September 1994, autumn.
The ginkgo leaves turned yellow, scattering gold across the ground.
Warm sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of branches and leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground. Students heading to Jiangcheng University for the new semester registration wove through the patches of light and shade.
A high ponytail swayed lightly, brushing against the girl’s slender neck. Lin Wan, having just finished the summer break of her junior year, had finally welcomed the first semester of her senior year.
With graduation only a year away, many senior students were already pondering their future prospects.
In the past, university graduates were assigned jobs upon graduation, securely holding the nation’s “iron rice bowl,” and most were even appointed as cadres—their futures were bright. But starting last year, the system of assigned jobs for university graduates began undergoing small-scale reforms. What was once an ironclad guarantee of an iron rice bowl after graduation had now begun to show early signs of wavering. Assigned jobs became independent job selection; directed placement became bidirectional independent employment—leaving many families deeply worried.
But not Lin Wan’s family.
A month ago, Lin Wan’s family learned that their daughter’s boyfriend was actually the grandson of a Jiangcheng tycoon, and they wished she could marry him immediately.
How could they let such a wealthy son-in-law slip away!
Lin Wan didn’t respond to her family’s words. Setting aside where her family’s eyes were fixed, she was clear that even her boyfriend’s family was no ordinary household.
Apart from this unexpected relationship, Lin Wan’s mind was more focused on the issue of graduating from university. Jiangcheng University was a mid-tier university nationally. Thanks to Jiangcheng’s development and construction in recent years, finding a good job in the future was of paramount importance.
Currently, there were two main good destinations for university graduates assigned to jobs: first, state-owned factories—good benefits, high pay, and the job could even be passed down to the next generation, truly a hot commodity; second, within the system—once you got in, you sat in an office, wielded a pen, and it was respectable.
Lin Wan had excellent grades and a good record at school, so finding a good job wasn’t a big problem.
With this in mind, Lin Wan walked toward Jiangcheng University, planning to ask a senior sister who had graduated last year and stayed on as a university counselor about the situation. But just as she turned past Sixue Building, she heard a classmate tease: “Lin Wan, Fu Mingjun was just looking for you—over there.”
Hearing her boyfriend’s name, Lin Wan paused. She suddenly remembered Fu Mingjun mentioning a few days ago that he wanted her to meet his parents.
Fu Mingjun, eager for his girlfriend to meet his family, never imagined that his mother had already privately approached Lin Wan—politely worded, elegantly behaved, but the unavoidable theme was implicitly mentioning the too-great gap between their families, hoping Lin Wan would know her place.
Lin Wan quietly listened to her boyfriend’s mother, and in the end only faintly replied—Auntie, these words should be said to your son.
If she went to their door again, it would probably be a Hongmen Banquet.
Lin Wan turned and headed behind Sixue Building. Meeting the parents could wait… let Fu Mingjun first handle things on his mother’s side.
But when Fu Mingjun’s figure appeared in Lin Wan’s line of sight, what also entered her view was the corner of a dark gray, sharply tailored suit.
A male university student in youthful sportswear and a mature, steady businessman stood facing each other. Lin Wan recognized him at a glance—this was her boyfriend’s uncle, Fu Xiuhuai, whom she had met twice before.
The Fu family, one of Jiangcheng’s most notable tycoons, had weathered ups and downs in just over a decade and now enjoyed great renown—all thanks to this uncle, only eight years older than his nephew, who held up the family business.
Lin Wan often heard Fu Mingjun mention this uncle—ruthless and decisive in business, deeply protective of family, and especially fond of his nephew Fu Mingjun.
Moreover, the last time the two had accidentally run into this uncle while on a date outside campus, Lin Wan had seen the rumored Jiangcheng big shot Fu Xiuhuai—gentle and refined, cultured and courteous, politely and warmly praising her, showing the easygoing manner of an elder toward a junior. Lin Wan was surprised that he had no airs at all—handsome and extraordinary, yet also approachable—and her nervousness at meeting her boyfriend’s elder and a successful businessman diminished somewhat.
In front of the stairwell, a deep voice unlike Fu Mingjun’s clear one suddenly swept past Lin Wan’s ear, interrupting her thoughts.
Her boyfriend’s uncle Fu Xiuhuai spoke in a flat tone, evaluating his nephew’s romance: “Your mother is right. You and Miss Lin are indeed unsuitable.”
“Uncle! Are you also snobbish, thinking we’re not well-matched in social status?” Fu Mingjun hadn’t expected his uncle to be so rigid, even siding with his mother. “You didn’t say that before—you used to say you’d let me date whomever I wanted.”
Lin Wan had no intention of intruding on the uncle and nephew’s argument. As she turned to leave, only fragments of Fu Xiuhuai’s merciless reply reached her ears.
“Say that again when you don’t rely on the family for luxury cars and villas, when you truly have the confidence.”
Oh.
Lin Wan thought, Fu Mingjun’s uncle wasn’t as easygoing and approachable as he pretended to be—he was probably a smiling tiger.
But she didn’t care.
There wasn’t much to do on the first day of registration. Lin Wan finished up and returned to the dormitory. There were still two days before school started. Only three roommates had returned to the dorm; the local roommates had gone home after registration and would come back the day after tomorrow when school started—only Lin Wan was the exception. The other roommates who had returned early were all from out of town.
The four chatted late into the night, from senior year aspirations to graduation jobs, to the love and marriage questions everyone cared about.
When the lights went out, Lin Wan slowly closed her eyes. In her ears seemed to echo still her boyfriend’s uncle Fu Xiuhuai’s merciless judgment of their relationship. Even though Lin Wan wasn’t deeply attached to this romance, hearing such critical denial still felt uncomfortable.
This uncle didn’t seem all that great either.
He must look down on her.
++++
A night of good sleep.
She seemed to have slept for a very long time. Lin Wan’s consciousness was somewhat fuzzy—this sleep was especially deep and lengthy. The first thing that drifted into her mind was today’s schedule: tomorrow was the first day of school, and today she needed to go to the academic affairs office to help.
Morning light gently caressed her cheeks, dancing on her curled eyelashes. Lin Wan slowly opened her eyes, and what met her gaze was a stretch of dazzling sunlight.
Pure white gauze curtains danced lightly with the wind, accompanying the light, gently fluttering in a spacious, luxurious room. The freshly painted white walls were new and tidy, echoing the European-style grand yet simple furniture in the room—solid wood wardrobes, chests of drawers, even a sofa and fine tea sets. Everywhere exuded quality and elegance, proving the usefulness of money.
Lin Wan raised her eyes to look at the dazzling crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and a hint of confusion rippled through her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.
Where was she?
And when she sat up and saw herself clearly through the exquisite carved bronze mirror on the vanity table against the wall at the foot of the bed, she was even more astonished.
The self in the mirror was not the girl with long, straight hair wearing a plaid pajama set in the university dormitory before she went to sleep. Instead, she had transformed into a woman with long, curly hair wearing a silver silk nightgown, with an exquisite and expensive women’s watch even on her wrist.
Staring blankly at herself in the mirror, Lin Wan was certain something was off. She had clearly fallen asleep in the school dormitory last night, and before sleeping she had still been thinking about going to help collect books tomorrow. Why had she woken up in a strange yet luxurious bedroom?
“Madam, the mister asked me to check if you’re up yet? How is your health?”
Outside the door, a bright middle-aged woman’s voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Lin Wan’s thoughts.
Madam? Calling whom?
There was no one else in the room besides herself. Lin Wan’s pretty willow-leaf eyebrows knitted slightly, and she found it even stranger.
Getting up to open the door, Lin Wan noticed the middle-aged woman at the door looked somewhat familiar. The woman had a well-proportioned figure, a sallow complexion but not thin or sickly—rather, she looked energetic and capable, especially with a lively pair of eyes, the corners of her lips slightly upturned, and a very kind face.
After recalling for a few seconds, Lin Wan suddenly remembered this person was the nanny of her boyfriend Fu Mingjun’s family, Auntie Wang. She had once delivered something to the school for Fu Mingjun and had met Lin Wan once.
“Madam, the mister said to ask how you’re feeling today. If there’s any discomfort, you still need to go to the hospital for a checkup.”
Lin Wan didn’t feel any discomfort, and was even more confused about how she, a university student, had become a madam.
But being in a strange environment and seeing someone she wasn’t too familiar with, she didn’t alert the enemy. She only tentatively responded: “Nothing much, I’m feeling quite well. The mister you mentioned—where is he…”
“The mister went to the company.” The middle-aged woman replied casually. Thinking of the soup still simmering in the kitchen, she hurried downstairs. “Breakfast is ready, madam. You must remember to eat, especially now that you’re pregnant—you need to pay even more attention.”
Auntie Wang’s thumping footsteps sounded on the solid wood stairs, each step seeming to land on Lin Wan’s heart.
Pregnant?
Reflexively raising her hand to her belly, she looked down and stared fixedly at her abdomen, which seemed unchanged. Lin Wan couldn’t believe it—there was a child inside?
Raising her eyes and looking around, Lin Wan was shocked to find herself in an exquisitely decorated villa, spacious and grand, completely different from her dormitory and the cramped, small room at home.
Looking down from the second-floor hallway, she saw the ceiling’s dazzling crystal chandelier, intricate and layered, crystal-clear, its gentle light shining on the enormous living room. On the living room wall hung a gold-plated frame high up, and the people in the family portrait were extremely familiar to Lin Wan.
Her boyfriend Fu Mingjun, his grandparents, parents, and uncle Fu Xiuhuai were all prominently there.
How had she ended up in the Fu family villa?!
The middle-aged woman who had just gone downstairs placed breakfast on the long rectangular dining table in the dining room and called up: “Madam, have breakfast now, don’t starve yourself.”
Step by step up the stairs, Lin Wan’s mind was full of thoughts, yet she couldn’t sort everything out. Then she suddenly thought of something, and her footsteps grew urgent, frightening the middle-aged woman into exclaiming.
“Aiya, madam, slow down, be careful of your body.”
Lin Wan ignored the calls by her ear and headed straight for the calendar hanging on the living room wall. The beautifully brushed traditional Chinese painting, in deep and light strokes, outlined mountains and rivers, while beside it red running-script characters wrote the current year—1995.
Unbelieving, Lin Wan stared at the calendar for a long time, still unable to believe it. She turned back and asked: “Auntie Wang, what year, month, and day is today?”
Wang Qiuxia suspected this wealthy family’s daughter-in-law had it so good she’d gone muddle-headed: “Today is September 2nd, ’95. Today is Jiangcheng University’s registration day—the second young miss just left this morning.”
Like a thunderclap exploding by her ear, Lin Wan was so startled she suspected she was dreaming.
Yesterday was clearly September 3rd, 1994. She had just registered for school and was about to enter the first semester of her senior year. How could she wake up and it be a year later—September 2nd, 1995?
In her twenty-one years of life, Lin Wan had never encountered such a bizarre thing, so much so that her mind was in a mess.
Had her self from one year later actually married her boyfriend Fu Mingjun? And gotten pregnant? Lin Wan found it incredible.
She had been honest with Fu Mingjun from the very beginning—she wasn’t interested in starting a family for the time being. What had happened in this one year that would make her change her mind and get married right after graduation?
“Madam, eat first. The milk and eggs will get cold.”
Having received quite a few shocks this morning, Lin Wan couldn’t figure out the reason, but now she did feel somewhat hungry.
However bizarre things were, she had to fill her stomach first.
Lin Wan sat down at the dining table and took a sip of warm milk. The fresh milk gave off a rich, fragrant scent, melting in her mouth. She took another bite of egg, and only then did the hunger in her belly ease slightly.
But the confusion in her heart did not diminish. She needed a definite answer: “Auntie Wang, where does Fu Mingjun work? When does he come back?”
No matter what, she had to talk to someone, and she also needed to figure out what exactly had happened this past year.
Auntie Wang was preparing lunch ingredients. Hearing this, she was stunned: “Madam, where would Mingjun work? He’s just been playing around every day these few months since graduation. Didn’t he go out of town a while ago and hasn’t come back? But, madam, it’s not really appropriate for you to inquire about Mingjun’s matters now…”
Lin Wan was bewildered: “Didn’t you just say the mister went to the company?”
“That’s right.” Auntie Wang finished handling the beef and answered casually. “Mr. Fu goes to the company every day—the whole of Jiangcheng knows it. How could Kaihua Company do without Fu Xiuhuai?”
Lin Wan’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand slipped and she failed to hold steady the glass of milk, which abruptly knocked against the dining table with a crisp sound.
The milky white liquid swayed gently in the glass, just like her inner self at this moment—restless and unsettled.
She had actually married her boyfriend’s uncle, Fu Xiuhuai?!