“What do you mean, more than four hundred thousand?”
“You… what did you just say?” Luo Tian stared at Lin Lin.
Lin Lin realized she had let something slip and quickly covered her mouth.
Luo Tian’s mind raced.
“What did the letters say?” She stepped forward, pressing Lin Lin.
“Those two letters—what exactly did they say?”
Lin Lin took a step back, bumping into the tree behind her, with nowhere left to retreat.
“Nothing…”
“Lin Lin, you didn’t come to find Luo Tian to get back together. You came for the money, didn’t you?”
Lin Lin’s face flushed red.
“No, I really want to get back together!”
“Then what about the more than four hundred thousand you just mentioned?”
Lin Lin opened her mouth but could not speak.
Luo Tian looked at her and suddenly understood.
“Grandfather and Grandma left something behind.”
“They left a sum of money.”
“That money was meant for her. Lin Lin found out, so she came back to look for me.”
“Not to reconcile—for the money.”
A complicated emotion suddenly surged in Luo Tian’s heart.
Unexpected, yet reasonable.
“Give me the letters.”
Lin Lin had already slipped up. Her expression stiffened as she slowly said:
“That… is mine.”
“The two elders wrote in the letters that it was for me—to marry you and have a child. That money is for our small family.”
“I’m willing to be with you. At least you love me so much. We can…”
Luo Tian smiled.
It almost made her want to laugh.
Just how much did Grandfather and Grandma like Lin Lin?
Even after death, they had arranged their grandson’s marriage so clearly.
“That money is yours.”
Luo Tian said calmly.
“As for the money in the second letter, I don’t want it.”
“The first one—I’ll consider it compensation for your harassment.”
Lin Lin froze.
“You…”
“Did you think I would cling to you?”
“If you keep bothering me, I’ll call the police and say you peeked at Luo Tian’s private letters.”
“I didn’t steal them! Grandfather and Grandma gave them to me!”
Lin Lin panicked.
“You can say that, but whether the police believe you or not—that’s another matter.”
Lin Lin’s face turned from red to pale.
Luo Tian ignored her and turned to leave.
Lin Lin stood there as tears streamed down her face.
She did not know how things had ended up like this.
She had only wanted to find a place to belong—how had it become this?
Lin Lin took out the two letters from her clothes, her tears dripping onto them.
Inside the letters were the bank account details and half of the password.
She tried piecing together the numbers, using Luo Tian’s lunar birthday.
This time, she truly wanted that money.
Now that Luo Tian was dead—
What would happen to the money?
Four hundred eighty thousand.
The year she graduated, her mother said it was not easy to support her through college, giving her one thousand five hundred a month for living expenses, which she thought was quite a lot.
Later, in college, when she saw people wearing luxury brands and traveling abroad casually, she realized how little one thousand five hundred really was.
Back then, she wanted a lot of money.
She dated several wealthy men, only to realize that the most reliable one was the very Luo Tian she had once abandoned.
Four hundred eighty thousand.
Along with Luo Tian himself—honest, dependable, completely devoted to her.
At the time, she thought it was the best choice.
Now Luo Tian was dead.
Lin Lin stood there, stunned.
Could she still use that money?
She did not want to give up.
On second thought, that woman might have been lying to her.
This time, she would go to the police station.
She refused to believe she could not find the real Luo Tian.
Back at the rented apartment,
Luo Tian had placed all of Grandfather and Grandma’s belongings into a cardboard box under the bed when he had sorted them out.
Lin Lin dragged the box out.
She opened it.
Inside were old clothes, several books, a rusty metal box, a pile of miscellaneous items, and a few old photographs.
And the two letters.
Lin Lin had not paid attention to them before.
Her breathing quickened slightly as she picked them up and opened them.
The familiar handwriting.
“Tiantian:
By the time you read this letter, Grandfather should no longer be here.
There are things I always wanted to tell you but could not say in person, so I had to write them down.
You are a good child. You have never caused trouble since you were young.
Watching you grow up has made me very proud.
Your parents left early. It was Grandfather who raised you.
I do not have much ability and cannot give you anything valuable.
Your grandmother and I—aside from this bit of money—have nothing else to leave you.
We deposited a sum of money for you in the bank. The account and password are written in this letter.
This money was originally meant for your marriage.
If you get married, use it as starting funds for your small family.
If not, then forget it—consider it a small token from your grandmother and me.
Tiantian, once Grandfather is gone, you must take good care of yourself.
Look after yourself. Do not be too frugal—eat well, live well.
If anything happens, go to Auntie Su. She will take care of you.
—Grandfather
—Grandmother”
After reading the letter, Lin Lin’s eyes turned red.
So that was how it was.
Grandfather and Grandmother had left this money for her.
But she and Luo Tian had already separated.
They were no longer what the elders had imagined.
She opened the second letter.
The content was similar, just shorter.
At the end, there was one additional line:
“Tiantian, if the one you like is not Lin Lin, then let it go. Do not force yourself. Find a girl you truly like and just be happy.”
Lin Lin stared at that line as tears suddenly fell.
“Just be happy…”
She suddenly felt like crying.
Was she truly happy now?
She wiped her tears, carefully folded the letters, and placed them back into the envelopes.
She continued searching through the box.
She found a kraft paper envelope.
She opened it.
A bank card.
And a note, with the password handwritten—
Luo Tian’s lunar birthday.
Lin Lin took out her phone and calculated it.
Four hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred seventy yuan and seventy cents.
She counted twice.
Four hundred eighty thousand.
It really was four hundred eighty thousand.
Holding the bankbook, Lin Lin could not stop her tears.
Grandfather. Grandmother.
You saved your entire lives to leave me this much.
Two elderly people—one setting up a stall by the roadside, the other selling fish at the market.
Enduring sun and wind, living frugally, saving for a lifetime.
And her parents, who left early, had also turned into those four hundred eighty thousand.
This money was enough to cure her illness.
Luo Tian’s emotions were extremely complicated at this moment.
Suddenly—
Her phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
“Hello?”
“Is this Luo Tiantian?”
A man’s voice, formal and steady.
“I’m an officer from the Chengnan Police Station. My surname is Wang.”
“Luo Tiantian, where are you right now?”