Lin Zhixia looked up curiously.

A young man in a white shirt and black trousers, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walked toward them excitedly.

Unlike Xie Jingheng’s cold and distant aura, this newcomer carried a gentle, scholarly temperament. Yet he also had an exceptionally striking and handsome face.

“Xia Xia, you don’t recognize me anymore?” the man asked with a slightly bitter smile when he saw her confused expression.

Lin Zhixia truly didn’t recognize him.

She searched through the original owner’s memories but couldn’t find any man with such a refined and good-looking appearance.

She said, “Comrade, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

“I didn’t get it wrong,” the man said, his gaze fixed on her face, a trace of nostalgia flashing in his eyes. “Little Zhixia, you’re still as beautiful as you were when you were a child.”

Lin Zhixia frowned slightly. It was clear this man knew the original owner very well; otherwise, he wouldn’t address her so intimately.

But she couldn’t find him anywhere in the original storyline’s memories.

While she was still trying to make sense of it, and searching again through the original owner’s memories…

Xie Jingheng, sitting beside her, reacted faster than his thoughts.

Almost instinctively, he shifted his body and positioned himself between Lin Zhixia and the man, shielding her petite frame behind him.

At the same time, he blocked that unpleasant gaze directed at her.

Even if there was no real affection between them, she was still his legally married wife.

Seeing his view blocked, the man’s smile stiffened for a moment. When his gaze shifted to Xie Jingheng, a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.

Xie Jingheng’s eyes turned even colder, as if freezing over. The two men met eyes briefly before looking away, both clearly displeased with each other.

Soon after, the man looked back at Lin Zhixia and said helplessly, “Xia Xia, I’m your Brother Jiang Yu.”

Jiang Yu?

Lin Zhixia frowned as she thought, quickly recalling the corresponding plot in the original story.

In the novel, Jiang Yu was the original owner’s childhood friend and next-door neighbor. He had always taken care of her since they were young. After the Xie family was sent down to the countryside, he learned that she was left alone in the city and even returned to look for her, intending to take care of her properly.

However, by the time he came back, the original owner had already been sold by the fake young master to a remote mountainous area, so he never found her.

The reason Lin Zhixia didn’t recognize him was because his transformation was too great—he had completely changed.

In the original memory, Jiang Yu had thick bangs covering his forehead, wore large black-framed glasses, and always carried a gentle smile.

But now, his hair was neatly combed back, revealing a clean and refined forehead. His glasses had been replaced with well-fitted metal frames, fully revealing his striking features that had once been hidden.

Although Xie Jingheng was facing Jiang Yu, his attention remained on Lin Zhixia.

When he noticed her clearly admiring gaze toward Jiang Yu, his expression darkened.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu’s smile deepened slightly.

“Xia Xia, where are you going?” he asked.

“We’re going to Harbin,” Lin Zhixia replied briefly, then asked out of curiosity, “Brother Jiang, why are you here? Weren’t you in Shenzhen?”

In the original plot, he should have been working at an agricultural research institute in the south. Why was he here?

Jiang Yu glanced at the luggage by her feet, a flicker of light passing through his eyes.

“I came to Beijing with my teacher for an agricultural technology exchange conference. It ended earlier than expected, and my teacher is taking me to visit a few friends.”

Then, he added with a slightly disappointed tone, “Xia Xia has become distant from me… you don’t even want to call me Brother Jiang anymore.”

Lin Zhixia felt a bit awkward. Even though she had the original owner’s memories, she didn’t feel close enough to naturally call him “Brother Jiang Yu.”

Especially with Xie Jingheng sitting right beside her—it would practically look like flirting in front of her husband.

Hearing him repeatedly call her “Xia Xia,” Xie Jingheng finally couldn’t hold back.

He took her hand and forced a polite smile. “Zhixia, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Given the chance, Lin Zhixia quickly said, “Jingheng, this is Brother Jiang Yu, who used to live next door to me.”

“Brother Jiang, this is my husband—Xie Jingheng.”

Since she had introduced them, Jiang Yu could no longer ignore Xie Jingheng.

His gaze fell on their clasped hands, and his smile faded slightly.

“Hello, I’m Jiang Yu.”

“Xie Jingheng.”

After a brief exchange, Jiang Yu thought for a moment and then said to Xie Jingheng, “Comrade Xie, would you mind stepping aside for a moment to talk?”

“Alright,” Xie Jingheng replied, glancing at Lin Zhixia before standing up.

Before leaving, he looked at the crowded carriage and then turned to Xie Qingshu sitting behind them.

“Qingshu, sit in my seat,” he said.

“Keep your sister-in-law company,” he continued, looking at Jiang Yu. “She’s pregnant and it’s inconvenient. Help her with water and carrying things.”

As soon as he said this, Jiang Yu’s smile completely disappeared. His eyes fell on Lin Zhixia’s exposed belly after Xie Jingheng stood up, and he froze.

Some smiles don’t disappear—they just move to someone else.

Seeing this, Xie Jingheng finally looked slightly better, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

Mother Xie also spoke up immediately.

“Qingshu, hurry and sit next to your sister-in-law.”

She even lightly patted her to wake her up.

“Why are you still half-asleep? It’s not like you’re a child anymore.”

Reluctantly, Xie Qingshu moved to sit beside Lin Zhixia, clearly unhappy, her lips pouting.

“Oh right, eat this bun first.”

After walking a few steps away, Xie Jingheng suddenly returned and handed her a bun that he had been keeping close to his body, still warm.

Lin Zhixia felt a warmth in her heart and took it with a smile. Just as she was about to speak, an inappropriate mocking voice came from across the aisle.

“These young women nowadays really can’t suffer at all. Just because they’re pregnant, they expect their husbands to treat them like queens.”

“Back in our day, we worked in the fields while pregnant. Who was as delicate as this?”

Lin Zhixia looked up.

The speaker was a thin, haggard woman in her early thirties with dark skin, holding a four- or five-year-old boy. Beside her sat a seven- or eight-year-old girl, both staring longingly at the meat bun in Lin Zhixia’s hand.

The woman’s eyes were filled with undisguised disdain and contempt.

Lin Zhixia’s gaze turned cold.

But her actions remained calm. She slowly unwrapped the bun and took a few bites. Once she felt slightly full and regained her strength, she looked up with a sympathetic expression and said,

“Sister, you’re really pitiful.”