Before Bai Yue could think of how to respond, she heard Shen Qingyun speak up: “Mom, Dad, you’re already at such an age, and you’re taking a seven-year-old child with you to be sent down. Aren’t you afraid you’ll die out there?”
“And also, I heard that people sent down have to live in cow sheds, work every day, and if you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you don’t eat, you starve. If you starve, you get sick. If you get sick, there’s no doctor to see you, so you just die. Oh, and over there, you have to write self-criticisms every day, and get criticized too. I don’t know if you two can survive it.”
Shen Qingyun tilted her head. Whether it was the light or something else, her face looked pale with a bluish tinge. Her overly dark eyes made her seem like a harbinger of death sent from hell.
Bai Yue felt her throat tighten, every hair on her body standing on end. Shen Hanyang snapped back to reality, his expression darkening. “Impudent child! What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s not true, you must have heard wrong,” Bai Yue soothed him gently.
Shen Qingyun nodded. “See! I told you, you’re not that evil. You even took me back home after being sent down. Only people who aren’t good would do such things. If you really did, may heaven strike you with thunder—yes, all five thunders! Mom, Dad, don’t you agree?”
With every sentence, Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue’s faces darkened further. Even though superstitions were officially forbidden in this era, who wanted to be cursed to their face?
And yet, there was no way to refute her.
“That’s enough!” Shen Hanyang roared.
“Oh, I won’t talk if you don’t want me to,” Shen Qingyun shrugged, looking nonchalant. Her attitude only made Shen Hanyang angrier. “Go to your room,” he ordered.
“Sorry, I can’t. I still have things to say. You were whispering just now, now it’s my turn,” Shen Qingyun ignored Shen Hanyang’s increasingly gloomy expression and Bai Yue’s displeasure, turning her gaze to Shen Xinwei.
Like Sun Lanzhi, she had a triangular face and dark skin, and like Shen Zhigao, thick lips and a flat nose bridge. With just Shen Xinwei’s mixed features, there was no need for a DNA test—her bloodline was obvious.
Looking at Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue, with their delicate features, fair skin, big eyes, and high nose bridges, they were textbook beautiful. Both Shen Zhigao and Shen Hanyang worked in the Beijing military bureau, and their families lived in the same compound. How could they have been blind for twenty years?
It was truly strange.
Ignoring her jumbled thoughts, Shen Qingyun crossed her arms. “If you’re setting up a match for my younger sister, I want one too.”
“W-what?” Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue froze.
Bai Yue recovered first, cautiously asking, “Did you… just hear that?”
“Hear what? I’m twenty this year, the age to marry. Shouldn’t you be arranging someone for me?” Shen Qingyun spread her hands, looking dignified yet playful, leaving one unsure whether she was joking or serious.
Bai Yue eyed her suspiciously but saw nothing unusual. She soothed her as usual: “You just got back. Your parents want to spend some more time with you before thinking about marriage.”
“Our Shen family isn’t ordinary. We want someone suitable. Don’t worry, I’ll arrange it. Just wait,” Shen Hanyang said, glancing at Shen Qingyun. No matter what this daughter wanted, she would have to go down with them. The Shen family had to stay together.
“Hmph. I think you’re just brushing me off. If you don’t agree, I’ll go see the match with my sister tomorrow. Little sister, you’re so kind and sensible, you won’t mind, right?” Shen Qingyun’s eyes curved, her lips bright and bold. She stepped forward, patting Shen Xinwei’s shoulder. Her perfect face nearly filled Shen Xinwei’s vision.
Shen Xinwei instinctively stepped back, her fists clenching at her sides, nails digging into her flesh.
Damn it. Even blown up many times, Shen Qingyun’s face was flawless.
In this life, she hated Shen Qingyun most. How could someone so inferior in every way have a face that could captivate hearts?
Shen Xinwei gritted her teeth, a surge of jealousy and hatred threatening her carefully maintained image of a virtuous girl. She had to refuse. If Shen Qingyun went, she would be a clown, a weed beside the flower. How could a small grass overshadow a flower?
Determined to refuse, she opened her mouth—but suddenly felt a dull pain in her head, and her body swayed.
“Weiwei, are you okay?” Bai Yue asked anxiously.
Shen Xinwei looked around, then at the much younger Bai Yue, shock, joy, and disbelief flashing in her eyes.
She… had been reborn?
“Weiwei, this match is arranged by your dad and me for you. You don’t have to agree with Qingyun. She’s the one in the wrong,” Bai Yue said, full of concern. Her daughter was too kind-hearted, and that made her worry she would be bullied if left in Beijing.
Shen Xinwei snapped back and said impulsively, “No, I agree!”
Realizing she had overreacted, she adjusted her expression to her usual shy self. “Of course, that’s perfect. Sister can help me advise tomorrow.”
Shen Qingyun glanced at Shen Xinwei, then looked at Bai Yue. “She agreed herself. You don’t have any objections, right?”
Seeing Bai Yue and Shen Hanyang’s expressions, as if they had swallowed flies, Shen Qingyun walked away satisfied.
Once she left, Bai Yue pulled Shen Xinwei close, scolding gently, “Silly girl. Qingyun is gone, but will the boy still like you?”
“Tomorrow I’ll find a way to block Qingyun. You just go by yourself,” Bai Yue instructed.
Shen Xinwei patted her head unhappily. “Mom, you don’t need to worry. I have my own pace.”
“You! I told you so much and it’s like I said nothing. The boy I arranged is perfect in character and background. Considering our special circumstances, he’s the most suitable for you. If Qingyun takes him, I wonder where you’ll go to cry.”
Shen Xinwei didn’t care. The man came from three generations of poor farmers, good background indeed. In her past life, she listened to Bai Yue, married Zhou Weiguo, and ended up living a life constrained by a small forestry post, without money or status, frustrated all her life.
Thinking of Shen Qingyun’s glory in her past life, why should Qingyun marry a tycoon while she languished in a tiny forest?
Fortunately, fate had been kind. She had a chance to be reborn. She remembered Shen Qingyun met a man while being sent down. Thinking of that upright, radiant man, her heart raced, cheeks flushed. This time, she would claim both the Shen family’s wealth and that man!
Shen Qingyun had no idea of Shen Xinwei’s thoughts. She had returned to her room, staring at the red mark on her wrist, lost in thought.
Her space had changed—from a jade pendant to a birthmark—and shrunk. It used to be the size of a football field, now only one cubic meter lit up, the rest covered by a gray mist. Anything thrown into the unlit area was swallowed instantly. For now, she could only use the one cubic meter.
Even after drinking the Spirit Spring water, Shen Qingyun took some fever medicine, dressed her wounds, and then sank into a deep sleep.