Cheng Yu was used to Cheng Yan’s sharp-tongued malice, so naturally she had her own way of dealing with it.
“Ah, Sis, you know how it is—back then, Xing Yanheng sold off everything valuable in the house just to marry me. Now the whole family relies on whatever little savings I have to get by. If I lend you the money, are we supposed to eat wind this month?”
Cheng Yan dismissed it with a shrug: “Isn’t it just you and your mother-in-law at home? Xing Yanheng eats and sleeps at the mine—how much can the two of you possibly eat?”
Cheng Yu rolled her eyes and, with a lazy, swaggering air, brushed the flour dusting her arms from steaming the buns.
“Well, the two of us still have to eat, don’t we? And what if Xing Yanheng comes back? One more mouth in the house, and the grain won’t stretch. You expect me to rely on you and He Zhou to feed our whole family? You can’t even feed yourselves! Pfft.”
Cheng Yan’s face fell. If she weren’t so determined to keep her rebirth a secret, she would’ve loved to tell this stupid little sister outright.
Xing Yanheng would die at the mine soon enough—he wasn’t coming back!
She clamped her mouth shut and held it in, stewing for a long moment before she started bragging again about how He Zhou was descended from city officials, and once he got the chance to go back, he’d definitely become a big shot!
“When that happens—”
“Don’t give me ‘when that happens.’ I’m just like Mom—short-sighted, only looking at what’s in front of me!” Cheng Yu raised a hand to cut Cheng Yan off, adding a jab for good measure to crush her hopes: “Like you said, your He Zhou has those official relatives, so impressive—let him go borrow from them! Someone like me, a lowly commoner, can’t latch onto your young master’s connections!”
Cheng Yu swayed her hips like a water snake, flouncing off with an air of smugness.
Leaving Cheng Yan behind, who’d failed to borrow money and gotten mocked instead, fuming with rage.
She shouted at the top of her lungs: “You’ll all regret this one day!”
Cheng Yu curled her lip in disdain. Going by the timeline, He Zhou was indeed about to turn things around—first becoming Daduizhang, then catching the opportunity to return to the city.
But Cheng Yan only saw his glorious side; she had no idea what was really behind it.
That was Cheng Yu who’d begged and pleaded, spent years cashing in favors she’d built up in the village, used every connection she could—all to get him the support and backing he needed.
It wasn’t like Cheng Yan, who could just come back to her maiden home to borrow money and scrape by on a full belly.
And how did it all end in the last life? Cheng Yu was cast aside by him after he’d had his fill.
So would she regret it?
Even if she married a pig, a cow, or a sheep in this life, it still wouldn’t compare to the regret of marrying He Zhou in the last one!
…
When the food was ready, everyone took their seats at the table. Under Old Mrs. Cheng’s lead, they all happily drank a couple of cups.
Only Cheng Yan sat there with a face like everyone owed her money, sulking from start to finish.
Finally, even He Zhou couldn’t stand it anymore and nudged her with his elbow a couple of times. She grudgingly gave him face and raised her glass with the rest.
Once the return-visit meal was done, the two daughters were usually expected to pack up and leave.
But Cheng Yan hadn’t gotten the money she came for, and she couldn’t bear to just walk away. She dawdled, hovering around Old Mrs. Cheng, clearly hinting she still wanted to borrow.
Seeing the trouble brewing, Guo Fengyan quickly shoved a few yuan into Cheng Yan’s and He Zhou’s hands and practically pushed them out the door to send them off.
Now that the eldest daughter’s money had been given, Guo Fengyan didn’t want to play favorites—but when she reached into her pocket, her tight circumstances left her torn.
“There’s still some sticky corn left at home. Take some with you when you go, Xiaoyu.”
Cheng Yu naturally wasn’t like Cheng Yan. Her parents had given her the gift of life—even if they weren’t perfect, they’d still raised her across two lifetimes.
Besides, having weathered the trials of two worlds, she’d come to understand one thing.
A parent’s love isn’t measured in weight—it’s just expressed differently according to each daughter’s personality.
She’d grown up living with her grandmother, raised to be obedient and easygoing, not one to talk back like Cheng Yan. To the elders, that kind of behavior read as clever and sharp.
So her parents trusted her more, knowing she wouldn’t step out of line.
In the last life, while they’d given Cheng Yan their protection, they’d also given her discipline and restraint.
With her, they’d let her run free, giving her plenty of freedom to grow wild like a weed.
That’s why, in the last life, marrying He Zhou hadn’t been as hard for her as it was for Cheng Yan. Her parents had even worried her wild nature would keep her from settling down, so they’d urged her to manage her household well and help He Zhou rise through the ranks.
But what touched Cheng Yu most was this: in the last life, after Cheng Yan killed her and the court sentenced her to death, their parents hadn’t shown favoritism. When they saw Cheng Yan one last time, the only words they said were: “When you get down there and see your sister, apologize to her.”
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu looked at the forced smile Guo Fengyan was wearing, pulled two yuan from her pocket, and pressed it into her hand.
“Mom, your son-in-law didn’t come back today. On his behalf, I’m making the call—this money is for you and Dad, a little filial offering, and our way of apologizing to you both!”
Guo Fengyan, already feeling guilty toward Cheng Yu, was even more stricken now.
“Sweetheart, Mom—Mom and Dad don’t need—”
“How could you not need it? You and Dad keep it and buy yourselves something good to eat—don’t shortchange your stomachs. When your son-in-law has a free day, I’ll bring him back with me to have a drink with Dad.”
“Good, good child!” Guo Fengyan knew her youngest daughter was the most sensible—her little quilt that warmed her heart.
Unlike Cheng Yan and her son-in-law, who were pushed out the door, Cheng Yu had walked quite a distance with her mother before finally waving goodbye reluctantly.
Inside the house, Lu Chuncui saw this through the window and gossiped to Old Mrs. Cheng, “Look at my sister-in-law, when her youngest daughter was at home, she never paid her any mind, always fussing over the eldest. But in the end, it’s the eldest who’s the troublemaker, and she still has to rely on her youngest. She deserves that regret!”
Then, remembering how Cheng Yan had come back bragging that He Zhou would become a high official someday, tricking her into saying nice things before turning around to borrow money from the family, she felt inexplicably irritated.
“Old Mrs. Cheng, it’s not that I don’t wish Yan Yan well, but look at that useless He Zhou—does he seem like the type to amount to anything?”
Lu Chuncui kept stirring the pot with one provocative remark after another. Old Mrs. Cheng was already upset about Cheng Yan’s poor marriage, and with Lu Chuncui adding fuel to the fire, she vented her anger on her.
“Eat less meat, will you? Maybe then that fat tongue of yours would finally stay shut!”
Lu Chuncui: “…”
…
Cheng Yu reached the village entrance when she heard someone calling her name from behind.
Turning around, she saw the village telegram messenger rushing toward her in a flurry.
“Cheng Yu, your husband sent you a telegram saying he’s doing well and not to worry.”
“He’s only been gone a day, and he’s already sending telegrams?”
Cheng Yu’s stingy streak flared up. Each character in a telegram cost three cents, and a typical one ran over twenty characters, plus eight cents for postage.
In an era where even a single cent was stretched thin, if Xing Yanheng were standing in front of her right now, Cheng Yu might not have been able to stop herself from tearing him apart!
Seeing Cheng Yu’s fierce expression, the messenger knew she was upset about the money.
He pulled out the telegram and, worried she couldn’t read, read it out word by word: “Arrived safely, don’t worry. Xiaoyu, my darling, I miss you terribly, can’t sleep at night. Will return as soon as I’m done.”
Cheng Yu’s face flushed bright red, burning like fire even in the dead of winter!
“Who told you to read it out loud?”
The messenger grinned innocently. “I was just worried you couldn’t read!”
Cheng Yu: “…”
Spending all that money on a love letter that was utterly useless.
Damn it, that wretched Xing Yanheng!