Invisible wall
This year is the warmest and most comfortable year that Lin Xueyin has had since she went to the countryside.
The scent of home soothed her nerves, which had been tense for months. Su Yuzhen found ways to make delicious meals for her, trying to make up for the lack of food and clothing her daughter had lost in the countryside. Although Lin Guodong was a quiet man, the concern in his eyes and the occasional pat on her shoulder brought Lin Xueyin a long-lost sense of peace.
She slept in a soft, warm bed, free of musty smells and hard, shaky boards. She wore clean, comfortable old clothes, no longer needing to wear dusty work clothes. She and her mother went shopping in the department store, which had regained some of its vitality. Looking at the dazzling array of goods and listening to the familiar local accent, it seemed as if those years in the countryside had been just an overlong nightmare.
She was almost returning to the carefree, slightly spoiled Lin Xueyin of the past. Her complexion gradually returned to normal, and the calluses on her hands softened with careful care. She studiously avoided thinking about the Red Flag Commune or that man, locking the brown paper package and the pebble deep in the bottom of a drawer, trying to completely seal away that memory.
Her father, Lin Guodong, was even more enthusiastic, working tirelessly to find his daughter a job back in the city. The Post and Telecommunications Bureau had already made preliminary arrangements, and all they had to do was wait until after the Lunar New Year and go through the necessary paperwork to get their daughter hired as a telephone operator or clerk. This, in their view, was a perfect opportunity.
"Yinyin, don't worry, Daddy has arranged everything. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, you will go to report and stay with your parents from now on. You won't go anywhere else." At the dinner table, Lin Guodong said to his daughter confidently.
Lin Xueyin looked at the new white hair on her father's temples, her nose sore, and she nodded heavily: "Thank you, Dad."
However, just as the New Year atmosphere gradually faded away and Lin Guodong was about to go through the final procedure to officially transfer his daughter's file to the Post and Telecommunications Bureau, an invisible but indestructible wall stood silently in front of him.
The old classmate he had contacted who had some connections in the Labor Bureau had previously assured him that there would be no problem, but this time he looked hesitant, pulled him aside, and lowered his voice:
"Lao Lin, this matter...I'm afraid it's a bit troublesome."
Lin Guodong's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong? Has the quota changed?"
"It's not a quota issue." The old classmate looked around and lowered his voice, "It's someone up there... who gave us a heads-up."
"Say hello? Who?" Lin Guodong was puzzled. He thought to himself that he had been very considerate in arranging things for his daughter's job and had not offended anyone.
"I don't know who it is exactly. It's too high up, out of reach." The old classmate shook his head, confusion and a hint of awe on his face. "I only know that it's from... Beijing. It's been specifically mentioned that your daughter Lin Xueyin's file and connections cannot be touched for the time being, especially not within the postal and telecommunications system."
"Beijing?" Lin Guodong was completely stunned. His Lin family had been ordinary people for three generations, and he himself was just a small-time manager at the post office. How could he possibly be related to "Beijing"? And he specifically mentioned his daughter?
"Is this a mistake?" Lin Guodong couldn't believe it.
"No doubt about it," the old classmate said with a wry smile. "The file has been locked. No one dares to touch it without their permission. Old Lin, tell me the truth. Your Yinyin is in the countryside... Did she meet someone extraordinary?"
Lin Guodong was struck by lightning and froze in place.
A country...an extraordinary person?
His mind flashed back to his daughter's occasional absent-minded look after she returned, the "brigade care" she had casually mentioned, and the silence deep in her eyes that was inconsistent with her age...
A vague yet shocking guess poured over his body like ice water, making his hands and feet cold.
He returned home in a daze, facing the concerned eyes of his wife and daughter, and didn't know how to start the conversation.
"Dad, are the procedures ready?" Lin Xueyin still had a hint of anticipation.
Lin Guodong looked at his daughter's clear, slightly uneasy eyes, and his throat tightened. He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound steady:
"Yinyin, tell Dad the truth. In Hongqi Commune...besides the brigade cadres, who else do you know?"
The color on Lin Xueyin's face disappeared completely in an instant.
She understood.
That "stronger force" is coming.
Like a giant net that has been woven long ago, no matter how warm the harbor she escapes to, it can still cover her accurately.
She opened her mouth, wanting to deny, wanting to explain, but all the words were stuck in her throat under her father's gaze that was insightful yet filled with worry and pain.
She lowered her head, her fingers tightly twisted around the corner of her clothes, her nails digging into her palms.
It turns out that what he said about "waiting for her to return to the city" was not empty talk.
It turns out that the "short-term freedom" he gave was nothing more than a game of cat and mouse.
He never let go. Even when she thought she was about to be reborn, he used this most direct and cruel way to declare his ownership and control over her.
A chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, even more biting than the coldest winter in Hongqi Commune.
In the end, she still couldn't escape from his grasp.
The air in the living room seemed to freeze.
Lin Xueyin's pale face and sudden silence said it all. Su Yuzhen's teacup clattered onto the table, spilling tea everywhere. She was completely oblivious, staring at her daughter in horror.
Lin Guodong's heart sank to the bottom. He suppressed his turbulent emotions, his voice trembling slightly. "Yinyin, what's going on? Explain clearly!"
Lin Xueyin raised her head, her eyes red and tears welling up inside. She knew she couldn't hide it any longer. She couldn't let her parents worry about her without knowing what was happening, which might even cause her more trouble.
She took a deep breath, her voice choked with sobs, and spoke lightly:
"He...his name is Song Zhiyuan, and he's an educated youth from Beijing."
"From Beijing?" Lin Guodong frowned, which confirmed what his old classmate said.
"Yeah." Lin Xueyin lowered her head, not daring to meet her parents' eyes. "He...he has a lot of prestige in the commune, and Captain Zhao...he listens to him. When I first started working there, I didn't know anything, and my hands were worn out from the work. He...he helped me a few times."
She omitted the coercion, possession and fear, and only picked out the initial seemingly "normal" help.
"Later, I didn't have to go to the fields to go to the radio station. It was him who...spoke for me." She continued, her voice gradually becoming quieter. "He has a rather cold personality and doesn't like to talk much, but...but..."
She hesitated for a long time, unsure how to describe that twisted relationship. Was he good to her? What about that night in the barn? Was he bad? What about those occasional maintenance and the tranquility of the mountain stream?
Su Yuzhen grabbed her daughter's hand anxiously: "Yinyin, did he bully you? Tell mom!" Looking at her daughter's appearance, she already had the worst guess in her mind.
Lin Xueyin's tears finally fell. She shook her head vigorously, then nodded, confused: "No... No... Mom, don't ask anymore..."
Her hesitant, aggrieved, and fearful look tore at Lam Kwok-tung and Su Yu-chen's hearts. They were not fools, and they knew their daughter's behavior was more than just a matter of "help."
"What about his family situation? Do you know?" Lin Guodong grasped the key question. For someone like him to have the capital make a call and have his files sealed, he definitely didn't come from an ordinary family.
Lin Xueyin shook her head blankly, tears streaming down her face. "I... I didn't ask. He rarely talked about himself. I only know... he seemed to have grown up in a military compound. As for the rest... I don't know. I really don't know..."
Only then did she realize with uncanny clarity how little she knew about the man who had forcefully entered her life and controlled everything about her. Apart from his name, his origins, his terrifying desire for control, and the complexities he occasionally revealed, she knew nothing about his family or the forces behind him.
And this unknown seems particularly terrifying at this moment.
Lin Guodong and Su Yuzhen looked at each other and saw deep powerlessness and fear in each other's eyes.
A young man from Beijing, with an unfathomable background, who exerted an unknown influence on his daughter in the countryside, and can now easily block his daughter's way back to the city.
It was like an invisible mountain, pressing them down so hard that they couldn't breathe.
"Did he...did he ever tell me what his plans were for you?" Lin Guodong asked the question with difficulty.
Lin Xueyin remembered Song Zhiyuan's words, "Wait until you return to the city," and the address he had ordered her to write to. She trembled slightly. She didn't dare utter the words "possess" or "belong to him," and could only mumble, sobbing, "He...he said...wait for me to return to the city."
Wait for me to return to the city.
These four light words now seem as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He wasn't asking for her opinion, nor was he expressing his longing for her. Instead, he was announcing a result. And now, he was using his own way to make this result a reality.
The living room fell into a dead silence. Only Lin Xueyin's suppressed sobs and Su Yuzhen's silent tears could be heard.
The warm feeling of the New Year has long since disappeared, replaced by a bone-deep chill and helplessness in the face of such a huge monster.
Lin Guodong leaned dejectedly against the sofa, closing his eyes. He had spent his life cautious and hardworking, wanting only to provide his family with a stable life. He had never imagined that his daughter's trip to the countryside would lead her into such a difficult situation.
The job fell through, and their daughter's future seemed to be strangled by an invisible hand. And they didn't even know who their opponent was or what they wanted to do.
This feeling of being completely out of control makes people despair.
Lin Xueyin looked at her parents, who had aged so much in an instant, and the guilt and pain in her heart almost overwhelmed her. She had thought returning home would be a relief, but she had never expected that it would bring even greater trouble and worry to her beloved family.
For the first time, she realized so clearly that Song Zhiyuan's existence was not only related to her personally, but had become like an invisible net that enveloped her entire family.
She is unable to break free from this web, and her family seems equally powerless to fight against it.
The road ahead seems to be shrouded in fog, with no light visible.
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