“Chen Xiaojun is handsome, eloquent, and from the neighboring village—he knows everything about us, and he’s close by, just a few steps away. It would be perfect if my cousin married him!” As soon as Su Tian heard this, she knew that her cousin, who was so eager to match her with Chen Xiaojun, had also been reborn. Su Lili was so shameless—she used her head start from rebirth to snatch the engagement with Guo Zhiwei and was now trying to push Su Tian into another pitfall.
Chen Xiaojun was a scumbag. Aside from his looks, he was lazy, good-for-nothing, a gambler, a womanizer, and abusive toward his children. Why would anyone marry such a man? If it hadn’t been for Su Tian’s efforts and money in the previous life helping Su Lili escape her misery, she wouldn’t have been able to divorce Chen Xiaojun smoothly. Now that Su Lili had been reborn, she was repaying kindness with ingratitude—snatching Su Tian’s engagement and trying to swap marriages, making Su Tian the backup. Hah, what a delusion!
“Chen Xiaojun is so great, why don’t you marry him?” Su Tian confronted her directly. It seemed that she had spoiled Su Lili too much in their past life; Su Lili had turned ungrateful, stealing her engagement and trying to push her toward a scumbag. That was too much.
“I… I’m already engaged and about to be married. How could I marry Chen Xiaojun?” Su Lili definitely wouldn’t marry him. Reborn, she wanted nothing to do with Chen Xiaojun. In this life, she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.
It was all because their eldest aunt favored Su Tian, introducing Guo Zhiwei to her just because Su Tian was fairer and taller. Su Tian had a good marriage, a wealthy lifestyle, and even if she couldn’t have children, she still lived well in the Guo household—big house, car, decent job. Su Lili, on the other hand, had married Chen Xiaojun in the past life, struggling with hard labor, raising three sons and two daughters, being despised, beaten, and abused by him. She had no good days. She had worked hard and only received abuse from a violent man. Su Lili was resentful. Knowing she had been reborn, she immediately snatched Su Tian’s engagement.
Thinking about her soon-to-come luxurious life in the city, Su Lili couldn’t help but flaunt: “It’s fate. If I hadn’t gone to the city, I wouldn’t have met Zhiwei-ge. He’s a good man, a good family, and treats me well.” She deliberately flicked her watch, worried Su Tian wouldn’t notice: “Look at this watch. He bought it for me. Nice, right? It’s a Shanghai brand, quite expensive!”
“He’s willing to spend on me. Marrying him, I won’t regret it.” Her lips curled in a self-satisfied smile, eyes glinting with pride.
Su Tian sneered. She was picking up junk and calling it treasure. The watch wasn’t new; Su Lili didn’t know it was second-hand, even taken from a dead person. Feeling proud, Su Lili was lucky to have reborn before Su Tian and Guo Zhiwei had gotten close. If Guo Zhiwei had seen Su Tian first, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. Being realistic, Su Lili had to strike first.
Three days ago, the reborn Su Lili had gone to the city to see their eldest aunt, who had introduced Su Tian in the past. Surprisingly, things went smoothly; with a little scheming, she secured Guo Zhiwei, got herself an engagement, and even set a wedding date—on the eighth day of next month. The bride price was generous, the traditional gifts included, and she was assigned a proper job at Guoyan No. 3 Factory, earning 50 yuan per month. The dowry was 520 yuan, 20 yuan more than Su Tian’s last life. In this era, 520 wasn’t special, but to show she deserved it more, she demanded extra and even made a pun with Guo Zhiwei—the numbers sounded like “I love you.” Guo Zhiwei loved her shameless boldness.
Hearing Su Lili call him “Zhiwei-ge,” Su Tian almost vomited and exposed her cousin’s little scheme: “Weren’t you dating Chen Xiaojun? You were desperate to marry him before. Now you’re fickle?”
“We’re not dating. Don’t spread rumors.” Su Lili’s gaze fell on Su Tian’s youthful and beautiful face—bright almond eyes, rosy lips, elegant features. Even in patched clothes, she looked like a delicate flower, making Su Lili wish she could tear her face apart.
“Is that so? Shall I call Chen Xiaojun to confront you?” Su Tian didn’t indulge her. Since Su Lili tried to push her into a pit, Su Tian didn’t show mercy, feeling a little saintly.
Su Lili’s expression changed. Naturally, she wouldn’t confront Chen Xiaojun. If he found out she was marrying someone else, who knew what chaos would follow? She still had to calm him down privately to not ruin her plan.
Under Su Tian’s pressing demeanor, Su Lili could only admit: “We broke up. Happy now? I’m engaged to Zhiwei-ge. Chen Xiaojun has nothing to do with me. If he weren’t decent, I wouldn’t have introduced him to you.”
Huang Guahua finally realized what was happening and immediately frowned: “How dare you introduce your own cousin to a man she doesn’t want? Chen Xiaojun is so good; why don’t you marry him?”
“You call her your cousin, yet you trick her like this?” Huang Guahua was furious.
Su Lili shamelessly smiled: “I have Zhiwei-ge now. I can’t have two at once. I just thought, since my cousin isn’t married yet, why not share a good thing? You’re ungrateful.”
In the past life, Su Tian had lived well, married a good man. This life, it was Su Lili’s turn to enjoy a better fate. Su Tian waved her hand, refusing: “Keep your good fortune for yourself. I’m not interested.”
Thanks for asking! Su Tian is not getting married this life, and she definitely won’t look at that useless scumbag Chen Xiaojun. Su Tian had realized that Su Lili didn’t even see her as a cousin—she was the type to get rained on herself just to tear someone else’s umbrella.
“Aiya, cousin, don’t have such high standards. After all, not everyone is as well-off and outstanding as Zhiwei-ge. Don’t compare yourself to me!” Su Lili thought about her upcoming city life, enjoying luxury, eating well, living in a big house, driving a car, and being a rich lady—she couldn’t help but grin with delight.
Watching Su Lili flaunt her pride, Su Tian smiled wryly, not intending to be the good person. Su Lili herself had said she wouldn’t regret marrying Guo Zhiwei—well, let her regret it later! She had snatched the engagement; in the future, she’d have to cry for herself. She brought it on herself, no one else’s fault.
Chen Xiaojun wasn’t a good man, and neither was Guo Zhiwei. Su Lili thought she was hitting the jackpot with Guo Zhiwei, but only Su Tian knew how disgusting, shameless, and twisted the whole Guo family was. On paper, Guo Zhiwei seemed decent—he was the son of the deputy factory director, his mother was the director of the women’s department, and he was the head of the maternity department at a young age, earning 120 a month. For rural girls like them—or even ordinary city girls—he seemed like a catch.
That this “high branch” would fall into her lap wasn’t luck; Su Tian knew all too well the hidden dangers from her past life. Guo Zhiwei was twenty-five, a second marriage, and couldn’t have children. His first wife had been driven to death by their family. Outwardly, they claimed she was lazy, spoiled, and unhappy, and that she had “taken her own life” for no reason, hiding the truth.
Su Tian only learned the truth from Guo Zhiwei on her deathbed. She realized she had been a fool for decades, manipulated and controlled by their family, psychologically abused her entire life. Even her inability to have children was caused by the Guo family. They knew Guo Zhiwei couldn’t have children but played the victim and shifted all blame onto others. The Guos bribed doctors to claim Su Tian couldn’t conceive, giving her all sorts of harmful medicine, which ultimately ruined her body.
Guo Zhiwei only told Su Tian this on his deathbed, making her understand everything they had done. They did this partly to control her—so she, young and beautiful, wouldn’t seek another man to bear children. And partly to manipulate her—knowing she couldn’t have children, she would feel guilty and powerless, forced to serve the Guo family, endure mistreatment, and stay submissive. Even knowing Guo Zhiwei was cheating and keeping a mistress, she couldn’t act out, couldn’t break ties, fearing divorce.
With people like that, no matter how “good” Guo Zhiwei seemed on paper, Su Tian, having been reborn, would absolutely never marry him again.