Hearing this, Shen Rou instantly bristled.
"Mom, what are you saying? I didn't do anything! Who knows which man Shen Niantang was out messing around with this late? What does it have to do with me?"
Chen Jinlan had no choice but to close the door, comfort Shen Rou with a few words, and go back to her room to sleep.
The next morning, before she was even fully awake, Shen Niantang heard a commotion outside in the living room. She put on her clothes and decisively got out of bed. She had to visit her aunt's house today and had important business to take care of. She got ready to change into a new outfit and head out, but the moment Shen Niantang opened her wardrobe, she was met with...
The closet was packed with garish, bizarrely shaped tops and pants. These hideous clothes looked like they belonged in an exhibition of the world's ugliest garments.
Recalling the original owner's past situation: ever since her mother died and her biased father quickly married Chen Jinlan as her stepmother, he had treated the original owner as if she were invisible. The original owner had always refused to fight or contend for anything, vainly trying to minimize her presence in this household just to scrape together a shred of peace.
Yet in reality, even by swallowing her insults and bearing it all, the original owner's life was far from good.
Shen Niantang yanked the clothes out of the wardrobe, scooped them up into her arms, and walked over to Shen Rou's room, dumping the pile right onto Shen Rou's bed.
Seeing Shen Niantang step into her room, Shen Yue—who was in the living room—immediately sprang to your feet.
"Shen Niantang!"
"Why are you in my room?"
"Get the hell out!"
Before Shen Rou could stride into the room, Shen Niantang deftly pulled the door shut and quickly locked it from the inside.
Chirping away endlessly, Shen Niantang genuinely wished she could wrap a roll of tape around Shen Rou's mouth forty-nine times; even the loudspeakers in the neighborhood weren't as talkative as Shen Rou.
"Ah!"
"Shen Niantang, get out here! I don't give you permission to enter my room!"
Inside the room, Shen Niantang turned around and threw open Shen Yue's wardrobe. Inside hung various styles of new Bolashki dresses, all of them extremely pretty.
Shen Niantang's father, Shen Kuo, was currently the factory director of a garment mill. While the family wasn't filthy rich, they never had to worry about food or clothing. That biased father of hers favored Shen Rou to the extreme; whenever the factory produced a new style of dress, Shen Kuo always brought one home for Shen Rou.
Shen Niantang knew that if she took Shen Rou's newest Bolashki dress, Shen Rou would be utterly displeased. Besides, given her personality, Shen Rou would never willingly hand it over.
So what if she wouldn't? If Shen Rou told her not to take it, should she just obey? In this world, those who don't fight or contend truly end up with nothing at all.
Shen Niantang picked out two pretty Bolashki dresses, placed a few simple everyday clothes on the bed, and unlocked the door.
"Shen Niantang!"
"Who gave you permission to enter my room? You're getting bolder by the day!"
As Shen Rou spoke, her peripheral vision inadvertently caught sight of the clothes cradled in Shen Niantang's arms, and she instantly gasped for breath, choking with rage.
Before Shen Rou could open her mouth to yell, Shen Niantang grabbed a pair of clean white socks and stuffed them straight into her mouth.
"Mmph!"
Shen Niantang stepped closer to Shen Rou, the corners of her lips curving into a faint smile. Her gaze swept across Shen Rou's cheeks, her eyes chillingly cold.
"Shen Rou, since you're so desperate to marry Xiao Liang, shouldn't you show a little sincerity? Besides, you have so many clothes, and my outfits have already been worn for years. Your wardrobe is so full you can't even wear everything in it, so surely me taking a couple of items shouldn't be a problem."
"And besides, last month you took ten yuan of mine. You told me that whenever I liked any of your clothes, I could just pick whatever I wanted. Surely you haven't forgotten."
Hearing this, Shen Rou grew so furious she felt an itch in her teeth. She reached up and yanked the white sock out of her mouth. Last month, in order to swindle Shen Niantang out of her money, she had indeed said those very words.
Shen Niantang had always been frugal; even if Shen Rou refused to pay her back, she never would have gone rummaging through Shen Rou's wardrobe to wear her clothes.
Yet Shen Rou never expected that today's Shen Niantang would act like a completely different person—not only daring to step into her room, but also demanding things from her. This clearly wasn't her usual style.
Shen Niantang had no intention of continuing to bicker with Shen Rou, so she simply walked right past her. Back in her own room, Shen Niantang changed into a cyan-bamboo Bolashki dress, fished out the small cloth shoulder bag she frequently used from the corner, and prepared to head over to her aunt's house.
The moment she opened her front door, however, a wave of noise crashed unceremoniously into her ears.
"Shen Niantang! You stop right there!"
Chen Jinlan, who had just been cooking in the kitchen, lunged forward brandishing a spatula, aiming to strike Shen Niantang. Quick as lightning, Shen Niantang grabbed a broom from nearby and swung it fiercely, knocking the spatula right out of Chen Jinlan's hand.
"Ouch! Are you trying to start a rebellion?!"
Shen Niantang glared at Chen Jinlan with displeasure, her hands still gripping the broom handle tightly.
"Speak your mind if you have something to say. If you try to lay a hand on me again, I won't humor you!"
Chen Jinlan looked at the Shen Niantang standing before her and found her utterly unfamiliar. The old Shen Niantang had always been so weak and timid; when slaps landed on her in the past, she never dared to put up even the slightest resistance. What had gotten into her today to make her act so bizarrely?
"Mom! I'm the one who wants to lend myself to Brother Xiao Liang. I want to swap marriages with Shen Niantang!"
"I refuse to marry that rough brute. This time, I want to marry Brother Xiao Liang."
Shen Rou hurriedly grabbed her mother's hand and explained hastily. This matter needed to be locked down as early as possible—what would she do if Shen Niantang changed her mind?
"This time?"
Faced with Shen Rou's words, Chen Jinlan was completely baffled.
"Rourou, that poor wretch Xiao Liang wants to marry Shen Niantang. What kind of madness has gotten into you? Why on earth would you marry him?"
"Marrying him means living on chaff and coarse greens. That poor boy will never amount to anything."
Shen Rou pouted, her braided pigtails swinging back and forth.
"No, no, no! I want to marry Brother Xiao Liang, I love him. In this lifetime, I will marry no one else!"
Chen Jinlan frowned deeply, wondering what sort of illness had struck her well-behaved daughter. Why pass up a good marriage prospect to insist on marrying that poor nobody named Xiao something?
"Rourou, wouldn't it be better to marry Gu Tingchuan? He's a regimental commander now!"
Seeing her mother pay her wishes no heed, Shen Rou grew frantic, stamping her feet like a horse's hooves.
Gu Tingchuan was indeed a regimental commander right now, but in the near future, that man Xiao Liang would become the richest man in the capital. In her past life, when Shen Niantang married Xiao Liang, she enjoyed endless wealth and luxury.
As for Shen Rou, she had married Gu Tingchuan in her past life, and that ice-cold man never cared for her from start to finish. On their wedding night, Gu Tingchuan made up an excuse and walked out. Later on, she was divorced by him, and Shen Rou became the ultimate laughingstock.
Now that she, Shen Rou, had been granted a rare rebirth, she was determined to steal Shen Niantang's husband. In this lifetime, she would become the wife of the richest man! Besides, Shen Rou had already talked it over with Brother Xiao Liang last night; once she convinced Chen Jinlan today, Xiao Liang would come over to propose.
Watching Shen Rou's desperate eagerness to marry Xiao Liang, Shen Niantang couldn't help but curve the corners of her lips, her tightly furrowed brow gradually smoothing out.
"Since you like Xiao Liang so much, you should marry him then. Xiao Liang is not only gentle and refined, but also highly educated. Marrying him would be quite a good choice after all."
Shen Rou glared viciously at Shen Niantang. She desperately wished Shen Niantang would abandon Xiao Liang; for this entire lifetime, she wanted Shen Niantang to experience the bitter taste of being a widow with no man to claim her.
Chen Jinlan turned back, glaring angrily at Shen Niantang. With her fox-like appearance, she must harbor malicious intentions to be instigating her own daughter into marrying that penniless wretch.