” Nian’an, don’t blame your parents for being partial. It’s just that you’ve grown up in the countryside since childhood – you’re familiar with everything there. Going to the countryside with the Gu family won’t feel like suffering to you.”
“But Xixi is different. Xixi has grown up with us in the city. Sending her to the countryside would be like forcing her to die! We know you’re a sensible, kind child, Nian’an – you wouldn’t have the heart to let your older sister suffer, would you?”
When Su Nian’an heard these words, she was a little dazed.
Wait, hadn’t she been caught up in the gas explosion at the hotpot restaurant next door to her cake shop, blown away, and then… died?
So were these eerie words she was hearing because she’d arrived in the Underworld?
Su Nian’an shook her head, and suddenly her vision cleared. Standing in front of her was a middle-aged woman in her forties. Though the woman looked at her with what seemed like gentle kindness, Su Nian’an could sense the contempt in her eyes.
So was this middle-aged woman the one who’d just spoken?
“Nian’an, your mother is right. You’re used to country life – going there again won’t be a big deal, will it? Just agree to it, don’t make things difficult for your parents.”
The one speaking this time was a middle-aged man sitting in the main seat. Dressed in a Zhongshan suit, he had a serious expression and an air of authority.
Su Nian’an already had a bad feeling in her heart. She turned her head and saw a face that looked so pitiful it made people want to protect her. The girl’s eyes and nose were red, but this didn’t detract from her beauty – if anything, it made her look more delicate.
When Su Nian’an looked at her, Su Nianxi quickly said, “Nian’an, it’s all my fault. I’m useless, I can’t bear the hardship of the countryside. If you really don’t want to marry into the Gu family, then I’ll just…”
Before she could finish, Su Aiguo cut her off sharply.
“Xixi! What nonsense are you talking about? You’ve always been in poor health – how could you go to the countryside?”
“Dad, but I don’t want to burden my sister.”
“Burden? This marriage was originally hers! There’s nothing wrong with letting her marry Gu Qingyu!”
As Su Nian’an listened to them chattering beside her, the moment she heard “Gu Qingyu,” she suddenly felt like all this was strangely familiar.
The Gu family? Gu Qingyu? A replacement bride?
Oh wow – she’d transmigrated into a book!
Her cousin had recommended this book to her, saying there was a cannon fodder real daughter with the same name as Su Nian’an who jumped into a river right at the start. Su Nian’an had been curious and decided to read it. What cannon fodder real daughter? The name Su Nian’an was only mentioned once – she was practically a background character.
Only this replacement marriage plot appeared, and the original character, unwilling to go through with it, had jumped into a river to prove her resolve. Now that Su Nian’an had transmigrated into this body, it was probably because the original character no longer wanted to live, giving her this chance.
The original real daughter had truly had a tough life. She’d been sent to her aunt’s house in the countryside right after birth. Because the fake daughter Su Nianxi was the orphaned daughter of one of Su Aiguo’s good friends, the couple had swapped their real daughter with Su Nianxi to make Su Nianxi’s identity as their “biological daughter” believable and avoid gossip.
After being sent to the countryside, Su Aiguo and his wife had only sent a small amount of living expenses every few months, and had never even visited her. The original character didn’t know that the people she called “father and mother” were actually her aunt and uncle – who favored sons heavily, and since she wasn’t their real daughter, they’d beaten and scolded her since she was little.
As a young child, she’d already started doing all the household chores and farm work for the whole family. Finally, when she turned eighteen, Su Aiguo and his wife came to take her back to the city. The original character had thought her loving parents had finally come for her, that her hard days were over.
But she never expected her biological parents had an agenda – they’d brought her back just to have her act as a replacement bride for the fake daughter, marrying someone whose entire family was being sent to the countryside. All just to keep Su Nianxi from having to suffer the hardship.
The original character had broken down. She couldn’t accept that no one in the world loved her, and in a moment of despair, had jumped into the river.
Poor child – even if no one loves you, you should learn to love yourself. Don’t worry, I’ll live well in your place, and I won’t let these people who pretend to care about you get away with it, Su Nian’an promised in her heart.
When Su Nian’an looked up again, all the wariness in her eyes was hidden. She looked at the three people in the room with her, and a sarcastic smile appeared on her lips.
“Why… why are you smiling?” Liu Cuilan, her biological mother, who was closest to her, couldn’t help but frown and ask.
Su Nian’an turned her gaze to her and said, “So because Su Nianxi can’t bear hardship, I have to?”
The three of them froze. After spending the past two days with her, they were used to a Su Nian’an who never dared to speak to them like this. Since being brought back from the countryside, she’d been timid and meek, her spirit broken by her aunt’s family. But now – was Su Nian’an losing her temper?
“Su Nian’an! Is that how you speak to us?” Su Aiguo was the first to lash out. In his eyes, Su Nian’an owed him everything just for being born.
“What kind of tone should I use? Do you know how I’ve lived all these years in the countryside? Have you ever asked? You just brought me back two days ago, and already you’ve shown your true purpose in bringing me here. The three of you are here playing the happy family, but what about me? Abandoned again and again.”
Su Nian’an wasn’t stupid – confronting them head-on wouldn’t help. She needed to get something out of these people. Sure enough, as soon as she said this, a flash of panic appeared on Su Aiguo and Liu Cuilan’s faces.
They could feel guilt? Su Nian’an had thought they were completely heartless.
“Nian’an, there was no other way. One of you and your sister had to go to the countryside. Your sister has been in poor health since childhood – if we sent her, she’d probably…” Liu Cuilan looked “embarrassed.”
That line again? Saying Su Nianxi was in poor health? But Su Nian’an felt like apart from pretending to be weak, Su Nianxi didn’t seem to have any real health problems.
“Is that right?” Su Nian’an suddenly asked with a cold laugh.
“What do you mean?” Su Aiguo frowned.
“Did you really choose to send me to the countryside because she’s in poor health?”
The question made Su Aiguo and his wife instantly alert.
“What are you trying to say?” Su Aiguo asked, his brow furrowed.
Su Nian’an curved her lips slightly before speaking. “Could it be… because Su Nianxi isn’t your real daughter?”