In the living room, the family spoke in hushed voices.
“Jiajia, how did your blind date go today? I asked my mother to help find you such a good match. Whether it’s his family background or his looks, he’s top-notch!”
“Sis-in-law, thank you. It’s just that he wasn’t interested in me. He said I wasn’t his type and that I wasn’t pretty enough. I suppose that’s my problem.”
“What? Did Jiang Wan’ning ruin your blind date? I knew it! Dressing her up like that—she was obviously trying to marry above her station!”
“No, Big Brother. Before we left, I deliberately changed Ningning into Mom’s clothes and made her look as unattractive as possible. Don’t worry, the man wasn’t interested in her either.”
“Really? Then why did you buy her a new qipao? What were you thinking? Why would you buy her new clothes?”
“Mom, I already bought it, so stop pointing your finger at me and yelling. I nearly got taken hostage by robbers. I was scared half to death!”
“What? Robbers?”
Lin Meijia’s father put down his newspaper. His stern eyes fixed on his daughter, his brows drawing together.
“Tell us exactly what happened this morning. Don’t leave anything out.”
“It happened like this. After we arrived…”
Lin Meijia left out the part about Jiang Wan’ning spilling coffee on herself and leaving early.
Instead, she explained that after her blind date rejected her, it began to rain, so she kindly took her cousin upstairs to buy some clothes—and then they encountered the robbers.
“Dad, Mom, I want to send Ningning back to the countryside first. She only came here to pick up my study materials anyway. There’s no reason for her to stay at our house anymore, right?”
“No!”
Her mother, Jiang Cuihua, instinctively objected.
Then, realizing that all her children were staring at her, she quickly lowered her voice.
“You think I called Ningning here just to pick up Jiajia’s study materials? I arranged a marriage for her through a matchmaker. I lied to get her here!”
“What?”
Only Bai Qingqing was genuinely shocked.
Lin Meijia’s father and brothers weren’t surprised at all.
And because Lin Meijia possessed memories of her previous life, she certainly wasn’t surprised either.
In her previous life, her mother had personally tied Jiang Wan’ning up and sent her to a family in Liujia Garden in the eastern part of the city in exchange for a thousand yuan in bride price.
Not long afterward, Jiang Wan’ning became pregnant.
At the time, her maternal uncle and aunt searched desperately for their daughter but couldn’t find her anywhere.
When they eventually learned that their daughter had supposedly “run away from home” and behaved improperly with a man, even becoming pregnant, they were so furious that her father vomited blood on the spot and severed ties with Jiang Wan’ning.
Of course, Lin Meijia and her mother had done plenty behind the scenes to fuel the situation and turn the family against her.
They had thought Jiang Wan’ning’s entire life was ruined.
Lin Meijia had gotten her revenge.
It had felt wonderful.
But unfortunately, shortly before Jiang Wan’ning was due to give birth, her mentally disabled husband—the man they all called a fool—fell into the river while swimming.
After he was rescued, something miraculous happened.
His mind suddenly became clear.
He recovered completely.
Then Jiang Wan’ning safely gave birth to twin boys, and the entire Liu family treated the children like lucky charms, pampering them as though they were treasures.
Why?
Lin Meijia had ended up in a loveless marriage with her husband.
Jiang Wan’ning was inferior to her in every way except beauty.
So why had Jiang Wan’ning ended up living such a wonderful life?
After her supposedly foolish husband regained his intelligence, his family helped him open a clothing store.
Then he opened a clothing factory.
Then foreign-trade orders began pouring in like snow.
Within just a few years, riding the wave of China’s economic liberalization, he amassed a staggering fortune.
He became the richest man in the capital almost overnight.
Jiang Wan’ning became a wealthy society wife, draped in gold and jewels, surrounded by countless pieces of jewelry, shops, and businesses.
As her mother had once put it:
“If we keep Jiang Wan’ning happy, even what slips through her fingers will be enough to give our entire family a good life!”
What goes around comes around.
Once, their family had looked down their noses at the Jiang family.
Then the wave of layoffs arrived.
Her parents and relatives had lowered their heads and begged Jiang Wan’ning for help, practically groveling for whatever scraps she might give them…
At that time, Lin Meijia was already the young madam of the Lu family.
But her husband didn’t love her.
She had no children to secure her position, which angered her in-laws, and she had no real say in the family.
She couldn’t even regularly support her own parents.
She regretted it.
If she hadn’t taken Jiang Wan’ning to that blind date all those years ago, her husband would never have fallen in love with her at first sight.
It was all Jiang Wan’ning’s fault!
That woman had seduced her husband and forced her to spend her days and nights alone!
Divorce?
No.
She would never divorce him.
That would only give her husband the perfect excuse to get rid of her and go after Jiang Wan’ning!
She would rather remain married until they grew old and died, tormenting each other for the rest of their lives, than give him his freedom.
Now that she had been given another chance at life, she had deliberately made Jiang Wan’ning look ugly so that Lu Jinchao would never have the opportunity to fall for her at first sight.
That had at least allowed her to vent some of her anger—and deal Lu Jinchao a blow at the same time.
More importantly, she had let go of her obsession with Lu Jinchao.
She wanted to become the future richest man’s wife!
She wanted to become the wealthiest woman in the capital!
Money was the ultimate tonic.
She could live without love.
But she absolutely had to have lots and lots of money!
“Mom, I want to marry Liu Dabao. I refuse to marry anyone else.”
“What?”
Jiang Cuihua could no longer keep her voice down.
She shot to her feet and slapped her daughter across the face.
Smack!
“Jiajia, what is wrong with you? He’s a fool! Of all the men you could marry, why would you marry a fool? Are you deliberately trying to drive your father and me into the grave?”
“Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Sis-in-law, believe me. Let me marry Liu Dabao. I promise, I won’t regret it…”
Lin Meijia covered her cheek.
Her expression was utterly serious.
She wasn’t joking.
She couldn’t reveal the fact that she had been reborn, so she had to convince her family as quickly as possible and get them to let her marry him.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the living room became unbearably tense.
Even Bai Qingqing, who sometimes disliked her sister-in-law, couldn’t possibly want to push her into a pit of fire.
The Liu family’s son was already twenty-eight!
He was eight years older than Lin Meijia.
And he was mentally disabled!
What future could a fool possibly have?
Could Meijia have caught a cold from getting soaked in the rain and burned herself stupid with a fever?
“I know all of you think I’ve gone crazy right now. But please believe me—I haven’t.”
Lin Meijia spoke with absolute certainty.
“As long as I marry Liu Dabao, within a year, his mind will recover. Then the Liu family will rise to prominence. When that happens, I’ll be able to support our family openly and legitimately.”
Her certainty left everyone in the Lin family staring at one another.
Jiang Cuihua began to waver.
In truth, there were two reasons she had arranged the Liu family marriage for her niece.
The first was the thousand-yuan bride price.
But more importantly, it was a chance to establish a connection with the Liu family.
The Liu family was currently one of the most promising up-and-coming families.
Rumor had it that their ancestors had been major landowners and had left behind mountains of gold and silver for their descendants.
Even during the most dangerous years, the family had managed to emerge unscathed.
They had even managed to relocate to the capital.
That alone suggested that the family possessed an extraordinarily deep foundation.
Originally, she and her husband had planned to use their niece’s beauty as an offering to curry favor with the Liu family.
But now her own daughter wanted to take her place.
That made her hesitate.
What she couldn’t understand was this:
Why was her daughter so interested in the Liu family?
And how did she know so much about them—far more than they did?