Chapter 39: Revenge Achieved, Lin Xiaodou Heads to the Countryside

As Wu Ya screamed, Lin Zhengmin forcefully locked her in the adjoining room.

"If you make any more trouble, I’ll have Xiao Hao fired immediately!"

Xiao Hao was Wu Ya’s eldest brother’s son, currently interning at the hospital and recently engaged to a woman from a respectable family. If he lost his job, the marriage would surely fall through. Wu Ya adored this nephew, even more than she had once loved Lin Xuefei. Even if she didn’t care for her own family, she couldn’t bear to see harm come to her nephew.

Sure enough, Wu Ya was even more agitated upon hearing this: "Lin Zhengmin, you heartless bastard! If you dare touch Xiao Hao, I’ll fight you with my life!"

Inside the room, the two quarreled incessantly. Outside, Lin Xiaodou munched on a handful of peanuts, openly eavesdropping.

Lin Xuefei emerged, dressed and full of resentment. "Sister, you forced me into this desperate situation. My reputation is ruined. Are you pleased to see me like this?"

Lin Xiaodou tossed a peanut into her mouth and laughed. "Listen to yourself. Did I force you to seduce Lin Zhengmin? People like you are always blaming others for your own mistakes, never once considering if you might be the problem."

Lin Xuefei gritted her teeth. "I’ve already been punished for what I did wrong. Can’t you let me go now?"

Lin Xiaodou replied, "No. Unless Wu Ya admits her guilt, I’ll still be visiting Professor Wang’s house tonight."

Lin Xuefei shot her a venomous glare and went to consult with Lin Zhengmin.

Before long, cries and wails sounded from the room—Lin Zhengmin had started beating Wu Ya, hoping to force her to take the blame.

Wu Ya had never imagined that one day her model husband would raise his fist against her for another woman, and even less that the woman would be her adopted daughter of seventeen years. Memories of happier times flooded her mind, now seeming unbearably ironic. She bitterly regretted ever loving an outsider so blindly. If only she had given Lin Xiaodou a little motherly affection back then, would things have turned out differently? But there is no remedy for regret in this world.

Her hatred boiled over. "Lin Zhengmin, Lin Xuefei, I curse you both to die miserable deaths!"

Her enraged, twisted roar only brought another, even more brutal beating.

Listening to the commotion inside, Lin Xiaodou found it all absurd. Some men, she mused, would do anything for the sake of a woman’s beauty. Perhaps it was also because so much had happened lately, one thing after another catching Lin Zhengmin off-guard, that the usually composed man had now completely lost his sense.

This farce, she thought, had almost run its course. It was time to end it.

Lin Xiaodou stepped outside, and soon returned with a group of enthusiastic elderly neighbors.

Sobbing, she pleaded, "Please, I heard my dad hitting my mom. She’s crying so terribly. Please, help me talk some sense into him!"

Those living in southern Beijing’s city center were all wealthy or influential. Hearing trouble at Vice Director Lin’s house, everyone hurried over to join the spectacle. As soon as they entered the living room, the sounds of violence and cries from upstairs were unmistakable.

Someone frowned. "What’s with Vice Director Lin? He always seemed so refined, yet now he’s beating his wife?"

Another said, "You, go upstairs and break up the fight. I’ll go with the others to fetch the neighborhood committee director for mediation."

"Alright!" Everyone nodded and set to their tasks.

Soon, Wu Ya was rescued from her beating. Seeing so many people present, she lost her composure and blurted out all the sordid things her husband and adopted daughter had done.

Just then, the neighborhood committee director arrived with a group in tow. Upon hearing Wu Ya’s accusations, everyone was stunned. Good heavens, how brazen Vice Director Lin was—to commit such beastly acts! And to think they’d been neighbors with him for years, never suspecting a thing.

Scornful, disgusted looks fell upon Lin Zhengmin, whose mind exploded in panic—everything was ruined! All because of that wretched woman, Wu Ya! His eyes reddened with fury, and he lunged at Wu Ya, hand raised to slap her.

Screams erupted as some hesitated to react, but the committee director quickly pulled Wu Ya to safety. Lin Zhengmin stumbled and crashed to the floor, blood streaming from both nostrils. An angry woman rushed over and kicked him repeatedly.

"You coward! What kind of man hits a woman? After committing such shameless acts, you still think you’re justified?"

Lin Zhengmin, pale-faced, was led away. Hiding in a corner, Lin Xuefei was also dragged out. Wu Ya, in her accusations, had exposed not only the affair between Lin Xuefei and Lin Zhengmin, but also Lin Xuefei’s involvement in Professor Wang’s father’s accident.

The neighbors all knew about the Wang family’s tragedy. Learning that Lin Xuefei had caused the old man’s death, everyone was furious. A fierce woman grabbed her by the hair and dragged her outside. Lin Xuefei wept in pain, loudly insisting it wasn’t her fault and blaming Lin Xiaodou.

Lin Xiaodou squeezed out a few crocodile tears, about to protest her innocence, but a sharp-tongued aunt beat her to it.

"You shameless hussy! You enjoyed seventeen years of a good life, and now you blame someone else when you’re in trouble? I’ve never seen anyone as brazen as you!"

That left Lin Xuefei speechless. Eventually, she was dragged away, her face ashen.

Once the crowd dispersed, Wu Ya hurried to leave. She needed to return to her family and inform her brother’s household, so they could prepare for the fallout. The scandal was too great; both her family and her husband’s would be affected.

Passing by Lin Xiaodou, Wu Ya paused. Faced with this unfamiliar daughter, her feelings were complicated. At first, she had hated her for ruining their seemingly perfect home. But now, she almost wanted to thank her. Without her, she might never have seen her husband’s true nature. Yet, pride would not allow her to say thank you, for she simply couldn’t bring herself to like this daughter.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Ya left without looking back. So be it; from now on, they would go their separate ways.

...

The Lin family’s scandals soon swept through all of Beijing. The entire social circle was in uproar. The city’s First Hospital immediately dismissed Vice Director Lin Zhengmin and suspended Wu Ya from her position as head nurse. Lin Zhengmin, for his egregious behavior and the disastrous influence he had on society, was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in the borderlands. Lin Xuefei, for causing death by reckless driving, was sentenced to twenty years in prison, to remain behind bars for life.

By the time the male protagonist finally managed to pull some strings and get released from prison, he heard the news and flew into a rage, believing that Lin Zhengmin had abused his woman. So, on the train taking Lin Zhengmin to the border, he stabbed him more than twenty times with a knife, killing him on the spot. He was apprehended by the railway police and later sentenced to death.

The Lin family of medicine had been destroyed—some dead, some in prison, even Old Chen had left. In the end, only Wu Ya and Lin Xiaodou remained. But peace did not last long. Soon the house was robbed; aside from the building itself, nothing was left—not even the toilet paper in the bathroom had been spared.

Wu Ya, with no options left, begged her family for help. Yet the same brother’s family that had once courted her favor now beat and kicked her out. "Go back to your Lin family! It’s your fault for exposing your husband’s scandals and dragging us Wu family down with you!"

Wu Ya was devastated by her family’s coldness. Bedridden, with no one to care for her, she coughed up blood daily and lived out her remaining days in utter misery.

Someone might have asked, didn’t she have a daughter? The very night Wu Ya returned from her family’s house, Lin Xiaodou boarded a train to the countryside, determined to start anew far away.

She had already avenged the original owner. Now, she would live for herself. She wanted to find a place where no one knew her and begin again. As for her wretched, ailing mother—farewell, and good riddance! She was done serving her.