"Exactly. On the day of the prearranged marriage, Si Nian went over."
Zhou Yueshen spoke up, implying that since their daughter had already been married off as agreed, there was no need to return the betrothal gifts.
His words immediately caused even Zhou Suisui's expression to change.
Their younger aunt had been sent off to marry without even returning home first—wouldn't she resent the entire Lin family for this?
Lin's mother and Lin's father were even more shocked, their faces filled with panic. "H-how could this be? Si Nian didn’t even know about this marriage! We never discussed it—how could she just be married off like this?"
Now she understood. Zhou Yueshen hadn’t come to demand the money back but to inform them that he and their daughter were already married.
No wonder he had brought so many tempting gifts.
But no matter how good the gifts were, this wasn’t what they had wanted.
It wasn’t that they looked down on Zhou Yueshen, but their daughter was completely innocent in this matter.
She knew nothing—she had just been swapped at birth. There was no reason for her to pay for their mistakes.
"No, I knew. Lin Sisi told me a month ago. To be honest, when I first heard, I couldn’t believe it either. That’s why I didn’t want to come back." (These were the original host’s thoughts.)
After saying this, she could clearly feel a certain man’s gaze on her.
Si Nian swallowed nervously before continuing, "But later, I figured—who I marry doesn’t really matter."
That’s right. The original host had heard that Lin Sisi had an arranged marriage in the countryside and grew uneasy, fearing that if Lin Sisi returned to claim her officer fiancé, the rural marriage would fall onto her instead.
And sure enough, her fears had come true.
"What? Sisi told you?"
Hearing this, Lin's mother and Lin's father both paled.
Lin Sisi had been raised with their utmost love. Though they couldn’t provide a wealthy life, they had never let her suffer, always scraping together money to send her to school.
It wasn’t until she performed poorly in high school and couldn’t get into university that they arranged a marriage for her.
Zhou Yueshen had come to propose, and Lin Sisi had seemed quite fond of him at the time, so they agreed.
Otherwise, no matter how wealthy the man was, they wouldn’t have agreed to let their daughter take care of so many children.
But just days after accepting the proposal, Lin Sisi seemed like a different person—suddenly spending all her time in the city. One day, she returned and told them they weren’t her real parents.
Later, when they went to the city to find the Si family, they learned the two families had accidentally swapped babies at birth.
Lin Sisi returned to her biological family without hesitation, but their real daughter refused to come back.
The Lin family was heartbroken, but knowing their circumstances were poor, they didn’t force the issue.
Yet with Lin Sisi gone, the arranged marriage became a problem—especially since the 3,000 yuan they had received had been stolen shortly after they returned.
They had been struggling to repay the money and never once considered forcing Si Nian to take Lin Sisi’s place.
Who would’ve thought Lin Sisi had already told Si Nian? No wonder the girl hadn’t wanted to return—she must have feared being married off the moment she came back.
When they had first accepted the 3,000 yuan as betrothal gifts, people had accused them of selling their daughter.
Now, the couple’s expressions darkened with guilt.
"What’s done is done. There’s nothing we can say now." They could only look at Si Nian with even deeper remorse.
"It’s all our fault… We’re useless, we’ve wronged you…" They wiped their tears.
Zhou Yueshen understood their feelings and reassured them, "Don’t worry, Uncle Lin, Aunt Lin. I’ll do my best to make sure Si Nian lives well."
Si Nian was just starting to feel touched when Zhou Yueshen added, "As long as she treats the children well, I have no other demands."
Yes, as long as she remained as she was now, Zhou Yueshen would ensure she wanted for nothing in life.
Si Nian’s lips twitched.
"Si Nian, what do you think? Whatever you say, we’ll respect your decision." Lin's father and mother didn’t want to be too blunt. It wasn’t that they opposed the marriage, but for Si Nian to be married off so soon after returning was simply unfair.
Si Nian replied slowly, "I’m fine with things as they are. You don’t need to worry about me. But even if the betrothal gifts don’t need to be returned, the thief should still be caught. I think this whole thing is too coincidental."
"Why did the whole family leave to look for me but leave such a large sum of money at home?"
She voiced the question on her mind.
"That’s not what happened. Suisui and Sisi were both home at the time, but Suisui was working in the fields, and Sisi went to meet a classmate. By the time we returned, the house had already been ransacked."
Oh? Lin Sisi was home?
For some reason, Si Nian felt this incident was definitely connected to Lin Sisi.
But without proof, she could only let it go for now.
She couldn’t outright accuse Lin Sisi—the girl they had raised for eighteen years—of being the thief in front of her adoptive parents.
Even if they believed her, she had just returned. If she made such claims now, they might think she was lashing out in anger, framing Lin Sisi out of spite.
After all, between someone they had known for eighteen years and someone who had just appeared, who would they trust more?
"Three thousand yuan isn’t a small amount. Didn’t you report it to the police?"
Si Nian asked calmly.
"We did, but the officers said it was too far away to investigate." The couple sighed helplessly.
They wanted the money back more than anyone, but in this day and age, once someone took the cash and ran, without surveillance, how could they possibly track them down?
Zhou Yueshen glanced at her before speaking. "I’ll have someone look into this. Don’t worry. Three thousand yuan is no small sum—we can’t just let it go."
Though he was well-off, Zhou Yueshen wasn’t foolish enough to ignore such a loss. Besides, this was the betrothal money he had given the Lin family. If it was stolen, what kind of impression did that leave?
No bride would be happy about that.
He had connections—otherwise, in these remote villages, the police wouldn’t bother.
Hearing this, Lin's father and mother were both ashamed and grateful.
"Thank you so much, Comrade Zhou!"
"No need for thanks." Zhou Yueshen nodded slightly.
With that, the matter was settled amicably.
Seeing that someone was willing to help and that their daughter had truly returned to them, Lin's father and mother finally relaxed, the deep wrinkles on their faces easing slightly.
"Look at us, just talking and forgetting about dinner! Husband, keep them company while Suisui and I prepare the meal."
Lin's father quickly agreed. "Right, right. Suisui, get the Tieguanyin tea I stored in the cabinet—let Comrade Zhou and Si Nian have some."
Zhou Suisui responded with an "Aye!" and hurried into the kitchen to retrieve a small packet of tea leaves.
It wasn’t much—just a gift from a guest long ago. Lin's father had treasured it, only brewing a little when he craved alcohol, using it to curb his drinking habit.
