Without the help of the Jiang family, Chen Huaiyuan would have died at the age of seven.
That year, his hometown suffered a flood, and his entire family fled the famine, seeking refuge in Jiangya Village.
During the freezing depths of winter, he caught a chill that flared into a persistent high fever, leaving him on the verge of death.
It was Jiang Baozhen’s father, Jiang ManCang, the chief of Jiangya Village, who took the Chen family into his courtyard.
He called for a doctor, secured medicine, and forcefully dragged Chen Huaiyuan back from the gates of hell.
Not only that, but Jiang ManCang also persuaded the entire village to accept the Chen family, allocating them land and registering their household.
Only then did the Chen family put down roots in Jiangya Village.
Moved to tears, Mr.
Chen Sr.
wanted Chen Huaiyuan to formally acknowledge Jiang ManCang as his godfather.
Jiang ManCang politely declined, saying that since it wasn’t easy for them to leave their hometown to make a living, lending a helping hand was only natural.
Seeing that the Jiang family had a daughter, Jiang Baozhen, who was around the same age as Chen Huaiyuan, the Chen family took the initiative to propose an arranged marriage between the children.
The Jiang family was famous for doting on their daughter.
Reluctant to let his girl marry outside the village when she grew up, and noting that the young Chen Huaiyuan was handsome, literate, and reasonable, Jiang ManCang weighed his options.
Considering the Chen family had settled down in Jiangya Village, he figured they wouldn’t dare mistreat Jiang Baozhen with the Jiang family backing her up.
Only then did he agree to the marriage.
From then on, the two families interacted frequently, as close as a single family.
Jiang Baozhen had a straightforward, fearless personality and chased after Chen Huaiyuan all day long.
Chen Huaiyuan was also promising; after being praised by a wandering scholar for having great potential, Mr.
Chen Sr.
gritted his teeth and sent him to a private school in town.
The gift required for his private schooling was expensive.
Since the Chen family was tight on money, the majority of this expense was openly and secretly covered by Jiang ManCang.
Chen Huaiyuan’s ability to continue his studies was entirely dependent on the Jiang family’s support.
But while studying in town, he caught the eye of Qin Sangrou, the daughter of a grain and oil shop owner.
The two began a secret romance behind their families’ backs.
That spring, Chen Huaiyuan and Qin Sangrou arranged to visit a temple fair, only to be caught red-handed by Jiang Baozhen.
The matter escalated until it reached Mrs.
Qin.
How could the Qin family ever look favorably upon a poor boy from the Chen family?
Qin Sangrou’s father, Manager Qin, personally went to Jiangya Village and publicly humiliated the Chen family until they couldn’t lift their heads.
Furious, Mr.
Chen Sr.
rushed to town and dragged Chen Huaiyuan back home.
When Jiang ManCang learned of the scandal, he demanded to call off the engagement immediately.
However, Jiang Baozhen absolutely refused, throwing a fit and swearing she would marry no one but Chen Huaiyuan, even threatening a hunger strike.
Unable to win against his daughter, Jiang ManCang was forced to swallow his anger.
Half a year later, Qin Sangrou married off to a distant town.
Chen Huaiyuan seemed to finally settle down and married Jiang Baozhen.
In the years following their marriage, Jiang Baozhen was always the one making the extra effort.
She never let Chen Huaiyuan worry about a single thing inside or outside the home, and no matter how difficult life became, she continued to fund his studies.
Even when he failed the exams to become a child student, she never complained, insisting instead that the examiners were blind.
She knew Chen Huaiyuan always kept Qin Sangrou in his heart.
She had argued and cried over it, but each time, Chen Huaiyuan would put on a helpless look and say, “I can’t control matters of the heart.
You were the one who insisted on marrying me in the first place.”
Through his subtle insinuations, he blamed the arranged marriage with the Jiang family for his inability to marry Qin Sangrou.
Hearing these words over and over, even Jiang Baozhen almost began to believe them, feeling as though she had truly torn apart a pair of star-crossed lovers.
It wasn’t until she was reborn in this life that she fully woke up.
Even without her, a future between Chen Huaiyuan and Qin Sangrou would have been impossible.
The Qin family completely looked down on a poor, shabby household like the Chen family.
Chen Huaiyuan’s longing was nothing but wishful thinking, and whether Qin Sangrou truly harbored feelings for him was highly debatable.
Yet, Chen Huaiyuan pinned all the resentment of his unfulfilled desires on the Jiang family, silently harboring hatred for a lifetime.
On the day she gave birth to their youngest daughter, this hatred culminated in a monstrous deception: he actually brought Qin Sangrou’s son home and passed him off as one of the “boy-girl twins” she had supposedly delivered.
No wonder.
Their first three sons were named Chen Gensheng, Chen Chunsheng, and Chen Tiansheng.
Yet when it came to their fourth child, he was suddenly named Chen Tianhao.
At the time, Chen Huaiyuan had claimed that this youngest son was born with an extraordinary appearance, carrying a noble air between his brows.
Naturally, his name couldn’t be like his older brothers’; it had to be elevated.
Among the four sons, Chen Huaiyuan’s blatant favoritism toward Tianhao was practically public knowledge.
He personally began teaching the boy at age three and sent him to study in town at age seven.
Even during the years they spent hiding in the mountains to escape the war, Chen Huaiyuan would frequently mutter, “Once the world is at peace, Tianhao must continue his studies.
Our Chen family’s hopes of rising in social status rely entirely on him.”
Day after day, Jiang Baozhen had been swayed by these words, coming to favor Chen Tianhao above her other sons.
After her youngest daughter went missing, she transferred all her maternal love for the girl onto Chen Tianhao.
Thinking back on it now, what “noble air” was there?
It was clearly because Chen Huaiyuan had known the child’s true origins all along and was dead set on giving the best of everything to Qin Sangrou’s son.
But Jiang Baozhen simply couldn’t understand.
It was one thing for Chen Huaiyuan to hate her, but why wouldn’t he spare his own biological daughter, Ruixue?
During those years, he had acted as if he doted on that daughter more than anyone else.
Even after Ruixue went missing, he had appeared deeply pained and embarked on multiple long journeys to search for her.
That seemingly genuine affection had been completely faked.
Jiang Baozhen’s second sudden fainting spell left the room in dead silence.
Brothers Chen Gensheng and Chen Tiansheng looked in unison at Lin Yingxue, their eyes filled with blame.
In their view, their mother hadn’t had the time to dwell on their younger sister while hiding in the mountains.
Now that the world was at peace, seeing Lin Yingxue had reminded her of their sister’s disappearance.
She had finally woken up, only to be triggered into shock once more.
“You jinx!
It’s all your fault for making your mother-in-law faint again!” Chen Huaiyuan turned and glared fiercely at Lin Yingxue.
“What are your intentions?
You can’t even serve someone properly—”
“AH!”
Chen Huaiyuan hadn’t even finished scolding Lin Yingxue when a miserable shriek suddenly echoed out.
Earlier, the moment Jiang Baozhen woke up and saw Lin Yingxue, memories of her past life had surged forth like a tidal wave.
An immense wave of regret and shock had pierced her heart like a poisoned ice pick.
She couldn’t bear the reality of how harshly she had treated the youngest daughter she had yearned for in her previous life.
In that instant, unable to figure out how to face her daughter, the massive psychological blow had caused her to faint again.
It was an escape, fueled by an utter sense of powerlessness born from extreme remorse.
But upon hearing Chen Huaiyuan scold Lin Yingxue, Jiang Baozhen could no longer pretend to be unconscious.
Without a second thought, she sat up straight and slapped Chen Huaiyuan across the face.
“Chen Ergou!
You shameless old bastard!
How dare you fan the flames here!”
Jiang Baozhen grabbed Chen Huaiyuan by the hair and swung her hand back and forth.
SLAP!
SLAP!
Two sharp slaps rang out.
Beaten until he saw stars, Chen Huaiyuan clutched his head and struggled.
Everyone in the room was left completely dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.
Still seething with anger, Jiang Baozhen’s bloodshot eyes darted to the table.
She grabbed a medicine bowl and prepared to hurl it, but her quick-witted eldest son, Chen Gensheng, snatched it away.
Lin Yingxue was absolutely stunned.
Her mother-in-law was famously, hopelessly love-struck when it came to Chen Huaiyuan.
No one was allowed to utter half a bad word about him.
Even when her eldest brother had complained in their youth that Chen Huaiyuan couldn’t support the household, she had nearly cut ties with her maiden family.
Who could have expected that immediately upon waking, her mother-in-law would direct her fury at her father-in-law and beat him up?
“Chen Ergou!
You old fart, how dare you play tricks in front of me?!” Jiang Baozhen’s bloodshot eyes glared terrifyingly, her voice loud enough to practically tear the roof off.
“Chen Ergou?” Everyone stared at Chen Huaiyuan in unison.
By bringing up this nearly forgotten, derogatory childhood nickname in public, the aloof and noble scholar persona Chen Huaiyuan constantly maintained seemed to shatter into a million pieces.
Chen Huaiyuan’s face burned with a stinging pain from the slaps, sending a dull ache radiating through his nasal cavity and his brain until he could barely breathe.
Suddenly, a rush of heat surged into his nose.
He instinctively covered it with his hand, only to pull his fingers away stained with blood.
He looked at Jiang Baozhen in sheer shock, utterly unable to believe that she had actually struck him.
After all, though Jiang Baozhen was famously fierce and remained unmatched in any shouting match across Jiangya Village, she had never spoken a single harsh word to him.
If everyone had a weak spot, Chen Huaiyuan was Jiang Baozhen’s.
They were childhood sweethearts, bound by an arranged marriage since they were young, and Jiang Baozhen had always offered him her complete devotion.
When he had handed their land over to the eldest branch of the family, she had directed all her fury at his relatives and the official in charge of registration, yet she hadn’t criticized him in the slightest, instead repeatedly praising him for being kind and soft-hearted.
He wondered how her attitude toward him could have drastically changed after just two days of being unconscious.