Caught red-handed by Li Moli.
Ma Jiaojiao was dumbfounded, a sense of shame overwhelming her.
She didn't have a single piece of clothing on her body, and to make matters worse, Li Moli's beatings were heavy, quickly leaving Ma Jiaojiao's face swollen like a pig's head.
It was just a single evening.
Lin City High School was soon awash with all sorts of rumors.
Some said Ma Jiaojiao got pregnant from a love affair and had an abortion at the hospital.
Others claimed Ma Jiaojiao wrecked someone's relationship and was caught in the act of adultery...
"Did you hear? Ma Jiaojiao's face got ripped apart."
"I always knew Ma Jiaojiao was no good!"
"..."
Lin Wu stood amongst the students enjoying the spectacle, the corners of her mouth curling into a slight smirk.
Beep beep beep--
The sound of a cell phone ringtone pierced the air.
Lin Wu took out her phone, only to see a red dot moving swiftly across the screen.
They think they can track her with this kind of technology?
Lin Wu narrowed her eyes slightly and quickly entered a series of codes.
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere.
Heizi was tracking Dr. M's burner phone IP address, on the verge of pinpointing an accurate location, when suddenly, the next second.
Bang!
His computer screen went black.
--
Lin Family.
As soon as Lin Bingqiang got home, his wife told him about his older sister's situation.
Lin Bingqiang frowned slightly, "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
Zhao Cuinong said, "How could I tell you? You don't reply to WeChat, and your phone is off! I called your office twice and your colleagues said you were busy!"
Lin Bingqiang knew his job was special and couldn't blame his wife. He sighed, "I'll go see my sister."
"Wait a second," Zhao Cuinong suddenly spoke up.
Lin Bingqiang stopped in his tracks.
Zhao Cuinong stretched out her hand, "Give it to me!"
"What?"
Seeing that Lin Bingqiang was pretending to be clueless, Zhao Cuinong directly reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of Renminbi.
There were three to four thousand yuan in total!
This was the private stash Lin Bingqiang had been saving up secretly.
Zhao Cuinong was furious, "I knew you were going to give money to your sister! Every day I put up with scrimping and saving, and look at you, only ever thinking about your sister!"
Lin Bingqiang frowned slightly, "Can you keep it down? She's my sister! She raised me; without her, there would be no me! What's wrong with me giving her a little money?"
"I say it's wrong then it's wrong! If you dare give that money to her, then we might as well not bother continuing our life together! Let's divorce!"
Zhao Cuinong was very angry.
Doesn't every family need to make ends meet?
They had just bought a new house, there were expenses everywhere, and they still had a lot of loans to pay off; three to four thousand yuan wasn't a trivial amount. Furthermore, Lin Guixiang and her daughter were about to join them in Qing City.
Money was needed everywhere!
Lin Bingqiang knew that arguing would only make things worse, so he didn't say anything more and went to his sister's room.
Seeing Lin Bingqiang, Lin Guixiang was happy, "Bingqiang is back."
Lin Bingqiang nodded, "Sis, are you alright?"
Lin Guixiang shook her head, smiling, "I'm fine, I've survived all these years."
Upon hearing this, Lin Bingqiang breathed a sigh of relief, "Sis, I'm glad you can see it that way! Xiao Wu is a sensible and good child; she will definitely achieve great things in the future. Once you're in Qing City, just wait for the good days ahead."
"Mhm," Lin Guixiang nodded.
The siblings chatted for a while before Lin Bingqiang left.
Watching Lin Bingqiang's retreating figure, Lin Guixiang's eyes were filled with bitterness.
Her daughter was about to move to Qing City with her brother's family soon, and her own presence would only tarnish her daughter's reputation.
Her daughter's future was bright, and she couldn't become a burden!
Lin Guixiang leaned against the door, sobbing uncontrollably.
Minutes later, Lin Guixiang picked up the pesticide hidden in the cabinet, quietly opened the door, and walked outside.
Her figure soon vanished into the night.
--
When Lin Wu returned home, she found her mother wasn't in the bedroom.
"Uncle, have you seen my mom?" Lin Wu looked toward Lin Bingqiang.
Lin Bingqiang shook his head.
"I saw Auntie," Lin Guodong said as he walked in with a toy gun from outside, "I saw Auntie carrying a bottle of pesticide and going out!"
A pesticide bottle?
Upon hearing this, Lin Bingqiang was first stunned, and his face instantly turned pale, "Not good!"
Lin Wu also realized something was wrong and immediately ran outside to look for Lin Guixiang.
In her previous life, she had no mother.
Although she had spent only a short time with Lin Guixiang, she had felt a mother's great love from this ordinary woman.
They were about to escape this malicious circle and make a life-changing move to Qing City—Lin Wu wouldn't let anything happen to Lin Guixiang at this time!
Elsewhere.
Staggering to her parents' graves, Lin Guixiang 'thudded' to her knees.
"Mom and Dad, your unfilial daughter has come to kowtow to you."
In the silent night, the only response to Lin Guixiang were a few mournful cawings of crows.
Ominous.
"Mom and Dad, you both passed away early. To make money for Gui Mei and Bingqiang's education and living expenses, I've had such a hard life over the years. Did you see it from heaven?"
With the parents gone, the responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings naturally fell on Lin Guixiang.
Little did they know, she was only three or four years older than her siblings.
Finally seeing her younger siblings grow up, she then felt forced to become the other woman…
Thinking back on her life, Lin Guixiang sobbed silently.
Now she could only prove her innocence through death.
Suddenly, Lin Guixiang slowly twisted off the cap of the Dichlorvos bottle, drank all the pesticide contained within.
The pesticide was bitter and hard to swallow.
As long as she died.
Lin Wu would no longer be called the illegitimate daughter of a mistress.
At this thought, Lin Guixiang's lips curved into a faint smile.
For her daughter's future.
She was willing to die.
By the time Lin Wu arrived, Lin Guixiang was already slumped on the ground but was still somewhat conscious.
"Mom!"
"Xiao Wu, you've come..." Lin Guixiang had almost no strength left, felt dizzy and experienced waves of abdominal pain, but seeing her daughter, she mustered her breath, "Promise Mom, you'll live well from now on... and, your mom was never a mistress... Mom will protect you from heaven…"
"Mom! I believe you're not a mistress! You must hold on!" While Lin Wu spoke, she forced her fingers into Lin Guixiang's throat, pressing down firmly.
This was to induce vomiting.
The immediate priority was to make Lin Guixiang vomit out all the pesticide she had ingested.
"Ugh!"
The next second, Lin Guixiang vomited a yellowish-white fluid.
The air was instantly filled with a pungent smell of pesticide.
Lin Wu knew that vomiting up these substances was not enough; she continued to press on Lin Guixiang's throat.
Despite vomiting more and more, Lin Guixiang still fell into a coma and lost consciousness.
Lin Wu forcefully calmed herself down, then pulled out the emergency acupuncture kit she had bought from the pharmacy in the evening from her pocket—it had unexpectedly come in handy.
With a flashlight in one hand and a silver needle in the other, Lin Wu quickly started inserting needles into the various major acupuncture points on Lin Guixiang's body.
These points all have detoxifying effects.
But they could only provide temporary relief.
To fully recover, Lin Guixiang needed to go to the county hospital for a stomach wash.
After the acupuncture was finished, Lin Wu carried her mother on her back and started descending the mountain.
Because of years of farm work and malnutrition, Lin Guixiang was almost skin and bones. At one meter sixty-five, she weighed less than ninety pounds.
The downhill path was rugged and uneven.
Lin Wu, whose body hadn't fully recovered, didn't know where she found the strength, but she kept carrying Lin Guixiang. If she stumbled on a stone and fell, she would just get up and keep going forward…
Through the bumpy journey and halfway down the mountainside, Lin Wu heard shouting and saw lights from flashlights coming from afar.
"Sister! Big sister!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Wu immediately responded, "We're here! Uncle, we're over here!"
Hearing Lin Wu's voice, Lin Bingqiang didn't care about the thorny brambles before him and sprinted forward, "Xiao Wu! Don't be afraid, Uncle is coming!"
Pushing through the dense brambles, the moment Lin Bingqiang saw Lin Wu, he didn't know what to feel and felt his eyes begin to sting.
The young girl was covered in scrapes.
In utter disarray.
Although Lin Wu was also just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old child, the slender girl was carrying Lin Guixiang, an adult.