After that, Lin Xiaowan and the others went to the ancestral grave to bury her father.

The sounds of cries rang in the air. Many relatives, whom Lin Xiaowan had never met before, came and went.

As the eldest daughter, Lin Xiaowan had to kneel to observe filial piety. Everyone was crying, but she did not shed a tear at all. Moreover, she felt the others were too noisy. Her aunt came over and said it was inappropriate that she did not cry. A few relatives, whom she was not familiar with, also came over and held her hand as though they were very familiar with her. They cried and told her how much her father loved and missed her, hoping she would cry after listening to their words. However, her expression remained cold as she kneeled silently.

Lin Xiaowan’s left knee was weak. She could not even go mountain hiking since it would aggravate her condition. It was November now so it was extremely cold. Even if she wore two pairs of thick pants, her legs were still stiff and painful from the cold, especially after kneeling for such a long time. If she moved even a little, her left knee would feel as though it was being stabbed by needles.

When it was finally time to leave the ancestral grave, it was already at night. Lin Xiaowan limped into her aunt’s car to return to Beicheng.

When they were in the car, Lin Xiaowan’s aunt gritted her teeth and scolded, “You’re already an adult so I really don’t want to say anything. However, how could you act like that? Your father is gone, but you didn’t even cry! Look at your sister! She’s so young, but she knows how to cry. Have you forgotten about your father after being away for a few years?”

Lin Xiaowan’s aunt continued to scold, “When our relatives spoke to you, you didn’t even greet them. Why are you so rude? I really don’t know what you learned in school. Why are you showing such a bad expression? Your biological father is dead!”

Lin Xiaowan remained expressionless. She had heard these words countless times in her previous life and had long grown tired of them. She leaned her forehead against the window.

The night was as dark as ink. The streetlights and a few occasional cars sped past outside the window.

‘Perhaps, I’m really an ingrate…’ Lin Xiaowan thought to herself. She did not have any feelings for her parents at all. She was like this when her mother died as well. It was as though she was born without any sense of kinship. Even in her previous life when she died, she did not spare any thought for her family at all. She only wondered why Huo Zheng cheated on her and why he abandoned her.

…

Lin Xiaowan asked her to stay for seven days for the funeral rites, but Lin Xiaowan shook her head. Then, she went around to look for a house. Her search was rather fruitful. She found a place with two rooms for 750 yuan a month.

The landlady was rather easygoing and easy to talk to; she told Lin Xiaowan that she only needed to pay a small deposit to start renting the house.

Lin Xiaowan did not agree immediately. After all, she still wanted to return to Sheng City to find Huo Zheng. After all, Huo Zheng had promised to cut off all contact with Song Zhiyi once the matter was over. She also wanted to hear about everything once the dust had settled.

Since Lin Xiaowan planned to leave, she had to buy another ticket. She had just brought her phone out to buy the ticket when she saw a notification for the trending news. It was news regarding Huo Zheng and Song Zhiyi.

[Breaking News! Real-life Cinderella! It’s suspected that there’ll be a happy occasion in the prominent Huo family soon, and an insider revealed that the bride isn’t from a prominent family!]

There were many headlines and news similar to this one.

The accompanying pictures were blurry, and only one out of nine pictures showed half of Huo Zheng’s face. Although it only showed a small part of his face, Lin Xiaowan could still see his high nose bridge and jaw.

Song Zhiyi stood next to Huo Zheng. She wore an orange winter coat with a white fur collar. She leaned against him, looking frail and innocent.

Lin Xiaowan clicked on the post with the most comments, which was also the one that broke the news. It had not been long since the post was published, but there were already more than 30,000 comments. Most of them were congratulatory and envious messages. A few people even commented that they could tell the man in the pictures was handsome even if the pictures were blurry.

[Damn, I can tell he’s handsome based on his side profile. He should be the younger Huo brother, right? I remember that the older brother got married a while ago.]

[Yes. I remember the older brother even announced that his wife gave birth safely quite a few years ago.]

[One of them is a high-ranking official in Shangxia while the other is a successful businessman. Whoever is able to marry into the family will definitely enjoy a lifetime of happiness.]

[Amazing! The Huo family doesn’t need business marriages with their status. This must be true love!]

[No one would dare to publish such news if it wasn’t true. What if they’re sued for spreading rumors? This also showed that this news is true!]

After reading a few comments, Lin Xiaowan thought about her previous life again. She recalled watching Huo Zheng put on a ring for Song Zhiyi from afar. In this life, she watched him do so through the phone screen.

‘It seems like he lied to me again…’

Lin Xiaowan lowered her head to hide her red eyes. She had already experienced it once in her previous life. God even gave her a second chance. Logically, she should have run far away from Huo Zhen. She should not have listened to him no matter what he said and severed all ties with him. Alas, she was weak and could not bear to part with the warmth and care he gave her.

She still remembered clearly that after she met Huo Zheng for the first time, the weather changed suddenly at the end of her shift at the amusement park. Dark clouds suddenly rolled in as thunder began to ring the air, heralding the arrival of a storm. However, she did not think too much of it; she was already used to being drenched in the rain since she was young.

At that time, she suddenly received a call from Huo Zheng. He only said that it was going to rain soon and told her not to leave yet. He told her to wait for someone to pick her up.

Since that day, Huo Zheng never let her get drenched in the rain again. He was the only one who worried about her not having an umbrella when it was raining. There were many other small trivial things like that in their relationship.

For example, Lin Xiaowan did not like Sichuan pepper. Whether it was raw or cooked, she could not eat it. She had dinner once with Huo Zheng, and he quickly noticed it. He did not say anything at that time, but there had never been any Sichuan pepper in their food since then.

Through these seemingly trivial things, Lin Xiaowan’s feelings for Huo Zheng gradually deepened. She became extremely dependent on him and began to obey his every word. Since he cared so much about her, even if he did not love her, he must have liked her.

Lin Xiaowan lacked love since she was young. It was not surprising that she was happy when she received just a little bit of love.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiaolin realized that the fondness she assumed he had for her was actually nothing.

Nonetheless, she still bought a ticket back to Sheng City. Her heart was calm when she left Sheng City, but it was filled with confusion and hesitation now that she was returning to Sheng City.

…

The situation in Sheng City was not stable.

In the end, the person who became the head of the Office of Military and Political Affairs was the current head of the Qin family, Qin Yanchuan. Qin Yanchuan was previously considered a double agent; he was on good terms with the Dong family on the surface, but he was actually on the Huo family’s side.

She still bought a ticket back to Shengjing. When she came, her heart was empty, but when she went back, her heart was filled with hesitation and confusion.

He might not love her, but why did he lie to her?

At this moment, Shengjing Sect did not seem to be stable.

In the end, the person who became the head of the Cabinet’s Military and Political Affairs Office was the current head of the Qin family, Qin Yanchuan. Qin Yanchuan was previously considered a double agent. He had always been on good terms with the Dong family, but he was actually on the Huo family’s side in private.