Following her memories, Lin Xiaohe walked out of the school and was immediately drawn to a girl standing by the gate.
Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like pools of autumn water—deep, bright, sparkling with a shifting light when she glanced around, yet holding a touch of reserve and shyness.
“Second Sister! What are you doing here? I could have gotten home by myself.”
Lin Xiaohe stepped forward and took her second sister Lin Jingqiu’s hand.
Security on this planet wasn’t great. A pretty young girl like Lin Jingqiu, who was also born mute, could easily become a target for scum.
Lin Jingqiu looked at her little sister with a radiant smile, her eyes blinking like they could speak.
Meeting such a gentle gaze, Lin Xiaohe felt a rare pang of guilt.
Hanging her head slightly, Lin Xiaohe said softly, “I failed the exam.”
A flicker of regret passed through Lin Jingqiu’s eyes, quickly replaced by gentleness again. She reached out and ruffled Lin Xiaohe’s hair.
Lin Xiaohe looked up, meeting Lin Jingqiu’s concerned eyes. “Second Sister, do you want to find a job?”
Lin Jingqiu nodded.
“No way! Jobs are so hard to find. You should just stay home and look after Mom and Dad. Our homeroom teacher gave me a job application. I’ll go apply tomorrow. I’m sure I can earn enough for the taxes!”
Lin Jingqiu had made up her mind, but not wanting to upset her little sister, she just smiled and nodded.
The exam location was quite far from the Lin family home, requiring a bus transfer followed by a kilometer walk on foot.
On the bus, many people paid with facial recognition, but the Lin sisters dropped in star credits.
To activate facial recognition payment, you needed to pay an annual management fee of 20 star credits.
The stellar dust wheat the Lin family grew sold for only 8 star credits per kilogram!
The Lin family couldn’t bear to spend on activating facial recognition.
The bus traveled on an aerial rail, moving very fast. Before Lin Xiaohe could even take in the scenery outside the window, they had arrived at their stop and it was time to get off.
After disembarking, all around them were stretches of wheat fields, with sparse stellar wheat growing within.
The heads of this stellar wheat looked like tree galls—few, unsightly, some even a deep red, uncomfortable to look at.
Lin Xiaohe stopped in her tracks, brows furrowing. Suddenly, she heard a faint, whimpering cry in her ear.
[Hungry, hungry, food, food… Please help me!]
Lin Xiaohe turned her head, trying to figure out who was speaking.
A man wearing a helmet and gloves, his face obscured, suddenly emerged from the wheat field.
The man saw Lin Xiaohe, paused for a moment, then called out loudly, “Oh, Xiaohe, Jingqiu, you’re finally back! Hurry home and take a look, something’s happened at your place!”
Lin Jingqiu grabbed Lin Xiaohe’s hand and started running home.
The Lin family lived at the easternmost end of Hengshan Village, a usually quiet spot. Now, from far away, they could hear the sounds of an argument coming from there.
“Lin family! This year’s land tax, air purification tax, water fees, security maintenance fees—for your family of seven, the total is 24,310 star credits. If you don’t pay by the 15th of next month, we’ll have no choice but to ask you to leave the urban zone!”
Once outside the urban zone, you’d be completely exposed to stellar pollution. Without any protective measures, death was certain!
Villagers had gathered outside the Lin family’s door, watching the spectacle from a distance.
“I told them not to waste money letting Xiaohe take the exam, but they wouldn’t listen! My son just messaged me saying Xiaohe failed miserably. She actually dared to apply to the Federation Central Military Academy!”
“Lin Xiaohe really is… Money spent on her is worse than throwing it in the water. No one from our Wasteland Planet has ever gotten into the Federation Central Military Academy! What daydream is she having!”
“Over 20,000 star credits! The whole Lin family is disabled. The stellar wheat they planted this year also caught stellar blight, a total crop failure. Where are they supposed to earn that kind of money?!”
Lin Xiaohe pushed through the crowd and saw a man in a wheelchair, his legs missing below the knees, blocking the doorway, speaking reasonably.
“Brother Cheng, the deadline hasn’t arrived yet. What’s the meaning of this?”
The man called Brother Cheng patted the wheelchair-bound man’s face and sneered, “Lin Tieshan, since you call me ‘Brother,’ I’ll give you a way out. Sell me these fifty acres for 10,000 star credits. Then sell Lin Jingqiu to the theater—that’ll get you another 10,000. As for your daughter Lin Xiaohe…”
Lin Tieshan’s hands clenched into tight fists, veins bulging on his forehead! What kind of hellhole was the theater? Women who went in never came out!
Brother Cheng watched with a mocking smile as expressions of pain, anger, and helplessness flashed across Lin Tieshan’s face, like a cat playing with a mouse, savoring the prey’s desperate struggle.
None of the onlooking villagers dared to speak up. Though they were watching the commotion, they all felt a sour taste in their mouths, a sense of shared sorrow and pity.
Seeing her father being humiliated, Lin Jingqiu’s eyes instantly reddened. She rushed over, crouched by the wheelchair, and grasped Lin Tieshan’s hand.
Brother Cheng eyed Lin Jingqiu brazenly, from chest to waist to hips, as if appraising merchandise. “Jingqiu’s all grown up. Even though she’s mute, some big shots have a taste for that. I’ll try to sell you for a high price, only taking a ten percent cut. As for Lin Xiaohe…”
Brother Cheng suddenly stiffened. Something cold and hard was pressed against his lower back.
“Uncle Cheng, looking for me?” Lin Xiaohe pressed close to his back, blocking the view from others, her voice ghost-like.
Brother Cheng wanted to turn around, but the object against his back pressed harder.
“Uncle Cheng, don’t move,” Lin Xiaohe said softly. “It’s my first time using this thing, I’m not very skilled. Wouldn’t want it to go off by accident.”
Brother Cheng couldn’t see what the object was, only catching a glimpse of cold metal from the corner of his eye.
His face darkened completely. “Lin Xiaohe, are you resisting enforcement? When the patrol police arrive, you’re dead for sure!”
A flash of mutual destruction passed through Lin Xiaohe’s eyes. The hand holding the ‘gun’ was steady as a rock. “It doesn’t matter if I live or not. I just want you dead.”
Brother Cheng stared fixedly at Lin Xiaohe, his face turning pale, then flushing red.
Everyone present was stunned by Lin Xiaohe’s reaction.
“Xiaohe, don’t be impulsive! Even if you did poorly on the exam, you don’t need to throw yourself away like this.”
“Brother Cheng, maybe you should leave for now? Xiaohe made a mistake on her application—she put down the Federation Central Military Academy. She must be acting crazy because of the shock!”
Brother Cheng’s heart sank. If Lin Xiaohe was a lunatic, there was no telling if she’d act on impulse and fight to the death.
Even if Lin Xiaohe would be punished in the end, what good would that do him if he was already dead?
Brother Cheng took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and forced out a stiff smile. “Xiaohe, ah, failure is the mother of success. You didn’t get in this time, you can retake it next year! As for your family’s tax debt… I can delay it for you at the latest until the end of next month. No later than that, I don’t have the authority.”
Lin Xiaohe swiftly withdrew the object in her hand, hiding it in her sleeve, and smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Uncle Cheng! I’ll study hard and improve every day!”
Brother Cheng felt a suffocating anger in his chest, but he didn’t want to capsize in this little ditch. He could only leave with his men, secretly resolving in his heart that he absolutely must not let the Lin family ever get back on their feet!
