Xu Manman pouted and looked at her mother with dissatisfaction. "Mom, how can a butcher be a good person? They’re all coarse, burly men—I don’t want that!"
"What’s wrong with a butcher? Look at the people at the slaughterhouse; aren't they all well-fed and thriving? If you had a husband like that, you’d have all the meat you could ever want!" Wang Mingxia was frustrated by her daughter’s perceived dim-wittedness.
It wasn’t that she thought Jiang Chengxu was a bad match. His father was the deputy director of a food processing plant, his mother was a nurse at the hospital, and he himself was a propaganda officer at a machine factory. The catch was that this marriage had been arranged by her sister-in-law, Song Wanlin.
Previously, she had already snatched a film projectionist job for her second son, so she felt it would be wrong to let her daughter snatch this son-in-law away as well.
"I don't care! I am not marrying a butcher. You lost me for over a decade, and now that I’ve finally come back, you’re in such a hurry to marry me off?" Xu Manman’s eyes welled up with tears again.
Wang Mingxia felt a pang of heartache, but she was helpless. "Then what do you propose? If you don't marry, you’ll have to go down to the countryside. Are you willing to go?"
Of course, Xu Manman was not willing. "How did Eldest Brother and Second Brother get their jobs? And Third Brother—are you planning to send him to the countryside, too? Why is it that in this family, whenever there’s a sacrifice to be made, it’s always me, whether I’m your biological daughter or not?"
After saying this, Xu Manman stood up abruptly and went to her room to cry.
The family gathering ended on a sour note.
As Xu Qinghuan was about to enter her room, Wang Mingxia called out to her, "Huanhuan, come over here with your second aunt. I have something to tell you."
She exchanged a glance with Xu Liqun, and the couple walked into the room with Xu Qinghuan following behind.
"Huanhuan, you can see that the current situation is truly difficult. Only your eldest and second brothers have jobs; the three of you have none. You’re better off, though—you’re about to get married, and marriage means you won't have to go to the countryside. As for your third brother, he’s a man; I don't worry about where he goes. Now, only Manman is left..."
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
If Xu Qinghuan hadn't known that Xu Manman had been lost at the age of three because of Wang Mingxia’s own deliberate doing, she would have certainly believed this display of a loving mother’s heart.
But as things stood, she had no choice but to believe it—at the very least, when choosing between Xu Manman and her, Wang Mingxia would always choose Xu Manman.
"What is it that you want me to do, Second Aunt?" Xu Qinghuan asked, lowering her eyes.
Wang Mingxia sighed with apparent difficulty. "Manman came back late. She’s suffered so much outside all these years, hasn't finished her schooling, and can’t find a job. People look down on her as soon as they hear she grew up in the countryside. It’s hard for her to find a good man."
Xu Liqun spoke up from the side, "Huanhuan, even though your father is gone and your mother doesn’t want you, you still have your second uncle and second aunt. I hope that since you and Manman are sisters, you will look out for each other in the future."
Xu Qinghuan asked, confused, "Does Second Uncle mean you want me to accompany Manman to the countryside?"
Although she had already made up her mind to go to the countryside, she didn't want to be with Xu Manman. She hoped to get away from these people, find a soulmate or two in this time and space, cling to some powerful figures, and live a comfortable, leisurely life.
She didn't want to be as exhausted as in her previous life, being so stubborn and desperate to prove herself, only to find that her parents didn't care at all.
Wang Mingxia put on a fawning smile. "Oh, what a silly thing to say! How could I bear to see you sisters go to the countryside? I’ve raised you for fourteen years; I’d rather Manman go than see you go!"
That was true—Song Wanlin gave them twenty-five yuan a month, the equivalent of an ordinary worker's monthly salary.
Xu Qinghuan smiled. "I still don’t understand what you and Second Uncle mean. Just say directly what you want me to do."
The original owner of this body once believed that her second aunt, second uncle, and three cousins truly loved her. After her father sacrificed his life and her mother abandoned her, this home had provided her with shelter. She had once considered these people her closest kin.
She was filial to her elders and attached to her brothers, believing they felt the same way toward her.
That was until Xu Manman came back.
Only then did she realize that the affection she thought she had was not worth mentioning.
Her allowance was fifty cents a month, while Xu Manman’s was five yuan.
Eldest Brother never bought her snacks, but Xu Manman could eat the braised pork he brought home every few days.
When Xu Manman snatched her things, Second Brother would slap her across the face without asking for the reason, forcing her to give the items to Manman, and then curse her for being stingy and ungrateful.
When Xu Manman bullied her, Third Brother would just watch coldly from the side. His favoritism toward Manman couldn't have been more obvious; if Xu Qinghuan dared to resist, he would step in without hesitation to help Manman.
Only then did Xu Qinghuan understand that the reason her life had been so peaceful before, giving her the illusion that she had a family, was because she hadn't been in anyone's way in that house.
On the contrary, the Xu family used her to exert leverage over Song Wanlin.
After all, Song Wanlin had married into a wealthy family; she didn't want Xu Qinghuan’s existence to affect her life, and she certainly didn't want the people of Yanshi to know she once had a daughter.
Wang Mingxia said, "I’m thinking that since you’re still young, there’s no need to marry so early. Regarding this marriage with the Jiang family, my thought is that we should look into it further. After all, Jiang Chengxu’s mother doesn't like you much. If you marry into that family, a poor mother-in-law relationship will affect your marriage. Your second aunt is thinking of you in every way—you should try to understand what's good for you."
Back then, she had already discarded Xu Manman once. All these years, every time she woke up in the middle of the night, she felt troubled.
Seeing her niece marry into a wealthy family while her own daughter was being sent to the countryside made her feel even worse.
"This marriage isn't something I can decide," Xu Qinghuan said, speaking the truth.
"You are a child of the Xu family. Your father is gone, so I, as your second uncle, can make the decision for you. You are still young and not in a rush to marry. I will help you push this marriage back for now," Xu Liqun said, settling the matter.
Even though Xu Manman had not been raised by his side for fourteen years, and in fact wasn't even his biological daughter, he didn't know that yet. He simply thought Manman was his daughter and Xu Qinghuan was just his niece.
After the couple lay down in bed, Wang Mingxia poked Xu Liqun with her elbow. "Old Xu, is this really okay? What if our sister-in-law doesn't agree?"
"My sister-in-law has always been shrewd. Her plan is that once Huanhuan is married, she won't have to deal with us anymore, which is why she’s been pushing for the engagement and rushing the wedding."
The jobs for the eldest and second sons had been arranged by his sister-in-law, and for years, they had had to go to her for every little thing. Anyone would get annoyed by that.
But because his brother had sacrificed his life less than three months before she remarried a comrade of his, Xu Liqun both hated and feared his sister-in-law.
"Let’s wait and see about this Jiang marriage!" Xu Liqun thought about his third son, Manman, and the money they would need for his three sons to marry in the future, and he made his decision instantly.
That meant he didn't agree!
Wang Mingxia was secretly delighted. She quickly added, "We can't just go to their house and break off the engagement ourselves."
It would be best if this marriage could be passed on to her own daughter instead!
"You first go and probe the Jiang family’s stance to see what they think. Men marry into families, women marry out—right now, it’s the Jiang family that wants to marry," Xu Liqun said.
"I’ll go meet with Chengxu’s mother tomorrow to discuss it," Wang Mingxia thought. No matter how much her sister-in-law plotted, if the daughter didn't see eye-to-eye with her, it would all be in vain.
In the darkness, Xu Manman cried herself to sleep, emitting faint snores. Outside the window, there was no moonlight, nor were there the streetlights common in the future. Xu Qinghuan, less than a meter away, could only see the hazy, rounded outline of a figure on the bed.
She touched the red mole on her left wrist. It felt slightly warm, and in an instant, she was transported into her familiar Space.
Here, the mountains were towering, the plains vast, the forests endless, and the oceans boundless.
The soil emanated a fresh scent, and the bamboo forest rustled in the breeze like the sound of a flute.
Not far away, a few cranes flitted between white clouds.
She was standing before the square of Yinguang Hall. Beneath her feet were terraced fields planted with medicinal herbs. A stream of spiritual spring water flowed down from the mountains, passed through pipes made of bamboo, and was dispersed into a mist over the fields through a complex mechanism.
The halls rose high into the clouds, shrouded in mist.
The fact that the Breathing Soil Space had followed her here brought Xu Qinghuan genuine joy.
This was the space hidden within the heirloom red jade. Her grandfather had given it to her on his deathbed, and the moment she received it, it had merged into her wrist, becoming a vibrant red mole.
Inside was a small world, vast and boundless—she didn't know which great immortal cultivator had left it behind.
It was just a pity that in her previous life, she had been too focused on her wealth and daily struggles. She never imagined she would time-travel, so she hadn't sold off her movable and immovable property to stock up on supplies like those fictional transmigrators. Consequently, the food and supplies in Yinguang Hall were pathetically scarce.
Even if she went to the black market, the few hundred catties of rice and flour in her space wouldn't fetch much money. As for selling medicinal herbs, that would be like a death wish—in these times, traditional medicine was considered a target for suppression.