“Su Nian’an! Shut your mouth! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Su Nian’an’s words had finally pulled Su Nianxi out of her shell.
“Goodness, Su Nianxi—so you can speak normally? I thought your voice was forever going to be as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.” Su Nian’an showed Su Nianxi no face at all, mocking her outright.
At once, Su Nianxi smoothed away the fierce, ugly expression on her face. She leaned into Liu Cuilan’s arms, voice thick with threatened tears. “Mother! Do something about Su Nian’an! How… how can she speak to me like that?!”
Liu Cuilan would never bear to see her precious daughter wronged. She wrapped Su Nianxi in her embrace, glared at Su Nian’an, and snapped, “Nian’an! What nonsense are you talking?!”
Su Nian’an turned her gaze straight to Liu Cuilan—blood of her blood, yet with not a shred of a mother’s affection for her. “Am I really spouting nonsense? Su Nianxi may have grown up at your side all these years, but is she truly your biological daughter?”
The moment those words fell, the faces of the other three in the room darkened all at once.
Su Aiguo and his wife exchanged a look: they suspected that Su Nian’an’s aunt—who had raised her—had a loose tongue and told her the truth. How else could Su Nian’an possibly know?
Sensing her parents’ unease, Su Nianxi’s heart raced with panic.
Could it be… that she really wasn’t their biological daughter?
“Su Nian’an, you… what proof do you have?”
“Proof?” Su Nian’an looked at her coolly. “Su Nianxi, you’ve occupied a nest not meant for a cuckoo all these years—so tell me: with the Su family’s standing, why on earth would they need to send their own daughter away to the countryside?”
Su Nianxi had no rebuttal. Though the Su family was no great household in the capital, both Su Aiguo and his wife held administrative posts at state enterprises—they were more than well-off enough to raise a daughter at home.
“Since you too see the truth, all the better.” Su Aiguo finally spoke up, still set on pushing the burden onto Su Nian’an. “You are the Su family’s true daughter. Therefore, the betrothal between the Su and Gu families ought to be fulfilled by you.”
“Fine.” Su Nian’an agreed without hesitation.
Her answer stunned the other three into silence.
After a long moment, Liu Cuilan rushed to her side, seized her hands, and asked breathlessly, “Nian’an—are you serious? You’ll do it?”
Su Nian’an gently but firmly pried the woman’s fingers from her arm. “On conditions.”
“What conditions?” Su Aiguo asked.
Su Nian’an laid out her demands without the slightest hesitation.
“I want twenty thousand yuan in cash, plus fifty kilos of meat coupons, thirty kilos of cloth coupons, and one hundred kilos of grain coupons. Meet these modest requests, and I will agree to fulfill the betrothal on behalf of the Su family and marry into the Gu family.”
Su Nian’an had no grand talents—her only real skill was making pastries and desserts. But having crossed into this era where even enough food was a luxury, trying to earn a living with her craft would be next to impossible. For one thing, she could never get her hands on the raw ingredients.
Far better to stop striving, marry, and secure her future in one go.
True, the Gu household—her fiancé Gu Qingyu’s family—had fallen from grace and been sent to the countryside for reform through labor. But it would take only six months before Gu Qingyu rose to become someone the Su family could never hope to approach.
Su Nian’an had no lofty ambitions. Why grind herself into the dust when she could lean on a strong husband’s arm? And if the marriage didn’t work out? In a couple of years, once reforms began and private enterprise took off, she could start a small business of her own then.
In short: endure six months of hardship alongside the future powerhouse, and she might well share in his prosperity for decades to come.
And if, in the end, Gu Qingyu still felt nothing for her? She’d walk away with a handsome settlement—divorce was an option. People of this era might dread the shame of it, but Su Nian’an, a woman from the twenty-first century, feared no such thing.
The more she thought it through, the clearer it became: marrying Gu Qingyu was her best possible path forward.
Otherwise—what did she have? The Su family despised her, yet her aunt’s household, where the original Su Nian’an had been raised, treated her little better than a servant. She had nothing. In this era, one needed letters of recommendation just to board a train or seek work—survival without protection would be a nightmare.
Marrying Gu Qingyu beat throwing herself into a river. She had no desire to die twice.
But before she walked down the aisle, she meant to make the Su family pay handsomely.
As expected, her outrageous demands left everyone stunned.
“Su Nian’an! Have you lost your mind? Do you even know what you’re saying?!” Su Nianxi blurted out before her parents could speak.
“I know exactly what I’m saying. These are simply reasonable terms. Now understand this: I am not going off to some quiet village life. The Gu family has been sent down for labor reform. Do you truly imagine I wouldn’t know exactly what that entails?”
Su Nian’an’s question silenced Su Nianxi. Because she knew perfectly well—and feared it.
Sent down for reform… the very thought filled her with terror. She’d woken screaming from nightmares of that harsh life. She turned to Su Aiguo, voice soft and wheedling. “Father~”
Su Nian’an fought back a shudder of revulsion. No wonder this daughter was doted on—with that cloying, sweet tone, she could wrap anyone around her finger. It was a sound Su Nian’an knew she herself would never make.
Su Aiguo sighed deeply, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and exhaled slowly.
“Nian’an… it is not that I refuse you. We simply do not have that kind of wealth.”
Su Nian’an gave a cold laugh. “Then you cannot expect me to marry in your place and accept nothing in return! For eighteen years, did you feed me or house me even for a single day? Now you wish to send me to suffer in Su Nianxi’s stead? Then show some sincerity.”
Liu Cuilan, seeing Su Nian’an meant business, gave a dry, awkward chuckle and tried to cajole her. “Nian’an… that is hardly the way to speak. You are our true-born daughter, after all…”
“Fine then.” Su Nian’an cut her off sharply. “Publicly acknowledge the truth—that I am your biological daughter, and Su Nianxi is adopted. Announce it to the world. Once that is known, you may force me into marriage, and I shall have no recourse. Will you do it?”
“No! We cannot!” Panic flashed across Liu Cuilan’s face.
Su Nian’an had not read the ending of the novel, but she knew Su Nianxi’s role: the wicked supporting female who refused to marry the disgraced Gu Qingyu, then later tried to cozy up to him once the Gu family rose to power. And Su Nianxi’s background as an adopted daughter was fact—her true parentage remained unknown to Su Nian’an, having not reached the final chapters.
But seeing how desperately Su Aiguo and Liu Cuilan guarded that secret, Su Nian’an guessed that Su Nianxi’s origins were far too shameful to reveal.
All the better. She held more leverage than she’d realized.
“Very well.” Su Nian’an’s tone hardened. “Either Su Nianxi marries the Gu heir herself—for I assure you, the Gu family knows full well that Su Nianxi is their intended bride—or you meet my terms: pay me the money and issue the coupons as I ask. Refuse, and there is no deal.”
Su Nian’an stood firm. Liu Cuilan, helpless, turned her gaze to Su Aiguo—seeking his word.
Su Aiguo said nothing, only lit cigarette after cigarette, filling the room with smoke. The silence stretched, thick and awkward. But Su Nian’an held to her philosophy: if I am not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to you. She sat calmly, waiting.
Then, as if a thought had struck her, she added:
“The Gu family has fallen. You still insist on honoring this betrothal solely to preserve your reputation. But you have no desire to remain tangled in their ruin, do you? Give me what I ask, and I will sever all ties with the Su family. Your reputation remains unblemished—and you shall never be dragged down by the Gu family’s misfortunes. What say you?”
Her words struck home. Su Aiguo crushed his cigarette at once and spoke.
“Five thousand yuan. Twenty kilos of meat coupons. Twenty kilos of cloth. Thirty kilos of grain.” He looked at her, weary and grave. “Nian’an… believe me. It is not that I hold back. We truly have no more to give.”