Chapter Ninety-Five: The Jade Pendant

"What did you say?" Lin Hongda's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Everything that had puzzled him suddenly became clear in that moment.

He had once suspected that the original host was not the biological child of Madam Lin Zhang, but the thought had only flashed through his mind before he dismissed it. Now, it seemed they truly were not mother and son by blood.

But in the original host's memories, his father had treated him rather kindly...

"You are not my son!" Madam Lin Zhang's face twisted in anger. "You—you are the bastard that dead man sired with some woman outside!"

Lin Hongda furrowed his brow.

His father was clearly a gentle and devoted man—how could he possibly have had a child with another woman?

Madam Lin Zhang, half-mad, spilled out what had happened back then. After organizing her scattered words, Lin Hongda finally understood what had transpired.

His father and Madam Lin Zhang had originally had only two sons: Lin Shengrong and Lin Jiantong.

But one day, his father returned home with a baby in his arms—Lin Hongda himself.

His father claimed to have found the child by the riverbank.

Though Madam Lin Zhang was displeased, thinking there was now another mouth to feed, she said nothing more. At least he was a boy, another hand for labor in the future.

Not long after, however, rumors began to spread in the village. They said Lin Hongda was not picked up by the river but was actually his father's child with another woman.

The gossip was vivid and convincing. Since Madam Lin Zhang already harbored doubts, she now believed it even more firmly.

She quarreled with her husband, and no matter how he explained, she was convinced Lin Hongda was the child of some vixen from outside.

She wanted to send Lin Hongda away, but his father refused. So, Madam Lin Zhang began to abuse him.

"So that's how it was..." Lin Hongda clenched his fists.

From childhood, he had eaten the least, worked the hardest, and was beaten and scolded daily. His two brothers often bullied him, and his life was worse than the lowest servant in a landlord's house.

His father was always busy outside and had no time to protect him.

When he grew older, had it not been for his father's insistence, he might never have married. In the end, he married an orphan with no father or mother—the original host of Liao Shuxia.

"You call me a bastard—what proof do you have?" Lin Hongda demanded angrily. "Just because of village gossip, just because of your own suspicions, you tormented me from childhood?"

Though he had not personally experienced these things, since he had crossed over, he would seek justice for the original host!

"So what if I abused you? You deserved it!"

"Even now, you feel no remorse." Lin Hongda felt a deep sorrow. "You probably don't know, do you? Even after all your abuse, I still regarded you as my own mother."

For a moment, Madam Lin Zhang's expression went blank, but she quickly became fierce again.

"Don’t play such tricks! You deserved every bit of suffering, deserved to be poor your whole life, deserved to never have a good day..."

"On that, you are wrong." Lin Hongda was thoroughly disappointed in the old woman and spoke coldly. "I am living well now, have plenty of money, a good job, and my daughter owns a thriving business."

"Shut up! You—"

"I came here today to retrieve the deeds to my house and land."

Madam Lin Zhang glared at him. "You still want the house and the land? You're not even my son—"

"Those were left to me by my father!" Lin Hongda said sharply. "Before he died, he made it clear—they were for me!"

Even if the original host was not the Lin family's biological son, he had done so much work over the years that even taking the house and land, his conscience was clear!

Moreover, his father had said with his own mouth that those were meant for the original host, so now, he had to reclaim them on his behalf!

"You can dream!"

"This is the magistrate’s verdict," Lin Hongda said icily. "If you refuse to give them to me, then you can join your two sons and daughters-in-law in the magistrate’s cell."

Madam Lin Zhang gave an involuntary shudder.

She was too old to endure hardship, and more than that, she feared her two sons would be implicated and spend even more time in jail...

Her withered hands slowly reached under the pillow and pulled out a box.

Opening it, she took out several property and land deeds.

She sorted through them, then with trembling hands selected one deed to the house and one to the land, and passed them to Lin Hongda, her reluctance showing so plainly that she was on the verge of tears.

Lin Hongda took them without hesitation and glanced at them.

They were the very ones he remembered.

And they were all he wanted.

"Since I've retrieved what was mine, I won't trouble you further," Lin Hongda said. "Take care of yourself."

He turned to go, but had only taken a few steps when he heard Madam Lin Zhang’s trembling voice behind him.

"If I’d known it would come to this, I should have strangled you the moment your father brought you home..."

Lin Hongda stopped and stood silent for a moment before replying, "It's too late for regrets now."

"Yes. Too late."

Suddenly, Madam Lin Zhang began to laugh, but her laughter was tinged with tears.

Without looking back, Lin Hongda left.

Once outside, Lin Sangqian and Liao Shuxia hurried to greet him.

"How did it go?"

"I got them." Lin Hongda handed the deeds to Liao Shuxia. "Keep them safe."

"I will." After tucking them away, Liao Shuxia asked, "And her?"

"She doesn't look like she has many days left," Lin Hongda replied gravely.

Truthfully, he did not care much.

But the emotions of the original host still lingered in his body, making it impossible for him to feel any joy.

"Father, what did she say to you?" Lin Sangqian asked.

Lin Hongda recounted everything he had just learned.

Lin Sangqian suddenly remembered the dream she’d once had.

Could it be that the man she saw in her dream was her grandfather? And the baby rescued from the water was her father?

"So, you’re not really a Lin by blood?" Liao Shuxia gasped, her eyes wide. "Then who are your real parents?"

"How could I possibly know?" Lin Hongda said with a bitter laugh.

In these ancient times, with no means of communication, finding his birth parents would be harder than reaching the sky.

Lin Sangqian felt she was forgetting something, but that dream from days ago was already so hazy she simply could not recall.

"Since we’ve got what we came for, shall we go home now? It's getting dark."

"Yes, let's."

What they did not know was that inside the house, Madam Lin Zhang had taken out a jade pendant, a sinister smile appearing on her face.

"You little bastard, you will never find your real mother, never, ever..."

...

Yu Jingxiao once again graciously invited Lin Sangqian several times.

With the troublesome relatives dealt with, Lin Sangqian relaxed and agreed to cook a meal at the Yu residence.