She was reborn.
Looking back on this life, Zhao Xiaoyu wondered why things hadn’t developed as she had imagined, even though she had returned to the Zhao family early and Sheng Qianyu had also been recognized by the Sheng family. Everyone was in their rightful places, so why hadn’t things gone according to plan?
Early on, she had targeted several children in the military compound who were destined for official careers and would achieve success. She built good relationships with them and kept in touch frequently, but for some reason, their attitudes changed later on, and they contacted her less and less…
Later, she didn’t see these people thriving in officialdom either. Instead, they became marginalized figures in their families, and their descendants turned into profligate sons, idling away their days.
In the first few years after being driven out of the military compound by the Zhao family, she thought about the future prospects of the country and wanted to buy courtyard houses on a large scale. However, she didn’t have enough money, nor did she have a business mind, so she turned her attention to her ex-husband.
The reason she still had contact with her ex-husband was because they shared a child.
Relying on this child and taking advantage of her parents’ soft hearts, her ex-husband occasionally visited the military compound. After she was driven out, with no guards to stop him, he started coming over every now and then.
At first, it was indeed for the child, but later she remembered why she had agreed to marry this ex-husband again.
Her ex-husband had studied finance and, in her previous life, had become the richest person in the country. As Zhao Daxiong’s daughter, she wasn’t just interested in him for that reason—she also had her eyes on his younger brothers. Some of them had gone abroad, while others were in Hong Kong, all of them influential figures with extensive connections. Their families were clean, with no messy affairs, and they doted on their wives.
After remarrying her ex-husband, she tried to take out her money and coupons, asking him to start a business to make more money. Then, she planned to buy a few more courtyard houses so that the two of them could live off the rental income in the future.
Abandoned by her parents, this was all she asked for.
The sponger man agreed on the surface but spent all the money as soon as he got it.
His reasoning was that Zhao Xiaoyu was backed by Zhao Daxiong. Even though he was nearing retirement, his pension would still be an amount ordinary people could only dream of, not to mention that Zhao Xiaoyu was the only daughter of the Zhao family. If he could lie back and swindle money, why bother doing the lowly work of a self-employed individual? He wasn’t stupid.
After spending all the money, the sponger man went back to Zhao Xiaoyu, claiming that the start-up capital for the business was too large and the money she had given him wasn’t enough.
Zhao Xiaoyu absolutely could not admit that she had been reborn and, besides knowing the future, had also harmed the prospects of some important figures. So, even though she was suspicious, she handed over all the money she had left.
She still wanted to leech off Zhao Daxiong and his wife, but since she had been driven out of the military compound, she could only maintain contact by phone.
At first, Zhao Daxiong would still answer her calls.
Zhao Daxiong said, “You’re an adult now and capable of earning money. Your mother and I have already given you five hundred yuan in savings and a courtyard house. What happens next is up to you. Besides the New Year, it’s better not to come by anymore.”
When she called Qin Fang, the other party never answered.
Eventually, even Zhao Daxiong stopped answering.
Zhao Xiaoyu had to face the fact that she had been kicked out of the Zhao family, just like Sheng Qianyu had been back then.
The difference was that Sheng Qianyu had left voluntarily, maintaining some dignity, while she had become a laughingstock, thrown out like trash.
She thought of the Sheng family.
It wasn’t easy.
After more than a decade, she finally remembered her adoptive parents.
The call was answered by her once-doting older brother, Sheng Jiandang, whose voice was cold and unfamiliar. “Ms. Zhao.”
Zhao Xiaoyu froze to the bone at the way he addressed her.”As the adopted daughter of the Zhao family, my younger sister understands boundaries, knows how to repay the kindness of being raised, and understands how to respect others. And you? What happened when the grandmother who loved you most went to find you—do we need to confront each other face-to-face? How have you treated our Sheng family? You say my younger sister took your place and enjoyed the resources, but have you ever suffered even a little hardship in our Sheng family?
After all these years without contact, how do you have the nerve to ask for money as soon as you reach out? My parents said they don’t expect you to repay the kindness of being raised—just consider those twelve years as wasted. Since there’s no blood relation anyway, if you have any shame left, don’t bother our Sheng family anymore! After all, we’re not pushovers!”
Later, Zhao Xiaoyu struggled through the 1980s and 1990s alone, holding her son in her arms…
Her lover never became the richest person in the country, and her husband’s younger brothers didn’t go abroad or to Hong Kong but stayed steadily in the country for development. They used her money to buy jobs, but after working for only a few years, they were hit by the layoff wave of the 1990s.
With no jobs left, her husband’s family all crowded into the courtyard house. What was once spacious for three people became cramped when dozens of people—younger brothers, their wives, and their children—moved in.
The reason they still treated her decently was because they relied on her parents, who had high pensions. They didn’t believe Zhao Daxiong and Qin Fang would abandon her. Once the elderly couple passed away, wouldn’t all their savings go to Zhao Xiaoyu?
Zhao Xiaoyu thought the same.
But she never expected to die before her parents.
Until her death, only the contemptuous face of her lover stayed by her sickbed.
“Ugh! What bad luck! Do you know what I found out? Your parents made a will long ago, donating all their savings to the country. Not a penny will go to you, not even to our child! How did you manage to fail so badly at life? Suffering all these years is one thing, but your parents never gave you a cent! And even after death, you won’t get anything!
If you hadn’t made such a mess with the Sheng family back then, you’d have two families caring for you!” The sponger man grew more agitated as he spoke.
In the Song family, he had heard plenty about Zhao Xiaoyu and Sheng Qianyu—all about Zhao Xiaoyu’s one-sided hatred for Sheng Qianyu, who couldn’t be bothered to respond.
And what was the result? One, though the daughter of a military district commander, ended up dying alone and neglected; the other, through her own efforts, became an academician admired on television and praised at home and abroad!
Not satisfied with just provoking her, the sponger man added, “If you could have accepted Academician Sheng, with her noble character, what couldn’t you have had? Would you have ended up like this? You should have been pampered and cherished, but instead… well, you deserve it.”
Zhao Xiaoyu ultimately didn’t make it.
She thought of her past life.
In her past life, she was recognized by the Zhao family very late.
The Zhao family couldn’t withstand the devastation of the turbulent era and were sent down. At fifteen, Sheng Qianyu resolutely refused to sever ties with her family and went with the Zhao couple to the farm. Chen Zhou followed Sheng Qianyu and later joined an island military unit, where he made a name for himself.
In 1976, when the Zhao family returned to Beijing, their bodies were worn and broken.
Sheng Qianyu didn’t get her university diploma before the incident, but she still forged her own path in medicine through her abilities.
In the 1980s, the Zhao and Sheng families finally discovered the baby mix-up. Although she and Sheng Qianyu had their surnames changed, the familial bonds on both sides couldn’t be undone.Zhao Daxiong and Qin Fang, out of pity for Sheng Qianyu having endured hardships with them in the countryside for many years, only urged her to be patient and yielding: “Qianyu taught herself medicine while in the countryside for our sake, gathering herbs to nourish our bodies. She could have gone to the countryside as an educated youth, but that would have prevented her from openly caring for us. So she chose to endure hardships herself rather than hide her relationship with us.
Xiao Yu, the mix-up at birth wasn’t the fault of either family. We may have raised Qianyu, but the ten years of suffering she endured with us more than repaid that debt! If not for Qianyu, we might not have survived to return. She could have lived comfortably in the Sheng family, without her health deteriorating, and she could have had her own future…”
She could have done it too! She could have endured the hardships in the countryside with them!
Later, Sheng Qianyu reached the pinnacle of medicine and held a grand wedding with Chen Zhou, who held a high-ranking position.
She screamed inwardly that all of this should have been hers! But no one listened. Her biological parents blamed her for being unreasonable, and her adoptive parents felt she had been poorly raised.
In the end, she could only marry someone far inferior to Chen Zhou.
After marriage, she remained discontented and unfulfilled. Her in-laws were not kind enough, and no one understood her suffering or cared for her.
Everyone only cared about Sheng Qianyu. Everyone only saw Sheng Qianyu.
Upon discovering her rebirth, she was overjoyed.
In this lifetime, she would return to the Zhao family early, reunite with her biological parents sooner, skip grades based on her memories, and get into university! Then, she would get close to the future military leaders, share hardships with the Zhao family, and receive all the affection of her biological parents!
As for her adoptive parents, they would face the layoff wave in the 1990s and live mediocre lives, so there was no need to engage with them.
At first, things seemed to be going well. But why, why was her life even worse than in her previous life?
Just before her breathing stopped, she finally seemed to understand.
Her husband was right. If she hadn’t resisted Sheng Qianyu, she could have gained the affection of both families and enjoyed the protection of Sheng Qianyu, a sister with no blood relation. She had tried to cling to others for support, but why hadn’t she realized that Sheng Qianyu was also a golden opportunity?
Her vision cleared for a moment, then darkened again.
Zhao Daxiong had seen through her rebirth early on, and others had also noticed clues but refrained from exposing her out of respect for the Zhao family’s status. It wasn’t her foresight that protected the Zhao family; rather, the Zhao family had been protecting her all along!
As a self-proclaimed reborn individual, she thought she was the protagonist of this era, believing she had everything under control. Little did she know that her second life had still become a joke…
If she could start over…
If only she could.
She would never be so extreme again.
Unfortunately, heaven did not give her another chance.