Chapter 150 – Rumors
Shen Huai had planned that, after a while, once the heat died down and the mother and son were no longer being watched, he would come back.
In fact, if Xu Jinning were here at this moment, or if she heard Shen Huai’s name, she would know who he was.
In this novel she transmigrated, Lin Wangshu was the female protagonist, and Shen Huai was the male protagonist.
As the man of the female protagonist, Shen Huai, the male protagonist, naturally had a complex identity. The plot gave Shen Huai a tragic childhood and later revealed his identity as a big shot in Hong Kong.
Xu Jinning knew that Shen Huai’s childhood was indeed pitiful, but his rise to power later on was always ruthless, perhaps involving many lives directly or indirectly.
The book said that Shen Huai fell in love with Lin Wangshu at first sight, and later, he ignored other women, even showing indifference towards them, while his only tenderness and love were reserved for Lin Wangshu.
In the end, the two naturally got married, and even in the years that followed, they became a model couple eagerly reported by the media.
That’s how the book was written, but in the real world, whether their feelings were truly strong remains unknown.
Meanwhile, Shen Huai rushed back to Hong Kong.
“How did it go? Did you find the person?” As soon as he got home, Shen Wen, his father, immediately asked.
Shen Huai looked at his father, who was now in middle age but still handsome, and shook his head.
Shen Wen, who had originally held a glimmer of hope, immediately had a slight change in expression, his demeanor tinged with disdain. He snorted coldly, “I knew it. Relying on you is useless.”
“You still dare to show your face in front of the old man,” he said, disdain evident in his tone. After speaking, Shen Wen didn’t look at Shen Huai again, picked up his clothes, hummed a tune, and left.
Shen Huai stood still, his hands clenched tightly, and his face devoid of any expression.
If one looked closely, they could see the coldness in his eyes.
At this moment, a middle-aged beauty hurriedly came downstairs.
“Ahuai, Ahuai, where’s your father?”
“Left,” Shen Huai replied indifferently.
“He left? Where did he go?”
Shen Huai shook his head.
Miao Lai slumped on the sofa, murmuring, “He must have gone to see that vixen again.”
“It must be Zhang Linglan, that despicable woman. She’s the one who seduced your father.”
As she spoke, Miao Lai started to cry softly.
Miao Lai naturally had the appearance of a delicate, innocent beauty, and her tearful appearance at this moment made her even more pitiful, inevitably stirring one’s compassion.
However, the person she wanted to comfort her, her husband Shen Wen, was not there.
Shen Huai furrowed his brow. He knew who Zhang Linglan was.
She was a rising goddess in the entertainment circle of Hong Kong in recent years.
Shen Huai also admitted that Zhang Linglan was indeed beautiful, and his father, with a penchant for beauties, naturally found her intriguing.
Looking at his mother’s appearance on the sofa, Shen Huai recalled many, many instances of such scenes from his memories.
A weak and indecisive mother who deeply loved his father would come to him and cry whenever his father pursued other women or flirted with them.
And then…
“Ahuai, you must make something of yourself, you must make your grandfather value you, preferably inherit the Shen family. Otherwise, sooner or later, that vixen will enter the door, and there will be no place for us mother and son in this Shen family.”
Miao Lai cried as she spoke, repeating similar words countless times from the past.
It was unknown if Shen Huai had absorbed any of it. He said, “He has done things like this before. Which of those women could last long, which could enter the Shen family’s door? Don’t think too much about it, just take care of yourself.”
“It’s different this time.”
“I think your father is completely captivated by that vixen Zhang Linglan this time.”
What particularly infuriated Miao Lai was when she went to confront Zhang Linglan, she actually said she had no interest in Shen Wen or entering the Shen family.
That lofty attitude made Miao Lai even angrier.
Zhang Linglan was just an actress, who knows how many people she slept with to climb to this position? What qualifications did she have to act so lofty?
She’s just a wh*re who sleeps around, why did Shen Wen have to fall for her and act like he could live and die for her?
Shen Huai rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He turned and walked away.
“Hey, Ahuai, I haven’t finished talking, where are you going?”
“To see Grandpa.”
“Then Ahuai, you must teach that vile woman Zhang Linglan a lesson for me.”
“…”
Shen Huai walked away quickly, not hearing the rest of her words. He didn’t want to hear them either.
*
The Lin family of three, upon returning to Haishi, faced consequences along with their punishment.
Lin Wangshu was dismissed, just the beginning.
Later, Lin Zhenghao was demoted, and Yao Shuimin was removed from office.
Not only that, for some reason, the reason behind the punishment of the Lin family of three spread as gossip.
Naturally, it was about the Lin couple swapping their child years ago and Lin Wangshu harming someone.
It was unclear who started spreading it or when it began.
During that time, the Lin family of three always felt that others looked at them with curiosity and scrutiny.
But initially, they didn’t know why.
It wasn’t until they accidentally overheard people discussing it that they found out the reason.
But by then, the rumors had spread, and some even approached the Lin family of three to subtly inquire.
They naturally denied it, but couldn’t explain why they were all punished together.
So, the rumor became more believable.
Of course, some friends of the Lin family who knew the truth also began to distance themselves gradually.
A family with such conduct as the Lin family of three wasn’t worth befriending.
“It must be someone related to that girl who spread it, and it’s intentional. Otherwise, how could everyone know?”
“Originally, not many people should have known about this!”
Yao Shuimin, who cared most about her reputation, was full of anger.
“It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t acted impulsively, your father and I wouldn’t be in this situation.” Yao Shuimin looked at Lin Wangshu beside her, her eyes full of blame, even a hint of coldness.
Lin Wangshu was immediately stunned in place.
“Alright, this can’t all be blamed on Shushu.” Lin Zhenghao spoke up. Swapping the children initially was their decision as a couple; Shushu was just an unborn child at that time.
“So what do we do now? You don’t know how harshly those people are speaking. Many of our old friends now avoid me when they see me.”
“What can we do? Nothing. Pretend we don’t know and don’t respond. With time, this will pass.”
“However, I’ll investigate this matter and see who’s spreading these rumors.”
Lin Zhenghao did investigate, but in the end, he found nothing.
**TN
I noticed some confusion, the Lin family wasn’t poor. They were thrown to the countryside by the govt at that time (the reason wasn’t mentioned). They didn’t commit any crimes, they were just ‘disliked’. There was a big movement against capitalists in the past, where all business owners, landlords, even fortune tellers, etc. they were either beaten to d*ath or sent somewhere to work without pay. WILD.
But now, they were allowed to come back to the city, so they got their status and properties back.
My other TL’ed novel LINK delved deeper into this topic and I also included some explanations. It’s completed. 😀
It wasn’t just against rich people but also against scholars. University professors were thrown into far away farm lands and, because it was done by the government, they ended up with a bad reputation where no one from the farming village was willing to help them.
They were also given the hardest jobs and abused by the villagers which caused most of the professors to develop health issues that caused early death and compensation from the government after reformation could never fix that.
The Lin family could have simply been thrown away because Yao Shumin was a professor with even some political rivals from Lin Zhenghao pushing the waves to get rid of him. Even if they had done nothing wrong they could get exiled during the revolution years.
Thanks for the explanation. I read that other novel but didn’t notice the focus on scholars and capitalists. I thought it was just expected that at least one person per family go in the countryside.
It’s true that at least one person from each family had to go to the countryside as an “educated youth” at the time, but they weren’t convicted of anything and sent for reform or punishment. There were also people sent to the countryside for punishment based on their occupation and/or political views, and they were the ones who lived the harshest lives, even worse than animals, and they were also the ones who were brought back from the countryside and reinstated to their previous positions and livelihoods after the reform took place. The Lin family is just one representation of the latter case.