Chapter 18 A Tangle of Love in the North City 03 Afraid You'd Run Away
Her second brother has always been smart and has a good memory. Since he said he might have heard it from Qin Hua, it's probably true. So she explained, "I just like staying at home and don't want to go out."
Lin Jinwen suddenly laughed, seemingly lost in thought, "She does look quite like her."
"So what kind of person will my future sister-in-law be?"
"He's lazy and loves to eat, has a bit of a temper, and often says things I don't understand, but he's kind and easy to fool."
After pondering for a long time, Lin Jinwen finally said this, which made Lin Tingyue's lips twitch. "That's it? Is that all the good points she has in your heart?"
"Oh, she can also paint, play the piano, and sing... By the way, I still have the portrait she gave me back then. Let me take you upstairs to see it."
Lin Tingyue followed her second brother to his bedroom. Above the desk hung many framed photos, the most eye-catching of which was a black and white sketch of a bust.
Lin Jinwen looks like his mother. Unlike his eldest brother, who has a cold and somewhat ruthless appearance, his second brother's appearance combines a refreshing youthful look with a refined and roguish charm. He is the most handsome man in the compound.
The painting captured his facial features, making it look exceptionally lifelike.
Lin Tingyue sat down at the desk, casually picked up a photo album, and said while looking at it, "This painting skill is obviously at a master level. You got a good deal."
"Then you have to help me even more, lest someone else beats me to it."
Lin Tingyue nodded in agreement, and after flipping through a few pages of photos, she found that the rest were all stamps. "I didn't know you had a hobby of collecting stamps."
“My dad likes collecting things. Some of them were collected by him before, but he gave them to me later. There are even a few misprinted stamps here.”
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
"Take a look for yourself." Lin Jinwen flipped through a few more pages. She didn't recognize the others, but the two misprinted stamps with the words "The whole country is red" were really eye-catching.
As someone who knows about the course of history, Lin Tingyue still felt a little bittersweet. "...Your hobby is really good; it could truly be a family heirloom."
Lin Jinwen scoffed, "So you know that too?"
"It will definitely be valuable in a few decades, don't you believe me?"
"That depends on whether I live to see that day."
Hearing him say that, Lin Tingyue actually did the math. By the time that stamp reached its peak value, her second brother would be sixty-eight, the perfect time to retire and travel around the country. "How about this, you give me one of these red stamps?"
Lin Jinwen could tell that she really wanted it, and her words earlier weren't a joke. She finally took these stamps seriously. "Alright, I'll give you one. I want to see how much it'll be worth in a few decades."
Lin Tingyue was in high spirits after getting a stamp that could be worth tens of millions in the future, and she even started humming a little tune.
"It's just a stamp, and you're so happy about it."
"What stamps?" Yu Xingzhou had just finished cooking and was unaware of what had happened between the two upstairs. He could only see Lin Tingyue laughing uncontrollably, a smile she usually wore when she felt she had made a fortune...
"Forget about the stamps for now, we'll make sure to entertain Second Brother properly tonight!"
The movie was scheduled for 6 p.m., and Lin Jinwen suggested that they go for hot pot after the movie, so the group went on an empty stomach.
When they arrived, Lin Tingyue belatedly realized that some places only offered movie screenings in borrowed venues or outdoors, without providing food or drinks. She looked around and saw a small shop about a hundred meters away, so she nudged her second brother with her elbow, "Hasn't your sister-in-law arrived yet? Let's go to the shop and buy some drinks first."
Lin Jinwen looked around and found that the people hadn't arrived yet. He then glanced at his watch and realized that they had indeed arrived more than ten minutes early. "Okay, let's go check it out first."
"Does Second Sister-in-law have any dietary restrictions?"
"I don't think so..."
Alright, that's a question for you.
Lin Tingyue took two bottles of soy milk and asked, "Master, could you heat them up?"
"Okay, I'll boil some water and put it in a basin to scald you. Can you wait?"
"Of course I can, thank you for your help."
When Lin Tingyue received the two slightly hot glass bottles, she handed one to Lin Jinwen, who glanced at it and said, "I'm not drinking it. You can give this to your second sister-in-law later."
"...Am I the one pursuing the girl or are you?" After she said that, the other person realized what she meant and quickly took the things. As expected of a leader, he always had his subordinates carrying and holding his things. Lin Tingyue shook her head at this.
But she didn't expect there would be even more people shaking their heads after her.
After the two sides met, Lin Jinwen introduced them first, and then they were about to go into the venue to sit down. Unexpectedly, Qin Hua deliberately lagged behind and naturally put her arms around Lin Tingyue's arm, saying, "Let's sit together later?"
Logically, she shouldn't have agreed, but Lin Tingyue couldn't refuse, so she could only nod.
"Great, beautiful sister, let's get together!" Qin Hua said, leaning her head against her shoulder like a big bird, which drew a soft laugh from the people who turned around to look.
"You're a month older than my sister, don't crush her with your big body."
"Mind your own business." Qin Hua glared at Lin Jinwen, then muttered under her breath, "A man with a sharp tongue and a scheming personality like him will never find a wife in his life."
Lin Tingyue was now completely certain that this woman wasn't a local either...
She lost interest in what the movie was about after that; she just waited until the screening ended to figure out how to reunite with her relatives.
"I need to go to the restroom first." After the movie ended, Qin Hua was the first to get up.
"I'll go too." Lin Tingyue followed closely behind, and the two even held hands, which made Yu Xingzhou envious. He also wanted to hold hands with his wife like that in public.
Lin Jinwen patted him on the shoulder, "Alright, stop looking, let's go ride the bike over first."
After the two who had separated from them came out of the restroom, Lin Tingyue deliberately didn't rush back and slowed her pace. Suddenly, she asked, "You're not a local, are you?"
This was the first time Qin Hua had been asked if she was a local. A slightly more thoughtful person might have overthought it, but she was remarkably oblivious. "Yes, I am, but unlike you, I haven't grown up in this compound."
"But judging from your attire and the words you use, you seem to have traveled from another time."
"..." Qin Hua's mouth dropped open, and she subconsciously looked around to see if anyone else was there before grabbing Lin Tingyue's hands and jumping up and down excitedly, "You also came from another time?! I knew I couldn't be the only one who transmigrated..."
After exchanging information, she discovered that Qin Hua was a reincarnation and didn't know that this was actually a period novel; she had simply died suddenly in her previous life and been reborn here.
Qin Hua sighed, "Well, at least you're a supporting character. I should just be one of those characters whose name is mentioned only briefly, an NPC with no screen time..."
Lin Tingyue: "Now that we're all here, we are the protagonists of our own lives. Why should we care whether we have a role in the original story?"
“That’s true. Besides, we still have memories of our past lives, which gives us a significant advantage over others. We can take the college entrance exam at the end of this year. I’m going to try for the Central Academy of Fine Arts. I wouldn’t even dare to dream of that in my previous life.”
"Great job! I saw the sketch you drew of my second brother, it's really amazing!"
The moment Lin Jinwen was mentioned, Qin Hua showed a look of utter disgust. "Sigh, I'm not trying to be mean, but your second brother is just handsome. His mouth is so venomous that you could poison yourself with just one lick."
Lin Tingyue nodded in agreement, "Indeed, I'll have a good talk with him when I get back. How can he pursue a girl like that?"
"...What do you mean by chasing girls? Don't scare me!"
Lin Tingyue raised an eyebrow, teasing her deliberately, "You think he's pursuing you?"
Qin Hua was speechless when asked the question, unsure whether to say yes or no. Afraid of making a fool of herself, she then heard Lin Tingyue continue, "I am indeed pursuing you, otherwise why would I go to the trouble of getting tickets for this insider film to invite you to watch it?"
Considering Lin Jinwen's recent change in attitude, Qin Hua blushed. "Hmph, you think you can win me over by watching a movie? Dream on."
Lin Tingyue smiled and shook her index finger from side to side. "Of course not. How you want him to pursue you, and for how long, is entirely up to you."
"I'll think about it..."
After that, the two acted as if nothing had happened, each getting on the back of their bicycles and going to eat hot pot.
During the event, all four of them drank some alcohol. Yu Xingzhou had the lowest alcohol tolerance; he would flush after just a little and feel sleepy after a little more, so he leaned on Lin Tingyue's shoulder to rest.
On the way back, Lin Tingyue rode her bicycle with Yu Xingzhou on the back. As soon as she sat in the front seat, the man pressed down on her like a mountain, his long arms tightly hugging her waist.
"Are you holding on so tightly? Aren't you afraid it will fall?"
"I'm not afraid... but I'm afraid you'll run away..."
Lin Tingyue felt as if she had been struck in the heart, and she paused for a moment before continuing to pedal.
After returning to the compound, the two bicycles separated. Lin Jinwen wanted to take Qin Hua home first, as the two might talk for a while. So Lin Tingyue took the half-drunk Yu Xingzhou home first. The lights in the house were still on, and the parents, who had just finished washing up, were about to go upstairs to rest, so they didn't pay any attention to the young couple.
Lin Tingyue helped Yu Xingzhou to the bathroom first, and took advantage of the fact that no one was using it to wash up quickly. However, Yu Xingzhou, who had been drinking, was particularly clingy and kept hugging her, refusing to wash up.
"Wash up first, then we can go back to the room and hug for as long as we want."
Yu Xingzhou then picked up his toothbrush, while Lin Tingyue took off her clothes and hung them in the outer room. After pulling the shower curtain, she used the hot water she had prepared earlier to wash her body.
The sound of water pouring down behind the curtain seemed to be stirring his heartstrings. Yu Xingzhou splashed the cold water on his face, and his drunkenness quickly subsided.
"Xingzhou, could you get me a bath towel?"
"Okay..." Before he could even wipe the water off his face, he turned to grab a towel hanging on the wall. With the curtain slightly lifted, he could catch a glimpse of the woman's curvaceous figure.
"There's still enough water, come in and take a shower too." She said as she put on a bath towel and came out, but she didn't cover up any of the parts that should be covered. Yu Xingzhou was afraid that things might get out of hand here, so he quickly went inside.
Lin Tingyue slowly dried herself off and applied lotion to her face and body before putting on her clothes.
After Yu Xingzhou finished washing up, he cleaned the bathroom. Lin Tingyue then boiled two more thermos flasks of water. One flask was left for Lin Jinwen, who hadn't returned home yet, while the two of them carried the other upstairs.
The man seemed to have been waiting for a long time. As soon as the door closed, he pinned the person against it, lowered his head to find those lips, and his tongue took the opportunity to slip inside. Both of their mouths tasted the same toothpaste.
Since setting off for Beicheng, the two hadn't been this intimate. They had finally rested these past two days, and with a few drinks tonight, they were both somewhat infatuated. They kissed and took off their clothes, and although the room was a little cool, their bodies were burning hot.
Over the past year, Yu Xingzhou had gained a lot of weight, and with the added work, his strength had increased considerably. His slender muscles were just right, and he was currently lifting the person up and pressing them against the door panel, while the equally strong, smooth legs were tightly wrapped around the man's waist.
After a surge of waves, she was carried by Yu Xingzhou to the desk. Her legs were still a little weak when she landed, but before she could stand up, the man hugged her tightly from behind and continued to stir up trouble.
The two of them didn't finish until late at night. They only brought two small umbrellas, but they used them both. They'll have to go to the hospital again tomorrow.
The next day was sunny, and the two decided to go out for a stroll. After leaving the compound, they took a bus to the Forbidden City.
At that time, unlike later generations when tourists flocked to the area, people needed letters of introduction to travel far away, and these letters had time limits. Without a letter of introduction, even finding accommodation became a problem, and people would be arrested as hooligans and sent back to their original locations.
The two spent the whole morning wandering around inside. After coming out, they found a restaurant to eat at before heading to the hospital to collect family planning supplies.
As she exited the hospital, she made eye contact with a man in his twenties with a buzz cut. He looked wary, and his eyes conveyed a sense of utter distrust. At the same time, Lin Tingyue noticed the medications he was carrying—all for cleaning and bandaging wounds…
At that time, the public security was not as good as in later years. Even in the northern city, Lin Tingyue, who had been a special police officer for so many years in her previous life, could almost instinctively tell who was suspicious.
"Let's not go home yet, let's follow that guy and see." Lin Tingyue deliberately avoided walking on the same road as the man with the buzz cut, crossing the street and walking on the other side, even speeding up her pace to walk faster than the man. At the next intersection, they would take out a map and pretend to look at the route, only following the man with the buzz cut after he made a move.
As they walked along, Lin Tingyue became increasingly convinced that the man with the buzz cut was a criminal. He was deliberately choosing to walk in crowded places, clearly trying to hide himself in the crowd.
"Should we continue following him?" Yu Xingzhou didn't know why she suddenly wanted to follow a strange man with a buzz cut, but he felt that they were going further and further into the desert, and the area was full of houses.
"Yes, but you might need to go back and report to the police later." They did pass a police station on their way here, but it was a bit far from the houses.
The man with the buzz cut finally stopped in front of a house, knocked on the door and went inside. The two of them then slipped out and approached. After listening for a while while crouching by the outer wall, they heard the sound of the door closing inside. Lin Tingyue then went around to the back of the house, climbed over the wall and went in to eavesdrop.
"This is really bad luck... Ouch! Can you be a little gentler?!"
"You grown men can't even handle this little bit of pain? Why don't you do it yourself!"
"Alright! Hurry up and treat your wound. We'll go find Master Fei to deliver the goods later. If it weren't for the trouble you caused this time, we would have already taken the money and gone back to our hometown."
"It's all my fault, fine. Anyway, this is the last time."
"Are we really not going to dig anymore? I found out about a place a while ago..."
...
Judging from the voices, there should be three men. The man with the buzz cut is buying medicine because someone is injured, and the man who said he was delivering the medicine is probably the leader, and he sounds the oldest, around forty years old. Based on their conversation, these people are very likely tomb raiders.
Lin Tingyue quickly flipped over and told Yu Xingzhou to go to the nearby police station to call for help. She stayed here to prevent the group from leaving to deliver the goods and to find out their whereabouts.
She didn't know who "Master Fei" was, or what era the artifacts they had unearthed were from. Most importantly, she was worried that these newly unearthed artifacts might end up leaving the country...
Lin Tingyue tiptoed around to the front gate, took off the scarf around her neck, tied several tight knots in the two iron rings on the gate, and then searched for a few handy stones nearby and stuffed them into her pocket. Only then did she climb up a tree outside the courtyard and hide there for about ten minutes before the people inside finally came out. One person was carrying a sack and the other was carrying a wooden box, and it seemed that they were going to deliver the goods.
"What's going on?" The middle-aged man with graying hair looked closely when he couldn't open the door and found that the iron ring handle on the outside was tied. "Iron Head, were you followed when you came back?"
Tie Tou touched his head, which was so short it was prickly, and frowned, saying, "That's impossible..."
The middle-aged man made a quick decision: "Forget the goods, my life is more important, let's jump over the wall and run!"
When Lin Tingyue heard that they were going to climb over the wall, she quickly climbed down from the tree and hid behind it, waiting for the people inside to climb out. She threw a stone at them, and the first middle-aged man to come out twisted his ankle when he landed on the stone.
Those inside panicked upon hearing the middle-aged man's shout, "Uncle Jiu, what's wrong!"
The middle-aged man, panting heavily, said, "I stepped on a rock! Come and help me up!"
The second person, who was injured earlier, couldn't use his arms and could only climb up the wall by stepping on the back of the man with the buzz cut. Similarly, he stepped on a stone when he landed.
This time, the middle-aged man saw it coming from behind him. He pulled out a pistol from his waist, took out bullets from his pocket, chambered a round, and shouted, "Who goes there! Come out!"
Lin Tingyue didn't expect them to bring guns, but at this time, the guns could only fire one shot at a time, and their accuracy was not high. They just needed to use up all the bullets.
Seeing that she didn't come out, the two people opposite walked towards the big tree. As soon as the two approached, Lin Tingyue attacked the injured man first. Her punches were fast, accurate and ruthless, knocking the man to the ground. After a few more dodges, she prevented the middle-aged man from firing his gun.
"Hurry up! Come and grab this woman!"
The man with the buzz cut had just climbed out when he hurriedly turned around and came toward them. Lin Tingyue also ran straight toward Tie Tou, and the middle-aged man dared not fire his gun easily.
The two quickly became entangled in a fight. Apart from being strong, the man with the buzz cut was not skilled in combat. Even if he managed to grab Lin Tingyue, he would be quickly beaten and thrown away.
The middle-aged man with the gun behind him bypassed the view blocked by the man with the buzz cut, finally aimed at Lin Tingyue, and pulled the trigger. At that moment, someone in the distance roared, "Get out of the way!"
Police officers who rushed to the scene also pointed their guns at the other two men. The leader shouted, "Don't move! Hands behind your heads, squat down!"
Yu Xingzhou ran forward and hugged the woman in front of him tightly, as if he wanted to use his own body to shield her from all danger.
"I'm sorry... I should have run faster..." His voice trembled so much it was almost inaudible, his heart filled with lingering fear.
"I'm fine, let go first." Lin Tingyue patted his back, and with her other hand ruthlessly pushed away the man's hand around her waist, but she didn't let go. Instead, she took Yu Xingzhou's hand and walked to the police officer in charge, saying, "Officer, there are still some goods in that yard that they haven't sold yet."
"I understand. You guys really went through a lot this time. If it weren't for you, these guys would have escaped." The man waved for his other uniformed subordinates to open the door, then turned to Lin Tingyue and continued, "Our informant gave us two locations, one of which was here. We thought we were sure it was at the other location, but we ran there and found nothing. When we came back here, we were worried we wouldn't make it in time. Luckily, you held them off..."
The leader was Lu Xiuyuan, the captain of the criminal investigation team of Beicheng Public Security Bureau. They had been trying to catch these tomb raiding gangs for nearly a year, but the other party was very cunning and always changed the transaction location at the last minute, causing them to miss their target.
The two had to go back to give statements, and they got into a police car.
Throughout this time, Yu Xingzhou held her hand tightly and refused to let go. Captain Lu, who was sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at her in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but say, "Your wife was almost frantic just now. She kept urging us to drive faster on the road. At the time, I was thinking, if she was in such a hurry, how could she bear to leave you there alone? I didn't expect you to be so capable. You didn't serve in the army before, did you?"
"No, I just learned a little bit from my father and brothers." Lin Tingyue was afraid of being exposed, so she could only use her family as a cover. But in fact, those who had practiced it knew very well that only someone who had trained for many years could have such power and precision.
However, Lin Tingyue denied it, and Lu Xiuyuan did not intend to expose her. He simply asked, "Where does Comrade Lin work?"
"I went to the countryside last year to support national construction."
Hearing her say that, Lu Xiuyuan was amused and asked her, "Would you be interested in coming to support our criminal investigation team?"
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