Chapter Sixty-One: A Warmhearted Soul

"This—this can't be right," Li Fugui stammered, clutching the place where he kept his money close to his chest. "We had an agreement…"

"We did, but it was you who broke your word first!" Zhao Lan'er shouted in anger.

She was still mourning her mother's death, and these beasts dared to take advantage of her in her grief.

"We can't leave empty-handed…" Li Fugui tried to resist, but when he saw Lin Hongda raise his fist, he was so frightened that he hurriedly pulled out his money and threw it on the ground. Then, along with the other three, he fled as fast as he could.

As he ran, he shouted back at them, "Just you wait! I'll tell my sister about this, and she’ll make you pay!"

Lin Hongda sneered in disdain. Li Fulan? Afraid of her?

Zhao Lan'er bent down to pick up the silver, but did not stand up immediately. Instead, she held her mother's memorial tablet tightly, unable to stop crying.

Lin Sangqian felt her nose sting as she watched, and went over to gently pat Zhao Lan'er’s shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Zhao Lan'er wiped her tears and choked out, "You’re Sangqian, right? Sangqian, thank you, and thank you too, Uncle. If it hadn’t been for you two, I would have been ruined by those beasts."

"What happened exactly?" Lin Sangqian crouched beside her, asking with concern.

"My mother, my mother…" Zhao Lan'er could not go on, and started sobbing again.

When her tears finally subsided, she slowly recounted to Lin Sangqian all that had happened in her family recently.

Her father, Zhao Liang, had only been a day laborer, with little money to his name. Later, he married her mother and inherited her maternal grandfather’s small tavern, finally enjoying a comfortable life.

Over the years, her father had treated her and her mother reasonably well, though he often complained about wanting a son. But after her mother gave birth to her, she was never pregnant again.

No one expected that just seven days ago, her father brought a woman home, claiming she was pregnant with his child and insisting on marrying her.

Her mother fainted from anger on the spot.

After she regained consciousness, her mother resigned herself to fate and agreed to let the woman enter their home as a concubine.

But Zhao Lan'er always felt the woman had sinister intentions and could never be content as a mere tavern owner’s concubine.

Then, two days ago, Zhao Lan'er went out to buy some goods, and when she returned, she found her mother dead.

Her father and that woman told her that her mother had taken her own life by poison, unable to bear it anymore.

Yet she could never believe her mother would commit suicide! Her mother had told her not long ago that she would wait until Zhao Lan'er married, seeing her wed her beloved and have children, promising to prepare plenty of dowry for her. Her mother worried most about Zhao Lan'er—how could she possibly abandon her and end her own life?

Zhao Lan'er was convinced her mother had been murdered by her father and that woman!

But she had no evidence, no way to bring those two villains to justice…

Her father even refused to pay for her mother’s funeral.

Fortunately, Zhao Lan'er had saved a little pocket money over the years. She managed to bribe some relatives with a few hundred coins, asking them to buy a coffin and help her carry her mother out of town.

Li Fugui and his fellow pallbearers were also found by her relatives, but she never expected them to be so disgraceful.

If she hadn’t met Lin Hongda and Lin Sangqian today, she felt she would have gone to the grave alongside her mother.

Hearing her story, Lin Sangqian clenched her fists.

She had been infuriated by Aunt Niu’s husband’s deeds before, but never imagined there could be even more vile, shameless people in this world!

She’d seen plenty of scoundrels in modern times, but rarely one as despicable as Zhao Lan'er’s father!

"What will you do from now on?" Lin Sangqian asked.

Zhao Lan'er shook her head painfully. "I don’t know. I can’t go back to that home. Just seeing my father and that woman disgusts me. I hate them!"

"Do you want to avenge your mother?"

Zhao Lan'er paused, then gritted her teeth. "Of course I do! My mother can’t just die in vain! But…"

She was only thirteen, powerless to confront her father and that woman.

Lin Sangqian sighed.

She understood—Zhao Lan'er had grown up carefree, and at her age, how could she have faced such calamity? The fact she managed to arrange her mother’s funeral was already remarkable.

"Father, let’s help her bury her mother," Lin Sangqian said.

"Alright," Lin Hongda immediately agreed.

Together with Zhao Lan'er, they dug a deep pit, lowered the coffin, and helped fill it with earth.

When all was done, Zhao Lan'er knelt before her mother’s grave and bowed three times with great solemnity.

"Mother, rest assured. I will find a way to avenge you! Even if I lack the power now, I will do everything I can and never let those who killed you live in peace!"

By the time they returned to town, the sun was nearly setting.

"Where will you stay now?" Lin Sangqian asked Zhao Lan'er.

"I don’t know… None of my relatives will take me in," Zhao Lan'er replied in a daze. "I’ll have to find an inn for now. Luckily, I managed to get back those two taels of silver."

"It’s not safe for a girl to stay alone in an inn," Lin Sangqian sighed. "Why don’t you stay at my house for now? Father, is that alright?"

"I have no objection," Lin Hongda said.

He knew his daughter wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs, but once she got involved, she’d see it through with a warm heart.

Her system’s space required her to do good deeds, so perhaps this was fate.

"Really?" Zhao Lan'er was uneasy. "But you’ve already helped me so much today—I can’t trouble you any further…"

"It’s no trouble at all." Lin Sangqian took her hand with a smile. "We just moved to town today. You can help us warm the stove. If you don’t come, you’ll make me lose face!"

With that, Zhao Lan'er could not refuse.

She followed Lin Hongda and Lin Sangqian home, feeling warmth rise in her heart.

After her mother died, she thought her life would forever be shrouded in gloom.

But she never imagined she would meet someone as kind as Lin Sangqian.

In her heart, Zhao Lan'er resolved not only to avenge her mother, but also to repay Lin Sangqian’s kindness.

If Lin Sangqian ever needed help, she would spare no effort!

As they entered Fortune Lane, they saw Liao Shuxia standing at the door wielding a rolling pin, looking fierce.

Father and daughter nearly jumped in fright.

Oh no—they had gone to the market to buy things, promising to return by noon, but with everything that had happened with Zhao Lan'er, they’d forgotten all about it!

Now it was nearly dark, and they’d come back empty-handed!