The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

They went downstairs to find the truck already waiting. Liu Yue Mei thrashed about, refusing to get in. Finally, Sun Jiaming gave up trying to reason with her and just hoisted her onto the truck bed.

Chen Yu also refused to get in, spewing profanities. Lin Sui’er couldn’t budge her, so Gu’er gave one of the workers a pointed look. The man grabbed Chen Yu, lifted her clean off her feet, and tossed her onto the truck.

Once on the truck, Chen Yu kept cursing.

"If you say one more word, I’ll stuff your mouth too. I didn’t bring a towel, but I have a sock right here."

Gu’er couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore. ’She couldn’t understand where a young girl like her learned so many filthy words.’

Chen Yu flinched. ’If my mouth gets stuffed with a stinky sock, I’ll throw up,’ she thought. ’Better not. Even Mom is helpless, so what can I do?’

And just like that, Chen Yu quieted down, not daring to make another sound.

But Lin Sui’er wasn’t about to let her off the hook. Seeing that she didn’t dare speak, she pinched her hard a few times, making Chen Yu cry out in pain.

When they got to the station, they found Li Zhi. He and the others had arrived earlier to get the tickets.

"What happened?"

Li Zhi asked Gu’er in a low voice.

Gu’er briefly explained the situation.

"Holy crap, people like that really exist? If I’d known, we would’ve come to help. Dingzi, come on! Let’s help our friends take care of this. Don’t worry, Gu’er. We’ll get them on that train even if we have to tie them up and haul them on ourselves."

Li Zhi also thought Liu Yue Mei was unbelievable. She wanted their big house, demanded shopping trips, and asked for money. She even expected them to help her son get married. The nerve of that woman!

Dingzi glanced at him but said nothing. His gaze fell on Liu Yue Mei, who was being held down by Sun Jiaming. He nodded at Sun Jiaming, signaling for him to take over. Then, with some unknown maneuver, Dingzi subdued Liu Yue Mei, and she immediately stopped struggling.

Sun Jiaming walked over to Chen Yu. Chen Yu trembled, afraid that Sun Jiaming would treat her the same way he’d treated her mother. She walked along obediently, a complete change from how she had acted at the Lin Family’s house.

Li Zhi grabbed Chen Shuangbao, who cried out in pain.

"If you dare shout one more time, I’ll drag you into the mountains and throw you to the wolves."

Li Zhi scowled, threatening Chen Shuangbao. It wasn’t that he liked scaring children, but this particular child was just so unlikable for daring to bully Lin Zheng. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Chen Shuangbao was terrified, and fat tears began to roll down his cheeks.

Once inside the main hall, Li Zhi went to find someone. A person led them onto the platform, and Gu’er’s group escorted Liu Yue Mei and the others onto the train.

They found their seats. Many people on the train were staring at them. It didn’t look like they were seeing people off; it looked more like they were escorting a prisoner. The person was being restrained, with a towel stuffed in their mouth. The onlookers had no idea what was going on.

"Excuse me, everyone. We have a patient here who’s having an epileptic seizure. This is to keep her from biting her tongue. Please bear with us."

Gu’er quickly explained to the crowd.

"Is that really true? You sure they’re not being robbed or something?"

Someone was skeptical. This didn’t look like how you treat a patient.

"My... my mom is sick."

Chen Ping stepped forward and said, her face bright red with embarrassment.

"My mom has epilepsy."

Chen Yu was also forced to chime in. Even though there were many people around, Sun Jiaming was standing right behind her, and she didn’t dare say anything else.

Once the two of them spoke up, the people on the train were more or less convinced. As for what would happen after Gu’er and her friends got off the train, they couldn’t care less.

"Alright, the train is about to depart. Uncle, we’re entrusting Auntie to you now. Have a safe trip. We’re getting off."

Gu’er heard the announcement that the train was about to depart, and it was time for them to get off.

Chen Damin nodded. His lips moved, but no words came out.

"Gu’er, tell your mom and dad... I’m so sorry."

Chen Ping nodded at Gu’er, apologizing.

Gu’er patted her on the shoulder and gave her a small smile.

Li Zhi shot Chen Shuangbao a threatening look and shook his fist. When Chen Shuangbao looked like he was about to cry again, Li Zhi quickly pulled Lin Zheng and scrambled off the train. "Xiao Zheng," he said as they ran, "from now on, Dingzi and I will teach you how to fight. Next time you see a brat like him, you can beat him to a pulp."

Lin Zheng nodded, his eyes shining. He wanted to be just like Dingzi and Li Zhi. He never wanted to be bullied by his cousin again.

They got off the train. Watching it pull away with a wailing whistle, they saw that the Chen Family hadn’t gotten off. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, as if they had just sent away the god of plagues.

On the way back, Li Zhi and Dingzi also drove their car and followed Gu’er’s group to the Lin Family’s house. They said they wanted to have drinks with Lin Shan that evening, because Lin Shan was heading back to the countryside after dinner, and they didn’t know when they’d see him again.

When they arrived at the Lin house, Lin Shan was quite happy to see Li Zhi and Dingzi. Chen Fengjiao glanced behind Gu’er and the others, but she didn’t see anyone from her side of the family. She knew then that they must have been put on the train and sent away. Actually, she didn’t even need to look; just seeing the relieved and happy expressions on everyone’s faces was enough. She also felt a sense of relief, but deep down, there was a faint trace of sadness.

"Sis, could you help Feng Jiao with dinner tonight? With so many people, I’m worried she’ll be overwhelmed by herself."

Lin Shan said to Lin Shuying.

"I’ll help too."

Gu’er stood up.

"You don’t need to. I have something to talk to you about."

Lin Shan waved his hand, signaling that Gu’er didn’t need to worry about cooking.

"Alright, Xinghua and I will help with dinner."

Lin Shuying nodded. Cooking wasn’t a big deal; she knew how.

Lin Shan called Gu’er, Sun Jiaming, and also Li Zhi and Dingzi into a room. Lin Sui’er wanted to follow, but one look from Lin Shan stopped her. She could only sit in the living room, muttering to herself as she went back to watching TV.

Gu’er brought each of them a cup of tea and then locked the door. She had a feeling her father wanted to talk about her aunt, and from the looks of things, it wasn’t going to be a simple matter.

"Li Zhi, Dingzi, you’re not outsiders, so I won’t hide this from you. I called you in here to talk about my eldest sister, Gu’er’s aunt."

Lin Shan said, getting straight to the point.

"Uncle, you said it yourself—we’re not outsiders. And we don’t see ourselves as such. If there’s anything we can do to help, please, just tell us."

Li Zhi was the first to respond.

Sun Jiaming also nodded. He had originally planned to ask his father-in-law about it when they were alone. Since his father-in-law was bringing it up himself, he would listen.

Through Lin Shan’s story, Gu’er learned about her aunt’s situation.

It turned out that Lin Shuying had been sent down to a remote mountainous area. In the beginning, she had no intention of settling down there; all she wanted was to return to the city. But she was a young, attractive woman, and in a strange place with her politically-marked status, she was constantly bullied. Add to that her homesickness, and her life became unimaginably difficult. Eventually, Lin Shuying married a local man: Zheng Zhongshan and Zheng Xinghua’s father, Zheng Daniu.

Zheng Daniu’s family was poor, and he himself was nothing special. But from the moment Lin Shuying arrived, he set his sights on her, determined to make her his wife. Lin Shuying wanted no part of it, as she had never entertained the thought of marrying a local. So for the most part, she completely ignored him.

「 」

Author’s Note: Thank you to Li Xuexiang for the peace charm, to Hai Yan123 for the scented sachet, and to Chen Lanhao for the monthly ticket. Thank you all for your support.