Reborn as a Rich Woman in the Eighties
Chapter 442 - 441 The Photograph in the Pocket Watch

Chapter 442: Chapter 441 The Photograph in the Pocket Watch

"Yes," Lin Xia answered indifferently.

As soon as she began speaking, a distinct Northeast China accent was apparent, with particular emphasis on the final consonants, unmistakable to the ear.

The man smiled gently and elegantly, "It feels very familiar! My grandfather lives up north! I visit him every year!"

Lin Xia responded with a noncommittal hum, not intending to engage further with the man who seemed all too comfortable diving into deeper conversation.

Although the man didn’t appear malicious or like a bad person, the presence of evil intent is not something written on one’s forehead.

"It’s impossible to judge a book by its cover; who knows what he’s actually thinking."

Especially since she was a woman traveling alone, it was even more important to stay cautious.

The girl on the lower bunk’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, "Which part of the north? The three northeastern provinces are huge!"

The man reverted to his aloof demeanor, not responding.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man tried to smooth things over, "It’s not time for dinner yet; how about we play some poker?"

The girl on the lower bunk agreed enthusiastically, "Sure!" she said, looking towards the other side.

At this point, Lin Xia stood up from the lower bunk, "You guys go ahead! I’m feeling a bit sleepy, I’ll take a nap," she said as she climbed up to her own bunk.

The man picked up the newspaper again, seemingly engrossed in its contents.

As it turned out, the poker game never happened; the girl on the lower bunk went to fetch some hot water, somewhat discontent, while the middle-aged man went to the junction of the carriages to smoke.

Lin Xia lay facing the wall, and in truth, she wasn’t sleepy at all, but she didn’t want to listen to that man talk anymore.

The man looked at Lin Xia’s back, facing away from him on the middle bunk, and pulled a golden pocket watch from his trouser pocket.

He gazed thoughtfully at an old photo embedded inside the watch cover, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

When the others returned, he too took off his shoes and lay down, but his gaze kept returning to Lin Xia’s back, his eyes flickering with unknown thoughts.

Eventually, Lin Xia actually fell into a slow slumber. When she woke up, the air in the carriage was suffused with the smell of food.

She rubbed her eyes, still a bit groggy, but when she saw the man on the opposite lower bunk looking at her with his dark, shining eyes, she immediately woke up fully.

Inside, she scoffed at him, thinking he was really something!

Suppressing the various emotions inside her, Xia Lin calmly climbed down to go to the restroom.

With the hot weather, the food she had brought had long run out.

Instant noodles had not yet become a travel essential, so she later went to the dining car for her meal.

After Lin Xia finished her meal and returned, the man was sitting on a seat in the aisle, and the girl on the lower bunk had already lain down. It didn’t seem right to sit on someone else’s bunk, so she took off her shoes and climbed up to her own.

Having such a character appear during her journey made Lin Xia feel helpless, and she desperately hoped that he would get off the train soon.

The night passed like this, and by daylight, the girl on the lower bunk had already disembarked at some point, with new passengers boarding the train.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Lin Xia sat idly in an aisle seat, looking at the scenery outside the train window.

The man settled in a seat on the opposite side and said directly, "Do you really dislike me that much? You don’t seem to want to talk to me."

He sensed the girl’s wariness and displeasure; ever since he had boarded the train and exchanged a few words, she had either been sleeping or lying down, ignoring him.

Lin Xia was so speechless she wanted to roll her eyes at him; he seemed quite self-aware.

"Just a stranger, nothing to talk about!"

The man smiled with a wry twist of his lips, "Sorry! Maybe I was too forward! And that made a bad impression.

Actually, I had no ill intentions. It’s just that you resemble my mother, which is why I was so friendly!"

Lin Xia raised an eyebrow, "That pickup line is a bit dated, don’t you think?" How could she possibly resemble his mother?

The man, seeing her disbelief, immediately pulled out a gold pocket watch from his trouser pocket, opened the cover, and handed it to her, "Don’t believe me? Look!"

He believed that after she saw it, she wouldn’t speak so doubtfully.

Lin Xia, half skeptical, took it; inside the pocket watch was a round, black-and-white photograph.

Lin Xia scrutinized the woman in the picture closely and couldn’t help but be startled; he really hadn’t lied.

The woman in the photo looked to be in her twenties, with two thick braids, and although her features weren’t very clear, one could faintly tell she resembled her.

Or rather, she looked a bit like her mother did when she was young.

The man observed her shocked reaction and said gently, "The only difference between you two is the hairstyle. If you let your hair down and braided it, I think you would look even more alike!"

Because it was hot on the train, Lin Xia had gathered all her hair up into a bun.

Lin Xia, holding back the panic in her heart, quickly returned the pocket watch to him, "Perhaps."

But in her heart, she wondered if this man before her could be some relative of her mother’s.

Otherwise, how could they look so similar?

But she immediately thought that her mother had passed away so many years ago, and the truth of what happened back then may be lost to time.

There was no point in investigating it now.

If the relatives she found were like Yu Qiushui and her family, she would rather not look for them at all.

Moreover, she was extremely wary of strangers she met in her travels.

After all, there were many people in the world who looked alike; resemblance didn’t necessarily mean there was a blood relation—it might not be as she imagined at all.

At this moment, the man introduced himself, "My name is Song Zhiyi! And you?"

"My name is Xia Lin!" Lin Xia said without a change in expression; she wasn’t about to tell him her real name.

Song Zhiyi’s eyes flickered as though he believed her, and he smiled, "Xia Lin! That’s a nice name!"

"Thank you!" Lin Xia replied politely.

Song Zhiyi, whether Lin Xia wanted to listen or not, talked on by himself, "Xia Lin! Glad to meet you! My mother passed away a few years ago, and I’ve always missed her terribly. I never expected to meet you on this train journey, and I’m very happy about it!"

"Hmm," Lin Xia was slightly touched as she empathetically thought of her own mother.

Did she not miss her mother as well?

They say you have a family at seventy and a mother at eighty.

Now that living conditions have improved, with life getting better and better, she sometimes thought about how wonderful it would be if her mother was still alive—they all could take good care of her.

Eat whatever she wanted, buy whatever she desired.

No longer would she have to swallow the bitterness of a life of poverty!

Song Zhiyi felt the shade of sorrow passing through Lin Xia’s eyes, but it wasn’t appropriate to ask directly, so he changed the subject, "Are you getting off at the final stop?"

"Hmm! I’m going to lie down for a while!" Bringing up her mother made Lin Xia feel melancholic, and she didn’t want to talk any more.

"Alright!" Song Zhiyi looked up at Lin Xia as she neatly climbed up to the middle bunk and curled his lips into a smile.

Finally, they reached the terminal station. Lin Xia, with her backpack, got off the train, and as her feet solidly touched the platform, she felt it was just too hard to have waited for this moment to disembark!

These past days on the train, she had surely lost several pounds.

And with the weather being so hot and humid, her clothes were infused with the scent of sweat; at this very moment, she had only one thought, and that was to find a hotel immediately to take a long, refreshing bath, and then start exploring this unfamiliar city.

"Xia Lin! Where are you heading?" A rich voice caused her brisk footsteps to hesitate...