The next morning, Lin Wan woke to the chirping of sparrows.
She sat up and realized that, just as expected, Gu Ye hadn’t come back all night.
Thinking about how he had fled in embarrassment the night before, the corners of Lin Wan’s lips couldn’t help but curl upward.
This man looked cold and roguish, the type who seemed hard to provoke—yet she hadn’t expected him to be so easy to tease.
High attack, low defense. The contrast was kind of amusing.
Stretching lazily, she got up and walked into the yard.
It was a simple little courtyard. A pile of miscellaneous junk sat in one corner, and the rest of the space was bare. The only noticeable thing was a lonely cast-iron water tap.
She walked over and twisted it open. Cold well water gushed out with a splash.
Scooping some in her hands, she barely managed to rinse her mouth and then splashed water on her face. The chill made her shiver, but it also woke her up completely.
The place Gu Ye lived in wasn’t big. It was obvious he had only moved in recently.
The room was empty—nothing had been furnished. After sleeping one night on the hard wooden bed, her back and waist felt sore, as if someone had beaten her up.
At least it was a standalone house.
In a remote mining area like this, the lowest-level miners usually crammed together in work sheds, with no privacy at all.
As she looked around, Lin Wan began planning in her mind:
A small patch of the yard could be used to grow vegetables—she’d find a way to make Gu Ye plant them.
A rope should be tied in the corner for drying clothes. Oh right, Gu Ye would have to wash those too.
The window paper was torn in places—it needed to be patched… Gu Ye could fix that.
There wasn’t even a proper kitchen in the yard to cook in. Sure enough, a man’s life only needed one requirement: staying alive.
But that wouldn’t do for her. She’d have to figure out a way to make Gu Ye set up a cooking area.
Hmm. And she’d have to find a way to make him cook as well.
Besides that, the most important thing was whether there was space behind the house to build a simple private toilet.
Since arriving in this era, the thing she found most unbearable was a whole group of people sharing one toilet.
That had to be top priority. She’d bring it up with Gu Ye later.
Perfect. All the work would be Gu Ye’s.
She, after all, couldn’t endure hardship and couldn’t do any labor.
Thinking about it, Lin Wan felt her psychological resilience was actually quite strong. She had accepted the situation so calmly and adapted rather well.
Haha. Actually, she just didn’t have any other choice.
Since heaven had allowed a selfish and self-interested woman like her to transmigrate into a novel, then she would carry that selfishness through to the end. Even if she ran into the male and female leads later, she wouldn’t give way in the slightest.
She might have clung to Gu Ye out of fear of death, but she wasn’t afraid of dying together.
If someone really pushed her too far, as long as someone died with her, she’d fear nothing.
In short—she refused to suffer any losses. In this lifetime, suffering a loss was absolutely impossible.
She was exactly that kind of shameless, immoral bad woman.
And if a bad woman obtained everything… then it was simply what she deserved.
She just didn’t know where that guy Gu Ye had gone. Could he have spent the night squeezed in with Wang Lei?
After all the nonsense she had fed him yesterday, there shouldn’t be any problems in the short term.
After all, the persona he had created for himself before going undercover perfectly matched the story she had told. No matter who he asked, the answers would form a perfect loop.
The character she had invented was designed precisely according to his fabricated background—logically, there were no major issues.
As for the details of their interactions…
Gu Ye had amnesia now. Whatever he asked, she could just make things up as she pleased. And if he recovered his memory later…
Lin Wan wasn’t worried. She never fought a battle she hadn’t prepared for. Since she had chosen to lie, she had already thought about how she would cover it up later.
At the same time, she didn’t plan to completely hide her original habits either. As a modern person, she wasn’t sure she could act flawlessly.
Just basic daily life—social environment, prices, ration coupons—she knew nothing about them.
She didn’t know if other people who transmigrated suddenly understood everything the moment they arrived, but she definitely didn’t.
The original host had been an unnoticed girl who grew up in the village doing endless labor like an ox or horse. She had only been to town a couple of times and had almost no useful knowledge for reference.
So what she needed to do wasn’t hide the flaws—but turn them from passive into active. Let them be discovered, let them be suspected, and then eventually rationalized.
Still…
Gu Ye’s reaction at that time had better satisfy her. Otherwise…
She would make sure to torment him properly—leave him with an unforgettable lesson for the rest of his life.
So that from then on, he’d never dare doubt her again.
For now, however, Lin Wan sighed heavily.
She still had to lie low here.
In the original plot, it would take at least two months before someone came to take Gu Ye back. Within those two months, she had to completely tie him down.
Slowly, step by step.
She didn’t plan to live a hard life in the mines forever. She intended to go back with Gu Ye and live well.
After thinking it through, Lin Wan finally felt a bit relieved.
Just as she was wondering how to solve breakfast, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
“Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law, are you awake?” It was Wang Lei’s voice.
Lin Wan went to open the door.
The moment Wang Lei saw her, he grinned widely and handed over the aluminum lunchbox in his hand.
“Breakfast, sister-in-law! Brother Ye told me to bring it!”
Lin Wan accepted the still-warm container. “Where is he?”
Ordering Wang Lei around so early in the morning—sure enough, he must have squeezed in somewhere else last night.
“There’s something going on at the mine shaft. Brother Ye went there early this morning. Before he left, he specifically told me to bring you food.”
Wang Lei scratched his head.
“He also asked me to tell you he’ll prepare lunch too, and that you shouldn’t wander around.”
In reality, Gu Ye’s original words were:
Tell her to behave herself and don’t cause trouble.
In his view, this fiancée of his seemed a little… strange. It felt like if he took his eyes off her for a moment, something would happen.
And sure enough—just as Lin Wan had guessed.
After fleeing in embarrassment last night, Gu Ye had squeezed in at Wang Lei’s place and spent the night there. At the same time, he had extracted every useful piece of information he could from Wang Lei.
Everything confirmed the same thing:
He had a fiancée. She was expensive to support. And he had come here to work mainly for money.
The general story matched what Lin Wan had said almost perfectly. As for details, nobody else knew.
Wang Lei only said that Gu Ye treasured his fiancée a lot—so much that he was afraid someone might steal her away. Privately he rarely talked about her, though he had never hidden her existence.
Listening to those stories about his past, Gu Ye felt nothing but unfamiliarity.
Yet he couldn’t refute them.
—It seemed he really did have a fiancée.
…
Lin Wan had no idea what Gu Ye was thinking. Even if she did, she wouldn’t care, nor would she change anything.
She simply nodded. “Thank you.”
“Sister-in-law, you’re too polite!” Wang Lei said awkwardly, then lowered his voice.
“Oh right—since you just arrived at the mine, try not to go out alone.”
“There are all kinds of people here. Once Brother Ye has time, he’ll introduce you around so no one with poor judgment dares offend you.”
Lin Wan understood immediately. “Got it.”
Wang Lei still looked uneasy.
“I’m not going down into the mine today. If you need anything, just have someone call me. I’ll be working nearby!”
“Okay.” Lin Wan agreed, while her mind spun quickly.
Just as he was about to leave, she called out to him again.
“Oh right—tell Gu Ye to come back to sleep tonight. Squeezing in with other people isn’t a long-term solution.”
If he didn’t come home, how could they build their relationship?
It was fine if he stayed away for a day or two, but if it went on too long, who knew what rumors would start. In a chaotic place like this, she had to make sure everyone knew Gu Ye was protecting her.
Her words made Wang Lei freeze for a moment.
He hadn’t expected the woman who seemed so gentle and delicate yesterday to speak so directly.
At last he understood what Brother Ye had liked about her before losing his memory.
Straightforward!
“Don’t worry, sister-in-law! I’ll definitely pass on the message!”
Wang Lei patted his chest solemnly, promising to complete the mission. After reminding her of a few more things, he finally left.
He even decided he’d wander around nearby today so he could rush over immediately if anything happened.
He absolutely had to help Brother Ye guard this hard-won sister-in-law.
Lin Wan closed the door and looked at the lunchbox in her hand.
Although Gu Ye hadn’t shown up himself, his arrangements were quite thoughtful.
A man who acted tough but had a soft heart—and a strong sense of morality.
No wonder she could manipulate him so easily.
Back in the house, Lin Wan opened the lunchbox. Inside was simple porridge, pickled vegetables, and a boiled egg.
There was nothing to complain about. This was the standard condition at the mine. Adding an egg already showed Gu Ye had put some thought into it.
She remembered that although reform and opening-up began in 1978, it would still take time for policies to reach remote southwestern mountain areas like this.
As Lin Wan ate slowly, her thoughts drifted far away.
…It seemed life at this mining site wouldn’t be too boring after all.
“Where are you running off to now? You smell like perfume powder!”
Wang Manli checked herself in the mirror one last time.
She had deliberately changed into a fashionable polyester floral blouse, combed her hair sleek and shiny, and even dabbed a little powder on her face. In her own opinion, she looked quite impressive.
With a small handbag in hand, she was about to head out confidently when she ran straight into her uncle Sun Changlin, who was leaving for a meeting.
Seeing how carefully she had dressed, Sun Changlin immediately frowned.
Wang Manli stomped her foot impatiently.
“Oh, Uncle! I’m just going to play with Xiao Ling and the others!”
Xiao Ling was one of the girls who often followed her around.
“Play? Look at the time! Are you still going to do your job or not? What kind of behavior is that!”
He was about to scold her further.
Liu Shichang, the head of the Safety Department who followed Vice-Mine Director Sun and was good at reading the room, quickly stepped in with a smile.
“Ah—Vice Director Sun, she’s still young. This is exactly the age when girls love to have fun and dress up. Let her go.”
Those words struck exactly the right chord with Sun Changlin.
People were like that—one could criticize their own children, but they didn’t like hearing others do it.
He glared at Wang Manli, though his tone softened a bit.
“She’s already twenty! Girls her age are already carrying babies! Yet she spends every day without any proper behavior!”
It sounded like a reprimand, but there was a hint of indulgence in it.
Wang Manli pouted in mock grievance.
“Uncle~ It’s not even my shift today. What’s wrong with me going out to relax?”
It sounded innocent, but everyone knew Wang Manli’s real intention.
She was probably going to see Gu Ye again.
Sun Changlin didn’t actually like Gu Ye that much—he thought the young man was a bit of a troublemaker. But Gu Ye was capable and had prestige among the workers.
If Manli could really get him under control, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
So he usually turned a blind eye.
Sun Changlin waved his hand. “Come back early!”
Wang Manli was overjoyed, quickly responding before hurrying off in her high heels.
“How has Gu Ye been recently?” Vice Director Sun asked casually, turning to Liu Shichang.
Liu Shichang immediately replied, “Don’t worry, everything’s normal. There was just a small issue at the mine shaft in Team Two earlier. The data needs to be carefully checked. Gu Ye should be busy over there right now.”
Vice Director Sun and Director Liu exchanged a glance, both understanding each other without words.
They both assumed Wang Manli had gone to find Gu Ye to “cultivate feelings.”
But this time, they were both wrong.
After turning a corner and confirming she was out of her uncle’s sight, Wang Manli stopped.
The sweet smile on her face instantly vanished, replaced by fierce jealousy.
She changed direction and headed straight for Gu Ye’s brick house at the edge of the mine.
Her target today—
was never Gu Ye.