. “If the truth ever comes to light, Yizhou… would be the son of the main Han family branch, with no connection to me at all.”
Her voice drifted, but Lin Jingyue stood frozen in shock. “You…”
She’d thought so far ahead!
“I never really dared to have children…” Song Qinglan murmured, letting her words trail away.
Her eyes reddened. “Jingyue, Yizhou doesn’t know about hatred. I don’t want you to bear it either. But you’re too clever—promise me, don’t get involved. Just be a bystander. I know what I’m doing.”
“That woman harmed not only your mother, but your grandmother as well. I even suspect your grandmother’s death was connected to her. She’s cautious in all she does—if we report her, we’d have no evidence, and the law would do nothing. I can only take matters into my own hands.” She refused to believe that even if she gave everything, she still couldn’t make that woman pay.
The atmosphere in the study was stifling, and Lin Jingyue felt heavy-hearted.
She didn’t ask whether it was Song Qinglan who had acted against the Xu family; there was no point in asking now.
“All right, let’s not talk about this anymore. Oh, there’s something I should tell you. I originally asked your uncle to find you a job and bring you back to the city, but after thinking it through, the countryside is safer. Jiang Xun is there, and that person wouldn’t dare to make a move against the Jiang family.”
She looked apologetically at Lin Jingyue. “You can’t imagine how ruthless that woman is. Be on your guard. Life in the countryside is hard, but there’s freedom. You’re not the type to sit idly by, just like your mother.”
Lin Jingyue… There was no need to say more.
“I understand. But whatever you do, think carefully. You still have cousin Yizhou, and uncle as well.” Lin Jingyue sighed inwardly.
Too many burdens on one person can make life unbearably hard.

“I know what I’m doing. As long as you’re all safe, that’s enough for me.” She herself didn’t matter.
Lin Jingyue wanted to say something more when suddenly there were two knocks on the study door, and a refined-looking middle-aged man pushed it open.
Seeing Lin Jingyue, he paused for a moment. “Is that Jingyue?”
“Yes, it’s Jingyue.” Song Qinglan’s eyes brightened involuntarily at the sight of him, and she stood up with a gentle smile. “Jingyue, this is your uncle.”
“Hello, uncle,” Lin Jingyue greeted obediently.
Han Jianmin nodded. “No need to be so formal. Treat this as your own home from now on.”
“I’ll leave you to talk. I just came back to pick up a file.”
“Jingyue, come on! Let’s go out and have some fun,” Han Yizhou appeared at the study door, beckoning to Lin Jingyue.
Song Qinglan shook her head with a smile. “Go on, but don’t stay out too late.”
Lin Jingyue complied, bid farewell to the two of them, and left the study.
“How did she end up coming back?” The door closed, and Han Jianmin’s brows furrowed. “Aren’t you worried…”
“It was sudden,” Song Qinglan sighed. “She knows everything now.”
“All of it?!”
“Yes, I think… even about the fire. She’s really smart—at least ten times smarter than her mother ever was.”
Han Jianmin fell silent, a shadow flickering in his eyes before worry took over. “Will she report you?”
“She won’t.” This much confidence Song Qinglan had. “Jingyue is a clever child. She wouldn’t. She knows what must never be spoken of to a third person.”
“I understand.” Han Jianmin looked at his wife with pain in his eyes. “You’ve carried so much all these years…”
“Perhaps this is my fate.” Song Qinglan didn’t seem to mind. If she didn’t avenge her mother and sister, she would be unworthy as a person.
“Enough about that. Weren’t you looking for a file? Which one? I’ll help you find it.”
Han Jianmin shook his head. “No, I just worried those two rascals would run off. I wanted to be here when you ate dinner.”
“…It’s not as if I can’t eat alone.” Song Qinglan rolled her eyes at him.
Yet her eyes were full of laughter.
…
“Jingyue, tell me the truth—did you really beat up Lin Jian’an?” Han Yizhou looked at Lin Jingyue, full of curiosity.
“You talk too much,” Han Xingye shot him a glare.

The three of them left the compound and walked along the roadside; the brothers said they’d take her to see a movie.
Lin Jingyue smiled sweetly and innocently. “Of course not. He’s my father—how could I beat him up?”
At most, I’d slap him or kick him to death.
“Really?”
“Mm, really. I’m such a frail girl, how could I fight anyone? He was beaten by someone else. I just stood by and did nothing.” Lying with a straight face was something Lin Jingyue had mastered.
Han Yizhou believed her completely.
He didn’t see the twitch at Han Xingye’s lips or the look of exasperated stupidity in his eyes.
“By the way, either call me ‘sister’ or just Jingyue. ‘Little sister Jingyue’ sounds a bit… awkward,” Lin Jingyue looked at the two of them, at a loss for words.
She’d put up with it all morning.
“What’s wrong with it? I think it sounds nice,” Han Yizhou scratched his head.
“Forget it. If you don’t like it, I won’t call you that. My mother always said sisters are meant to be spoiled. Then I’ll just call you ‘sister’—you are my sister, after all.”
“Are you reciting tongue twisters?” Han Xingye muttered.
“You’re the one reciting tongue twisters!”
The two started bickering, leaving Lin Jingyue both amused and helpless.
These two brothers were just a year apart and had grown up together. Han Xingye had lost his mother at birth to a hemorrhage, and it was Song Qinglan who raised him.
He was twenty-one this year, Han Yizhou was twenty, both attending the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers University, and would graduate next year.
“Sister, I’m going to buy some snacks. Wait here and don’t wander off,” Han Yizhou instructed her outside the cinema before leaving.
Han Xingye had gone to buy the tickets earlier.
“Lin Jingyue? I thought you went to the countryside?” Lin Jingyue had barely withdrawn her gaze when someone called her name.
She turned around, raising her eyebrows. “Long time no see.”
[Author’s note]: Han Jianmin is the only warmth in Aunt’s life. No, he is her salvation.