"No, no, Guifang, this won't do. Isn't this just deception? Besides, the Xu family would never agree to let Lili take your place in the marriage."
Lili taking her place?
Oh.
Lu Jinse finally understood.
The reason for Lu Lili and Auntie Xiao’s strange behavior was clear now. Having heard about the broken engagement, Lili’s mind had immediately started racing—she wanted to marry Xu Yueshan.
First, she whispers to Auntie Xiao, then lets her mother work on her father...
Good heavens!
These two were using the exact same tactics they had employed last time regarding the university quota.
That brought up another question: wasn't Lu Lili supposed to be heading to the Capital, a city a hundred kilometers away, to attend university?
Does she suddenly want to get married?
Sigh!
This girl usually seems so sharp and clever; why is she acting so foolish today?
Stay calm. Let the bullets fly for a while.
No need to rush. If it’s a fox's tail, it will show itself sooner or later.
Lu Jinse wanted to listen at the door a bit longer, but suddenly hearing footsteps from inside Lili’s room, she immediately ducked into the kitchen. She found a dried-up mantou and a small dish of pickles on the rack.
She carried them back to her room.
...
Lu Jinse closed the window. Although it was spring, the night breeze still carried a hint of chill.
She sat on the edge of her bed, chewing on the mantou and pickles, thinking about how she should stockpile some daily necessities in her space in the future.
If she had items like steamed buns and pastries, she would never have to go hungry.
After finishing the food, Lu Jinse took a mug into her space, filled it with Spirit Spring Water, and gulped it down. She felt as if every cell in her body were dancing with joy.
Perfect.
When Lu Jinse went back to return the pickles to the kitchen, she noticed there was no sound from the bedroom.
Total silence.
Was the discussion over?
She wondered if her father had agreed to Auntie Xiao’s request.
With these questions lingering, she returned to her room, pulled back the quilt, climbed into bed, turned off the light, and closed her eyes.
Having lived two lifetimes and having twice been plunged into cold water—enduring both physical and mental torment—it had been a harrowing and soul-stirring process.
As soon as Lu Jinse’s body touched the comfortable bed and warm quilt, a wave of exhaustion washed over her.
Before long, she was fast asleep, off to visit the realm of dreams.
...
In the next room, Lu Lili, who was also a reborn soul, had similarly experienced a lifetime in a single day.
But she tossed and turned like a pancake, unable to sleep.
Did her mother talk to her father as she had asked?
How did the conversation go?
Would her father agree?
...
Lu Jinse slept until the sun was high in the sky. She opened her eyes to see the blue sky and white clouds outside.
The bright, brilliant sunshine flooded the world, casting a warm glow upon her.
In the backyard, dozens of sparrows chirped incessantly from the dense branches of the ten-meter-tall jujube tree.
The sound was crisp and pleasant.
Occasionally, swallows circled under the eaves, busy carrying mud to build their nests.
Lu Jinse’s gaze was dazed for a moment. She had the illusion that the thirty years of marriage into the Xu family had been a nightmare.
Now she was awake, still that happy, carefree girl from before she was married.
Lu Jinse picked up the mirror on her nightstand and looked at herself, a faint smile touching her cherry-pink lips.
Okay!
Her new life was about to begin.
Up!
Lu Jinse pushed open the window and stepped out of her room, finding the house quiet.
Checking the time, it was eight o’clock. Her father and Auntie Xiao must have already gone to work. A simple breakfast was left on the table in the living room.
Although Auntie Xiao was selfish, she still played her role in their daily life.
Lu Jinse went out to use the public toilet—that was just how it was in the siheyuan of the 1970s—then returned to wash her face and brush her teeth before sitting at the table.
Just as she picked up a mantou, she saw Lu Lili shuffle out of her room, looking drained, with dark circles under her eyes that clearly showed a lack of sleep.
Lu Jinse feigned concern. "Did you have insomnia last night?"
"Huh?!"
Lu Lili’s eyes lit up, and as if injected with adrenaline, she walked quickly to the chair across from Lu Jinse.
"Sis, why are you talking to me? Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?"
Lu Jinse took a bite of the mantou and said slowly, "Did you do something you feel guilty about?"
Lu Lili asked again, "I mean about the university quota. You aren't mad at me about that, are you?"
"Is there anything else besides that?"
Lu Jinse evaded the question.
Lu Lili’s eyes flickered. "No."
Lu Jinse smiled faintly. "If you say no, then it’s no. Eat."
She picked up her bun and took another bite.
Although Lu Lili looked innocent and cute on the outside, spoke directly, and seemed thoughtless, these were all illusions.
In her previous life, Lu Jinse had learned this the hard way.
...
Twelve years ago.
Her father had been introduced to and married Auntie Xiao, who was five years his junior.
Auntie Xiao was also a divorcee, and Lu Lili was the daughter from her previous marriage.
They attended the same middle school.
Although they weren't in the same class, their classrooms were adjacent, so they always knew what was going on.
Lu Jinse was beautiful; even wearing rags couldn't hide her fresh, refined temperament, and her clear, bright eyes were filled with wonderful fantasies about the world.
The boys at school secretly called her Snow White.
Male students often found excuses to approach her or talk to her.
Lu Lili, envious and jealous, spread rumors that Lu Jinse was dating this boy or that boy from such-and-such class.
She told these lies so convincingly that they even reached the ears of Lu Jinse’s homeroom teacher.
The teacher not only had a heart-to-heart with her but also called her parents.
They said things like, "Your daughter is too young to have a boyfriend; she should focus on her studies, keep her distance from boys, and watch her reputation."
At first, Lu Jinse thought the rumors were accidental, but they kept coming.
Because of this, her father scolded her more than once.
One day, Lu Jinse told her best friend, Xu Lijuan, about her troubles.
Xu Lijuan investigated in secret.
She quickly found out that it was her stepsister, Lu Lili, who was behind it all.
When Lu Jinse got home that evening, she told Auntie Xiao.
Auntie Xiao gave her a lecture, and it worked for a time.
Lu Lili stopped spreading rumors, but she escalated her behavior.
She actually hired two local hooligans to block Lu Jinse in an alleyway on her way home from school...
Fortunately, the class monitor from the next class saw it, came over, and chased the hooligans away with a few punches and kicks.
Lu Jinse had narrowly escaped disaster.
She suspected it was Lu Lili, but because there was no proof and the hooligans couldn't be found, the matter was dropped.
From then on, Lu Jinse became wary. Every time she went to school or came home, she insisted on holding Lili’s hand, tying their wrists together with a red string.
"You like playing dirty, don't you?" she thought. "Then I'll have you as a backup. If something happens, neither of us is getting away."
Only then did Lu Lili settle down.
...
After graduating from high school, Lu Jinse was recommended by her teachers for university because of her excellent grades.
Lu Lili looked on with envy.
Just then, the new list for sent-down youth in the Xiangyang neighborhood was released.
Both of their names were on it.
Lu Jinse wasn't worried, because as long as she could attend university, she could avoid being sent to the countryside.
Lu Lili was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. She had no engagement and no university qualification.
Wouldn't that mean she had to go?
She had heard that being sent to the countryside was miserable—starving every day, having to plow the fields, doing farm work! The rural environment was so harsh!
Once you go, you can't come back!
No!
Lu Lili didn't want to go to the countryside, so she secretly urged her mother to tell her father to make her older sister get married immediately.
That way, she could take her sister's university spot.
...
In her previous life, when her father died of a sudden heart attack, Lu Lili even fought her over the inheritance.
"Everything in the Lu family is mine!" she had screamed. "You can't take a single thread!"
She even went so far as to drag them into court, making a scene and behaving in the most shameful way to snatch the inheritance.
...
Lu Jinse loathed her to the core. This girl had a treacherous and filthy heart; behind those eyes that looked black and white, there hid only ugliness and darkness.
...
And now.
Lu Lili was watching Lu Jinse while she ate, still hatching her devious plans.
"Sis, charity begins at home. If you don't want to marry Xu Yueshan, why don't you let me have him?"