Money?
Gu Xiulan was struck by another unexpected blow.
Lu Jinse had always been gentle and easy to handle; why was she acting so abnormal today?
She had even hit Yueshan just a moment ago.
It wasn't just her who was caught off guard—Huang Yushuang was so shocked that she forgot to squeeze out any tears.
Gu Xiulan managed to force a smile.
"Jinse, when I asked you to pay for the medical expenses, I just wanted to teach you a lesson. A person must be magnanimous; why are you holding a grudge against a child? He just wanted the bracelet, so letting him play with it for a bit would have been fine. How can you be so petty..."
"Enough."
Lu Jinse interrupted impatiently.
"Spare me the lofty principles; my ears are growing calluses. You can be the kind-hearted ones who know how to repay gratitude, but don't use me as a stepping stone."
With that, she grabbed the canvas bag by the head of the bed, walked over to the wardrobe, pulled the door open, and began packing her things.
Xu Yueshan asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Lu Jinse replied, "Going home."
"What?"
Gu Xiulan jumped into the conversation. "Your father sent you here and washed his hands of you, yet you still have the nerve to go home? If the Xu family hadn't taken you in, you'd be out on the streets begging for food right now!"
Lu Jinse's smile widened. "Auntie, you are a government official after all. Isn't talking like that deliberately smearing socialism? I was born under the red flag and grew up in the spring breeze; why would I be begging on the streets?"
Gu Xiulan's face turned dark.
Xu Yueshan stepped over to stop her. "We aren't married yet, you know. If you go back home, the neighborhood committee will force you to go down to the countryside. Don't make a scene!"
Huang Yushuang also chimed in with persuasion. "That's right, Sister, please don't be impulsive. Alas! It's all my fault for causing discord in your family. I'll figure out Xiaoyue's hospital bills myself. Oh, a child without a father is truly to be pitied."
As she spoke, she lowered her head and started to walk out, but Xu Yueshan reached out and grabbed her by the arm.
"What possible way could you have?"
Huang Yushuang raised her head again, her eyes swimming with tears, biting her lower lip as she choked out, "I—I'll go sell my blood."
"No! You can't sell your blood! I'm going back to the room to get the money right now!"
Xu Yueshan dashed out of the room.
"Brother Xu, I don't want to cause discord in your family because of money! For the sake of the child, I can do anything!"
Huang Yushuang chased after him.
Gu Xiulan wore a look of deep emotion. "Look at that, Jinse, take a good look. Now *that* is a good woman. You should learn from her!"
"Fine."
Lu Jinse nodded.
"Auntie, since you like her so much, why don't you just marry her and live together? Even the eldest grandson is already thrown in for free."
Gu Xiulan didn't catch the sarcasm in her words and glared at her fiercely.
"You stay here and cook!"
She stormed out, slamming the bedroom door shut behind her with a resounding "Bang!"
Lu Jinse looked at the door, a bitter smile touching the corner of her mouth...
This marriage was nothing short of a tomb!
A month ago, driven by the state's policy encouraging educated youth to go down to the countryside to support agricultural construction, her name had been included on the roster.
Her father had contacted an elder to honor an arranged marriage from childhood, personally delivering his daughter to her fiancé's doorstep without asking for any bride price, hoping only that they would marry quickly.
Lu Jinse had been more than willing, because from their very first meeting three years ago, she had fallen in love with Xu Yueshan at first sight.
Not even his thick-rimmed glasses could hide the vast sea of stars twinkling within his peach-blossom eyes, and he was exceptionally handsome to boot.
Xu Yueshan was also the deputy director of the Guangming Electric Fan Factory of Rongcheng City.
Young and promising.
Her prospective mother-in-law, Gu Xiulan, was an accountant at the tax bureau.
Her prospective father-in-law, Xu Guansheng, was the director of the municipal water conservancy bureau, a retired soldier with an impeccable reputation.
The Xu family's financial situation was also exceptionally good.
They should have been married immediately.
Instead, a sudden accident occurred.
On her way to work, Gu Xiulan stepped on a loose manhole cover and fell into the sewer. Just then, a soldier happened to walk by, jumped in, and pushed her up to safety.
Tragically, the soldier himself never made it back up.
From that day on, Gu Xiulan was plunged into a state of lingering terror, losing all appetite to host her son's wedding and deciding to postpone it for a month.
Lu Jinse expressed her understanding; it was undeniably a tragic event.
Then, one day, the soldier's grieving widow arrived at their doorstep with a child.
Weeping bitterly, she told Gu Xiulan that she had been driven out by her in-laws, who had also snatched away her husband's pension. Destitute and homeless, she had no choice but to seek help here.
Gu Xiulan said they would discuss it after the family returned that evening, and invited her to stay for a meal in the meantime.
When Xu Yueshan came home and saw the mother and child, his eyes reddened because he recognized them—the widow was none other than his first love!
It was like Qiao'er's mother opening the door for Qiao'er, a coincidence right at home.
...
After a family consultation, the Xu family unanimously decided to help Huang Yushuang find a job and a place to live, and arranged for her to stay at the Xu residence until a home could be found.
The debt of gratitude was settled.
The Xu family resumed preparations for the wedding...
The wedding went ahead as scheduled, but that very night, Xiaoyue suddenly spiked a high fever.
The groom, Xu Yueshan, scooped up the child and sprinted to the nearby hospital.
The bride, Lu Jinse, spent her wedding night alone in an empty room... and that marked the beginning of her stifling life.
The Xu family quickly found Huang Yushuang an apartment and a job.
Just two days after moving out, she brought the child back to the Xu house that evening, crying that the child was too young and didn't understand anything—whenever she went to work, the baby would wail uncontrollably.
Her throat had even gone hoarse from crying.
Huang Yushuang asked if she could continue staying at the Xu house until the child was a year older and old enough for daycare before moving out.
Before Xu's father could say a word, Xu Yueshan agreed on the spot.
A year later.
The child was old enough for daycare.
Huang Yushuang then claimed that the child couldn't bear to be apart from her maternal grandmother, shared a deep bond with her, and kept crying out to find her.
She pleaded, could they wait until the child was a bit older before moving out?
Xu Yueshan agreed without a moment's hesitation, and Gu Xiulan offered her full support as well.
With one thing and another, Huang Yushuang used various excuses to live in the Xu household for a full thirty years.
...
The neighbors praised the Xu family's actions to high heaven, calling them righteous people who knew how to repay kindness, earning them a stellar reputation all around town.
No one knew the bitter anguish hidden in Lu Jinse's heart. Not only did she have to watch those two cast lingering glances and maintain an ambiguous entanglement right in front of her every single day, but she also had to wash clothes, cook, clean, and tidy up the house for this family of five...
Working like an ox or a horse.
In the tenth year of her marriage, her mother-in-law suffered a severe cerebral infarction and became bedridden, completely unable to care for herself.
As the daughter-in-law, Lu Jinse bore this responsibility without room for refusal.
Under her meticulous care, the mother-in-law lived for another twenty years...
Yet, this life of endless toil was not even the most agonizing part.
The ultimate agony came during a fire, when Xu Yueshan delayed his escape because he prioritized saving Huang Yushuang's son, resulting in their own precious daughter, Huanhuan, being burned to death in the flames.
Lu Jinse and Xu Yueshan erupted into the most violent argument of their marriage.
Hearing the commotion from next door, Huang Yushuang came over to apologize, dropping to her knees before Lu Jinse and weeping bitterly...
Xu Yueshan helped her up and turned around to comfort *her* instead.
The mother-in-law also chimed in, insisting her son had done the right thing.
"So what if Huanhuan died? But Xiaoyue is the son of my savior! If he had died, the neighbors would point fingers at our Xu family's spines!"
"If a child dies, you can always have another! Isn't Xiaoyue still around? Who else is going to bear Xiaoshuang a child?"
Lu Jinse wept in soul-shattering despair...
While Xu Yueshan remained tight-lipped and silent.
...
Following the death of her daughter, Lu Jinse developed severe depression. She couldn't sleep, and her hair fell out in clumps.
She aged a decade in a single instant.
...
When Huang Yushuang's son grew up and started a family, the apartment and bride price were likewise provided by the Xu family.
Lu Jinse lived a life of pent-up anger and resentment until stomach cancer finally claimed her life at the age of fifty, sending her down to the underworld with her eyes unclosed in grievance.
...
"Bang!"
Hearing the sound of the door closing, the house finally grew quiet.
They had all left.
Perhaps due to her recent rebirth, her vital energy was weak, and she felt a slight wave of dizziness.
Lu Jinse sat back down on the edge of the bed to rest and picked up the small vanity mirror from the bedside table to take a look. Her mood lifted considerably; as expected, she was back to her youth.
Her eyes were as clear as the morning dew, framed by slender eyelashes, with a straight bridge of the nose and a slightly upturned tip.
Her lips were full, the corners curving upward naturally.
Even in silence, she seemed to wear a faint, gentle smile.
Her skin was delicate and smooth, like a freshly peeled lychee.
Her hair was thick and dark, with a slight wave...
It was the most fashionable large-wave perm she had gotten for her wedding.
Youth was truly wonderful.
Lu Jinse slipped the small mirror into her canvas bag and resumed packing her luggage. She didn't want to stay in this house for even another minute; it was full of nothing but painful memories.
Suddenly.
A chill brushed against her hand, her fingertips grazing a smooth texture.
Lu Jinse pulled it out to look, her gaze warming instantly—it was an emerald green jade bracelet.
The piece was rich and vibrant throughout, resembling the most dazzling splash of emerald green in a deep forest.
She gently stroked it with her finger.
This was the eighteenth birthday gift her grandfather had given her.
Xiaoyue had fallen into the river precisely because he wanted this very jade bracelet.
In her past life, although she treated others gently, she had her own bottom line and principles.
Before his passing, her grandfather had explicitly instructed her to take good care of the jade bracelet.
Thinking of her grandfather's voice and expression, a pang of sorrow clutched her heart, and a single teardrop fell onto the jade bracelet.
Instantly, a splash of water bloomed across the deep green depths of the jade, a ring of colorful light flashed, and a mechanical voice rang in her ear.
"Ding! Welcome Host to the use of the Space Spirit Spring. The Space Spirit Spring has been activated!"