When Shen Qingqing opened her eyes again, she found herself in the familiar old house. Looking at the dated furnishings around her, she was stunned.
Wasn’t this the house her family had owned—a house that had been demolished long ago?
How had she ended up here?
Was this a dream?
Or could it be… that she had been reborn?
“Mom, I don’t want to marry Zhou Yuanzheng. I want to marry Lu Yunshan! I like Lu Yunshan. Help me tell Sister that I want to swap marriage partners with her!”
The moment Shen Qingqing heard the name Lu Yunshan, her ears immediately perked up.
Outside the room, her stepmother’s voice came as she tried to persuade her younger daughter, Shen Jiaojiao.
“You silly girl, what nonsense are you talking about? Zhou Yuanzheng is someone your mother spent a long time choosing for you. He’s so young, yet he’s already a deputy regimental commander at only twenty-five. In another two years, he’ll be promoted to regimental commander. Lu Yunshan is pretty good too, but right now he’s only a deputy battalion-level officer, and he’s the same age as Zhou Yuanzheng.
“Are you out of your mind? With such a good marriage, why would you want to swap with that useless Shen Qingqing?”
“Mom, you don’t understand. Zhou Yuanzheng looks like he has a short life ahead of him. Maybe he won’t even live long enough to get promoted in two years. What if he dies? I’ll become a widow while I’m still young.
“Lu Yunshan, on the other hand, looks like someone who’ll live to a hundred and is blessed with good fortune. Maybe he’ll get promoted incredibly quickly in the future!
“I don’t care. I want to marry Lu Yunshan. Help me talk to Sister! She’ll definitely listen!”
Shen Jiaojiao smiled coquettishly as she spoke, a calculating glint flashing through her eyes.
Zhou Yuanzheng? That short-lived man?
She had married him in her previous life, only for him to be urgently sent on a mission on their wedding night. He returned seriously wounded and died not long afterward, leaving her a widow at such a young age.
Although she had received a considerable death benefit, Shen Qingqing had lived a much better life in her previous life.
Now that Shen Jiaojiao had been reborn, there was no way she was going to marry such a short-lived man!
As for why she had chosen Lu Yunshan…
Naturally, it was because in her previous life, only half a year after her sister married Lu Yunshan, when food production on the island was extremely low, he discovered a special variety of seeds.
These seeds could be planted on the island, allowing them to achieve self-sufficiency and solving the food shortage that had plagued the entire island.
As a result, he was directly promoted from deputy battalion commander to battalion commander.
Over the next few years, he went on to earn numerous merits and became a regimental commander at just twenty-eight.
What was even better was that even though he knew Shen Qingqing was infertile, he had firmly refused to divorce her.
He loved Shen Qingqing deeply and was an incredibly responsible man!
A man like that was worthy of Shen Jiaojiao!
How could Shen Qingqing possibly deserve to marry such an outstanding man?
The more Shen Jiaojiao thought about being reborn and being able to take everything that had belonged to Shen Qingqing in her previous life, the happier she became.
This time, she would live the good life while Shen Qingqing would take her place and become a young widow.
Little did she know that Shen Qingqing was still inside the room, and she had heard every word.
The old house had terrible soundproofing, and Shen Jiaojiao had made no effort to lower her voice.
After hearing what Shen Jiaojiao said, Shen Qingqing’s mind was filled with two things:
She had called Zhou Yuanzheng short-lived.
And she had said that Lu Yunshan was blessed and would be promoted quickly.
In her previous life, Shen Jiaojiao had never been this eager to marry Lu Yunshan. In fact, before the wedding, she had been extremely smug about being able to marry someone better than Shen Qingqing and had bragged about it countless times.
For Shen Jiaojiao to say such things now—and to know that Zhou Yuanzheng was short-lived while Lu Yunshan would rise quickly—was enough for Shen Qingqing to conclude that Shen Jiaojiao had also been reborn!
She knew everything that had happened in their previous life, so after being reborn, she wanted to swap marriage partners with her!
Shen Qingqing curled her lips into a smile.
Well, well. You refuse to take the road to heaven, yet you’ve barged straight into the gates of hell.
With such a wonderful opportunity placed right in front of her, how could she possibly refuse?
Shen Jiaojiao was simply too young. She didn’t understand that some men might look wonderful on the surface, but underneath, they could be absolutely disgusting.
Outside the room, Bai Nianyun helplessly nodded.
“Fine, fine. I’ll agree, all right? Now let go of me.”
“Really? Wonderful! I knew you loved me most, Mom!”
Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Shen Jiaojiao happily threw her arms around her mother.
Bai Nianyun slapped her hand lightly in annoyance.
“Don’t celebrate too soon. I only agreed to ask her. Whether this works or not still depends on what your sister thinks.”
Shen Jiaojiao let out a disdainful snort.
Her sister was such a useless pushover. There was no way she could have any say in this family.
As long as Mom was on her side, she wasn’t worried about Shen Qingqing refusing!
After settling Shen Jiaojiao down, Bai Nianyun glanced at the time.
It should be about the time Shen Qingqing woke up.
She immediately knocked on the door.
“Qingqing, are you awake? If you are, get up and freshen up. It’s time to eat. There’s something Mom wants to discuss with you.”
Shen Qingqing pretended that she had just woken up. She opened the door with sleepy eyes and rubbed them.
“Mom, what do you need me for?”
As she spoke, she discreetly glanced at Shen Jiaojiao from the corner of her eye.
Although she didn’t know why she had been reborn, now that she was back, she absolutely had to seize this opportunity and change her fate!
Bai Nianyun quietly sized up Shen Qingqing before putting on a concerned smile.
“Qingqing, Mom has been thinking about something lately. Why don’t you and Jiaojiao swap marriage partners?”
After saying this, she stopped and watched Shen Qingqing’s reaction.
Shen Qingqing pretended to be confused.
“What? Swap marriage partners? How can we do that? Everything was already arranged beforehand. Why would we suddenly need to switch?”
The smile on Bai Nianyun’s face didn’t change. She took Shen Qingqing’s hand and gently patted it.
“Good girl, Mom is doing this for your own good. Think about it. Zhou Yuanzheng is so young, yet he’s already a deputy regimental commander. His future is limitless. If you marry him, you’ll have endless blessings to enjoy.”
Shen Qingqing pulled her hand back and looked up suspiciously.
“If Zhou Yuanzheng is really that good, why don’t you leave him for Jiaojiao? Why are you pushing him onto me instead?
“After all, Jiaojiao is your biological daughter.”
The smile on Bai Nianyun’s face stiffened.
“You silly girl, what are you saying? In Mom’s heart, you and Jiaojiao are both my dear daughters. I just think Zhou Yuanzheng has better conditions, and since you’re the elder sister, if you marry well, it’ll make Mom proud too.”
Afraid that Shen Qingqing might refuse, Shen Jiaojiao hurried forward and joined her mother in persuading her.
“Sis, just listen to Mom. If Mom hadn’t always told me that I should give way to you, I wouldn’t have given such a good marriage to you.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingqing’s eyes flashed with emotion.
She lowered her head guiltily.
“Mom, Jiaojiao, I’m sorry. I misunderstood you.
“Since both of you put it that way, I agree.”
Having received the answer they wanted, Shen Jiaojiao and Bai Nianyun exchanged a triumphant glance and smiled.
What an idiot.
A few casual lies from her and Mom, and she fell for them immediately.
She really was easy to fool!
My dear sister, this time, I’ll be the regimental commander’s wife in your place.
That evening, the family sat around the dining table.
The head of the household, Shen Luanfeng, also returned home from work.
Shen Jiaojiao couldn’t wait to tell her father the news.
Unexpectedly, the father who had always favored her flew into a rage today.
“Absurd!”
Shen Luanfeng slammed his palm heavily onto the table and glared furiously at everyone in front of him.
“Marriage is an extremely important matter. How can you simply switch partners whenever you feel like it? If word gets out, won’t everyone outside laugh at us?”
Shen Jiaojiao was startled.
But when she remembered how she had become a widow shortly after marrying in her previous life and how many people had secretly said she was a jinx who brought death to her husband, she suppressed the fear in her heart.
Forcing a smile onto her face, she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Shen Luanfeng’s arm, and softly coaxed him.
“Come on, Dad. When you and Grandpa Zhou arranged the marriage back then, you only said that one of the daughters would marry into their family. You never specified which daughter.
“Now that we’re switching, they definitely won’t make a big deal out of it.”
Back then, Shen Luanfeng had accidentally saved the Zhou family’s old master.
Seeing that the Shen family happened to have two daughters, the old master had gotten the idea of arranging a marriage between the two families.
Thus, the marriage had been arranged.
The Zhou family had a grandson, Zhou Yuanzheng, and a grandson by marriage, Lu Yunshan.
The Zhou family was one of the most prominent families in this small local area.
Zhou Yuanzheng, the old master’s grandson, had become a deputy regimental commander at a young age, and he was handsome as well.
Back then, Bai Nianyun had taken a liking to precisely these qualities, which was why she had discussed with her husband and arranged the marriage for herself.
Poor Shen Jiaojiao in her previous life had thought the Zhou family was truly an outstanding match.
But not long after marrying into the family, she became a widow.
Meanwhile, that wretched Shen Qingqing had married Lu Yunshan and had everything go smoothly.
The couple had been deeply in love. Even though she couldn’t have children, Lu Yunshan had never abandoned her and had refused to divorce her no matter what.
He was a truly responsible man.
And he had even become a regimental commander at such a young age.
His future was undoubtedly limitless!
This time, she was going to fight for her own happiness.
As for becoming a widow…
She’d leave that to Shen Qingqing!