Having lived for thirty-eight years in a daze, without money for medical treatment and with no one to rely on, Xia Ying died in the countryside Old Residence. At the final moment of her life, she closed her eyes and seemed to see her younger self. One wrong step had led to another. It was because she had taken the wrong path in her youth that she had ended up like this—dying with no one caring, and perhaps with no one even knowing.
If only she could start over…
If she could start over, she would definitely have the courage to say no!
Her head throbbed intensely. Xia Ying instinctively wanted to rub her temples, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t lift her hand.
Strange, what was happening?
Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy. She bit her lower lip hard, struggling to open her eyes. Dim yellow light met her gaze, but above her was a bright red gauze canopy. The craftsmanship was very crude—the kind of gauze canopy she hadn’t seen for many years, even in the countryside.
For a moment, she felt disoriented, not knowing where she was—until the sound of slightly heavy breathing came from beside her.
Xia Ying was startled.
Was she dead? Had she descended to the Netherworld, and was the figure beside her an evil ghost?
No, that couldn’t be right. How could the Netherworld have such crude red gauze curtains and familiar wooden ceiling beams? Then where was this? A localized, eerie sense of familiarity welled up in her heart. Using every ounce of strength she possessed, she turned her head. The first thing she saw wasn’t the man beside her, but the room’s furnishings, which made her gasp in shock.
Furnishings she was intimately familiar with.
At eighteen, she had married Zhou Yiming, but she hadn’t entered his room. Instead, someone had spiked her drink and sent her into the room of Zhou Yiming’s elder half-brother, Zhou Qingbai. She had slept through the night in this room in a stupor, and afterward… afterward, many things happened. Eventually, she spent her short life in this very room until she died.
From eighteen to thirty-eight, she had lived here alone for those twenty years. In the beginning, Zhou Yiming would occasionally be forced over by his mother, Xiang Meilan, but she was absolutely certain that the man beside her was not Zhou Yiming.
Zhou Yiming was a scholar; although he was tall, he had a frail and refined appearance.
If it wasn’t him, then the person beside her was…?
Zhou Qingbai!
When that name leapt into Xia Ying’s mind, a sudden surge of strength seemed to flow into her body, allowing her to abruptly sit halfway up. She leaned over the man, seeing his face clearly. The man was burly and tall, with sharp, rugged features. Even while asleep, his tightly furrowed thick brows revealed a personality completely different from Zhou Yiming’s.
Xia Ying didn’t know Zhou Qingbai well, but at this moment, he was like a drowning person’s straw.
In her entire life, she had only been close to one man other than Zhou Yiming. This was something that had made Zhou Yiming uncomfortable for many years afterward. Although both she and Zhou Qingbai had been drugged that night and had lain in the same bed until morning, they had remained perfectly innocent. Yet, in her past life, she had been consumed by guilt because of Zhou Yiming’s attitude, forgetting that while she and Zhou Qingbai were lying innocently together, Zhou Yiming and Jiao Qinqin—who was originally supposed to marry Zhou Qingbai—had already made the deed a fait accompli. Even more outrageous was the secret she learned later, after Zhou Yiming had graduated from university, received his job placement, and taken Jiao Qinqin and their child away.
That secret was that the drugs in her and Zhou Qingbai’s wine that year had been planted by Zhou Yiming!
Xia Ying lay against Zhou Qingbai’s hot chest, her teeth chattering from the cold chill that took hold as she remembered this.
She truly had been given a chance to start over. Although she hadn’t returned to an earlier time—one where she could have refused to marry into the Zhou family even on pain of death—it seemed it wasn’t too late yet. Right now, she was lying with Zhou Qingbai, while in the East Wing Room across the living room, Zhou Yiming and Jiao Qinqin should have already tumbled together, right?
This time, she would never believe Zhou Yiming’s lies again.
This time, she would not be fooled by Xiang Meilan’s sweet talk.
This time, she… she would rather risk her parents disowning her than listen to them ever again!
Yes, her younger brother was born frail, and the Xia family only had the two of them, but without relying on a man, she might not necessarily be unable to look after him. In her past life, she had been foolish, wasting her life away in this countryside Old Residence. If she had gritted her teeth and left earlier, she could have earned a living as long as she was hardworking. Her brother was so good to her; at worst, she would go hungry just to make sure he could eat.
Yes, Zhou Yiming’s future would indeed be “a soaring success” just as his name implied, but what did it matter if he passed the university entrance exam and got a good job? He didn’t love her, and he didn’t care for her brother either. Her parents had hoped to catch a promising son-in-law to look after their son, but in the end, it was all for naught.
Xia Ying slowly raised her head, gazing quietly at Zhou Qingbai for a moment before reaching out to touch his forehead.
Her hand was ice-cold. Zhou Qingbai, who was sleeping fitfully and feeling incredibly uncomfortable, suddenly felt as if a spring breeze had blown into his heart, or as if a gurgling mountain stream had flowed through him, causing him to let out a long breath as his entire body relaxed.
His tightly furrowed brows slowly smoothed out, and he even instinctively nuzzled against Xia Ying’s hand.
Xia Ying’s eyes were dark and profound as she also let out a long sigh.
In her past life, after the incident of entering the wrong bridal chamber, Zhou Yiming, Xiang Meilan, and even her own parents had come to persuade her, and in the end, she had stayed with Zhou Yiming. As for Jiao Qinqin, she already had an ambiguous relationship with Zhou Yiming, and since the deed was done, how could she have been willing to leave Zhou Yiming to stay with Zhou Qingbai? Of course, Zhou Qingbai didn’t seem willing either; back then, after a massive row with his father, Zhou Zheng, he had left and never returned until the day she died.
Where did he go?
Was he alone, and did he live well?
Xia Ying didn’t know, and now that everything had started over, it was even less likely she would ever find out.
He was her life-saving straw now, but she might not be his. They had to have a serious talk. But before that… she needed his help! Biting her lip hard, Xia Ying forced herself to take off her clothes. After resting for half an hour, she expressionlessly and selfishly stripped Zhou Qingbai of his clothes as well.
The West Wing Room of the Zhou Old Residence fell completely silent, and after a duet between a man and a woman, the East Wing Room also quieted down.
Zhou Yiming and Jiao Qinqin had liked each other since their youth. Although they had shared kisses, hugs, and even some heavy petting before, Jiao Qinqin had always been smart, which was why Zhou Yiming had only finally obtained her body at this very moment.
It was the eighteen-year-old Zhou Yiming’s first time. As the passion subsided, he held Jiao Qinqin’s soft, warm body, feeling even more tender toward her. After much whispering and cuddling, he finally yawned. “Qinqin, it’s late. Let’s sleep.”
But Jiao Qinqin nudged him reluctantly, saying, “Brother Yiming, what do you think those two in the west room are doing right now?”
She and Zhou Yiming were in love. While the mix-up of the bridal chambers tonight was caused by Zhou Yiming drugging the wine, it couldn’t have happened without her cooperation. This plan had been devised by both of them. Thinking about what they had just done, Jiao Qinqin’s tone carried a hint of a different meaning.
In the darkness, Zhou Yiming’s face stiffened. “I don’t know.”
Jiao Qinqin’s attitude became even more obvious, tinged with a bit of schadenfreude. “Do you think they’re doing the same thing as us?”
Under the cover of darkness, Zhou Yiming felt free to scowl.
He liked Jiao Qinqin, but he didn’t exactly dislike Xia Ying. Furthermore, Xia Ying had a generous dowry. If Xia Ying became Zhou Qingbai’s woman, wouldn’t that dowry also belong to Zhou Qingbai? He would never allow such a thing to happen. Xia Ying was the one he had officially married into the family. He needed to take the university entrance exams, attend university, and even use connections for his future job—all these expenses had to be covered by Xia Ying.
However, he wasn’t worried. Tonight, he had toasted Zhou Qingbai many times, and every cup had been spiked. Not only would Zhou Qingbai sleep like the dead all night, but even when he woke up tomorrow morning and learned the truth, his body would be too weak and limp to have done anything to Xia Ying.
Reassured, he gave a perfunctory reply: “Perhaps.”
Jiao Qinqin didn’t know what he was thinking. She hugged his waist tightly and pressed her face affectionately against his chest. “I really hope they’re just like us. That way, even if Mom finds out tomorrow morning, the deed will be done on both sides. No matter how angry or unwilling Mom is, there’ll be nothing she can do.”
Hearing the worry in her voice, Zhou Yiming felt a pang of sympathy and comforted her: “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
Jiao Qinqin smiled sweetly. “Mhm. Brother Yiming, I believe you.”
That night, Xia Ying only managed to get two or three hours of fitful sleep. She woke up before dawn the next day, but unlike in her past life, she didn’t scream upon realizing the person sleeping next to her was the wrong man. After waking up, she lay there quietly, eyes open, counting the time and wondering whether Zhou Yiming would be the first to burst in or if it would be Xiang Meilan.
When she heard a scream from Jiao Qinqin, she knew.
Sure enough, a moment later, the frail old woman Xiang Meilan began kicking and hitting the door of the West Wing Room, making it bang loudly.
“Open the door! Zhou Qingbai! You beast, you heartless thing, open the door for me!” she shouted while pounding.
Disturbed by the loud commotion, Zhou Qingbai rubbed his temples and slowly opened his eyes. After a moment of daze, he finally heard Xiang Meilan’s words clearly. A beast? A heartless thing? What had he done to be called a beast and a heartless thing?
Ever since he turned ten, his stepmother Xiang Meilan hadn’t dared to curse him like this. What kind of madness was this today?!
Despite his throbbing headache, he still propped himself up with one hand, trying to climb out of bed.
His hand landed on something soft and smooth. Before he could react, he heard a woman’s voice cry out in pain: “Ah, it hurts! Big Brother, you’re crushing me!”
Big Brother!!
On his wedding night, the person he married shouldn’t be calling him Big Brother no matter what!
His hand was still pressing down on Xia Ying’s, and he whipped his head around. When he saw Xia Ying—wearing only a small camisole that revealed her smooth shoulders, looking up at him with her face tilted—he was completely stunned.
“Xia… Xia Ying?”
Xia Ying blinked, her eyes turning red. “…My hand hurts.”
“Ah? Oh, oh!” As if burned, Zhou Qingbai hurriedly let go. Seeing Xia Ying’s disheveled state with her hair loose and wearing only a camisole, he quickly looked away and scrambled backward. In his haste, he wasn’t careful and fell heavily to the floor.