Bai Nianyun was absolutely delighted.
As long as she could swap this wretched girl’s dowry over to Jiaojiao, she wouldn’t mind spending a little money herself.
After all, everything left behind by this wretched girl’s short-lived mother was valuable. These days, even if you had the money, you couldn’t necessarily buy such things anymore.
Besides, there was plenty of room for manipulation when it came to preparing a new dowry for this girl.
She was young and wouldn’t be able to see through the tricks involved. As long as everything looked presentable on the surface, this girl might even end up thanking her!
Having made up her mind, Bai Nianyun looked at Shen Qingqing with an even more sincere smile.
“Good, good, then it’s settled. I’ll go tell your sister about this first. When the time comes, she must properly thank you.”
Shen Qingqing returned her smile as well.
What a joke. Who doesn’t know how to put on an act?
Watching her stepmother practically skip away in excitement, Shen Qingqing’s lips curled into a mocking smile.
Fine.
She would let the mother and daughter enjoy themselves for a few more days.
When the time came for her to take back what belonged to her, would they still be able to smile?
Her, Shen Qingqing’s, belongings weren’t so easy to take.
Outside, Shen Jiaojiao had been secretly hiding in a corner.
The moment the door opened and Bai Nianyun walked out, Shen Jiaojiao immediately rushed over.
She glanced into the room and lowered her voice.
“Mom, how did it go? Did she agree?”
Bai Nianyun glared at her.
“Your mother is the one handling this. Is there anything I can’t get done?”
Shen Jiaojiao immediately beamed and threw her arms around Bai Nianyun, affectionately calling out,
“I knew it! Mom loves me the most! Mom is the best. In this whole family, you’re the most capable!”
Bai Nianyun scolded her playfully.
“You little brat, don’t butter your mother up with sweet words. Do you think this was easy for me?
“If word gets out about this, how am I supposed to show my face?
“So remember this carefully. Don’t tell anyone about this. Keep your mouth shut.
“Even if someone somehow finds out, you must insist that she was the one who voluntarily wanted to exchange the dowries. Do you understand?”
“Of course! I’m not stupid! Mom, you can rest assured!”
Shen Jiaojiao patted her chest confidently.
“That’s more like it.”
The mother and daughter whispered together outside, completely unaware that someone was watching their every move through the crack in the door.
Having gotten what she wanted, Shen Jiaojiao wasn’t in a hurry to return to her room.
Ever since being reborn, every time she saw Shen Qingqing, she was reminded of the miserable fate she had suffered in her previous life.
Swapping the marriage was only the beginning.
As for the dowry, she had pestered her mother for a long time before Bai Nianyun finally agreed to help her get it.
But all of this was far from enough.
In this life, every bit of good fortune would belong to Shen Jiaojiao!
She glanced at the closed door, as though she could already see Shen Qingqing regretting her decision later.
The thought made her mood even better.
Meanwhile, Shen Qingqing, who had witnessed everything, merely curled her lips slightly.
Idiots. Just enjoy yourselves for a few more days.
The reason Shen Qingqing had agreed wasn’t because she was genuinely meek and easy to bully.
She had already made a plan to take back everything that belonged to her without anyone noticing.
She had a dimensional space.
Later, she would take the train to the island with Shen Jiaojiao to join their husbands in the military. At that time, when no one was paying attention, she could secretly put her own dowry back into her space.
If something disappeared on the train, with so many people aboard, it would be nearly impossible for Shen Jiaojiao to find it again.
That way, she could make it look as though the items had simply vanished and get away with everything without anyone realizing what had happened.
She was already looking forward to seeing Shen Jiaojiao’s reaction when she discovered that all her efforts had amounted to nothing.
In her previous life, that scumbag Lu Yunshan had also relied on her dimensional space to solve the island’s food shortage.
The soil on the island was poor, and the climate was unpredictable, making it unsuitable for growing crops and vegetables.
As a result, all supplies on the island had to be transported from the mainland by ship.
But because of the weather, supplies sometimes couldn’t arrive on time.
Thus, food and other necessities were extremely scarce on the island.
However, Shen Qingqing’s dimensional space contained a pool of spiritual spring water.
Plants irrigated with the spiritual spring water grew exceptionally well and had outstanding resistance to diseases and natural disasters.
In her previous life, Lu Yunshan had relied on the spiritual spring in her dimensional space to solve the island’s food shortage.
That was how he had risen through the ranks so quickly.
But in this life, that scumbag Lu Yunshan would never have such an opportunity again.
And as for Shen Jiaojiao…
Her dream of becoming the regimental commander’s wife would probably fall apart as well.
Days passed one after another.
The entire Shen family of four was busy from morning to night.
They had to prepare dowries for both daughters, and they also had to arrange several tables of food for the wedding celebrations.
The two brides-to-be were busy as well, making preparations for following their husbands to the island afterward.
Shen Jiaojiao had no idea that Shen Qingqing had also been reborn.
She openly prepared all kinds of vegetable seeds right in front of Shen Qingqing.
Shen Qingqing remained calm on the surface.
Every time she saw Shen Jiaojiao asking around for seeds suitable for growing on the island, she couldn’t help wanting to laugh.
After all, ordinary seeds couldn’t survive on the island without being irrigated with spiritual spring water.
Shen Jiaojiao, however, knew nothing about this.
In her mind, Shen Qingqing had bought plenty of seeds before joining Lu Yunshan on the island in her previous life. It was only after studying those seeds that Lu Yunshan had somehow managed to develop special varieties.
Therefore, Shen Jiaojiao believed that she could do the same this time.
Once they got married and followed their husbands to the island, she would use these seeds to show off her abilities and prove her worth to Lu Yunshan.
Ideally, she would help him become a regimental commander just as Shen Qingqing had in her previous life.
Every time she imagined replacing Shen Qingqing’s fate and becoming the regimental commander’s wife whom everyone envied, she couldn’t stop smiling.
At the same time, Shen Luanfeng took out the dowry that Shen Qingqing’s mother had left behind and handed it to Bai Nianyun, telling her to use it to purchase whatever additional things were needed.
He had no idea that the mother and daughter had already asked Shen Qingqing for these belongings.
Ever since her mother died, the things had remained locked away in a chest.
Bai Nianyun remained expressionless on the surface.
But inside, she was practically bursting with joy.
She had long heard that Shen Qingqing’s mother had brought an extremely generous dowry when she married into the family.
She had always coveted it but had never found an opportunity to get her hands on it.
Today, she had finally gotten her wish.
There were two beautiful camphorwood chests.
Bai Nianyun unlocked them and carefully counted everything inside.
There were two satin-covered quilts, five bolts of silk, and various porcelain and lacquerware items.
Then a carved, gilt-decorated jewelry box caught Bai Nianyun’s attention.
She carefully opened it.
Inside was an entire box filled with jewelry.
There were silver bracelets, silver earrings, and even several jade hairpins.
Although Bai Nianyun didn’t understand much about jewelry, those hairpins clearly weren’t ordinary.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
This wretched girl actually had so many good things!
Why hadn’t she brought them out sooner?
Fortunately, Jiaojiao had been clever enough to have her discuss swapping the dowries with Shen Qingqing.
Otherwise, she would never have imagined that her supposedly short-lived mother had left behind so many valuable things.
Bai Nianyun quickly finished counting everything in the two chests.
When she looked up, she happened to meet Shen Qingqing’s eyes.
Shen Qingqing was casually leaning against the doorframe, a faint smile playing on her lips.
No one knew how long she had been standing there watching.
For some reason, Bai Nianyun suddenly felt guilty.
She silently closed the chest.
“Qingqing, you’re here. Is there something you need?
“Mom was just going through these things. You’re a good girl. Once you and your sister marry, you’ll support each other, and I’m sure you’ll both build wonderful lives together.”
Shen Qingqing couldn’t be bothered to keep up the act with her anymore.
She directly explained why she had come.
“I remember that among the things my mother left behind, there was a beaded bracelet. Mom, if you find it, give it to me.”
At those words, Bai Nianyun’s heart tightened.
“What? Didn’t we already agree to give all these things to Jiaojiao?”