"What kind of place is this? Is it even habitable?"

Qin Huaiyi looked at the empty little house in front of her. There was no furniture inside, but there was a lot of sand piled up.

“We can all stay here, so why can’t you?” The woman who led her there had a veil wrapped around her head, revealing only her eyes.

You could tell from her eyes that she disliked Qin Huaiyi.

"Your neighbors are all educated youth sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. They're from big cities too, so why aren't they as pretentious as you?"

"Pack yourself up. Get up as soon as it's light tomorrow."

"Why are you getting up?" Qin Huaiyi thought to herself that she always slept until she naturally woke up at home.

The woman pointed to the sparse woods in the distance and said, "What are you doing here? You come to the forest farm but you don't plant trees or do any work. What are you doing here?"

"I'm warning you, if you don't work, you won't get any food."

Qin Huaiyi was stunned.

This news was a complete shock to her.

She always thought she was just moving to a different place to avoid the limelight. Qin Jinye had arranged everything for her, from food and clothing to accommodation and transportation, and it wasn't much different from Beijing.

I never expected that I would have to work after arriving at the forest farm.

Looking at the dilapidated bungalows and the forestry workers she could vaguely see in the distance, she finally began to feel afraid.

The bag contained the money Yao Huixian had given her, but she dared not leave it lying around. She could only hold it in her hand and go to the place where she had registered her information to find a phone number.

The forest farm, located on the edge of the desert, is quite large, and it has basic facilities such as telephones to facilitate communication with the outside world.

The man didn't make things difficult for her, only reminding her that she had to pay for making phone calls and to be mindful of the time, as exceeding the time limit would be very expensive.

Qin Huaiyi tossed him ten yuan with a displeased look, "Isn't this enough for one phone call?"

The man's face stiffened, and he looked at her strangely, as if she were a lunatic.

Qin Huaiyi didn't take him seriously at all and made a phone call to his home.

"Hello."

The person who answered the phone was Yao Huixian.

Qin Jinye was at home at the moment. He had been promoted to mayor and was currently enjoying great success. He walked with a swagger and always had a smile on his face.

"mom."

Yao Huixian was taken aback when she realized it was Qin Huaiyi. After a moment of surprise, she quickly asked, "Xiaoyi, are you doing well over there?"

All she knew was that Qin Jinye had someone send Qin Huaiyi to the Northwest, but she didn't know where.

"Mom, this forest farm looks so poor, it's not a place for a human to live. Ask Dad to find me another place."

"The people here are cruel. They don't feed us if we don't work. I'm starving to death, I'm going to die, Mom, please beg Dad for me..."

"Still have to work? No food to eat?" Yao Huixian was anxious and called to Qin Jinye, "Old Qin, what kind of terrible place did you arrange for Xiaoyi? Come here quickly, Xiaoyi has something to say to you."

Qin Jinye's smug expression faded somewhat. He walked over, picked up the phone, and said, "Hello."

"Dad, I was wrong, you..." Qin Huaiyi kept complaining, hoping that Qin Jinye would soften his heart and give her a different place, or transfer her back to Beijing.

Qin Jinye listened quietly without making a sound.

Qin Huaiyi spoke for more than ten minutes, until her throat was dry, before finally concluding, "Dad, I want to go back to Beijing."

"You think I'm joking with you?" Qin Jinye finally spoke.

Yao Huixian nudged him, "Xiao Yi is suffering over there, and she knows she was wrong, so let's send someone to bring her back."

Qin Jinye glanced at her indifferently and said to Qin Huaiyi on the other end of the phone, "Work hard over there, plant trees, prevent wind erosion and sandstorms, respond to the national call, and do something useful for the country, society and the people."

"Dad?" Qin Huaiyi gripped the phone tightly, a strong sense of foreboding washing over her. She pressed on relentlessly, "When are you going to pick me up?"

Qin Jinye did not answer, but said, "If you meet a nice guy over there, you can get to know him. You're at the age where you should get married and start a family."

Qin Huaiyi's body trembled slightly. "No! I want to go back to Beijing."

Qin Jinye: “Going back to Beijing is a dead end. You know what you’ve done. If you behave well over there, I can send you money and supplies regularly every month. But if you do something shameful again, then you can fend for yourself.”

After saying that, he ignored her pleas on the phone and hung up coldly.

Yao Huixian snapped out of her daze and angrily yelled at Qin Jinye, "Xiaoyi is our daughter! How can you just leave her like that in a place? Are you trying to drive her to her death?"

Qin Jinye remained completely calm, picking up the newspaper reporting his promotion to mayor and reading it over and over again in a good mood.

"Qin Jinye, you have to give me an explanation for this." Seeing that he was still in the mood to read the newspaper, Yao Huixian snatched it away and tore it up.

Qin Jinye frowned. "What explanation can I give you? Didn't Xiaoyi bring this upon herself?"

"Did I send her to kidnap the Chu family's precious child?"

"Did I ask her to hire someone to stab Yu Shen's wife?"

"Did I let her use the family's money to support a man outside the home?"

“Take any one of these three things, and tell me, how many lives would she have to redeem herself?”

Yao Huixian backed down, her arrogance diminished. "You...aren't you the mayor? You have the authority to find your daughter a better place, don't you?"

Even if Xiao Yi broke the law, they are not ordinary families. If someone is killed, they will pay with their life, not to mention that they haven't even killed anyone yet.

Didn't we find that precious child of the Chu family? Lin Xiaoxiao didn't die, she just got a small cut, is it really that big of a deal?

Whether it's true or not is not up to her or Qin Jinye.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!