Chapter 49: Just How Remarkable Is She

That unidentified package had been received by her; she would look into the sender when the opportunity arose.

That afternoon, she leisurely filled a basket with pigweed, and was just about to hand in her work when she encountered Lin Xinrou halfway up the mountain.

Lin Xinrou’s face was pale as she pulled weeds in the field.

Tsk, truly pitiful.

Lin Jingyue’s eyes flickered with interest, and she approached.

Seeing Lin Jingyue suddenly appear before her, Lin Xinrou instinctively felt a pang of guilt, but soon regained her composure.

No one knew what she had done, after all. The book had already written Lin Jingyue’s fate: a disposable woman marrying a man from the mountains, her reputation ruined even before the wedding. She had merely expedited what was meant to happen.

“Lin Xinrou, is Sun Tiezhu to your liking?” Lin Jingyue’s voice was devilish.

Lin Xinrou’s pupils contracted sharply, chaos erupting in her mind.

How… how did she know?

“Tsk, if Sun Zhiyuan found out he couldn’t satisfy you, wouldn’t he be devastated?” Lin Jingyue’s lips curled, her eyes cold. “You’d best hide well. If it comes out that the child you’re carrying isn’t Sun Zhiyuan’s, the consequences…”

“But then, it’s all from the Sun family. Does it really matter whose seed it is?”

Lin Xinrou was utterly flustered now—Lin Jingyue really knew!

“You’re spouting nonsense! I didn’t—slandering someone is a crime. Be careful, or I’ll report you!” In this era, the mere mention of reporting to the Public Security Bureau was enough to terrify people. Lin Xinrou glared at Lin Jingyue, refusing to back down.

“Go ahead, and let’s see if the comrades there will be interested in your extramarital affairs.” Lin Jingyue took a step closer, her tone playful. “My dear sister, I’ve received your generous gift. Be ready for my return present—you’d better catch it… Hehehe…”

At this moment, Lin Jingyue’s smile sent chills down Lin Xinrou’s spine.

Staring after Lin Jingyue’s departing figure, Lin Xinrou’s palms were clammy with cold sweat. The emotional upheaval left her with a sudden ache in her lower abdomen.

She quickly took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

The child must not be harmed!

“You’re really asking for it—just one day in the fields and you’re already slacking off!” Down in the field, Qian Guihua straightened up and saw Lin Xinrou standing dazed, immediately launching into a tirade.

“Mother, I’m not feeling well…”

“Bah! You’re not made of clay—how bad can it be? Get back to work, or you’ll go hungry tonight.”

Lin Xinrou bent again to pull weeds, stifling her grievances. Her eyes reddened, but no one cared.

“Do you need something?” On the way back, Lin Jingyue was stopped by a man.

He looked like Aunt Liu’s idle son.

Sun Jiabao glanced at Lin Jingyue. “Um, third brother asked me to tell you—there hasn’t been an opportunity for what you instructed, but when there is, he’ll take care of it.”

Just how formidable was this woman, that even third brother and his sibling were afraid of her?

Third brother?

Lin Jingyue recalled the two who’d been beaten in the grove—one of whom had been called ‘third.’

“Alright, I understand.” She nodded indifferently.

As long as they remembered, she didn’t care about the timing.

Sun Jiabao eyed Lin Jingyue’s retreating figure with curiosity. Was it really her? She’d taken on five men, beaten Li Tongchui and the others half to death, and extorted ten yuan from them.

He regretted missing that spectacle.

“Sun Jiabao, what are you doing?” Zhou Yan and Jiang Xun approached, displeased to see him staring after Lin Jingyue.

“Watch yourself. Lin, the educated youth, is not someone you can provoke.”

Sun Jiabao shrank back at the sight of them. “I wasn’t bullying her.”

Last year, when Jiang Xun arrived, he’d made a name for himself by taking on five men at once—Sun Jiabao had been one of them.

He still had trauma from that.

“Even third brother and his sibling aren’t her match. I’m nothing—I wouldn’t dare get near her.” Sun Jiabao grinned ingratiatingly at Jiang Xun.

“What do you mean?” Jiang Xun’s gaze turned cold.

“You don’t know, Jiang?” He brazenly tried to get closer.

He prided himself on his keen eyes; just now, Jiang Xun’s overt glances at Lin Jingyue—he’d have to be blind not to notice Jiang Xun’s interest.

“Speak.”

“Well, yesterday, the educated youth went to town…” He spilled everything as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

“They say it was her own sister who paid them to do it.” As Jiang Xun’s expression grew ever colder, Sun Jiabao shrank further in on himself.

Zhou Yan kicked a clod of dirt. “Damn, Lin Xinrou is truly vicious!”

“Jiang, what should we do?”

Jiang Xun’s lips tightened into a thin line, his eyes frosty. “Let them follow Jingyue’s instructions first.”

Sun Jiabao rubbed the goosebumps on his arms, wishing he could get far away.

In his heart, he lit a candle for the third brother and his companion.

Offending Jiang Xun was a dead end.

“And that woman? Are we just going to let her get away with it?” Zhou Yan sneered. Anyone who dared get close to the girl Jiang Xun liked was signing their own death warrant.

“I remember Sun Zhiyuan is stationed in Qing Province, isn’t he?”

“I think so.”

Sun Jiabao mustered his courage and sidled up. “Yes, Jiang.”

Jiang Xun spared him a glance, then turned to Zhou Yan. “Your brother’s there, right? I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“Jiang, are you planning to…”

“Have Sun Zhiyuan return home on leave.” Jiang Xun gave a short laugh and said no more.

But Zhou Yan and Sun Jiabao both knew whatever he planned would not be simple.

In the team, Li Tongchui and Sun Tiezhu had long since recovered from their injuries, but none dared confront Lin Jingyue again. The memory of that beating was etched in their bones.

Moreover, Jiang Xun had privately taught them another lesson, so now they behaved themselves.

When Lin Jingyue returned to the educated youth dormitory, she found Chen Chunlan grinning at her, baring her teeth in a way that looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

Chen Chunlan didn’t mind. “Lin Jingyue, we’re having fish today too.”

She swung her bucket; inside were two palm-sized crucian carp.

So they were having fish—what did that have to do with her?

Lin Jingyue was baffled.

Speaking of which, Chen Chunlan’s mind really did work in mysterious ways. Lin Jingyue remembered that when she first arrived, it seemed Chen Chunlan was interested in Jiang Xun. But before long, she fell head over heels for Sun Liangdong instead.

Who knew what wire had gotten crossed.

Jiang Xun: The flowers I prune with my own hands—who can compare?

“What are you eating today?” Even after getting the cold shoulder, Chen Chunlan persisted, coming over to ask Lin Jingyue.

“…Nothing. I’ll just drink the northwest wind.”

Chen Chunlan’s smile froze. “……”

“Seductress,” she muttered, seeing Lin Jingyue in her plain homespun clothes, still radiant. Jealousy flared uncontrollably.

“Love-struck,” Lin Jingyue mimicked her scoffing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

With her head held high, Lin Jingyue entered the house, leaving Chen Chunlan baffled. She turned to Xia Nan by the well. “What did she mean by that?”

Xia Nan shook her head. “No idea.”

Just then, Sun Liangdong entered, frowning when he saw Chen Chunlan hadn’t started cooking. “Why aren’t you making dinner? Do you want me to starve?”

Chen Chunlan immediately beamed. “I’ll get right on it. I’m making fish soup for you today.”

She hurried into the kitchen.

Xia Nan watched in silence… and suddenly understood.