Pretty and charming, dressed in the 90s, she's good at everything from making money to causing

Uncle Nie took a deep breath and calmed himself down before continuing, "Miss Lin, you may have encountered a swindler. I don't know the exact amount Mr. Jiang paid for this factory, but it must have been at least one or two million."

"Okay, I understand, thank you." Lin Ting glanced at Aunt Zheng's bewildered expression, which seemed to question the meaning of life, and silently sat up straight, putting some distance between them.

"Miss Lin, do you need me to come over?" Uncle Nie was a little worried about Lin Ting.

"No need for you to get involved, it's a small matter." Lin Ting's tone was light. "You go ahead with your work, I won't bother you any longer."

"Okay, call me if you need anything."

"Okay, thank you."

Lin Ting hung up the phone and turned to Zhao Lijuan: "I'll give you a chance to rephrase your words."

Zhao Lijuan didn't hear the contents of the phone call, but judging from her third sister's expression, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on.

Her expression turned completely cold. She frowned, pointed at Lin Ting, and said to Aunt Zheng, "Third sister! I'm your own sister! You trust an outsider but not me? Who knows who she called? Maybe they even arranged it all!"

Lin laughed: "What do you mean by 'as agreed'? I didn't know you were here before I came."

“I’m not going to talk to a little girl like you,” Zhao Lijuan said, unilaterally refusing to continue the conversation with Lin Ting. She only said to Aunt Zheng, “Third sister, don’t say I didn’t tell you. If you don’t help today, Da Ning will be in trouble in the future. I won’t be able to help you if anything happens to your family!”

Aunt Zheng didn't speak. She sat blankly on the kang (a heated brick bed), staring at the cast on her leg, unable to utter a single word.

She felt like her head was filled with a tangled mess of yarn, unable to sort it out or get it out of her mind.

what is going on actually?

She clearly didn't tell anyone that her family was rich, but her second sister knew she was poor... So why would she think of coming to me to borrow money?

And that factory, they said it would cost several million, how did it become two hundred thousand?

Aunt Zheng wanted to know many things, but she couldn't get the answers she was looking for.

Zheng Miaoying had moved to stand in front of Lin Ting at some point.

She moved slowly, step by step, until she stood between Zhao Lijuan and her mother.

Yingzi clenched her fists, blinked a few times, but showed no sign of panic.

She looked at Zhao Lijuan and said, "Second Aunt, this money doesn't belong to my family. You can't force my mother. Besides... my brother Ning didn't even come to see my mother when she was sick a while ago. I had to pay someone to carry her home after she was discharged from the hospital... We can't even count on you now, let alone in the future?"

Zheng Miaoying's voice was still soft and gentle, sounding completely harmless.

But her gaze startled Zhao Lijuan.

She felt as if her niece had suddenly become incredibly insightful.

In the past, what could she do besides cry?

It's developed a brain; that's quite frightening.

After Zheng Miaoying finished speaking, she unconsciously pursed her lips again.

She didn't understand why Lin Ting suddenly said he was there to collect a debt, but she accepted the offer entirely out of trust in Lin Ting.

Now she understands; her aunt was lying to them. Perhaps she really needed the money, but she wasn't telling the truth.

Their family only had that four thousand yuan, which was the source of their mother's confidence.

No matter who the other party is, you must not be deceived.

She still believed that Lin Ting would not harm her or lie to them.

Zhao Lijuan stared at Zheng Miaoying for a while, then suddenly raised her hand and slapped her across the face.

When people can't articulate their reasoning, they often resort to the violence ingrained in their animal instincts to solve problems.

But just as she raised her hand, a bamboo ruler suddenly struck her forearm.

That was a ruler for measuring cloth, a foot long, and it was new, with the end wrapped in copper.

As luck would have it, the copper piece scratched Zhao Lijuan's palm, leaving a whitish mark.

"Ow!"

The attack was swift and brutal, and Zhao Lijuan jumped down immediately.

Holding the bamboo ruler, Lin Ting said innocently, "It is the duty of every good citizen to stop others from committing violence within their capabilities."

Suddenly, Aunt Zheng, who was in a daze, was startled back to her senses.

"What...what is this all about..." Aunt Zheng tried to stop her, but her leg was still not fully healed, and her mobility was severely limited.

Lin Tingzao threw the bamboo ruler back onto the kang (a heated brick bed), nodding repeatedly in agreement with Aunt Zheng's words:

"That's right, that's right, Auntie, what are you doing? Why are you hitting Yingzi? Even if an elder is disciplining a child, you can just pat her on the bottom a couple of times, why are you aiming for her eyes? With that big gold ring of yours, you're going to poke Yingzi blind!"

She had her back to Aunt Zheng, but glanced at Zheng Miaoying as she spoke.

Zheng Miaoying felt a strong sense of familiarity when she saw that look in her eyes.

It looks just like the look in her eyes when she gave herself special permission to cry that day...

Zheng Miaoying looked at Zhao Lijuan, who was yelling that her arm was broken, and after thinking for two seconds, she decided to listen to her cry!

So, Zheng Miaoying cried... cried... tried very hard to cry...

If you don't cry for too long, you won't be able to cry anymore.

Yingzi was so anxious that she was sweating profusely. In desperation, she covered her face and burst into her mother's arms, pretending to cry.

"Waaaaah... Mommy, my aunt is going to gouge my eyes out..."

For Aunt Zheng, Zheng Miaoying was her lifeline.

In an instant, all the deception and the relatives became unimportant!

She hugged Zheng Miaoying tightly, holding her close in her arms. Seeing that the money was still in her hand, she directly stuffed it into Lin Ting's hand.

She clenched her fists and said to her still wailing second sister, "Second sister, you should go. I have no money and can't help you... I won't bother you anymore. If my daughter thinks I'm a burden, I'll drink pesticide myself the day I can't move anymore. I won't burden anyone."

Zhao Lijuan's wailing stopped abruptly.

She stared at Aunt Zheng with venomous red eyes, as if she were looking at an enemy.

At that moment, she finally understood—she couldn't take those four thousand yuan with her.

"Zhao Lili, you've got some nerve! You just stood by and watched someone die, huh? Well, nobody's going to have an easy time from now on!"

Zhao Lijuan said this and turned to leave.

She slammed the door shut with a deafening crash, nearly causing the innocent wooden door to break apart from its frame.

The well-worn lock had two nails chipped out, rendering it completely useless.

Lin Ting casually put the money on the kang (a heated brick bed), got up and went to the door. Peeking in, he saw that Zhao Lijuan had really left, so he took a rolling pin and temporarily blocked the door.

Inside the house, Aunt Zheng let out a long sigh.

She stroked Zheng Miaoying's head and whispered, "Alright, stop pretending, she's gone."

Zheng Miaoying lifted her head from her mother's arms, her eyes brimming with tears, the cinnabar mole between her eyebrows standing out vividly red.

She said, "Mom, you're not angry with me, are you?"

Aunt Zheng leaned wearily against the pillow. She opened her mouth, but tears fell first.

"It's not your fault...you did it to save me...but Yingzi, you can't hide things from Mom like this anymore. We spent so much money on the New Year, what will you do after that..."

Aunt Zheng frowned as she looked at her legs, blaming herself for being useless and only causing trouble for the family.

"Mom, actually..." Zheng Miaoying felt even more guilty. She licked her lips and whispered, "Actually, the money wasn't borrowed..."

"what?"

Aunt Zheng was stunned once again.

In those short ten minutes, her heart was in turmoil, she just couldn't accept it!

She subconsciously looked at Lin Ting, who had returned with a water glass: "Then... Ting'er, what brings you here..."

Lin Ting handed her the water glass and said softly, "Auntie, please have some water to calm down... Actually, I didn't come here for anything else, I just remembered that my dad told you to remember to go for your follow-up check-up, and I was afraid you would forget the time, so I came to remind you."

Lin Ting didn't mention the store manager again.