Lin Jiaojiao immediately turned toward the voice.
Standing at the entrance of the residential compound was a tall young woman, around twenty years old, wearing a floral dress and two thick braided pigtails. She stood with her arms crossed as she walked toward Lin Jiaojiao.
Thanks to the original owner’s memories, Lin Jiaojiao recognized her instantly.
She was none other than the original owner’s cousin, Lü Li.
Lü Li was a year younger than the original owner, so she always called her “Cousin.”
Speaking of Lü Li, she was also one of the cannon-fodder characters who suffered because of the original owner.
According to the novel, after the original owner was forced to marry the thug Liu Quan, Lü Li couldn’t bear to watch the injustice and went to confront Lin Miaomiao on her cousin’s behalf.
Instead, Lin Miaomiao set her up and had one of Liu Quan’s fellow thugs assault her.
Unable to endure the humiliation, Lü Li eventually took her own life on a quiet night.
Because of this, Lin Jiaojiao truly couldn’t understand the author’s way of thinking.
How could a venomous woman like Lin Miaomiao possibly become the heroine?
Although Lü Li was somewhat spoiled and hot-tempered, she had a kind heart.
She had always treated the original owner sincerely.
She often saved food and supplies for herself, secretly giving them to her cousin.
Yet not only was the original owner ungrateful, she even accused Lü Li of looking down on her.
Just two days ago, after accepting Lü Li’s gifts, the original owner had scolded her, saying she was stingy and only brought over worthless junk.
Furious, Lü Li had declared that even if her cousin died in the future, she would never care about her again.
So it was only natural that she wasn’t happy to see Lin Jiaojiao now.
Returning to her senses, Lin Jiaojiao immediately flashed a sweet smile, walked over, and took Lü Li’s hand.
“Cousin, are you still angry with me about what happened the other day?”
Lü Li snorted and rudely shook off her hand.
“As if I’d dare be angry with you.”
Lin Jiaojiao wasn’t upset.
Instead, under Lü Li’s astonished gaze, she bowed deeply.
Then she looked at her earnestly.
“Cousin, I came here today specifically to apologize. I hope you’ll forgive me this once.”
Lü Li stared at her as though she were looking at some strange creature.
Completely unfazed, Lin Jiaojiao pulled a White Rabbit Cream Candy from the net bag she was carrying, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it straight into Lü Li’s mouth.
By the time Lü Li recovered from her shock, the candy was already between her lips.
She instinctively wanted to spit it out.
But such a precious treat would be too wasteful to throw away.
In the end, she reluctantly swallowed it.
Watching her conflicted expression, Lin Jiaojiao smiled brightly.
“Cousin, you’ve already eaten my candy, so I’ll take that as your forgiveness.”
“I haven’t forgiven you! I—”
“Cousin, if you still won’t forgive me, then I’ll have no choice but to kneel and beg for your forgiveness.”
As she spoke, Lin Jiaojiao started to kneel.
Alarmed, Lü Li hurriedly grabbed her arm to stop her.
Then she glared at her helplessly.
“Is this really an apology? You’re trying to shorten my lifespan!
You’re my older cousin. If you kneel to me, are you trying to curse me?”
“So… you’ve forgiven me?”
Lin Jiaojiao immediately wrapped her in an excited hug.
What else could Lü Li say?
The truth was, she had never truly blamed her cousin.
She had only felt sorry for her.
She knew her cousin had become this way only because she’d been manipulated by that mother and daughter.
“Enough already. Come inside. My mom should be home.”
After saying that, Lü Li awkwardly pushed Lin Jiaojiao away and headed toward her apartment.
Lin Jiaojiao happily followed behind.
The Steel Factory family quarters were much like any other workers’ housing.
They were old-style apartment buildings with long shared hallways.
Since her uncle, Lü Bing, was only an ordinary worker at the steel factory, the apartment assigned to him was quite small.
It was only about thirty square meters, with one bedroom and one living room, yet four people lived there.
Her uncle Lü Bing.
Her aunt Li Ruyi.
Her cousin Lü Li.
And her younger cousin Lü Jian.
Her uncle and aunt shared the bedroom, while the siblings made do sleeping in the living room.
To be honest, the family’s circumstances weren’t well-off.
Among the four of them, only Uncle Lü Bing had a job.
Aunt Li Ruyi had come from the countryside and had never found employment.
Lü Jian was still in middle school.
After graduating from high school, Lü Li had also failed to find work and stayed home with her mother.
The entire family depended solely on Uncle Lü Bing’s income.
Life was naturally difficult.
Even so, they still did everything they could to help the original owner.
It was obvious how much they loved her.
“Mom! Look who’s here!”
The moment she opened the door, Lü Li shouted into the apartment.
“Who is it?”
As a woman’s voice sounded from inside, a middle-aged woman wearing a blue shirt and black pants walked out of the bedroom.
“Aunt.”
Looking at the woman before her—only in her early forties, yet already showing many strands of gray hair—Lin Jiaojiao’s eyes immediately turned red.
“Jiaojiao? What brings you here? Come in, come in!”
Li Ruyi froze for a moment before warmly stepping forward.
She instinctively reached for Lin Jiaojiao’s hand.
But then she remembered how, in the past, Lin Jiaojiao had always pulled away in disgust whenever she tried to hold her hand.
Embarrassed, she quietly withdrew it.
Instead, Lin Jiaojiao stepped forward, took her rough hand in both of hers, smiled, and said,
“Okay.”
Then the two of them walked inside together.
Li Ruyi was stunned.
Moments later, tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded repeatedly.
Once inside, she hurriedly poured Lin Jiaojiao a cup of sweet sugar water and handed it to her.
“Jiaojiao, I heard you went on a blind date today. How did it go?”
The woman who had introduced the match had been Lin Jiaojiao’s mother’s close childhood friend and was also on good terms with the Lü family.
So it wasn’t surprising that they already knew about the blind date.
“It went well,” Lin Jiaojiao replied with a smile.
“We’re planning to get married.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Lü Li was so startled that the cup in her hand slipped to the floor.
Although Li Ruyi reacted a little more calmly, she still stared at Lin Jiaojiao in complete shock.
After a long moment, she finally found her voice.
“J-Jiaojiao… isn’t this moving too fast?
You’ve only met once, and you’re already talking about marriage?
Shouldn’t you spend some time getting to know each other first before discussing marriage?”
Feeling her aunt’s genuine concern, Lin Jiaojiao smiled warmly.
“Don’t worry, Aunt. Comrade Gu is a very good man.
He’s honest, kind, handsome, and tall.
He’s exactly my type.
Besides, he’s a soldier.
Don’t you think there’s anyone more dependable than a soldier?”
Hearing her words, much of Li Ruyi’s worry faded.
Still, she couldn’t truly relax until she met Gu Tingzhou in person.
However, she was afraid that suggesting such a meeting herself might make her niece think she was interfering.
After thinking it over, she decided to wait until her husband came home so they could discuss it together.
“Well, from what you’ve said, he certainly sounds like a fine young man.”
After speaking, Li Ruyi motioned for Lin Jiaojiao to drink her sugar water.
Lin Jiaojiao gladly picked up the enamel mug and took a sip.
It was pleasantly sweet.
There was obviously plenty of sugar in it.
In this era, sugar was a luxury.
If a family served a guest sugar water, it meant they truly valued that guest.
Deeply touched, Lin Jiaojiao became even more certain about the decision she had made.
After a moment of silence, she looked at Li Ruyi.
“Aunt, actually… the reason I came today is because I have something I’d like to ask you and Uncle to help me with.”
“What is it?
As long as it’s something your uncle and I can do, we’ll certainly do our best.”
Li Ruyi answered without the slightest hesitation.
Lin Jiaojiao immediately handed over the net bag she had been carrying.
“Aunt, I bought these for all of you to help improve your health.”
Earlier, everyone had been so caught up in the conversation that Li Ruyi hadn’t paid any attention to what Lin Jiaojiao was carrying.
Now that she looked closely, she was instantly stunned.
Inside the bag were a large package of White Rabbit Cream Candies, two tins of malted milk, a bag of brown sugar…
…and even several packs of Daqianmen cigarettes.
Altogether, those items were worth well over ten yuan.
Where had Jiaojiao gotten so much money?