Chapter 106: Someone Is Picking the Lock

"Wang San is the one with eight grandsons and one premature granddaughter in his family."

Oh, right, that family. Xu Lin remembered now. Mentioning the premature granddaughter brought to mind the braised goose in an iron pot—the flavor was truly divine. She had a deep impression of that family who had brought her firewood and a goose; they weren't the type to constantly take advantage of others. She hadn't realized there was an old war hero in that household. No wonder their family values were so upright.

"Before he joined the army, the old gentleman learned to hunt from his father. His marksmanship was excellent, and his archery was even better. He earned many merits relying on those skills," Wang Facai said, his face filled with admiration for Wang Erlai, unable to help himself from sharing a bit more.

As for the educated youth Su, the villagers had dragged him out of the jaws of a wolf, and he had been scared out of his wits, taking a long time to recover. By the time he came to his senses, the villagers had already worked together to finish off the four wolves. It was only then that they learned from Su that it was Qin Fang who had led him deep into the mountains. In Qin Fang’s words, they had gone into the mountains to find some game to improve their diet, and if they caught enough, they could even trade it for a little pocket money.

Although they weren't at the end of their rope yet, the fact that the Su family had stopped sending money to support him was a huge blow to Su Liang. The little money he had left wouldn't last them a few months. That was why Qin Fang hadn't needed much convincing to lead Su Liang deep into the mountains, nearly getting him killed. Qin Fang expressed great regret, saying she hadn't realized the deep mountains were so dangerous and that she wouldn't have gone if she had known. Looking at the pitiful, crying Qin Fang, Wang Facai and the other men in the village didn't have the heart to scold her further.

However, after being rescued, neither Qin Fang nor Su Liang showed any gratitude, which left the villagers feeling somewhat disgruntled. Even among the villagers themselves, when someone helped another, they would at least bring over some greens or fruit as a gesture of thanks. At the very least, they would bring one or two eggs as a token of appreciation. Whether the other party accepted them or not was their business, but you couldn't just show nothing—it was basic manners. But looking at Qin Fang and Su Liang, they hadn't said a single word of thanks. Upon returning to the educated youth dormitory, they both took leave, claiming they were severely shocked.

"Educated Youth Xu, don't you go learning from them. When they run out of food later, they'll have plenty of time to cry. We don't learn from fools."

"Thank you for the reminder, Captain. I won't follow their example," Xu Lin replied with a smile. She believed in "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," and had no intention of making herself an outlier.

Wang Facai was quite satisfied with Xu Lin’s docility. Look at that—both were people with connections, but Xu Lin was worlds apart from those two. They chatted the whole way. When they reached the entrance of the village, Wang Facai stopped, untied Xu Lin’s luggage from his bicycle, and prepared to leave. Xu Lin smiled and took out a package of pastries, placing it on the back seat of his bike before grabbing her luggage and running off. Wang Facai looked at the exquisite packaging; the pastries clearly weren't cheap. He wanted to chase after her, but the young girl had already run far away.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but it felt like the girl had gained a little weight after being away for a few days, and her skin looked a bit fairer, too. Wang Facai was amused by his own thoughts. A girl from the city, no matter how unloved she was, couldn't possibly have turned herself dark while living in the city, could she? He must have been mistaken. Wang Facai tucked the pastries into his pocket and pushed his bike toward home.

Xu Lin walked to the center of the village and saw Huzi and the other little children playing wildly. When they saw her, they ran over happily to greet her. Don't let their age fool you; these kids weren't stupid. They knew Xu Lin was generous and had plenty of candy on her. Sure enough, after they approached and called out "Sister Xu," they each received a piece of hard candy from her. Although it wasn't as delicious as the White Rabbit brand, it was still a rare treat they didn't usually get, and it made the group of children beam with joy.

After waving goodbye to the children, Xu Lin walked a bit further and arrived at the educated youth dormitory. It really wasn't easy to run into villagers when the weather was this cold; only children were brave enough to run around regardless of the chill. Pushing open the gate, Xu Lin looked around, seeing no one active in the courtyard. She tilted her head to listen; only the steady, rhythmic breathing of Qin Fang and Su Liang could be heard from their rooms. Good heavens, to be able to sleep in the middle of the afternoon—one wondered if they would even sleep at night. Assuming the other educated youths were out clearing land, she didn't give the two much thought and went straight to her door.

Just as she was about to take out her key to open the door, Xu Lin’s movements froze. She stared at the lock in her hand, frowning. Her lock had been tampered with; the once-pristine surface was covered in scratches of varying depths. It was clear the culprit had spent quite a while trying to pick it, but unfortunately, their technique was lacking, and they hadn't succeeded.

Xu Lin didn't rush to open the door; she looked over the door frame and windows. The windows were latched from the inside, and while there were signs of pushing, there were no clear pry marks. The door frame, however, had plenty of scratches, making Xu Lin feel sorry for the wood. The culprit surely couldn't have guessed that she had placed protective talismans on the doors and windows before leaving. Without her special methods, they could never have broken in. As for who might be interested in her room, Xu Lin didn't dwell on it—it was surely one of those two.

Xu Lin unlocked the door, brought her luggage inside, and casually lit the *kang*—even if she didn't sleep, she couldn't let anyone notice. As the *kang* began to heat up, the chill retreated, and the room’s temperature rose. Xu Lin unpacked, putting her clothes in the trunk, placing her shoes on the rack, and storing the pastries in the cupboard. After doing all this, she entered her personal space, enjoyed a hot shower, and then lay down on her large bed, feeling refreshed. It had been quite a journey, and she was truly tired.

Xu Lin slept soundly and was only awakened by the sound of someone knocking on her door. Rubbing her eyes, she opened the door to find Qian Li. Seeing Xu Lin’s sleepy, dazed face, Qian Li smiled mischievously.

"Linlin, when did you get back? If I hadn't noticed your door wasn't locked, I wouldn't have even known you were home."

"I got back in the mid-afternoon. Are you off work?" Xu Lin yawned and glanced at her wrist. Seeing it was already past six in the evening, she wasn't surprised it was so dark outside.

"More than that, I've already had dinner. Are you hungry? Do you want me to help you make something to eat?"

Just as Xu Lin was about to refuse, she saw Qin Fang peek her head out of her own room. Seeing Xu Lin standing at the door looking pretty and chatting with Qian Li, she snorted, pulled her head back, and slammed her door shut. Qian Li rolled her eyes and gestured for them to go inside, and Xu Lin didn't stand on ceremony, inviting her in.