Mr. Lu, don't be arrogant.

"Jiangcheng."

Lu Linfeng and Mu Wanying's attention were both attracted by the old lady.

When answering the old lady, I looked at her intently.

When Mu Wanying brought him in, his grandmother was not at home. Later, he lay in the house and fell asleep, so his grandmother didn't even see him.

It was not until this moment that he and the old lady officially met.

But I didn't expect the old lady to react like this.

Lu Linfeng has been good at observing people's words and expressions since he was a child.

Especially since he grew up in a family like that, the first thing he did when he walked home every day was to read the expressions of the elders in the family, which was a compulsory course engraved in his mind.

So of course he didn't think that the old lady was frightened by him, a stranger.

Instead, I suddenly recalled what happened when I overheard a fierce quarrel between my parents on a stormy night when I was a child.

Just about to ask something.

But the old lady had already left the kitchen with a pale face.

From then on, the old lady was like an amnesiac. No matter how Lu Linfeng tried to test her, she would just shake her head and say she knew nothing, without revealing any flaws at all.

Lu Linfeng couldn't find any information, so he turned his attention to Axia and Axia's father, Uncle Chu.

But Axia knew nothing.

Uncle Chu was busy working, and no matter whether Lu Linfeng was hinting at something or speaking directly, Uncle Chu just didn't respond.

You can talk as much as you want.

He just thinks he is dumb.

Lu Linfeng was really at a loss and could only put the matter aside for the time being and instead focus all his attention on the girl he almost lost.

That night, the falling snow, which had been absent for two years, reappeared at the call of Grandma Winter.

If it were in the past, Mu Wanying might have been excited.

But now, whenever she closed her eyes, she felt like she was soaked in the freezing river water again, being tortured from head to toe by the endless cold current.

Hearing the violent draft howling in the room, Mu Wanying, whose hands and feet were already cold, was still shivering from the cold even after curling up in the thick quilt.

It was not until the man lifted the quilt and quietly crawled in next to her that she finally found warmth.

She really wanted to turn around and immerse herself, who was sealed in the ice cellar, into this warmth.

But the incident with the Barbie doll kept coming back to her mind.

A wall was built around her heart.

Blocking all her desires.

"Wanying, I'm sorry!"

While Mu Wanying was struggling in pain, the space on her back had been completely occupied by the man.

His two big hands, one above and one below, went around Mu Wanying's waist, holding both of her cold little hands in his palms, using the warmth of his palms to dispel the coldness in her hands.

He exerted force with his legs at the same time, gently clamping her feet, which were like ice holes, and used his body to absorb the cold air from her body.

His thin lips were pressed tightly against Mu Wanying's ear.

He confessed his guilt directly to the woman in his arms.

The moment Mu Wanying wanted to resist, he rushed forward and said, "It's my fault that I didn't protect you! It's my fault that I'm incompetent! It's my fault that you got hurt like this!"

Every time Lu Linfeng said a word, his heart ached a little more.

Especially during the time when he was tracking her footsteps by the river, his heart was broken, and he was in agony and praying every minute.

Fortunately, God has eyes.

Help him save her!

But the self-blame and guilt did not diminish in the slightest, instead they were engraved deeper into my heart.

"It's not your fault!"

Mu Wanying let out a low moan and didn't move, accepting his warm embrace.

When he first started to apologize, she thought it was for the Barbie doll.

I never expected that it was because of this. My frozen heart suddenly felt warm and began to melt quietly in his arms.

But the incident of the Barbie doll still lingered in her mind.

"If I didn't protect you, you should blame me! Don't worry, no matter who it is, no matter how capable he is, or what his reasons are, I will not let anyone who hurts you go easily!"

Lu Linfeng hugged her tighter.

It was as if if he let go, she would disappear again and be hurt again.

I have secretly vowed in my heart:

'Once I find those bastards, no matter what kind of monsters they are, I will make them pay a thousand times over for their actions!

Otherwise, in Jiangcheng, anyone would dare to make trouble for her, anyone would dare to step on her head, and anyone would dare to hurt her unscrupulously!

If I can, I don't care if my hands get dirty, and I don't care what kind of infamy I bear, I must kill those bastards with my own hands!

Thinking of this, Lu Linfeng gradually became a little crazy.

His mind was full of cruel and bloody revenge.

After realizing his condition, he forced himself to restrain himself and control himself.

It’s not that I’m afraid of God’s punishment.

It's not that I'm afraid of being criticized.

I was simply afraid of scaring her in my arms.

After calming down for a while, he returned to normal, then whispered in Mu Wanying's ear again and apologized for his past behavior, "Wanying, I'm sorry about that Barbie doll incident..."

"say no more!"

She was afraid of hearing what she didn't want to hear.

Speak out and stop it directly.

But Lu Linfeng didn't agree with her.

He mustered up the courage to whisper in Mu Wanying's ear, "I want to tell you! Wanying, the doll you saw that day was not Jiang Xia's."

"What do you mean?"

Mu Wanying suddenly turned over and looked directly at Lu Linfeng's big face. Her sharp eyes were like a hawk, staring at Lu Linfeng's eyes without blinking.

As if observing whether he was lying.

However, under the dim light, the man's eyes were as bright as stars and as sincere as the stars.

After taking a deep breath, he finally mustered the courage to tell what happened that year.

"I secretly burned Jiang Xia's doll back then! The one my dad showed you was the one I bought with my pocket money back then, ready to give to you!

If you don't believe me, I'll show it to you when we get back to Jiangcheng. You've seen Jiang Xia's dolls, and if you look closely you should be able to tell if that's hers or not!"

"what?"

Mu Wanying's head was buzzing and she couldn't calm down.

Lu Linfeng, who was facing her, nodded seriously and gave her a look of confirmation.

"Wanying, I didn't lie to you! I won't lie to you either!"

"That day I saw Jiang Xia bullying you, and I saw you suffer so much injustice."

"I was so angry that I secretly asked someone to help me buy an identical one for you, and I destroyed Jiang Xia's doll."

"But I didn't expect things to develop like that. I certainly didn't expect you to say with such hatred that you wanted to chop the person who took the doll."

"That's why I never dared to give you the new doll, let alone admit it."

Whenever he thought of this incident, he felt that he was too cowardly.

Because of her words, no one dared to mention the baby in front of her anymore, causing her to bear the blame for so long, and even leading to her gradually being unable to stay in the Jiang family.

In order to punish himself for being weak and cowardly, and also to encourage himself to be brave, he has kept the Barbie doll by his side all these years.

It's a warning.

It’s also a reminder.

But he never expected that the inconspicuous little thing would one day become a sharp knife that Lu Heng used to stab him.

"Wanying, I..."

The old story was finally told, but Lu Linfeng did not feel relieved. Instead, he looked at the person who was so close to him with a nervous look on his face.

I didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

Mu Wanying in front of him was already lost in memories and thoughts. It took her a long time to come back to her senses. She stared into his eyes and asked:

"Lu Linfeng, why were you so angry back then? Why did you give me the doll? And why did you destroy Jiang Xia's doll?"