Snow filled the sky.
Lin Wanyi's heart was drumming in her chest.
She didn't know how things would turn out in the end, but at least she had tried her best.
She had heard of families of other girls coming here in the past, but it always ended up with nothing being resolved.
She had only heard about it, never seen it with her own eyes.
In this village, the neighboring ones, and even all the surrounding villages, any bought woman was never allowed to step outside.
But everyone in the village knew exactly what was going on.
Lin Wanyi had rarely interacted with the villagers before; she had no idea this place was so dark.
Until she found out about Liu Siyue. On New Year's Eve, Lin Wanyi didn't know why, but she suddenly had the urge to go see her.
The thought just popped into her head out of nowhere.
Thank goodness she went, and thank goodness she took that picture.
Even now, she didn't regret it for a second!
A young college student—her life had just begun, and she had her whole future ahead of her.
Liu Renzhi was also waiting, waiting for his parents to bring people over.
Lin Jiajun was losing his patience, angrily chain-smoking cigarettes:
"Sis, what if this snow doesn't stop? How much medicine do you have left at home?"
Lin Wanyi touched Liu Siyue's forehead:
"Her fever has gone down a bit, and I have about two or three days' worth of medicine left.
"You..."
It was only then that she realized she didn't even know Liu Renzhi's name. She said:
"Mr. Liu, can the doctor your parents are bringing get here soon? Your sister can't just rely on anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing pills."
Liu Renzhi nodded and called Liu Jiannan again.
The wind was howling on the other end, and he heard Liu Jiannan shouting:
"We're on our way, we're on our way!
"Son, you have to make sure Siyue holds on."
Wang Hao was also rushing back to Wang Family Village.
He was worried.
Lin Wanyi was pregnant, and his biggest concern was the child.
He had to stay by her side; he couldn't give Lin Wanyi the slightest chance to harm the baby.
He trudged along step by step, terrified in hindsight, wondering how she had managed to walk all the way back to the village last night.
He wondered if his child was still safe and sound.
The child was his hope, the last hope for his marriage and his life.
In Wang Family Village, buried under heavy snow, every household had their doors shut. Everyone was holding their phones, thinking about the two thousand yuan they had gotten for nothing.
Those who hadn't gone were dying of regret, while those who had gone were itching to tie Liu Siyue back up and demand another hundred thousand or so.
In their eyes, Liu Siyue was now nothing but a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Everyone was guessing whether Liu Chunlan and Wang Jianguo had taken a lot of money, since Liu Siyue was at their house.
Liu Chunlan and Wang Jianguo, however, had been hiding in their room the whole time.
Liu Chunlan cursed Lin Wanyi non-stop:
"That wretched bitch, why is she so nosy? Why does she care so much?
"It's not like we locked her up or controlled her freedom, so why is she playing the bleeding heart?
"I should have listened to my older brother. These outsiders, every single one of them, you just can't treat them like human beings.
"This Lin Wanyi, I let her off the hook just a little bit, and she causes such a huge disaster for me.
"Old man, what do you think we should do about this?
"Isn't Old Man Chen going to give us trouble every day from now on?"
How would Wang Jianguo know what to do?
He had idled his life away. When he was young, he did odd jobs and gambled away whatever little money he made.
He didn't lift a finger when his two sons got married, and before he even turned fifty, he stopped working, staying home to wait for his retirement.
How would he know what to do now?
He just chain-smoked and watched videos of pretty women on his phone.
What was he afraid of? He had two sons, while Chen Guanshan only had one idiot son.
Could he really not handle Chen Guanshan?
Liu Siyue's fever broke quickly, and after eating something, she slowly regained some strength.
She leaned against Liu Renzhi and cried her eyes out:
"Big brother, I thought I would never see you guys again in this lifetime. I thought I was going to die here.
"Brother, brother!"
Liu Renzhi's tears fell too.
This was the first time in his thirty-five years of life that he had shed a tear.
From the moment he found out Liu Siyue was missing until now, over a month had passed, and his tense body finally relaxed for the first time.
His sister was still alive, at least she was alive.
As long as she was still here, as long as she still had her life.
Nothing else mattered.
Lin Jiajun kept checking the weather forecast:
"The weather forecast says this heavy snow will last for at least another three days.
"Sis, what do we do? Are we really just going to wait here for three days?
"I just don't feel at ease."
Lin Wanyi was also unsure.
This village looked normal on an ordinary day, but today, with a fat sheep like Liu Renzhi arriving, things were probably going to get chaotic soon.
Thinking of this, she signaled Liu Renzhi to follow her into the kitchen:
"Do you have a plan? Jiajun is right, my heart is all over the place.
"There aren't many decent people in this village, you..."
Liu Renzhi gave her a calm look:
"Don't worry, I won't drag you into this."
"I'm not afraid of you dragging me down; I'm afraid you guys won't be able to get out. I'm at least a local here. No matter how arrogant they are, they wouldn't dare do anything serious to me.
"But you and Siyue are different. You're outsiders, you..."
Lin Wanyi didn't want to put it so bluntly, but Liu Renzhi showed her his phone:
"Rest assured, I never fight a battle unprepared.
"Just put your mind at ease, you still have a baby in your belly.
"I'm already incredibly grateful for your help up to this point. You don't need to worry about anything that happens next. When I leave, I'll have everything settled.
"Trust me, I won't leave you with a single bit of trouble."
Lin Wanyi fell silent, suddenly feeling extremely foolish.
One look at Liu Renzhi and you could tell he was no ordinary man. How could he not have thought of the things she had thought of?
He just hadn't said it out loud.
Feeling a bit awkward, she could only force a smile:
"Well, please don't take offense. I was definitely overthinking things, overthinking."
It was the first time Liu Renzhi had seen her smile.
It gave him an indescribable feeling.
Lin Wanyi wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but she made Liu Renzhi feel very comfortable.
Before he could snap back to reality, Liu Chunlan suddenly screamed from the kitchen doorway:
"Lin Wanyi, you slut, what are you doing? What are you doing in the kitchen with this strange man?
"You're a married woman! You're carrying my son's child in your belly! How can you hook up with another man in my house?"
Lin Wanyi couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her, but the older woman suddenly grabbed her hair:
"Speak, what are you doing in here?"
Lin Wanyi was furious. "We haven't done anything! Which eye of yours saw me hooking up with a man?
"Old hag, don't even think about throwing dirty water on me."
Liu Chunlan yanked Lin Wanyi's hair while calling Wang Hao:
"Haohao, why aren't you back yet? Your wife and child are about to run off with someone else, hurry back!"
Lin Wanyi was in immense pain from the pulling. Just as she was about to call for Lin Jiajun, Liu Renzhi grabbed Liu Chunlan's hand and squeezed hard.
"Ah! Ahhhhhh!!!"
Liu Chunlan let out a miserable shriek and let go:
"You, are you trying to break my hand?
"Let go of me, let go, let go of me right now!"
Liu Renzhi released her hand and warned Liu Chunlan:
"Show some respect to the woman who saved my sister's life.
"Otherwise, don't blame me for not being polite!"
He pulled Lin Wanyi out of the kitchen, then turned around to glare at Liu Chunlan one last time:
"Nobody in your village is worth a damn, and I'm no saint either!"
