About to Be Sent Away
Her biological father was actually the tech big shot she admired most?!
Lin Xi sat on the bed and began laughing foolishly.
Just then, an awkward rumbling sound interrupted Lin Xi’s thoughts. Only then did she realise that she had not eaten anything for more than a day.
Because she had gone too long without food, her stomach was now churning with nausea.
Her fever seemed to have gone down, but she still felt terribly dizzy. She did not know whether it was the aftereffect of the fever or simply because she was hungry.
Enduring the dizziness, Lin Xi struggled to climb out of bed.
Her limbs were weak, and when her feet touched the floor, her legs softened. She nearly fell.
Lin Xi steadied herself, walked out of the room, and went downstairs to find something to eat.
At this hour, mealtime had clearly long passed. The villa was very quiet.
It was as though she, someone who had been “missing” in her room for a whole day and night, had been forgotten.
—
Halfway down the stairs, Lin Xi suddenly stopped.
She heard people talking downstairs.
One of them was Song Kexin.
The other voice should belong to Zhang Cui—Song Kexin’s mother, Lin Xi’s maternal grandmother.
Zhang Cui was a typical rural woman. When she was young, she had married a lazy gambler of a husband and had a miserable first half of her life. Later, with the female lead’s support, she divorced her gambler husband and moved into the house Song Kexin had arranged for her in B City.
The one speaking now was Zhang Cui.
“Why did Yize go out so late?” Zhang Cui’s voice carried a trace of nervousness.
“A group of foreign investors suddenly arrived at the company. He has to go receive them,” Song Kexin explained. “It’s nothing serious, Mum. Don’t worry.”
“As long as it’s nothing else,” Zhang Cui muttered.
Thinking of something, Zhang Cui added, “Kexin, Yize must be unhappy about what happened this time, right?” During dinner earlier, her son-in-law’s expression had been frighteningly ugly. Only when he spoke to Lin Anxin did his expression soften slightly.
Song Kexin did not speak. She seemed to sigh.
“If you ask me, you should have aborted that child back then,” Zhang Cui complained.
At that time, Song Kexin had already chosen to forgive Lin Yize. Because she did not want Lin Yize to leave a bad impression in front of her family, she chose to hide the child’s true origins. She only told Zhang Cui that the child had been accidentally conceived with another man before she started dating Lin Yize.
Zhang Cui naturally understood that as meaning the child’s biological father was some scummy ex-boyfriend of her daughter’s. Because of this, Zhang Cui had scolded Song Kexin more than once.
Hearing Zhang Cui’s words, Song Kexin’s expression darkened.
Of course she had thought about aborting the child.
But she had found out she was pregnant only after accepting Lin Yize. At that time, she was already Lin Yize’s publicly acknowledged fiancée. Unfortunately, just as she hesitated and went to the hospital intending to have an abortion, the media photographed her going to the obstetrics and gynaecology department. Soon, news spread online that “the fiancée of the Lin Group’s young chairman is pregnant and will soon marry into the Lin family with the advantage of bearing his child.”
In order to prevent the media from making negative speculations about Lin Yize and causing public opinion against him, Song Kexin could only choose to give birth to the child.
Besides, Song Kexin had harboured a little selfish thought of her own. She wanted to use this child to test just how much Lin Yize loved her. If Lin Yize truly loved her, then he should accept what had happened to her and accept this child as well.
Later, Song Kexin did indeed regret it.
Lin Xi was like a stone lodged in her heart, making her uncomfortable. Because of Lin Xi’s existence, there had always seemed to be something separating her and her husband.
“Ah…” Seeing Song Kexin’s ugly expression and the way she bit her lip without speaking, Zhang Cui sighed as well.
“What’s past is past. There’s no use talking about it now.”
“It’s just that raising that child together with Xinxin won’t do. She isn’t his biological child, so how could your mother-in-law and Yize possibly treat them equally? How could that child not compare herself to Xinxin? When she grows older, she’ll think even more about it.” Zhang Cui paused, then said with a worried expression, “This time, she pushed Xinxin into the lake. Who knows what more dangerous thing she might do next time?”
“Then what do you expect me to do?” Song Kexin frowned. “She’s still underage. It wouldn’t be suitable to put her anywhere else, and we can’t let her live alone in a separate house. That would be even stranger.”
“That’s exactly what I came here today to talk to you about. What I mean is, send her back to our hometown for a while first. It just so happens that there’s a man in our village called Zhang Qiang. Do you still remember him? He should be around forty-seven or forty-eight this year. Because his family’s conditions aren’t good, he’s never managed to marry a wife, and he doesn’t have any sons or daughters. We can let Lin Xi stay at his house.”
Song Kexin’s heart skipped a beat. Clearly, she had not expected this solution. “You mean send Lin Xi to that Zhang Qiang for him to raise?”
That did not seem right. If Lin Xi were younger, perhaps it would be possible, but now that Lin Xi was already so old and had her own awareness, sending her away to be raised by someone else definitely would not work.
“Not exactly,” Zhang Cui shook her head. “That Zhang Qiang can be considered a distant relative from your grandfather’s side. He’s somewhat related to us. After Lin Xi goes there, we can just say she’s temporarily staying with relatives. That sounds reasonable enough.”
Song Kexin was clearly tempted, but she was still somewhat hesitant. “But… isn’t that a little inappropriate?”
“What’s inappropriate about it? Sending her there will, firstly, separate the two children and protect our Xinxin. Secondly, village people are simple and honest. Staying in the village can also stop that child from developing any more wicked thoughts and growing more crooked.”
Seeing that Song Kexin’s expression had loosened, Zhang Cui continued persuading her. “If you keep raising her here, you’ll feel uncomfortable, and that child will overthink things too. Sending her to the countryside is good for you, for Yize, for our Xinxin, and for this family.”
“It’s good for her too. Without comparison, she won’t be able to feel jealous of Xinxin anymore.”
“As for this side, you can just make up any excuse. Say she went abroad, or to another province. Even if you directly say her health isn’t good and she’s been sent back to the old home to stay for a while, people won’t gossip.”
That did seem to be the case.
Song Kexin subconsciously nodded.
“Then, Mum, have you contacted Zhang Qiang? Did he agree?” Song Kexin asked.
Zhang Cui patted Song Kexin’s hand. “Don’t worry. Before coming here, I specifically asked someone to inquire. He didn’t say he was unwilling. We just need to send him some living expenses every month.”
Song Kexin nodded again. Living expenses in the countryside were not high. Paying a bit of money each month was no big deal.
“Then let’s do it this way.” After thinking for a while, Song Kexin agreed.
All these years, facing Lin Xi every day had already exhausted her mentally and physically. At first, she had not felt it much, but the further time went on, the more tired she felt. Sometimes, she even felt as though she had been unfaithful to her husband.
“I’m just worried Lin Xi won’t accept it…” Song Kexin looked troubled.
“Don’t worry. Leave this matter to me…”
…
Hearing this, Lin Xi no longer wanted to listen.
She quietly turned around and went upstairs. Returning to her room, she rummaged through her schoolbag, found a small bun that had already been squashed flat, took two bites, then returned to bed.
—
In the novel, there was indeed a scene where “Lin Xi” was sent by her maternal grandmother back to the countryside hometown.
When she was sent to the home of that man called Zhang Qiang, at first, he behaved rather simple and enthusiastic. But once Zhang Cui left, he revealed his true nature.
Zhang Qiang usually had no job and did not farm. He lived off poverty relief funds. He could barely support himself, let alone think about wanting a daughter. If he wanted a child, it should have been a son.
Zhang Qiang had agreed to Zhang Cui’s request only because he coveted the 500 yuan in living expenses she would give him every month.
“Lin Xi” stayed at Zhang Qiang’s place for a few days. Zhang Qiang would not let her go to school and made her stay in the house with him every day.
At first, Zhang Qiang only made “Lin Xi” do chores—cook for him, clean, wash his clothes, socks, and underwear. Later, Zhang Qiang began touching “Lin Xi” inappropriately and even peeking at her while she bathed.
Finally, one day, Zhang Qiang directly locked “Lin Xi” inside the house and tied her to the bed, intending to molest her.
“Lin Xi” fought back desperately, damaged the old electrical switchboard in the house, and set the entire place on fire. Only then did she finally escape.
When Zhang Qiang’s house caught fire, the whole village came running over—some to help, some to watch the spectacle.
After Lin Yize and Song Kexin learned about the incident, they worried that the matter would grow too big and reach the outside media. So they compensated Zhang Qiang with a sum of money and brought “Lin Xi” back.
Although the “Lin Xi” in the novel ultimately survived and returned to her original home, this incident gradually caused her personality to become twisted.
…
Thinking of the scene in the novel, Lin Xi felt cold all over, and waves of nausea rose in her stomach.
She could not sit still and wait for death. She had to find a way to escape.
Lin Xi’s mind began working rapidly, calculating the most feasible plan.
—
The next morning, the servants at home finally seemed to remember that there was still a Lin Xi in the house and knocked on her door to call her down for breakfast.
Lin Xi changed into her school uniform and went downstairs.
At the dining table, Lin Xi ate with a numb expression.
The others, however, did not seem to notice anything unusual about her.
Across from her, Lin Anxin secretly glanced at Lin Xi a few times and asked softly, “Older Sister, are you alright?”
Seeing that Lin Xi did not speak, Lin Anxin added, “That matter wasn’t your fault.”
After saying this, Lin Anxin even smiled sweetly at Lin Xi.
She smiled because she was happy inside. When she woke up today, she had heard her mother and grandmother talking in the room. They were planning to send Lin Xi to stay at a relative’s house for a while. Although Lin Anxin did not know the reason, it was definitely a good thing for her.
Once Lin Xi left, the matter of her falling into the lake would be considered over. Her family would not find out what conflict she had had with Yan Xueqi, or why it had happened.
…
On this side, Lin Xi sneered inwardly.
At first glance, those words sounded as though Lin Anxin was saying the incident had nothing to do with Lin Xi. But paired with Lin Anxin’s tone, no matter how one listened to it, it sounded like she was implying, openly and secretly: Lin Xi had pushed her into the lake, but she was magnanimous and did not blame Lin Xi.
Sure enough, as soon as Lin Anxin said this, the atmosphere at the dining table immediately became a few degrees heavier.
Xu Jiaofeng slammed her chopsticks heavily against her bowl and scolded, “What do you mean, you don’t blame her? Wrong is wrong. Are you even covering for her now?”
Hearing this, Lin Anxin shrank her neck and said obediently, “I was wrong…”
Xu Jiaofeng’s expression immediately softened. Then, she looked coldly at Lin Xi again.
“Since Xinxin has forgiven you for this matter, we’ll let it pass. But if there’s a next time, I won’t let you off lightly. Our Lin family has no place for someone with such a filthy mind.”
Lin Xi lowered her eyes and kept eating, saying nothing.
It was not that Lin Anxin’s acting was particularly good, nor that her lies were especially convincing. It was simply that the people in front of Lin Xi were unwilling to believe her. So no matter what she said, it would be useless.
Probably because of what was about to happen, Xu Jiaofeng’s attitude toward her now was much “kinder” than usual.
At this moment, Zhang Cui also spoke up. “Yes, yes, yes. Something like this must never happen again.”
Zhang Cui had clearly not finished speaking.
The fact that Zhang Cui was still here, sitting at this table, proved that there was more to come.
Expressionless, Lin Xi looked at Zhang Cui and waited for the other woman to begin her performance.
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