Chapter 86: My Junior Sister Will Take Care of Me

Aunt Hua and Aunt Liu were the sort of enemies who could not live without needling one another, and Hua curled her lip. “Look at your son. His whole heart is turned toward outsiders. In his eyes, you’re worth nothing at all.”

She had managed to get some dried minnows, yet instead of giving them to his own mother, he gave them to someone else. Truly...

“Bah, what do you know?” Aunt Liu spat with infuriating calm. “I told him to send them over.”

“Liu Sancao, you’re not up to some crooked business, are you? Since when have you ever been this generous?” Hua Auntie immediately grew wary.

She knew Liu Sancao’s tricks before the woman had even finished pulling up her trousers; she could tell what sort of nonsense was about to come out of her mouth.

“Please. Do you think everyone’s like you? No rabbit, no hawk?” the other scoffed.

The two women muttered and bickered, and the quarrel quickly escalated.

But Lin Jingyue and the others knew nothing of it. They were already at the educated youth camp, getting dinner ready.

Fried dried fish was delicious, but it used both oil and flour, so hardly any household ever made it. Besides the dried minnows Sun Jiabao had brought, the small fish Iron Egg and the others had collected were also plentiful enough for a small basinful.

“The eels and the little shrimp can be raised for now. Tonight we’ll have fried fish and braised fish,” Jiang Xun said, glancing at Lin Jingyue.

“Mm-hmm, okay.”

Lin Jingyue nodded, and Jiang Xun then sent Zhou Yan and Sun Jiabao off to clean the fish. Their opinions, naturally, were not very important.

Fortunately, the two were used to it. They picked up the fish and went off.

Nearby, Yang Ming was also preparing to make fish soup for Wang Xueping. She had morning sickness now, though it was not severe.

Everyone was busy with fish.

Jiang Xun coated the small fish in flour and dropped them into hot oil. Soon, the fragrance began to drift out.

None of them were stingy with oil or flour; they used plenty, and with Jiang Xun’s skill, it would have tasted bad only if the heavens themselves had taken offense.

A small basin of fried dried fish, a whole braised fish, and a dish of stir-fried greens, with mixed-grain rice for the staple.

There was a little millet in it too.

Seeing that the meal was so good, Sun Jiabao felt embarrassed and declined to stay for dinner. He only took two fried fish and fled in a blur.

He ran so fast one would have thought someone was robbing him.

After he left, only Lin Jingyue and the other two remained to eat together.

There were still a little left over, but tomorrow it could be eaten with porridge, which would be delicious in its own way.

The next day, after Lin Jingyue had finished breakfast and was about to stroll over to Shusheng Uncle’s house to buy two water buckets, she had barely stepped outside when she saw the brigade leader leading a mighty procession to the educated youth camp.

Among them was Song Shiyun.

He was accompanied by two uniformed police officers, and behind them came a crowd from the brigade eager to watch the excitement.

Everyone at the educated youth camp came out at the noise.

“Lin Jingyue, you haven’t done anything wrong, have you?” Chen Chunlan looked at her strangely.

“How do you know they came for me? Maybe they’re here to arrest you,” Lin Jingyue said carelessly, glancing at her.

And you still have the nerve to worry about me?

Wang Xueping didn’t take revenge on you because she forgot? No, it’s because now is not the right time. Just wait until she has the chance, then she’ll deal with you, fool.

That meaningful look made Chen Chunlan’s heart lurch.

She had a sudden instinct that Lin Jingyue might know something.

Feeling guilty, Chen Chunlan subconsciously glanced at Wang Xueping, only to meet Wang Xueping’s clear, cold gaze. Her heart gave a violent jolt.

“Comrade Lin, the police are here to see you,” the brigade leader and the party secretary said, their gazes toward Lin Jingyue rather complicated.

She had actually done a good deed?

And even caught a heinous human trafficker. It was simply... astonishing.

“Comrade Lin, thank you for your bravery and for using both wit and courage against the criminals...” As soon as Song Shiyun opened his mouth, out came a long stream of praise.

Even Lin Jingyue, thick-skinned as she was, could not help the twitch at the corner of her mouth.

“You give so much of yourself and ask for nothing in return, but we can’t let you down. The police station has decided to reward you...”

Listening to that righteous, high-minded speech, Lin Jingyue could not shake the feeling that it was somehow aimed at her.

She rolled her eyes inwardly, then puffed out her chest with the air of absolute justice. “Comrade Song, you’re too kind. Catching criminals is everyone’s responsibility. As the saying goes, if I don’t enter the tiger’s den, who will? For the safety of the girls and children, I have no choice but to step forward.”

So naturally, I deserve the reward.

Song Shiyun’s mouth twitched hard, and with an expression that said there was much he wished he could say, he handed the envelope to Lin Jingyue.

If he hadn’t known that she had dug up that box and carried it off, he might actually have believed this shameless speech.

But there was no denying it: the person really had been caught by her.

Lin Jingyue accepted the envelope with a beaming smile. “How embarrassing. If I weren’t here alone in the countryside with no guarantee of a decent life, I absolutely would never take so much as a needle or a thread from the state!”

Before she had even finished speaking, the envelope was already tucked into her chest.

Song Shiyun...

The others...

Only then did the brigade members realize that Lin Jingyue had gone into the city and actually caught a vicious human trafficker, and that the police had come in person to deliver the reward.

The way everyone looked at Lin Jingyue changed completely.

“Jiang Xun!” Song Shiyun, who had been speaking with the brigade leader, suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked toward Jiang Xun, who was coming through the crowd carrying a bundle of firewood, yet still as elegant and graceful as orchids and jade trees.

A clear look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He knew Jiang Xun had been sent down to the countryside for unavoidable reasons, and he knew it was in the North Province, but he had not expected it to be here, nor so coincidentally.

“Song Shiyun.” Jiang Xun nodded.

Beside him, Zhou Yan was also carrying a bundle of firewood. He looked at Song Shiyun with guarded eyes. “Song Shiyun, what are you doing here?”

This sudden exchange left everyone quiet.

The brigade leader and the party secretary exchanged astonished looks. They actually knew each other?

“Brigade leader, we still have a few things to say. Please take my two colleagues around for a bit,” Song Shiyun said, withdrawing his gaze and looking at the brigade leader.

How could the brigade leader refuse? He hurriedly nodded. “Then you talk. Come have dinner at my place later; I’ve already had the family prepare the food...”

“No need for dinner. We’ll eat at the educated youth camp,” Song Shiyun said with a smile, glancing at Lin Jingyue. “My junior sister is here. She’ll host me.”

Junior sister?!

Everyone’s gaze toward Lin Jingyue shifted again. She had a connection with this police officer too?

A trace of something different appeared in Jiang Xun’s eyes as well. What in the world was Song Shiyun up to?

“I’m poor. I don’t have anything to entertain you with,” Lin Jingyue said, immediately rolling her eyes.

Trying to freeload off her? Dream on.

The brigade leader looked at the stiff-faced Song Shiyun and suddenly felt a kindred sense of shared misery. He could not help but smile and quickly led the other two police officers away.

The rest were also chased off by the party secretary.

“Come inside and talk,” Jiang Xun said, glancing at Song Shiyun and pointing to Zhou Yan’s room.

The two rooms were a little larger.

After the door was closed, Jiang Xun gave Song Shiyun a sidelong look. “Was that trafficker let go by you?”

Song Shiyun: “...”

What kind of talk was that? Was he sick in the head?

“Your work ability is really poor. You not only let the criminal escape, you almost got someone hurt.”

A naked, unvarnished mockery.

Song Shiyun’s mouth twitched nonstop. This was the first time he had personally experienced the notorious bad temper of the young tyrant from the Jiang family.

He coughed. “What’s going on between you two?” he asked, stiffly changing the subject.