Chapter 2: It Doesn't Matter If I Live Or Not
Lin Xiaohe followed her memory and walked out of the school, immediately drawn to the girl standing at the entrance.
Her eyebrows were like ink, her eyes like clear autumn water, deep and bright, sparkling with a hint of demureness and shyness as she looked around.
"Second Sister! Why are you here? I can go home by myself."
Lin Xiaohe stepped forward and took her second sister Lin Jingqiu's hand.
The public order on this planet wasn't very good, and a young girl like Lin Jingqiu, who was beautiful and born mute, could easily become a target for some scoundrels.
Lin Jingqiu looked at her younger sister with a radiant smile, her eyes flickering as if they could speak.
Meeting such a gentle gaze, Lin Xiaohe felt a rare pang of guilt.
Lin Xiaohe lowered her head slightly and whispered, "I messed up the exam."
A hint of regret flashed in Lin Jingqiu's eyes, but quickly returned to her gentle expression as she reached out and ruffled Lin Xiaohe's hair.
Lin Xiaohe looked up and met Lin Jingqiu's worried gaze: "Second Sister, you want to find a job?"
Lin Jingqiu nodded.
"No! Jobs are so hard to find. You just stay home and take care of Mom and Dad. My homeroom teacher gave me an application form; I'll go apply tomorrow, and I'm sure I can earn back the tax money!"
Lin Jingqiu had made up her mind, but not wanting to make her little sister angry, she smiled and nodded.
The exam location was quite far from the Lin Family's home, requiring a bus transfer and then a one-kilometer walk.
When riding the bus, many people used facial recognition payment, but both Lin Xiaohe and her sister paid with star coins.
This was because activating facial recognition payment required an annual management fee of 20 star coins.
The stardust wheat grown by the Lin Family only sold for 8 star coins per kilogram!
The Lin Family couldn't bear to pay for facial recognition payment.
The bus ran on an aerial track, moving very fast. Before Lin Xiaohe had a chance to look at the scenery outside the window, they arrived at their stop and had to get off.
After getting off, they were surrounded by fields of wheat, with star dust wheat growing sparsely among them.
The wheat ears of these star dust wheat looked like tree knots, sparse and ugly, some even deep red, which made people uncomfortable just looking at them.
Lin Xiaohe stopped, her brows tightly furrowed, and she suddenly heard a faint crying sound in her ear.
【Hungry, hungry, food, please help!】
Lin Xiaohe turned her head, trying to find out who was speaking.
Suddenly, a man wearing a helmet and gloves, his face obscured, emerged from the wheat field.
The man was startled when he saw Lin Xiaohe, then loudly exclaimed, "Oh, Lin Xiaohe, Lin Jingqiu, you're finally back! Hurry home and see, something happened to your family!"
Lin Jingqiu pulled Lin Xiaohe and ran towards home.
The Lin Family's home was at the easternmost end of Hengshan Village, usually quiet, but now, from a distance, the sounds of an argument could be heard.
"Lin, this year's land tax, air purification tax, water bill, and safety maintenance fee for your family of seven comes to a total of 24,310 star coins. If your family doesn't pay by the 15th of next month, you'll have to be moved out of the city!"
Once outside the city, they would be completely exposed to star dust pollution, and without any protective measures, they would surely die!
The villagers gathered at the Lin Family's doorstep, watching the commotion from afar.
"I told them not to let Lin Xiaohe take the college entrance exam; it's a complete waste of money, but they wouldn't listen! My son just messaged me, saying Lin Xiaohe failed, and she actually dared to apply to the Federal Central Military Academy!"
"Lin Xiaohe really is... the money spent on her might as well be thrown into the water. No one from our Wasteland Star has ever gotten into the Federal Central Military Academy! What kind of daydream is she having!"
"More than 20,000 star coins! The Lin Family is all disabled, and the stardust wheat they planted this year also got star dust disease, yielding nothing. Where are they going to get that money?!"
Lin Xiaohe pushed through the crowd and saw a man in a wheelchair, his legs from the knees down completely empty, blocking the doorway, speaking in a conciliatory tone.
"Cheng Ge, it's not the final deadline yet, what are you doing?"
The man called Cheng Ge patted the man's face and sneered, "Lin Tieshan, for your calling me 'Ge', I'll give you a way out. I'll buy these fifty mu of land for ten thousand star coins. If you sell Lin Jingqiu to the theater, you can also get ten thousand star coins. As for your daughter Lin Xiaohe..."
Lin Tieshan clenched his fists tightly, veins throbbing on his forehead! What kind of hellish place was the theater? Women who went in never came out!
Cheng Ge watched Lin Tieshan's face flash with pain, anger, and powerlessness, a smirk playing on his lips, like a cat toying with a mouse, enjoying the helpless struggles of his prey.
None of the surrounding villagers dared to speak, and though they were watching the show, they all felt a deep sense of unease, a feeling of 'the fox mourns the death of the rabbit'.
Lin Jingqiu saw her father being humiliated, her eyes instantly reddened, and she quickly rushed over, knelt beside the wheelchair, and held Lin Tieshan's hand.
Cheng Ge brazenly scrutinized Lin Jingqiu, from her chest to her waist to her hips, as if appraising merchandise: "Lin Jingqiu has grown up. Although she's mute, some important figures just have a preference for that. I'll try to sell you for a high price and only take a ten percent commission. As for Lin Xiaohe..."
Cheng Ge's body suddenly stiffened; something very cold and hard was pressed against his waist.
"Uncle Cheng, are you looking for me?" Lin Xiaohe pressed close to Cheng Ge's lower back, blocking the view of others, and asked like a ghost.
Cheng Ge tried to turn around, but the object pressed against his lower back pushed harder.
Lin Xiaohe said eerily, "Uncle Cheng, don't move. This is my first time using this thing, and I'm not skilled, so be careful it doesn't go off."
Cheng Ge couldn't see what the object was, only catching a glimpse of a cold glint from the corner of his eye.
Cheng Ge's face completely darkened: "Lin Xiaohe, are you resisting law enforcement? When the patrol arrives, you'll surely die!"
A hint of a do-or-die resolve flashed in Lin Xiaohe's eyes, the hand holding the gun as steady as a mountain: "It doesn't matter if I live or not, I just want you to die!"
Cheng Ge stared fixedly at Lin Xiaohe, his face alternating between green and pale.
Everyone present was stunned by Lin Xiaohe's reaction.
"Lin Xiaohe, don't be impulsive! Even if you didn't do well on the college entrance exam, there's no need to be so self-destructive."
"Cheng Ge, why don't you go back first? Lin Xiaohe filled out the wrong application, she applied to the Federal Central Military Academy, she must be crazy from the shock!"
Cheng Ge's heart sank. If Lin Xiaohe was crazy, she might act on impulse and go for a mutual destruction.
Even if Lin Xiaohe was eventually punished, what good would it do if he was already dead?
Cheng Ge took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and forced a smile: "Lin Xiaohe, failure is the mother of success. If we didn't pass this time, we can try again next year! As for your family's overdue taxes, I'll postpone it for you until the end of next month at the latest. I can't delay it any longer; I don't have that authority."
Lin Xiaohe swiftly withdrew the object from her hand, hid it in her sleeve, and smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Uncle Cheng! I will study hard and strive for progress every day!"
Cheng Ge felt a tightness in his chest, but he didn't want to fall into a trap, so he could only leave with his men, secretly vowing that he would never let the Lin Family recover!