“Your fiancé’s surname is also Shen, right? He’s also in the military district—could the two of them be related?” Lin Wanqing asked curiously. She wasn’t familiar with the plot of the original book; since the two of them were cannon fodder, there hadn’t been much detail about their fiancés anyway.
“Possibly.” Song Huixin furrowed her pretty brows and muttered, “Good thing they’re both in the same military district, so we won’t have to be separated. Otherwise, I’d call off the engagement and find someone else no matter what!”
She didn’t want to be apart from her best friend.
Her best friend had already cooked the rice on her side—there was no way she could switch partners now.
“Both our families are about to be sent down to the countryside. Right now, getting married is the only option—at least we won’t have to suffer through rural life.”
Lin Wanqing’s eyes dimmed slightly as she calculated their next steps: leaving the capital to follow the army. But she had no intention of completely depending on a man.
She knew that no matter the era, the only person you could rely on was yourself—men were all unreliable!
She refused to believe that as a PhD in pharmaceutical research, she couldn’t find her footing here!
Lin Wanqing made up her mind—both of them were going to be just fine!!
“Right, going to the countryside doesn’t just mean a hard life—we might even end up marrying some country bumpkin!” Although she knew they’d arrange for a return to the city in a few years, life in the village definitely wouldn’t be as good as following the army. Song Huixin’s eyes were full of Lin Wanqing. “Qingbao, I’m a little scared.”
“Don’t be afraid. What’s there to fear when I’m right here with you?” Lin Wanqing raised her hand reassuringly and patted the back of Song Huixin’s hand. Her best friend had spent years in the entertainment industry—no acting skills, no connections, relying solely on her pretty face to become famous for all the wrong reasons.
“Mhm mhm, good thing I have you.” Song Huixin nodded “obediently,” and the two of them cuddled and chatted for a good while, until a knock sounded at the door—
“Knock knock”
“Who is it?” Song Huixin grumbled unhappily, annoyed at being disturbed during their sisterly time together.
“I’ll get the door.” Lin Wanqing stood up. The man seemed to have come back after leaving, holding the fried dough sticks and buns he’d bought.
“Eat breakfast first.”
Shen Yunzheng made a move to step inside, but Lin Wanqing stood at the door with no intention of letting him through. “Give them to me.”
With that, she paused briefly before adding, “Anyway, the two of us are going to get married sooner or later. Don’t worry about what happened last night. My family is being sent down today—I’ll go see them off in a bit. Once I’m done here, I’ll follow you to the military district.”
“Mm, alright.” Shen Yunzheng raised an eyebrow. The moment the words left his mouth, the door in front of him slammed shut again with a bang.
Shen Yunzheng: “…”
Did she have to close the door that fast?
A little heartless, huh…
~
Lin Wanqing and Song Huixin each needed to return to their own homes, but in the end, they didn’t manage to see off the original owners’ families one last time.
All that was left for them was an empty, hollow house—and the house itself was about to be sealed off.
Lin Wanqing returned to the hotel. Shen Yunzheng wasn’t surprised to see her, his voice low as he asked, “When are we heading back?”
“Wait a moment—Huixin is coming.”
Lin Wanqing continued, “She’s going to the military district with us to find her fiancé, Shen Yunzheng. Do you know this person?”
Shen Yunzheng nodded. “I do. We’re uncle and nephew.”
Uncle and nephew? Hearing this, Lin Wanqing stared at the man in stunned disbelief for a good long while.
Then the words that came out of her mouth caught Shen Yunzheng completely off guard.
“Huh? Then your uncle must be pretty old, right? How many years older is he than Huixin? What does he look like? Why is he, an old cow, grazing on young grass! He’s that old and still hasn’t gotten married? Could he have some kind of unspeakable problem?” Lin Wanqing asked a couple extra questions out of genuine concern for her best friend, completely failing to notice the man’s face gradually darkening.
“Even though we’re uncle and nephew, there’s not much of an age gap! Do I look old to you?” Shen Yunzheng shot back.
“You’re not old.” Lin Wanqing answered honestly.
“The two of us look about the same age in appearance!”
“Good, that’s a relief.” Lin Wanqing let out a sigh.
Shen Yunzheng gritted his molars. He’d always thought a man being older was an advantage—how had it become a disadvantage in her eyes?!
Wasn’t she pretty satisfied with this face of his last night? Hmph, women!
When Song Huixin came back, her hands were also empty. She had managed to see her family one last time, but hadn’t had the chance to say much.
They’d gone to see their families because they’d taken over the original bodies—there was still a blood connection, after all.
The train was early tomorrow morning, so they’d be staying at the hotel tonight. Lin Wanqing “without hesitation” kicked the man out—tonight, she was sleeping with Huixin!
For Shen Yunzheng, who had just tasted the forbidden fruit only to be separated from it, this was nothing short of torture.
Why did it feel like in Lin Wanqing’s heart, he, her fiancé, wasn’t even as important as Song Huixin?
Lin Wanqing couldn’t care less about what he was thinking. Huixin would definitely be scared sleeping alone at night.
“Hey? Did you take your medicine?”
Song Huixin suddenly remembered something before bed and asked urgently, “After you two did it last night, did you take the pill?”
“No.” To be precise, she hadn’t had the chance to take it. Lin Wanqing was momentarily stunned. “There’s no way it’d be that accurate!”
“Unless you’re prepared to get pregnant, the safest option is still to take the pill,” Song Huixin said, then sighed again. “Forget it, it’s too late to say anything now. Even if you took the pill, it probably wouldn’t help. I think your fiancé isn’t bad-looking, so if you get pregnant, so be it! If things don’t work out down the road, we’ll raise the child together!”
This was also their “ideal state” of life before they transmigrated into the book.
Back then, they hadn’t yet met someone they truly loved and were willing to spend the rest of their lives with.
Their thought was that if they both ended up single in the end, they’d adopt a child and settle down together as companions for the second half of their lives.
“Right, if your fiancé doesn’t treat you well, I’ll support you after the divorce!” Lin Wanqing promised with firm determination.
“Qingbao, I knew you were the best to me~”
“…” The two were being lovey-dovey in the room, while Shen Yunzheng next door tossed and turned, unable to sleep—
He wanted to hold his wife while sleeping.
…
Early the next morning, Jiang Yusen came looking for Lin Wanqing with a grim face to confront her. Su Moli had been taken into custody. “This matter between the two of us has nothing to do with Moli. Don’t drag innocent people into this. Let her go!”
Su Moli had been arrested—Lin Wanqing didn’t need to guess who was behind it. He certainly worked fast.
“Jiang Yusen, Su Moli is innocent? You must have water in your brain coming here this early in the morning! She nearly ruined my reputation. I was just handling things by the book. If she hadn’t done it, why would I go after her?” Lin Wanqing couldn’t help but let out a scoff. “Get lost!”
Jiang Yusen stared at Lin Wanqing with utter shock. She had never spoken to him in this tone before.
Wasn’t she always gentle and soft-spoken when coaxing him? At most, she’d throw a little tantrum, and a few sweet words would cheer her right up. She had changed.
How could a person change so drastically in such a short time?
“Wanqing, as long as you release Moli, I won’t hold your having a fiancé against you. Let’s just pretend nothing ever happened. We can go get our marriage certificate right away, okay?”