Chapter 301
Chapter 301
After we returned to the villa, Anning had already switched the poison.
Meng Yifan had installed a pinhole camera in the kitchen.
Song Xiaotian had returned with several knives.
We had made every preparation and now only had to wait for Lin Jinhua and Du Yunting to arrive.
It would happen within a day or two. Lin Jinhua would soon issue an order to Lin Yin, instructing her to poison us.
At dinnertime, Lin Yin entered the kitchen to cook for us again.
We all gathered in Seventh Master’s room and watched her every movement through the pinhole camera.
Lin Yin had been chopping vegetables at the counter when her phone rang.
We immediately enlarged the live feed and could just make out the caller’s name.
Lin Jinhua was calling her.
Holding the phone, Lin Yin did not answer. Instead, she crept to the kitchen doorway and looked outside. Only after confirming the living room was empty did she accept the call.
We could not hear a word of the conversation because Lin Yin deliberately kept her voice low.
But judging by her expression and subtle movements, Lin Jinhua was probably issuing his order.
“Boss Lin is impatient. He wants us poisoned tonight.”
“Lin Yin will probably go to the living room for the poison any moment.”
After the call ended, Lin Yin stood frozen for a long time. Then she left the kitchen and disappeared from the camera’s view.
Before long, she reappeared, now carrying her handbag.
My heart sank at the sight.
I had still clung to a sliver of hope. I believed she was only following her father’s instructions and could not bear to watch a loved one die, but that she was kind by nature. I had prayed she would turn back at the last moment and be unable to poison us.
Yet now she had reached into her bag and taken out the bottle of poison.
I sighed, unable to suppress my disappointment.
After taking out the bottle, she remained frozen for a long time, two or three full minutes.
“What’s she doing? Working herself up to it?” Meng Yifan wondered.
Seventh Master sighed. “She knows that bottle contains poison. Pouring it into the pot will instantly take five lives. Unless someone is utterly vicious, it is difficult to take that step.”
“Lin Jinhua might be capable of it, but she… may not have the courage. The girl’s heart is still kind.”
As we watched, Lin Yin did something none of us expected.
Clutching the bottle with a tormented expression, she suddenly hurled it out the window.
The sight instantly relaxed my taut nerves.
An inexplicable sense of relief washed through me.
Seventh Master and the others also breathed sighs of relief.
“Humanity. This is the true, good, and beautiful side of human nature!”
“I believe in humanity again!”
We were all deeply relieved.
After spending so much time together, none of us wanted to see Lin Yin commit an unforgivable sin.
In the end, she had rediscovered her basic humanity.
Anning, however, looked displeased. “Why is she so timid? She won’t even obey her father. How unfilial!”
Song Xiaotian was speechless. “Ma’am, you sound disappointed that she didn’t poison us.”
Anning snorted and turned away.
On the monitor, we saw tears stream down Lin Yin’s face.
She wiped them away and continued cooking.
“I think I understand why she refused to poison us.”
I said, “At the Lin residence, she asked me about Life Extension. I explained a great many principles to her and eventually made her cry.”
Viewed in light of the present, she might already have been struggling internally when she asked.
Meng Yifan challenged me. “Using Life Extension on Lin Xiaohua is a secret to the Lin family. They couldn’t possibly reveal it casually. No matter how foolish Lin Yin might be, she would never mention the words ‘Life Extension’ to you and make you suspicious.”
“Unless she did it deliberately.”
I froze, then suddenly understood.
She… she had done it deliberately!
Seventh Master nodded. “Lin Yin isn’t a careless girl. She’s reserved and composed. Unless it was deliberate, she would never have mentioned Life Extension to you. Where did you see that list?”
I told him I found it in Lin Jinhua’s study. Several books were pressing down on it, leaving the seven names and one address exposed.
Seventh Master asked, “Why did you enter Lin Jinhua’s study in the first place?”
I said, “Lin Yin took me there…”
Before I finished, my body went rigid and my eyes widened.
Lin Yin had deliberately taken me to the study and intentionally allowed me to discover the list. She had been guiding me to uncover Lin Jinhua’s secret!
Damn!
I had not noticed a thing!
“We discovered there was something wrong with Lin Jinhua only because Lin Yin deliberately guided us. If she hadn’t taken Chen Mo into the study, we’d still know nothing.”
Song Xiaotian sighed admiringly. “Xiaorou’s judgment is terrifyingly sharp. She met Lin Yin only once and immediately knew the woman wasn’t simple. No wonder she’s a chairwoman.”
Meng Yifan could not resist asking, “Then how did your Xiaorou get you so wrong?”
Song Xiaotian said, “I… Hmph!”
He turned his head away, imitating Anning as he refused to answer.
I said, “Lin Jinhua’s call must have been an order for Lin Yin to administer the poison. She has defied him, but if we aren’t poisoned, Lin Jinhua and Du Yunting won’t come…”
At this stage, both we and Lin Jinhua’s side were riding a tiger and could not dismount.
Lin Jinhua wanted to help Du Yunting eliminate us.
And we did not want to lose this opportunity to lure Du Yunting here and kill him.
But to draw Du Yunting out, we had to be “poisoned.”
Seventh Master nodded and looked at me. “What do you want to do?”
I said, “Lin Yin threw away the poison. She won’t be able to answer to Lin Jinhua. From her perspective, she’ll probably confess everything to us later and tell us to leave Lincheng.”
“We can’t let her confess. Before she reveals the truth, we still have to follow Lin Jinhua’s original plan. We must be poisoned.”