Lin Qingqing kept her ears perked up, listening to the sounds outside. The more she listened, the more agitated she became. This feeling reached its peak when the village chief arrived.
She wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to run. Without a letter of introduction, she would be a drifter wherever she went.
The days of being a migrant worker might be better spent in Xiaowang Village.
"Lin Zhiqing, come out for a moment, I have some questions for you."
The village chief called from outside the door. Lin Qingqing stood by the bed, not daring to move forward. It wasn't until the village chief urged her several times that Zhang Zhaodi slowly approached. Only then did she scratch her hair and walk out, yawning as she reached the door.
"What does the village chief want with me? I wasn't feeling well last night and didn't sleep well. I was just dozing off in bed. I'm so sorry."
Despite her efforts to remain calm, her tightly clenched hands betrayed her true feelings.
"Lin Zhiqing, did you go to the commune yesterday?"
Lin Qingqing's heart skipped a beat. "I didn't."
"You still say no? Someone saw you sneaking back from outside yesterday."
The village chief was obviously bluffing her, but Lin Qingqing didn't know that and genuinely believed that she had been seen by someone by accident.
"I wasn't feeling well yesterday and didn't want to go to the doctor, but I felt so bad that I had no choice but to go."
After saying that, she looked scared again, "I didn't lie on purpose just now. After what happened to Gu Zhiqing today, I was afraid that if people knew I had been to the commune, they would suspect me. But I really didn't do that kind of thing."
"An'an, although we don't live together, we've never had any grudges against each other. How could I possibly harm you? Don't you agree?"
Gu An'an watched her performance quietly, but she had to get her to cooperate.
Sorry, she doesn't have that hobby.
What a joke! Did she really think she didn't see the fleeting resentment in the other person's eyes? If she didn't even have that much insight, she would have died eight hundred times over in the apocalypse, and wouldn't have survived to the day she transmigrated into the book.
"Are you sure you didn't do this? I heard that the person who tried to forcibly take me away today came to the village looking for you before?"
Zhou Dong did come to the village, but only once, and no one saw him.
Having read many novels, Gu An'an considered a possibility: it was also a scam against her.
Lin Qingqing's face grew increasingly grim. It had been almost two years since Zhou Dong came to see her, yet someone still remembered.
With a sigh, Lin Qingqing said helplessly, "Since we've come this far, I won't hide it from you anymore. I do know Zhou Dong. He saw me when I went to the commune that time, and he relentlessly pursued me and even came to the commune."
“But I’m a good family’s daughter. How could I get involved with a scoundrel? So I kept my distance from him. Even when I went to the commune, I went with someone else, just in case something bad happened.”
"I've already avoided him so much, how could I possibly ask him for help again? I'm not stupid, why would I let myself walk into the lion's den?"
As she spoke, Lin Qingqing shed two tears, which made her look especially pitiful.
"Oh? Is that so? Since you said you went to the commune for medical treatment yesterday, then tell me which doctor you saw, when you went, and what medicine you were prescribed. As long as everything you say matches up, I'll consider it a mistake and I'll apologize to you later."
Lin Qingqing wasn't sick at all. Besides, she was only focused on getting back before everyone else finished work yesterday, so she didn't have time to go to the hospital and naturally couldn't give a clear explanation.
Just as she was thinking of an excuse, Gu An'an said, "You're not thinking of saying that you got better as soon as you arrived at the commune, so you didn't go to the commune hospital, are you?"
When Lin Qingqing came out, she didn't close the dormitory door. Gu An'an immediately noticed that Lin Qingqing's little sheepskin shoes, which she only wore when going to the commune, were covered in dirt.
"Huh? Lin Zhiqing treasures these shoes a lot, how come they're so dirty today?"
Gu An'an walked into the yard, her fingers gripping the heel of the little leather shoe. "This is still top-quality humus soil, with rotten leaves still attached."
Gu An'an threw her shoes on the ground, her smile fading as she stared intently at Lin Qingqing. "It seems Lin Qingqing took an unconventional approach yesterday."
The villagers could tell at a glance that Lin Qingqing's shoes had been worn on a back path. The road from their village to the commune had been repaired, and the weather had been sunny lately, so normal walking wouldn't have resulted in such dirt. These shoes clearly showed that she had walked on a back path, and even a section of it was on the shady side.
Lin Qingqing could no longer maintain her composure, but she remained stubbornly defiant.
Gu An'an didn't care whether she admitted it or not, as long as she tore off that layer of hypocrisy.
"Lin Zhiqing, it's easy to encounter ghosts if you take the wrong paths too often, so it's best to be careful."
Gu An'an left first, leaving Lin Qingqing to be pointed at and gossiped about by everyone.
"An'an, she's using dirty tricks behind our backs, are we just going to let this go?"
Gu An'an sneered, "Forget it? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
Zhou Yue got excited and kept asking Gu An'an what her backup plan was, but Gu An'an just smiled mysteriously and didn't say anything else.
That evening, Gu An'an went into the house early, but quietly slipped out of the courtyard just as Zhou Yue fell asleep.
As soon as she left Xiaowang Village, Gu An'an took out a bicycle from her spatial storage and sped towards the commune.
Before coming, Gu An'an had already found out the locations of Zhou Dong and Zhou Hongbing's homes, so this time she went straight to her destination.
Gu An'an went to Zhou Hongbing's house first, and when she arrived, Zhou Hongbing was just about to leave.
“I know. You go back and look after the children. I’ll come back as soon as I’m done with work.”
The woman beside him straightened his clothes, and couldn't help but complain, "Working overtime, working overtime, I see you haven't done anything else lately except work overtime."
Zhou Hongbing said gently, "If I don't work overtime, how can I get promoted? How can I earn money to support you and the kids? It's getting cold, hurry back. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning."
The woman was instantly reassured by him. "I know, don't worry about me at home. You too, don't overwork yourself. If you're sleepy, take a nap in the office."
Gu An'an hid around the corner and overheard their conversation, but she simply didn't believe that Zhou Hongbing would actually go to work overtime.
To put it bluntly, even the mayor doesn't necessarily work overtime all night every day, let alone him.
The woman closed the door and went back inside. Zhou Hongbing left, and Gu An'an followed steadily behind him.
After following Zhou Hongbing for three turns, they finally stopped in front of a house.
He knocked three times, and the door opened in less than a minute. A woman who still looked charming came out and immediately grabbed Zhou Hongbing's arm and pulled him inside.
Before closing the door, Gu An'an saw Zhou Hongbing pat the woman's butt, which made her giggle. Gu An'an could easily guess what would happen next.
顾安安没停留，重新回到周宏兵家，躲在夫妻俩窗户下变着声说道，“你怎么知道周宏兵偷人了？”
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