After walking around the cafeteria, Mother Lin’s worries deepened.
Although this cafeteria was quite good, with many windows and a wide variety of options, it still couldn’t compare to home-cooked meals in the eyes of parents.
“The cafeteria isn’t open today, let’s eat outside. We can try some new places, and when Yan Yan gets tired of the cafeteria food, she can have a change of pace outside,” Father Lin suggested.
“But eating out all the time isn’t good either!” Mother Lin was still concerned.
Father Lin glanced at Lin Yan, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
Lin Yan knew her mother was probably still worried and decided to go along with her words.
The family chose a nice restaurant and ordered several dishes. Mother Lin’s expression finally improved. However, she was still uneasy. Could her daughter really take care of herself?
After meeting with Lin Yan’s homeroom teacher in the afternoon, Father and Mother Lin left the school, leaving Lin Yan alone.
Lin Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief. While her parents’ concern was touching, excessive worry made her feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to act.
“Your parents really dote on you,” Lin Yan’s deskmate said enviously. She was in the same dormitory as Lin Yan and was an outgoing girl named Li Qing.
“I’ve never lived in a dormitory before, so they’re more worried.”
“Me neither, but my mom thought I needed some experience, so she let me come here to live and take care of myself.”
Li Qing sighed. Why were Lin Yan’s parents so worried about her, while her own parents wished she wouldn’t come home?
“Then your parents must trust you a lot. My family is in Jingshan Town. What about you?”
“My home is in the city. When we get the two-week break, will you come visit me?”
“Two-week break?” Lin Yan heard a term she was unfamiliar with.
“You don’t know? Our school has a break every two weeks, for two and a half days, which is convenient for students who live far away to go home.”
“I see!” Then she really needed to find a place to live. It was too restrictive to stay in the school; she couldn’t do anything she wanted.
When Lin Yan had her first two-week break, her parents came to the city to pick her up. Accompanying them were another couple.
“Mom and Dad, who are these two?” Lin Yan saw her parents as soon as she walked out, and then noticed the other two people beside them.
These two were young and dressed impeccably. Subtle details revealed the clever design of their clothes. The watches and jewelry they wore, though not ostentatious, were luxurious. Lin Yan had studied luxury goods of this world extensively when she was with the Fu family. She could roughly estimate that the clothes and accessories they were wearing were worth tens of millions.
Although curious why her parents knew such people, Lin Yan maintained her composure and asked gracefully.
“Yan Yan, these are the parents of the child we rescued last time. They know you have a break today, so they came to thank you,” Father Lin introduced. “You can call them Brother Xu and Sister Meng!”
Xu? Meng? These two surnames gave Lin Yan a sense of familiarity.
“Hello, Brother Xu, Sister Meng!” Lin Yan greeted them.
“Hello, Yan Yan! Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have known what to do!” the young woman called Sister Meng said as she stepped forward and shook Lin Yan’s hand.
“Lin Yan, thank you so much! If you need anything, our Xu family will spare no effort!” Brother Xu said seriously, clearly showing his gratitude to Lin Yan.
“I really didn’t do much. Anyone would have stepped in if they encountered such a situation.”
“But from the capital to Jiangnan, only Yan Yan noticed something was wrong. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known where Xiao Bao would have been sold!” Sister Meng’s eyes welled up with tears as she spoke of the incident.
Brother Xu on the side also showed a hint of emotion. The disappearance of their child was incredibly difficult for him to accept. He had mobilized everyone to search, but there was no news.
Just as they were despairing, they suddenly received news from the police station that two human traffickers had been apprehended at Suzhou Railway Station, and the child the traffickers were holding might be the one they were looking for.
He and his wife immediately flew to Suzhou and saw the child lying on a small hospital bed. Everything about the child matched theirs.
They felt incredibly fortunate to have found their child. After completing all the procedures at the police station, they took their child home.
They thanked the police department there and learned that the young girl who had rescued their child from the human traffickers was a girl who had just finished her middle school entrance exams, along with her parents.
After obtaining the information about Lin Yan’s family from the police department, they drove directly to Jingshan Town and found Father and Mother Lin. They expressed their gratitude and stated that they wanted to thank Lin Yan in person.
Therefore, during Lin Yan’s first two-week break, they came to thank her personally.
“Is the baby alright? We rushed back and didn’t wait for the baby to be discharged from the hospital,” Lin Yan quickly changed the subject, subtly looking to her parents for help.
“The baby is fine. He eats and sleeps well. He’s still young, so we didn’t bring him along, otherwise, we would have definitely let him see you,” Sister Meng also noticed Lin Yan’s unease.
“Little Xu, let’s go eat somewhere. Yan Yan hasn’t eaten yet since she just got off break. Let’s go to a restaurant and chat,” Mother Lin, having received Lin Yan’s plea for help, directly suggested going to a restaurant.
“Yes, standing here isn’t ideal. I’ll treat. Let’s find a restaurant to eat,” Brother Xu chimed in.
Thus, they went to a rather high-end restaurant and entered a private room. Along the way, Sister Meng held Lin Yan’s hand and chatted with her, inquiring about her studies and life.
At this point, Lin Yan, with a reminder from the system, realized why Brother Xu and Sister Meng seemed familiar.
In the original work, the young master of the influential Xu family and the eldest daughter of the Meng family were married. They were childhood sweethearts and once deeply in love. However, their child was lost, and both families searched for a long time without success.
The Xu family wanted Miss Meng to have another child, but Miss Meng refused. She felt that if they had another child, both families would focus their attention on the newborn.
Consequently, they would not put as much effort into searching for her child, leading to significant discord between the families. Later, due to the unresolved loss of her child, Miss Meng suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to a sanatorium.
The young master Xu, however, remained devoted to his wife. Even when his family pressured him to divorce his wife and have another child, he refused.
But in the end, they never found their child, and their story ended tragically.