Chapter 87: Spend More Time Talking with Him

Jiang Xun snorted. “Lin Jingyue, my girlfriend. A girlfriend for the purpose of marriage!”

Girlfriend?

Song Shiyun was genuinely a little surprised.

He glanced at Lin Jingyue, a trace of astonishment rising in his heart. “Does Teacher know about this?”

“Teacher?” Jiang Xun frowned in confusion.

After learning that they knew each other, Lin Jingyue had already begun to suspect Song Shiyun’s identity. “The old man at the scrap collection station. Old Huo. He’s my master now.”

Jiang Xun’s brows lifted. Old Huo had actually agreed to take in a disciple?

Still, the old man had good judgment. His Jingyue was no ordinary girl.

Zhou Yan’s reaction was much bigger. “Didn’t Old Huo say he would never take another disciple in this lifetime?!”

“That was before he met me,” Lin Jingyue said, her cheek thicker than a city wall.

“...”

Song Shiyun’s joke about staying for dinner was only that, a joke. He merely wanted to speak privately with Jiang Xun and Lin Jingyue.

Lin Jingyue was the teacher’s disciple, and now the teacher was in such dire straits. Naturally, he had to find out what was going on.

The Jiang family was no simple family; in the capital, they stood among the very top, and many people had their eyes on them.

Lin Jingyue and Jiang Xun were a couple. Tsk.

Somehow, this news felt as if it would stir up a storm in certain circles.

After a while, Song Shiyun and the others left. Lin Jingyue returned to her room, with Jiang Xun following her in.

“So he’s from the Song family, right?” Lin Jingyue already understood what was going on.

Song Shiyun knew Jiang Xun and the others, but their relationship seemed to be only ordinary.

Zhou Yan remained wary of Song Shiyun, which proved that the Song family and the Jiang family, at least on the surface, should have had little to do with each other.

And Jiang Xun said he knew of the Song family, but was not familiar with them.

“Mm. Song Shiyun is Old Master Song’s eldest grandson. His father was born to Old Master Song’s first wife, that is, the biological mother of Xu Caixia. In the Song family... he’s actually rather awkwardly placed,” Jiang Xun said. He had not expected Song Shiyun to be here.

And to know Lin Jingyue as well. Since there were things he had not mentioned before, he now planned to tell her everything in full.

Before, there had been no one to explain it clearly. Now that he had seen the person, some things were easier to talk about.

Song Shiyun was the Song family’s eldest grandson. He had joined the army on his own and had already carved out a place for himself; his future was bright.

But the ones Old Master Song had always favored were the two sons born to his second wife.

Besides Song Shiyun, he had two other grandsons, both of whom were no less capable.

With the family’s resources tilted in their favor, they were also thriving.

Unlike them, Song Shiyun had relied entirely on himself. His father was not favored by Old Master Song.

Though they had not been split apart as a family, his father was only the director of a steel plant, while the other two sons of the Song family were all working in government units.

Who could say they would not rise further in the future?

Still, Song Shiyun was fortunate to have a mother of good background and a powerful maternal family, so Old Master Song did not dare to act too recklessly in broad daylight.

Lin Jingyue thought for a moment. “What is the relationship between Xu Caixia and Song Shiyun’s father?”

“As bitter as fire and water!”

“Hm?” Lin Jingyue was startled. “Shouldn’t they be supporting each other?”

Biological siblings were surely better than those half-blood relations with the same father but different mothers, weren’t they?

“Xu Caixia, or rather the woman who changed her name to Song Qinglan, has a very good relationship with her stepmother.”

Lin Jingyue’s brows knit tightly.

“But I think something is off.” Jiang Xun naturally took Lin Jingyue’s hand.

Lin Jingyue...

“This is also why I didn’t tell you at first. I think Song Qinglan may be acting.”

“Hm? You mean she’s doing it on purpose?” Lin Jingyue’s attention was instantly diverted. “She deliberately flatters her stepmother and keeps her distance from her own brother?”

“Very likely. Because I accidentally discovered that she seems to hate Old Master Song very much.” Jiang Xun felt that if she could even hate her own biological father, how could she possibly have a sincere bond with her stepmother?

When she was brought back, the Song family had already left her with no room to speak. If she wanted to do anything, flattering the stepmother and her father was inevitable.

The two looked at each other, and Jiang Xun went on, “I’ll have someone find out the truth and give you a definite answer.”

“All right, I’m not in a hurry.” Lin Jingyue felt that the tangled mess in her mind was almost being sorted out.

“And there’s one more thing. If Song Shiyun returns to the capital, the fact that he met you here may well reach Song Qinglan. What do you want to do? Let it take its course, or should I go and speak to Song Shiyun?”

Lin Jingyue thought it over. “No need. Let it take its course.”

Besides, she felt Song Shiyun probably would not say anything.

Jiang Xun also thought of his connection with Old Huo, and gave a soft laugh. “Old Huo is at the scrap station. How did you end up catching his attention?”

Seeing the teasing in his eyes, Lin Jingyue slapped him once. “What are you saying? It was that old man who insisted on talking to me.”

At first, she had not even wanted to.

“Did he pay for the conversation?”

“How did you know?” Lin Jingyue answered reflexively.

Jiang Xun: “...”

He really did?

“Old Huo has more treasures than could ever be counted. From now on, you should chat with him often. You won’t lose out.”

Lin Jingyue’s eyes lit up. “Of course. I’m very filial, after all. My master is so lonely; I’ll keep him company properly.”

Meanwhile, Old Huo in the county town suddenly sneezed several times. Who was thinking about him?

The reward Song Shiyun sent over was two hundred yuan.

That was no small sum. The man was a trafficker guilty of every kind of evil, with many crimes under his belt, and all of them serious cases.

If he had escaped this time, who knew how many more people would have suffered?

The officers at the police station were deeply grateful to Lin Jingyue.

When Zhou Mingxue’s father went home and told the story, he sighed and praised her as a heroine no less valiant than any man.

Zhou Mingxue’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “She really ran into a trafficker?! Is she all right?”

“The trafficker is the one who isn’t all right,” Father Zhou said, his expression hard to describe.

The trafficker had three ribs broken.

“...”

That boy Jiang Xun really had sharp eyes. He picked a formidable girl at a glance.

Only heaven knew what kind of reaction the Jiang family would have once they heard.

“Does the Jiang family know they’re together?” Mother Zhou paused, then asked. “Should we say something?”

“Whether they know or not has nothing to do with us. No need to stick our noses in,” Father Zhou said.

Jiang Xun was not a child; he knew what he was doing.

And whatever reaction the Jiang family had had nothing to do with them anyway. It was not as if his family were the ones looking for a daughter-in-law.

“All right then.”

While the Zhou family was speaking, they had no idea that the Jiang family in the capital already knew.

But what Mother Jiang kept picturing in her mind was a delicate, soft little girl.

After all, she was only eighteen, with skin so fair and tender. If not a soft, sweet girl, then what?

One autumn rain brings one chill.

After two rounds of rain, the weather turned cold, and the people working on the reservoir came home every day as exhausted as dead dogs.

After Lin Xinjian learned that Lin Jingyue had been bargaining with the trafficker who had a gun and even managed to catch him, he became completely docile.

What he thought in private, no one knew, but he no longer dared look at Lin Jingyue with eyes full of hatred.

She wasn’t even afraid of traffickers—who could possibly restrain her?

Du Jianguo also grew afraid. He had firsthand experience; last time, Lin Jingyue had truly wanted to beat him to death.

With the kang stove burning, Lin Jingyue sat in her room reading and writing when she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

She drew back the curtain and looked out.

“A leg’s broken, hurry and hitch up the cart! Chen Chunlan, get the money now...”

Vaguely, she heard anxious voices. Then she saw Chen Chunlan rush into the house and soon come running back out again.

PS: Jiang Xun: The old man has lots of good stuff. Dig it all out for him.

Lin Jingyue: Don’t worry, I won’t stop until I talk him into bankruptcy!

Old Huo: You two, get lost!