The atmosphere at the dinner table was cold enough to produce ice shards.
On the table in front of Song Fanghua sat only a plate of blackened sautéed potato shreds, a bowl of watery cabbage soup, and a basin of steamed corn buns that were half-yellow and half-black.
“Fanghua… I know this is unfair to you.”
The speaker was Song Fanghua’s nominal mother, Zhao Guilan.
At this moment, she was staring at Song Fanghua with an expression full of dilemma and guilt.
“Fanghua, Lili grew up in the city; her constitution is weak, and we watched her grow up. We really can’t bear it…”
Song Fanghua said nothing, keeping her head down and putting on a timid, provincial act.
Inside, however, she was already cursing.
She, Song Fanghua, had been a billionaire seafood tycoon in the twenty-first century. One moment she was laughing and talking at a victory banquet, and the next, an incompetent ghost messenger had accidentally snatched her soul.
Because of this blunder, the Difu System had glitched, turning her into a wandering ghost who couldn’t return to her original body.
Just as she was calculating how to turn the Yanwang Dian upside down, the ghost messenger, nearly frightened out of his wits, begged for mercy. Seizing a moment when she wasn’t looking, he shoved her directly into a “chronicles” novel she had been reading to kill time before she died.
He had even “thoughtfully” placed her in the role of the cannon-fodder true daughter—the girl who had her life stolen for twenty years and had just been brought back from the countryside.
Right now was her first day back in the Song family, and also the first major turning point in the plot: the marriage swap.
There were two prospective grooms.
One was Zhang Yong, the son of the city’s dyeing factory director.
The book stated clearly that while Zhang Yong appeared to be a “Five-Good Youth” from a respectable family, he was actually the scum of the earth—a man who indulged in eating, drinking, gambling, and visiting prostitutes.
The other was Lu Qingye. Although he was stationed on a harsh and remote island, he actually came from a prominent family.
Naturally, the Song family intended to save the “good” city marriage with Zhang Yong for the fake daughter they had raised, Song Lili.
In turn, they planned to force the “hardship” of following a soldier to a remote island onto Song Fanghua, the “country bumpkin.”
“Mom, you can’t let Sister marry onto that island!”
As Song Fanghua was sorting through the plot, a heart-wrenching wail pierced her ears.
Song Lili, the fake daughter, had begun her performance.
She rushed in from outside and collapsed onto her knees, death-gripping Zhao Guilan’s legs.
Her crying was incredibly sincere; her carefully made-up face was a mess of tears, and her voice was already hoarse.
“Mom, that island is so miserable! You can barely eat fresh vegetables a few times a year, and when a typhoon hits, it can blow the roofs right off the houses.”
“Sister just came back from the countryside. Her constitution is so weak; how can she go and suffer like that again? I’ll go. I’ll go in her place!”
Song Lili sobbed as she spoke, every word dripping with “great sisterly devotion.”
To an outsider, she truly looked like a peerless sister sacrificing herself for her sibling.
Song Fanghua watched the performance out of the corner of her eye and practically burst out laughing internally.
To hell with your sisterly devotion. Such amateur acting.
In the original novel, on the day Song Lili married the scumbag Zhang Yong, he suddenly dropped dead from an acute illness.
Consequently, the Zhang family branded Song Lili a “jinx” who brought misfortune to her husband. She was tormented by the Zhangs for years as a widow until she died.
Song Fanghua, in the original book, married Lu Qingye. She suffered for a few years with the military but then followed her husband’s meteoric rise, enjoying a lifetime of wealth and status.
But looking at things now, Song Lili must have been reborn. Otherwise, why would she pass up a “Five-Good Youth” like Zhang Yong and insist on crying and screaming to suffer on an island?
Song Weiguo and Zhao Guilan were moved to tears by Song Lili’s words.
Looking at the daughter they had raised themselves, their eyes were full of the sentiment: My daughter is just too kind.
“Lili, my good daughter, you’re simply too kind-hearted.” Zhao Guilan held Song Lili, tears of heartache falling. “Both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh; you are also my dear daughter. Besides, you’re supposed to marry Zhang Yong tomorrow. I think we should just let this be.”
Zhao Guilan’s words sounded nice, but in reality, she didn’t want Song Lili to go to the island and suffer.
“No, Mom. I must marry Lu Qingye,” Song Lili said, her gaze firm.
Song Weiguo and Zhao Guilan looked at each other, not understanding why she had suddenly changed her tune.
“Dad, Mom, come here…” Song Lili said, taking each of them by an arm and leading them into the bedroom, leaving Song Fanghua alone.
Ten minutes later.
The three emerged from the room looking overjoyed. Song Weiguo, her nominal father, immediately made the decision.
“Fanghua, it’s settled. Lili feels for you and has volunteered to take your place and suffer on the island.”
“You will stay in the city. Tomorrow, you’ll marry Zhang Yong, the son of the dyeing factory director. It’s an iron rice bowl—you’ll never want for food or clothes, and you’ll be close to home. This is your good fortune.”
“That’s right, Fanghua. Your father and I also feel for you. Getting married now means getting a good home. If you don’t marry and don’t have a job, the sub-district office will arrange for you to be sent down to the countryside,” Zhao Guilan added with feigned sincerity.
Hearing these words that twisted black into white, Song Fanghua almost laughed out loud.
Was the island life hard? Oh, it was truly hard!
In her past life, Song Lili had only seen Song Fanghua’s glamorous life as a General’s wife in the book; she hadn’t seen the hardships Fanghua endured while staying by Lu Qingye’s side through thick and thin.
The reason was that Lu Qingye had been severely injured during his current mission. He was paralyzed in both legs and his personality had changed drastically, turning him into a “cold-faced Yanwang” whom everyone on the island avoided.
So even if Song Lili really married Lu Qingye, if she wanted to be a General’s wife, she would first have to act as a free nanny and endure over a decade of miserable days.
And Zhang Yong? On the wedding day, he would drop dead from an acute illness.
How was this a fire pit? This was clearly a path to freedom tailor-made for her!
As for being tormented? As a modern woman from the twenty-first century, Song Fanghua had already thought of a way to handle that.
So, after marrying over, not only would she not be beaten, but she would also immediately become a widow and inherit a handsome sum of compensation money.
Was there any start better than this? Thank you, truly.
Song Fanghua forcefully suppressed her urge to smile and slowly raised her head, revealing a small face that looked sallow from long-term malnutrition.
She first stole a timid glance at the smug Song Lili, then quickly lowered her head again.
In a voice that sounded like she was resigning herself to fate, she whispered, “Thank you, Mom and Dad. I… I will follow your arrangements.”
Song Fanghua’s weak, submissive, and unrefined appearance made Song Weiguo and Zhao Guilan very satisfied.
They had been afraid that this daughter brought back from the countryside would be stubborn and wild, difficult to control. Now it seemed they had overthought it.
“That’s more like it.” Song Weiguo nodded with satisfaction. “From now on, both you and Lili are daughters of the Song family. You must get along well.”
Nestled in Zhao Guilan’s arms, Song Lili’s lips curled into a smug smile she couldn’t hide. Her gaze toward Song Fanghua was filled with a winner’s pity and contempt.
Sensing her provocative gaze, Song Fanghua lowered her head even further.
My dear sister, thank you for ‘fulfilling’ my wishes!
This overwhelming fortune… you’d better make sure you hold onto it tight.
Song Fanghua kept her head down and silently picked up a piece of blackened potato shreds with her chopsticks.
Tonight’s meal tasted truly delicious.