Only when the train slowly started to leave the station did Lin Xia finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She was really afraid someone would trouble her! She feared that Meifang, the middle-aged woman, would feel disgruntled, considering one hundred and twenty yuan wasn't a small sum.
There's a saying that even a mighty dragon cannot crush a local snake, let alone her being just a tiny shrimp.
On her way to Spring City, she kept a low profile on the train, not interacting with anyone, and she had planned to do the same on her return.
But things didn't go as she wished.
She was seated in a pair seat, next to her was a woman in her thirties who, once the train had started moving, kept talking incessantly, initially trying to strike up a conversation with a young man sitting opposite them.
The young man looked to be in his early twenties, with a square face, thick eyebrows, large eyes, a crew cut, and although his clothes were plain, they were neat and clean, which made Lin Xia notice his eyes were particularly bright and expressive.
The man coldly replied a few times.
Lin Xia gazed out of the window, maintaining her silence.
Seeing that the young man was not really interested in talking, the woman next to Lin Xia turned to her and started asking about this and that.
"Young lady, where are you heading? Why are you traveling alone? What did you buy that filled such a big bag?"
Lin Xia was very cautious, really afraid of encountering bad people, so she tried her best not to make a sound or reveal anything about herself.
Faced with the woman's questions, she naturally lied.
On the train from the provincial city to Spring City, there were not many passengers and plenty of empty seats.
The woman probably found it boring, as her two companions were as silent as clay figurines, and she got up and went to the diagonally opposite three-seat row to find someone else to chat with.
Lin Xia exhaled softly; she wasn't much of a talker, and when it came to such fleeting acquaintances with strangers, she was even less sure what to say.
Moreover, because she was traveling alone and carried a secret, she was also afraid of attracting unnecessary trouble, so she was very careful and cautious.
The young man opposite must have felt the same, for he smiled kindly at Lin Xia's reaction.
Lin Xia returned the smile faintly and then averted her gaze, avoiding any further eye contact with him.
So it went, enduring another night, until in the morning the train entered Spring City Station.
When Lin Xia prepared to disembark, the young man also got off, and he even took the initiative to help her take her large bag down from the rack.
Lin Xia hastily thanked him, "Thank you!"
"No trouble at all! You're welcome," the man said, his voice low.
He followed Lin Xia, stepping off the train one after the other with the stream of disembarking passengers.
Having just stepped a few paces from the train, Lin Xia saw her eldest brother, Lin Chun, anxiously scanning the disembarking crowd from the door of the adjacent carriage.
"Big brother!"
Lin Chun turned at her voice and, seeing his sister returned safely, his face lit up with excitement as he jogged over, taking Lin Xia's large bag from her hands, "Xiaoxia! Was your journey smooth?"
He had been worried all along; in fact, since the day his elder sister left, he had been regretting agreeing to this fearless girl's idea.
But there was no use regretting once she had left.
It was good enough that she came back safe and sound!
But thinking of home, his joy diminished somewhat.
"Hmm! It was pretty smooth!" Lin Xia stepped onto her hometown soil and truly felt at ease, especially upon seeing her big brother, like a swallow returning to its nest.
However, she felt something was off about her big brother's complexion; there were faint dark circles under his eyes, and she tentatively asked, "Big brother! Why did you come to pick me up? Did you take leave from your job?"
"I took some time off! I'll drop you home and then head back to the office," Lin Chun's expression darkened for a moment, but aware that the platform wasn't the right place to talk, "Xiaoxia! Let's go home first, I'll explain everything on the way!"
Could it be that something happened at home after she left?
Seeing his reaction, Lin Xia nervously grabbed Lin Chun's sleeve, "Big brother! What happened to someone at home?"
But she thought it couldn't be, the people in the Eastern House were all waiting for Lin Aiguo to come back to back them up in their complaints, and things had been quiet lately.
Could it be that Lin Aiguo came back early?
"Don't panic! Nothing serious!" Lin Chun said soothingly.
Still, Lin Xia had no peace of mind, "Did dad come back from the mountain?"
"Yeah! Xiaoxia, I'll tell you on the way in a bit!"
Lin Chun was caught between a rock and a hard place, not quite sure what to do. The return of his elder sister lifted a weight off his heart, but seemed to give him a backbone as well.
Once Lin Xia was seated on the rear of Lin Chun's bicycle, listening to him pedal and recount last night's events, she almost cursed out loud...
Lin Aiguo had suddenly come back from the mountain yesterday, and it turned out that the job he had arranged for Xiaoqiu had some news.
Upon returning home, he found out that Xiaoqiu already went to the garment factory and had worked there for several days.
This made Lin Aiguo very uncomfortable. He got angry, thinking they had grown too independent and no longer respected his authority as their father;
He was upset that they didn't consult him about such an important decision as finding a job. They were making decisions on their own; where would that lead!
He kept insisting that since the gifts had been given and the connections were made, Xiaoqiu must work at the soy sauce factory.
So, he made a fuss, not allowing Xiaoqiu to go to the garment factory and wait at home for two days before reporting to the soy sauce factory.
Only Lin Chun and Lin Xia knew how Xiaoqiu's job at the garment factory came to be.
If Lin Chun directly said that they also spent money on gifts to get into the garment factory, then without a doubt, his father would demand to know where the money for the gifts came from.
Lin Chun could only hold back and not mention this matter!
But by not mentioning it, Xiaoqiu would have to go to the soy sauce factory!
Lin Chun felt conflicted. A girl working at the garment factory was, after all, cleaner than the soy sauce factory.
Xiaoqiu didn't want to trouble her big brother or provoke Lin Aiguo to violence, so she agreed to his demands and did not go to the garment factory today!
After hearing Lin Chun recount the events, Lin Xia was livid, but what puzzled her even more was how this life's job opportunity at the soy sauce factory had come about so quickly. Could it be because she had been given a second chance at life?
But regardless of the reason, she couldn't let Xiaoqiu start at the soy sauce factory. Who knew if meeting that man would also happen sooner?
She had gone through the trouble of asking for favors and giving gifts to get Xiaoqiu into the garment factory, all to ensure she wouldn't retrace that harrowing path of her previous life!
But these events were from a past life. Lin Chun and Xiaoqiu couldn't possibly know!
And she couldn't explain it, so she had to think of another way.
Lin Xia thought for a moment and asked, "Big brother! What do you think?"
She needed to understand what her big brother thought before devising a strategy.
It wouldn't do any good if her big brother sided with Lin Aiguo while she struggled in vain.
Lin Chun, cycling ahead, sighed, "I think it would be easier for Xiaoqiu to work at the garment factory, but dad has already given gifts and made connections. It seems wrong to insist on Xiaoqiu not going."
In fact, he hardly slept last night, worried for his elder sister's safety on one hand, and agonizing over his younger sister's job on the other.
"What's so wrong about it! What's more important, that small gift or Xiaoqiu's future, huh? Big brother, think about it, there are many women working at the garment factory; it makes finding a match much easier, with plenty of people to introduce her to! But working in the soy sauce factory, what kind of person would Xiaoqiu end up with?"
In short, Lin Xia had a thousand and one reasons; she just didn't want Xiaoqiu to work at the soy sauce factory!