Wen Wan did not stop her steps. She continued to walk, winding through various small alleys without the slightest pause, until she reached the starport. Under the cloak of invisibility, she slipped onto a starship that was just about to depart.
Only after the ship had left, with Wen Wan lying under a bed in one of the guest cabins, gazing at the image of the cosmic starscape on the wall, did she fall into deep thought.
To be honest, the chance to return to the modern world had made Wen Wan's heart flutter for a moment. If the timing hadn't been wrong then, she would have already pressed the button agreeing to return. But after all this time, Wen Wan had calmed down.
She really had no more attachments left on the Earth plane. Those two years of marriage had been a complete mess, draining all her passion. She didn't even have the desire to go out and make friends anymore.
Her old friends, due to marriage, distance, and various other reasons, were now limited to likes on social media feeds and mass-texted holiday greetings.
But Earth was, after all, the place where she grew up. She was familiar with everything there. Whether her eyes were closed or open, her dreams were filled with the little details of home.
She wanted to choose not to return, yet her heart truly couldn't bear to part with Earth. She wanted to choose to return, but she clearly knew that life back on Earth wouldn't be good. There would be no fellow travelers from the chat group, and certainly none of the staggering sums listed on her temporary identity document.
Those strings of zeros were amounts she could never earn on Earth no matter how hard she tried.
Wen Wan knew what choice she should make, yet her hand still hesitated, unable to press that button refusing to return.
On the Earth plane, Lin Xi was utterly stunned. She had rushed over from Lotus Village, working overtime and practically making the accelerator pedal smoke. A journey that usually took about two hours, she completed in just one. What on earth could have happened in that little over an hour? How did the Zhao family get arrested by the police right after crossing over?
Lin Xi was burning with curiosity. After announcing in the group chat, she, like the others, opened the live stream and headed out.
This was a rare live stream by Lin Xi. Everyone in the group, no matter what they were doing, stopped their tasks.
Lu Shenzhi was repairing the city walls and couldn't leave, but he projected the screen in front of him, working while watching.
Everyone had opened live streams before. The most recent one was by Qin Suyuan, also set in a modern world. But everyone knew that wasn't their hometown, so seeing those scenes hadn't stirred much feeling.
However, after Lin Xi's live stream started, they realized, oh, how deeply their longing for home was buried in their bones.
It usually didn't hurt or itch, but upon seeing those familiar sights—the recognizable store signs, cars, advertisements—the emotions they had neglected came crashing over them like a tidal wave.
The wanderers away from home didn't even dare to blink, their eyes following the scenes from Lin Xi's stream.
Lin Xi had a clear goal. She directly approached a few elderly ladies who were cracking melon seeds. With a casual opening line, the ladies eagerly began sharing the gossip about the Zhao family.
"Oh my, that Zhao family is vicious. They specifically bully the daughter-in-law from out of town. I heard several months ago, the whole family beat up their daughter-in-law, terribly fierce. Things in the house were smashed to pieces with crashes and bangs."
"Later, it went quiet by midnight. Their neighbors thought everyone was tired from fighting and had gone to rest. Later, the neighbors realized they hadn't seen the family for a long time and took a closer look, confirming no one was coming or going. So they called the police."
"When the police came, there was no answer after knocking, so they called a locksmith to get in. Do you know what they found inside?" The old lady paused for dramatic effect with Lin Xi.
Lin Xi, who often dealt with elderly ladies led by her own grandmother, immediately shook her head. "No, I don't. Granny, please tell me." As she spoke, she grabbed a handful of melon seeds from her pocket and shared them with the granny.
The old granny had just finished her seeds. She took them and started cracking again, complimenting, "Your family's seeds are very fragrant. Where did you buy them?"
Without waiting for Lin Xi's reply, she continued, "Oh dear, inside was a floor full of debris, and a huge pool of blood had dried on the floor. After so many days, that blood had started to stink! A cellphone belonging to their daughter-in-law was hidden in a corner. None of the Zhao family's belongings—their phones, wallets, bankbooks—were left in the house."
The old lady tutted twice. "The police directly opened a case. They even gave a talk to everyone in our neighborhood, telling us to keep an eye out and call them immediately if we see any of those four Zhao family members."
Because there was so much blood, and the Zhao family's important documents were missing, with no signs of an outsider breaking in, the police took the matter very seriously and officially opened an investigation. They began visiting and questioning the Zhao family's neighbors, friends, and colleagues.
From a high school classmate of Zhao Xuanqi, the police got a piece of information.
"Zhao Xuanqi's colleague said that man Zhao Xuanqi simply isn't functional. They say his little fella isn't even as big as a five-year-old child's. Besides peeing, it has no capability at all." When the old lady reached this point, she exchanged a look with the other granny beside her, both faces breaking into a smile only the other understood.
A five-year-old's little fella is tiny, smaller than a finger. For a man like that to still take a wife, isn't that harming people?
"I also heard the Zhao family's daughter-in-law asked a lawyer, saying her husband even wanted her father-in-law to have a child with her, and they locked her father-in-law in the room with her."
The Zhao family had been missing for almost four months, and such a big incident happened right before they disappeared. Forget the police, who wouldn't think in that direction?
"Tsk tsk, just this morning, the four members of the Zhao family suddenly came back, dressed all fancy, and with a little child. I asked Du Ermei, and that blockhead Du Ermei even said it was a grandson they adopted outside."
"What adopted, I think they bought it. They definitely killed their daughter-in-law, maybe even sold her organs. Otherwise, where would they get the money to buy a child? That blockhead Du Ermei's fingers have holes; she never saves any money. If it weren't for her son tricking a wife into coming back to help support the family these past two years, their pots would have been empty long ago."
"Granny, how do you all know so clearly?"
"Pah, this isn't some top-secret matter. How could word not get out? Just you wait and see. By tonight, even what those people said in their police statements will probably be leaked!"
Lin Xi listened, utterly bewildered. "Aren't witness statements supposed to be confidential? How can they get leaked out?"
"What's so strange about that? It's perfectly normal. The interrogation rooms in our county's Public Security Bureau are right next to the holding cells. The walls aren't soundproof; you can hear everything from next door."
"Pockmark Wang is back in again, right? That settles it. Once someone goes to see him, he'll spill everything. Even the police can't do anything about him; his mouth is a complete sieve." Pockmark Wang was a notorious petty thief in the county. He didn't really need the money; he just enjoyed stealing things.
Not long after stealing, he'd always get caught, and the things he took would be returned. If they couldn't be returned, he'd pay compensation. And whatever he heard at the Public Security Bureau, he'd spread it around. Choosing the best of a bad lot, Pockmark Wang was everyone's favorite thief.
After all, with other thieves, you often couldn't get your stuff back or any compensation, but with Pockmark Wang you could. Looking on the bright side, if you're going to get robbed, it's better for Pockmark Wang to do it than some other thief.
Lin Xi was gaining quite an education; she'd never heard of a thief like that in this day and age. The old ladies, staying true to their mission, continued with the Zhao family gossip.
Chipping in one after another, the old ladies soon laid out the entire Zhao family affair. Lin Xi and the folks in the group chat feasted on this juicy drama.
Finally piecing together the sequence of events, Lin Xi thought for a moment and decided not to end the live stream. Instead, she took her viewers on a little tour of the area.
This place was already within the borders of Guangxi Province. The food culture was quite different from that of Yunnan Province. The climate was also very different, unbearably hot. Lin Xi had been wearing a light jacket when she went out, but now she had taken it off, revealing the short-sleeved shirt underneath.
People in Guangxi love congee, and they've elevated it to another level. The streets were filled with rice noodle shops and congee shops, making Lin Xi's head spin.
After hesitating for a bit, she chose a congee shop.
The congee itself was free, but you had to order side dishes with it, otherwise they wouldn't serve you. Not sure what to get, Lin Xi asked the shop owner's wife to give her the most classic combination.
The owner's wife could tell at a glance she was an out-of-towner. After ladling her a bowl of congee, she brought over a bowl of a sour mixture containing salted lemon, sour plums, perilla leaves, bird's eye chilies, scallions, light soy sauce, and peanut oil. She also brought a plate of dried radish strips.
The congee bowl was large. Plump, distinct rice grains tumbled in the thick, starchy broth. The congee had cooled down. Lin Xi took a sip, and her eyes immediately lit up.
There weren't many customers in the shop at the moment. Seeing Lin Xi take a sip, the owner's wife immediately smiled and struck up a conversation. "So, how is it? Isn't our local congee delicious?"
Lin Xi gave her a thumbs-up. "It really is delicious. This is my first time having congee like this—the broth is so rich, yet the rice grains aren't mushy."
The owner's wife was very proud. "That's because our rice is good. We use top-quality short-grain pearl rice for our congee. It's a bit too firm for cooking plain rice, but it's just perfect for congee. It yields a thick, fragrant broth, and the grains hold their shape well."
"And it's cheap too. We buy it straight from the villages right after harvest. Unhusked rice is only a little over eighty yuan for a hundred jin. After husking, there's less of it, but it's still profitable. Go on, try that lemon sour mix. It's the best with congee." The owner's wife enthusiastically promoted her hometown's specialty to Lin Xi.
The lemon in the mix was sliced. A poke with chopsticks burst the sour plum. Putting a little in her mouth, it was sour with a kick of chili, carrying the fragrance of perilla and peanut oil.
Their flavors were balanced by the light soy sauce, each complementing the other perfectly. She then ate a piece of the dried radish—extremely crisp at first bite, followed by sweetness and spiciness. After finishing that, she took another sip of congee. On such a sweltering morning, all the heat in her body seemed to dissipate.
This was Lin Xi's first time eating congee this way. She drank two full bowls and left the shop feeling completely stuffed.
The bill came to only three yuan, surprisingly cheap. Lin Xi paid and, based on the headcount in the group chat, packed up over a dozen portions to go. The owner's wife rarely got such a large order and was overjoyed, using the shop's biggest takeout containers.
She even added an extra type of pickled vegetable to each order. Lin Xi put the congee in the trunk, walked to a spot with no people and no surveillance cameras, and directly transferred the congee away. By the time she wandered back to the entrance of the Zhao family's residential compound, the group of old ladies had already dutifully brought their little stools out and were chatting under the big tree outside.
Lin Xi walked over with a bag of guavas she had just bought by the roadside.
These guavas were about the size of a child's fist, with a soft, pale pink skin. Taking a bite revealed a pink interior, soft and glutinous, fundamentally different from the guavas Lin Xi had eaten before.
Lin Xi sidled up to her acquaintance from this morning and placed a guava in her hand. "Granny, granny, any news? Tell me, quick."
The old lady was also meeting such a gossip-enthusiastic young person for the first time. Holding the guava Lin Xi gave her, she first asked, "Are you here traveling, girl?"
"Yes, yes, I'm from next-door Yunnan Province. After the New Year, I had some free time, so I went on a road trip. I just arrived in your county town to get a bite to eat when I saw someone getting arrested."
Guangxi's landscape is famously said to be the finest under heaven. The old lady, as a native of Guangxi, was proud. Plenty of tourists came to their area every year.
The old lady didn't suspect anything. "There's news. The Zhao family says they didn't kill Wen Wan. They say their earlier disappearance was because they time-traveled to the interstellar era. That child is their son's, born in the interstellar era."
As soon as the old lady finished speaking, someone next to her burst out laughing. "That's absolutely ridiculous! Time-travel to the interstellar era? And their son giving birth? Their son doesn't even have a uterus, how could he give birth? They can't even lie convincingly. I bet that child is probably Zhao Mushan's with some other woman."
"Could be. That blockhead Du Ermei is utterly foolish. She even allowed that business of her husband sleeping with their daughter-in-law. She probably wouldn't say anything if Zhao Mushan found someone outside either."
"Hasn't she been like that since she was young? Zhao Mushan can't control his little troublemaker. Whenever she finds out, she never blames the man, only hates the other woman. And she's a coward, never dares to go confront them. A woman living like that is just pitiful."
"If their son can't have one, don't they have a daughter? They could have a child under their son's name later, couldn't they? They just had to let their man have another child with someone else. I say they're just sick in the head."
"Those aliens aren't stupid either. That family of four time-traveling? What abilities do they have to time-travel? They can't even tell a decent lie!"
"I think this lie was spread by Zhao Xuelian. That girl hasn't had a truthful word in her mouth since she was little. When she was young, she even lied that her grandmother died to borrow thirty yuan from me. It's been over ten years now, and she still hasn't paid it back."
"And a man giving birth? Why don't they just go to heaven? Let Zhao Xuanqi have another one for me to see, otherwise there's no way I'd believe it!"
A group of old ladies chattered away, condemning the Zhao family. Each one felt the anger of having been played for fools.
Compared to them, the police officers were more exasperated. After all, having been on the force for years, they'd seen all sorts of oddballs.
It's just that this time, the people were even more bizarre.
"Do you guys believe they really time-traveled?" asked the newly graduated Officer Zhang.
"Do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?" retorted his mentor, Police Officer Zhou, giving Officer Zhang a sharp knock on the head.
"Keep questioning them. We must find out Wen Wan's whereabouts. If they keep spouting nonsense, send them straight to the psychiatric hospital." Without finding Wen Wan's body, they couldn't charge the Zhao family of four, making Police Officer Zhou's temper especially foul.
He was convinced the Zhao family was using this outrageous story to escape punishment.
"They claim they transmigrated into some kind of O-something that can give birth, right? Take them to the hospital for a full check-up. Don't skip the gynecology department for the men or the urology department for the women. Check them thoroughly!" Police Officer Zhou grew angrier as he spoke, pacing around with his hands on his hips.
Officer Zhang rubbed his head, grimacing in pain.
Not daring to argue, Officer Zhang took the Zhao family of four to the county hospital. The child was carried by a female officer who followed along. After all, all four Zhao family members insisted that the child was also an O-something.
The female officer holding the child had already looked up that ABO world. With twenty years on the force, she had never come across this type of web novel before.
Honestly, it was quite addictive.
While the Zhao family was being examined, she quietly asked Officer Zhang, "What do you think we should do if the kid really is an... O?"
Officer Zhang looked at her speechlessly. "Officer Liu, that's even more far-fetched than my idea. If he really were an O, I reckon he'd be kidnapped and sliced up for research by some country overnight. A man giving birth? What a research-worthy topic. If it ever became possible, think of the blessing it would be for so many women."
Officer Liu coughed and took the child for his check-up. Her thought was indeed a bit out there. But she'd seen similar situations before and was just curious, letting her imagination run wild a little.
Two hours later, the police officers brought the Zhao family of four back.
Police Officer Zhou had been busy all afternoon and only now had a moment. He asked Officer Zhang, "What were the examination results?"
"Their physical structures are no different from normal people's, and there's no mutation in their blood cells. They're just making up lies!" Officer Zhang was furious, having run up and down the hospital all day.
Police Officer Zhou held his teacup, his face saying 'I told you so.'
The child in Officer Liu's arms started crying and couldn't be soothed. They had no choice but to hand him over to the Zhao family.
The Zhao family of four had already turned against each other back in the interstellar world. None of them felt any affection for the children Zhao Xuanqi had given birth to.
This was especially true for Du Ermei. Before the transmigration, she was desperate for a grandson. But after crossing over and becoming her son's competitor, and then being forced to marry an old man because she wasn't chosen, Du Ermei came to utterly despise Zhao Xuanqi.
In her eyes, Zhao Xuanqi was no longer her son. And if her son wasn't her son anymore, how could the child born from her son's belly be her grandson?
Du Ermei felt deeply uncomfortable. Even after several months in the interstellar era, her mindset hadn't shifted.
How could a man give birth? Was a child born from a man even a real child?
Zhao Mushan was even less involved. He had never lifted a finger to help raise his own two sons. When they were little, he found their nighttime crying annoying and slept separately from Du Ermei.
He liked his grandsons in the sense of playing with them, not taking care of them. He simply pretended not to see. Zhao Xuelian was even less likely to look after a child. After transmigrating back, the excess fat she'd gained was gone, but the ravenous appetite she'd developed came back with her.
In just this short while, Zhao Xuelian was already starving. She had no time to spare for the little brat.
Zhao Xuanqi didn't like the child either, but he had no choice. This was someone he had carried and given birth to; he had felt it move inside him. Seeing his mother unwilling to soothe the child, Zhao Xuanqi could only pick him up and try to calm him himself.
With no evidence and no body found, once the 24-hour detention period was over, the Zhao family was sent home. But Police Officer Zhou and the others were convinced Wen Wan had been murdered by them. So, Police Officer Zhou arranged shifts for the team to stake out the Zhao family's vicinity on a strict schedule.
Having grown accustomed to a life of luxury in the interstellar era, the Zhao family of four, now released, could no longer tolerate their simple, current life.
No one cooked, no one cleaned, and no one watched the child. The moment they stepped inside, they started bickering and blaming each other over who should clean and who should cook. Faced with this harsh reality, they began to regret their choices, especially after discovering that the gold and silver jewelry they'd obtained in the interstellar world hadn't come back with them. That regret nearly drowned them. Du Ermei and Zhao Mushan got into a physical fight.
Zhao Xuanqi scrambled to soothe the crying child, while Zhao Xuelian had long since grabbed her phone and slipped out. She needed to eat. She was desperately, desperately hungry.
Lin Xi stayed in this small county town for two days. She even made a special trip to a nearby tourist area to gather inspiration. During these two days, aside from sleeping, her livestream hadn't stopped.
And Wen Wan, after learning why the Zhao family had been arrested, chose to stay in the interstellar world.
She knew the other friends in the group chat couldn't return to modern society, and she also knew several of them had people they missed back home.
She didn't mention this matter in the group chat; instead, she chose to discuss it with Lin Xi.
[Whole Family Transmigrated into ABO Wen Wan: I've thought about it for a long, long time, and I've decided to stay and live here. My relationship with the Zhao family of four is one of mortal enmity. We were still within the divorce cooling-off period, but that time has long passed now. To get a divorce, we'd have to reapply.]
[The Zhao family of four are already used to the extravagant life in the interstellar world. If I go back, I'd just be their workhorse; they'd definitely cling to me and not let go. My household registration was moved to theirs long ago; separating would be very difficult.] Once again, Wen Wan felt how foolish she had been.
We got our marriage certificate and transferred my household registration first, and only held the wedding banquet afterwards. At that time, we hadn't even consummated the marriage. He kept fooling me, saying that getting the certificate didn't count as being truly married. Only after holding the banquet and announcing to the whole world that I was his wife would it be considered a real marriage. Looking back now, it was because he knew he was impotent. He wasn't secure until my household registration was transferred to his family, so he never slept with me. It's a pity I was blinded by so-called love back then.
Wen Wan no longer intended to dwell on the past. What's done is done, and the situation is what it is. Revisiting the past wasn't of much use; it would only make her despise her former self even more.
Lin Xi understood her choice not to return and sincerely wished her all the best in the interstellar world.
Wen Wan said: "I'm now on a planet entirely composed of betas. There aren't as many troublesome issues here as on M248 Star. The climate is pleasant, evergreen all year round. This planet welcomes all betas with a clean criminal record to come and live."
Although such a policy had significant drawbacks, Wen Wan thought that given how the beta rebel army managed their military, the downsides of this policy should be quickly eliminated.
"For some reason, I always feel the discipline of this rebel army is very much like our Party," Wen Wan said, even wanting to laugh at the thought.
Lin Xi saw this message on her way back. While waiting at a red light, she smiled and replied: "May the glory of socialism shine throughout the universe."
After driving for over an hour, Lin Xi arrived home. The group chat was still discussing the possibility of the Zhao family of four returning.
Those with ties on Earth expressed envy and jealousy. Wen Wan, who had been asked if she was willing to return, kept quiet. When asked why she couldn't go back, she gave everyone an answer that seemed perfectly reasonable at first glance.
"Wen Wan from the 'Whole Family Transmigrated into ABO' group: Maybe it's because our physical structures are different from theirs after transmigrating? I'm a beta, they are Omegas?"
Lin Xi found it amusing. Wen Wan's reason sounded like a game of spot the difference to the uninitiated.
Although the reason sounded far-fetched, the more everyone thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. After all, they all transmigrated together, so why hadn't those scumbags ended up in this group chat?
Lin Xi didn't say a word, but based on Wen Wan's situation, combined with the fact that Ming Shu could return earlier and Gu Nuanyang's request to go home was denied by the group chat system as "not meeting the return conditions," she speculated that those who could return to Earth were either those who physically transmigrated or those whose bodies still held medical signs of life according to Western medicine.
Thinking of this, Lin Xi remembered her own missing father, that box of his containing things that clearly shouldn't appear in this era, and her mother, who seemed like a completely different person after what felt like being possessed.
Her phone suddenly vibrated. Lin Xi picked it up and saw it was a WeChat call from Wang Peng. Forcing down the turmoil in her heart, she answered.
"Little Lin Xi, didn't you say before to call you if my mom came to see me? My mom's back." Wang Peng's father contracted land outside to grow pseudo-ginseng. After making money, he took up with another woman.
Wang Peng's mother couldn't accept it and divorced him. His father married the other woman, and his mother also remarried, moving to Meng City, rarely returning.
Lin Xi had previously asked Wang Peng for his mother's number, planning to visit her this month when she went to deliver the gene repair serum to Ming Shu and the others. She hadn't expected his mother to return now.
Lin Xi immediately got up, closed the courtyard gate, and headed towards Wang Peng's house.
Wang Peng's family hadn't rebuilt their house like Da Mingbao's family; they still lived in the old house, but it had been renovated. White tiles covered the floor, and the furniture and appliances inside had a European-style flair.
Wang Peng's mother had been plump since Lin Xi was little, and she still was. She wore gold jewelry on her ears, hands, and neck. Her facial expression was as kind as ever, and she bore few traces of time.
From this, one could tell her second marriage life was going quite well.
She was very warm when Lin Xi arrived. Lin Xi called her "Auntie" and sat on the single-seat sofa in the living room. As soon as her bottom touched the cushion, an orange was pressed into her hand.
The orange emitted a rich fruity fragrance. It instantly reminded Lin Xi of her childhood. Back then, when she came to Wang Peng's house to play, it was just like now—she'd barely sit down before Wang Peng's mother would stuff something into her hand.
So many years had passed, and this habit of hers hadn't changed. This contrast highlighted just how abnormal Xue Min's change was.
It wasn't that people couldn't change, but it was as if she had become a completely different person overnight. It was fine if you didn't think about it, but upon closer inspection, the flaws were everywhere.
"Little Lin Xi, I heard from Grandma Wang that your mom came back? Has she been to see you?" Wang Peng's mother's question brought Lin Xi back to the present.
"She said she always wanted to see me. I went to see her on New Year's Eve. On the third or fourth day of the New Year, she came to our house but left without eating," Lin Xi told Wang Peng's mother.
Wang Peng's mother sat back on the sofa. Wang Peng's grandparents were people with sound values. In his parents' divorce, Wang Peng's father was at fault. Almost ten years later, they still showed no kindness towards Wang Peng's father and the woman he later married.
They were very good to Wang Peng's mother, though. Not only did they call her frequently, but they also sent her things regularly.
Wang Peng's mother felt neither unfamiliar nor constrained returning to this house. She had told many people that coming back here felt more comfortable than returning to her own parents' home. She grabbed a handful of melon seeds to crack: "Your mother has changed a lot. I remember the first couple of years after she got married, I ran into her in Pingyuan. I called out to her, and she looked at me as if she'd never seen me before. She was stunned for a good while before she finally said my name and talked to me."
Wang Peng's mother was reminiscing, but while the speaker might be unintentional, the listener was intentional.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Xi immediately followed up: "I didn't know that. When I saw her on New Year's Eve, I also found her very unfamiliar. Auntie, I heard from my grandma that you and my mom went out to work together before?"
This was precisely the purpose of Lin Xi's visit to Wang Peng's mother today. From what Lin Xi understood, the last time Xue Min went out before remarrying was with Wang Peng's mother. Later, Wang Peng's mother stayed to work in Guangdong Province, while Xue Min returned early. Not long after, she got married.
It could be said that during that time in Guangdong Province, the last person close to "her" that Xue Min had contact with was Wang Peng's mother.
Lin Xi had always wanted to find Wang Peng's mother but had been held up by the matters at the homestay.
"Yes, yes, back then, someone said they'd seen your father in Guangyue Province. After your mother heard about it, she packed up and went there. It was right after we'd finished transplanting the seedlings at home, and I had nothing to do anyway, so I went with her." Wang Peng's mother recalled as she spoke about those years of working away from home.
"We got jobs at a textile factory there. We were paid by the piece, and they provided meals but not lodging. Your mother and I rented a small place together. On days off, your mother would search all over the city for your father. Sometimes I'd go with her, and other times, feeling exhausted from work, I'd just stay in the rental room sleeping."
"Then one day, your mother went out and didn't come back. I was frantic, searched for a long time, and even reported it to the police, but she couldn't be found. The next day, the police brought her back with her head wrapped in bandages."
"They said she had hit her head while out looking for someone. After that, your mother didn't go to work. She took leave until payday, collected her wages, and came back home." Wang Peng's mother sighed at this point. "Your mother changed quite a bit during that time. She wouldn't really engage in conversation, and when we bought groceries and cooked, she wouldn't eat anything with even a bit of chili."
"During that time, I had to cook her meals separately. Not long after she came back, even before the New Year, I heard she had remarried. Getting remarried was fine; your mother had a hard life. She was still so young."
"Lin Xi, dear, Auntie isn't afraid you'll laugh, but when I came back and saw your mother and tried to greet her, and she ignored me, I was really hurt. We married into Lotus Village around the same time, as young brides of similar age. I got along well with your mom; otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to Guangyue Province to work with her in the first place."
"We lived together for quite a while, and I was the one taking care of her while she was recovering from that head injury. So when she came back, remarried, and acted like she didn't know me, I couldn't get over it. I was quite angry. But after I got divorced myself, I realized there might have been a reason for your mother acting that way."
"When I left after my divorce, I didn't feel like acknowledging people from our Lotus Village either." Putting herself in Xue Min's shoes, Wang Peng's mother found her behavior understandable back then. "It took me a long time to figure it out too."
Wang Peng's mother felt Xue Min had her reasons for pretending not to know her. But her words once again supported Lin Xi's suspicions. Lin Xi felt Wang Peng's mother's situation was different from her own parents'.
But she didn't argue with Wang Peng's mother because, in the eyes of the world, there's no rule saying a woman must remain a widow forever if her husband goes missing. The Qing dynasty fell long ago.
Lin Xi's struggle wasn't about Xue Min remarrying. Whether Xue Min is her mother now or not, her remarrying is irrelevant. It wouldn't be a problem even if she didn't raise her. But wanting her father's trans-spatial inheritance and trying to take her father's pager? That's not acceptable.
She must find out where her father went and whether her mother's death was truly normal!
She smiled and said to Wang Peng's mother, "I never blamed her. My father disappeared, no trace of him alive or dead. It wouldn't be right for her to mourn him her whole life. It's just that after so many years apart, never living together, meeting her out of the blue a few times feels very awkward; the connection is just too distant."
This was Lin Xi's genuine feeling, though it changed after she began to suspect the "person" inside Xue Min's body might be different.
"That's the right way to think about it." Wang Peng's mother clapped her hands approvingly.
In Wang Peng's mother's view, Xue Min remarrying and not seeing her child or providing support all these years was a bit heartless, so she understood Lin Xi feeling distant. "Now that she's come back to acknowledge you, just try getting along. If it goes well later, keep in touch more; if not, keep your distance. Anyway, she later had a son and daughter of her own. She won't need you for old-age support; just contribute a bit if she gets seriously ill."
"Alright, I understand," Lin Xi replied obediently. "Auntie, how is life in Meng City for you? Is your current husband good to you?"
"He's alright. His children are all older than Wang Peng, married and living separately. He and I live alone together. He treats me well and is quite filial to your Uncle Wang and Grandma Wang. We're together mostly for companionship." Wang Peng's mother spoke of her later-life partner with a sincere smile.
Wang Peng returned with his grandmother from catching a chicken, and his mother quickly pulled him into conversation, shifting the topic.
Not long after, making sure to leave before mealtime, Lin Xi headed home. Chi Xiangping and Yao Yuran had returned from the guesthouse and were cooking for the workers.
Now that she could walk properly again, Yao Yuran moved with even more agility.
Lin Xi helped them cook. Once the food was ready, Yao Yuran insisted on taking it to the construction site.
Lin Xi and Chi Xiangping waited at home with the two children for her return to eat.
A "ding-dong" notification sounded from WeChat. Lin Xi picked up her phone to look. Lu Shenzhi had sent her a message.
Lin Xi was somewhat surprised. She tapped into the chat window.
[Lu Shenzhi from the World of Intrigue: Hello, Miss Lin. I'm very sorry to disturb you out of the blue. I saw in the group chat that members can send you tasks, is that right?]
[I'd like to exchange for some common medicines, like cold medicine. I also want to ask you to check on a few students for me in Meng City. They are all senior high school students now. When I crossed over, our school had just started the term, but their parents didn't send them to school.]
[I originally planned to go look for them during the break, but I crossed over before I could. I want you to check on them for me. If they still have the desire to study, please help them. I will cover their tuition fees.]
[If they are unwilling to go to school, please try to persuade them for me. If persuasion doesn't work, then let it be.]
After reading Lu Shenzhi's message, a system notification popped up in the group chat: [System Notification: Group member Lu Shenzhi from the World of Intrigue has issued a task to Earth Girl Lin Xi. Task reward is 'Old Mine Glass-Type Jade Bracelet'. Does @Earth Girl Lin Xi accept this task?]
