Lin Anjie cried from the beating, her sobs quiet and fragnted, a sound so soft yet unbearably heartbreaking.
Wang Cuixhua felt a pang of pity and tugged at Lin Aiguo's arm.
Lin Aiguo, with a face ashen as iron, shook off Wang Cuixhua's hand and pointed at Lin Anjie: "Fine, I'll go to the Su family shortly and ask if it was indeed Su Zhiqiang who gave you the money."
Once he said that, Lin Anjie was genuinely filled with terror.
While crying, she fell to her knees with a thump: "Dad, I took it, it was ."
Lin Aiguo lifted his foot, intending to kick Lin Anjie away.
But when he raised his foot, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"This isn't all the money."
Lin Aiguo spread the money in his hand: "Where did you spend the rest?"
"I... I spent it."
At this mont, Lin Anjie would absolutely not confess that so of the money was with Anning; she could only admit to this setback: "I used it to buy things."
However, Lin Aiguo was not soone who could be easily fooled: "Where are the things then?"
"I, I..."
Lin Anjie couldn't finish her sentence.
Lin Aiguo knew she was lying again.
"Alright, if you say the money is spent, since you can't produce the remaining sum, it will be deducted from your dowry. I was originally planning to convert the bride price from the Su family into your dowry for you to take with you, but now that's impossible. The money you took will be deducted from the bride price provided by the Su family; whatever is left after deduction will be your dowry."
"That's not acceptable."
Lin Anjie abruptly stood up: "I... cannot deduct from my dowry."
Lin Aiguo glared at her: "You steal money and still have the face to set conditions with ? Let tell you, not taking it from the dowry is absolutely impossible. If you continue to create a fuss, I'll deduct your entire dowry and send you to the Su family with nothing but the clothes on your back."
Lin Anjie was genuinely terrified, she shrank back and dared not speak again.
But her heart was filled with hatred.
She thought to herself, when Su Zhiqiang makes his fortune in the future, she would definitely seek justice for the humiliation suffered today — neither her parents nor her brothers would receive her help, no matter how they pleaded.
"That's enough, go back to your room and sleep."
Seeing Lin Aiguo's anger cooling, Wang Cuixhua quickly pushed Lin Anjie: "Be more filial in the future, and stop angering your dad."
Lin Anjie, with her head down, said nothing in response and quickly entered the room.
Anning had been listening to the commotion from her room the entire ti.
Hearing that the hall had quieted down, she knew that Lin Aiguo, his wife, and Lin Anjie must have all gone back to sleep.
She waited a while longer before reaching into a hole in the wall of her room to pull out a roll of money.
This money was exactly the amount Lin Anjie had placed in her room in an attempt to fra her.
Anning took out the money and counted it, then smiled.
There was quite a lot of money — over eighty dollars — showing just how much Lin Anjie was willing to invest in her sche.
But now, Lin Anjie's plan to steal chicken had backfired, and instead of framing her, she ended up incriminating herself. This money just ended up benefiting Anning.
After counting the money, Anning locked it away in a drawer.
She had thought about finding ways to earn a little money before, but she had no capital and was too busy studying at school every day to have ti for work, so she had to give up the thought.
But now, with so money in hand, she could fully consider starting a small business.
As the New Year was fast approaching, Anning was thinking about using the holiday break before the New Year to earn so money. She needed to save up so capital, as she planned to travel around after her college entrance exam the following year in search of business opportunities to earn the tuition fees for the three years of university. If she encountered a good opportunity, she might even make enough to buy a house in the Capital.
Furthermore, Anning was preoccupied with another matter.
She had learned of an incident from the mories of her previous life.
In her past life, after the college entrance exam, the Lin Family faced an incident.
Lin Aiguo, at that ti, went to work in the City with people from the village in order to make more money. He worked on a construction site as a bricklayer.
Lin Aiguo had been working for a while and indeed earned so money, but he was unlucky. One ti while working, he fell from a rooftop and broke his leg.
Seeing the situation, the foreman ran away at once, refusing to provide any dical treatnt for Lin Aiguo.
The Lin Family had no choice but to pay for Lin Aiguo's dical treatnt themselves. Lin Aiguo's fall was quite severe, and the county hospital was not up to the task, so he had to be admitted to the City hospital.
It was particularly expensive to stay in the City, and Lin Aiguo's dical bills were not a small amount either. The Lin Family went to great lengths to raise the money.
At that ti, Lin Anjie had actually earned so money. When Wang Cuixhua went to borrow money from her, Lin Anjie complained bitterly, saying that the Su family was poor and she had no money, and she didn't lend a penny to Wang Cuixhua.
At that ti, to pay for Lin Aiguo's dical treatnt, the original soul who failed the college entrance exam could only get married and use the bride price money from her husband's family to pay for Lin Aiguo's surgery.
And the person she married was even introduced by Lin Anjie.
Thinking of these mories, Anning planned to be extra careful during the sumr. First, to prevent Lin Aiguo from having an accident, and second, to save up so money early in case Lin Aiguo still couldn't escape his fate. Then she would have sufficient funds for his dical treatnt.
After thinking for a while, Anning lay down on her bed and fell asleep.
Because she went to bed late, Anning woke up late the next day, and upon awakening, she slled a delicious aroma.
She got dressed and went out, only to see that breakfast had already been prepared in the main room.
After breakfast, Anning took a walk outside and then ca back to help Wang Cuixhua with the chores.
In the afternoon, Wang Cuixhua cooked so pancakes for Anning, packed a jar of pickles, and also gave her US$ 10, telling her to eat sothing good at school.
Anning didn't refuse; she took the money, packed up her things, and left for school.
After that, everything was peaceful and quiet.
Anning imrsed herself in studying at school, and in addition, she paid special attention to maintaining good relationships with her classmates.
The most important thing was that Anning kept all her words and actions in alignnt with the original soul, making sure not to give anything away that might seem amiss.
Ti flew by particularly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of Lin Anjie's marriage to Su Zhiqiang.
Anning took a day off to go ho on the eve of the wedding.
That day, the Lin Family's courtyard was especially lively. Relatives from the ho and surrounding areas had all co over, with many bringing items to add to Lin Anjie's dowry, as well as so who were there to help.
Carrying her bag, Anning greeted everyone along the way and quickly entered the house.
She placed her bag on the bed and took out a pair of pillowcases from it.
Holding the pillowcases, Anning entered Lin Anjie's room.
Lin Anjie and several village girls were sitting on the bed, looking at the red dress she was going to wear the next day. When they saw Anning co in, Lin Anjie's face went sour for a mont, but then she was all smiles: "Anning, when did you co back? You must be tired, sit down and rest a bit."
Anning also had a smile on her face, her softly spoken words endearing: "I just got back. I bought you a pair of pillowcases in town, rember to put them in your trunk."
The pillowcases held by Anning were beautifully colored and embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water. They were very pretty and made of fine material, clearly not cheap.
Lin Anjie's sisters were particularly envious of this pair of pillowcases. They only had good things to say about Anning and praised her to Lin Anjie, which made Lin Anjie even more frustrated.
Anning set down the pillowcases and after standing for a while, she left.
Instead of resting inside, she helped Wang Cuixhua entertain the guests.
Anning was busy running about, while Lin Anjie sat indoors without showing her face.
The visiting relatives all had a clear idea in their minds; they couldn't help comparing Anning with An Jie and found Anning much more agreeable. They felt An Jie was temperantal, lazy, and unpleasant to be around, not nearly as likable as Anning.
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