Winter 1977.
A train carrying sent-down educated youth roared into Beijing, returning to the city.
Ying Sisi stood at the exit of the station, nervously looking toward a young man not far away.
He stood alone in the cold wind, lightly dressed. His cold, sharp face carried an air of distance and pride.
This was her fiancé—Qin Yanci.
Compared to the youthful, slightly immature look in the photo, the man before her had already become mature and steady, strikingly eye-catching.
She just didn’t know—when her stepmother saw him later, would she regret not having her stepsister engaged to him instead?
As he turned to leave, she stopped overthinking and called out to him in a soft, delicate voice:
“Ah Ci… Qin Yanci?”
“Who are you?”
Qin Yanci studied the girl before him.
Around twenty years old at most. Fair skin, oval face, big eyes.
The old-fashioned floral cotton jacket and thick cotton pants couldn’t hide her delicate beauty.
Her voice was soft and gentle, making people’s skin tingle.
Ying Sisi looked at him and gathered her courage.
“I’m your fiancée, Sisi. Didn’t Uncle and Aunt write to you about our engagement?”
Qin Yanci was cold and indifferent.
“I know now. Since you’re my fiancée, go back and warm my bed.”
Ying Sisi’s face instantly flushed. “…You’re a hooligan!”
She wanted to turn and leave, but worried she wouldn’t be able to explain things to her father. Clenching her fists, she lowered her voice like a mosquito:
“Okay… are you cold? Take this.”
Before coming, she had specially prepared a thick winter coat. She now offered it to him with both hands.
Qin Yanci paused.
For some reason, her sincere and earnest attitude eased the irritation in his heart a little.
After a brief hesitation, he took the coat and put it on.
His tone softened slightly.
“Why didn’t my parents come to pick me up?”
Ying Sisi’s thoughts turned quickly.
If she told him that his sister-in-law was giving birth and the whole family had gone to the hospital, would he feel disappointed? If he concluded that his parents were biased and started overthinking, what then?
She bit her lip and said shyly:
“Come home with me first. I’ll tell you slowly when I warm your bed, okay?”
Qin Yanci was slightly stunned. His usually cold expression stiffened for a moment.
He quickly changed the subject.
“You’re called Sisi? The ‘Si’ as in four? Are you the fourth in your family?”
“It’s the ‘Si’ with the woman radical—Ying Sisi. I only have one younger half-sister below me.”
Ying Sisi led him home.
The moment they entered the courtyard, they ran into Li Yuwei.
Li Yuwei wore the trendy “Ke Xiang” hairstyle of the time, a red-and-white plaid wool coat, a white scarf, brown corduroy pants, and black leather shoes. Her makeup was delicate and fashionable, giving off a very stylish aura.
Her expression changed sharply when she saw them.
Three months ago, she had been reborn.
In her previous life, she had been the one engaged to Qin Yanci.
At first, she had been extremely satisfied with the engagement.
The Qin family lived in the most prosperous eastern district of Beijing in a courtyard house. His parents had respectable jobs. He himself had a high school education and outstanding looks.
Everyone around her envied her for marrying well.
On the day Qin Yanci returned to Beijing, she had carefully dressed up and waited in the cold wind at the station for three hours before finally seeing him.
It had felt like love at first sight.
She had thought he would also be satisfied with her beauty and modern style—but instead, he only asked:
“Why didn’t my parents come?”
She could no longer remember how she answered. She only remembered being slapped until her face swelled.
She returned home alone.
Her parents didn’t comfort her—instead, they blamed her for being reckless and useless.
Later, they married.
Qin Yanci gradually revealed his perverted nature, finding joy in tormenting her.
Meanwhile, Ying Sisi was tricked by her mother into marrying a local thug in exchange for bride price.
But that thug turned out to be a hidden dragon among men.
After economic reforms in the 1980s, he quickly became the richest man in Beijing.
Ying Sisi rose with him and lived in luxury and power. He obeyed her every word—even going so far as to destroy her father’s career and leave her mother unemployed, both eventually dying miserably in the streets.
Now reborn, she wanted to take Ying Sisi’s life for herself and avenge her parents.
Getting her father to marry Ying Sisi off to Qin Yanci—and cutting off her path to that “thug”—was only the first step.