This silence seemed to spread, gradually drawing the attention of more and more people to the unusual stillness in that small corner. Curious glances turned their way, only to be met with the same stunned paralysis.
Clatter.
Someone’s chopsticks slipped from their hand, yet it failed to snap anyone out of their trance. No one paid it any mind, their eyes still fixed intently on that graceful figure.
The moment Xie Jingyue stepped into the State-run Restaurant, he sensed something amiss.
It was too quiet.
His heart tightened, and his sharp eyes swept across the room.
Suddenly, his breath hitched, and his heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.
Thump, thump, thump…
The sound of his pulse roared in his ears, deafeningly loud.
His vision tunneled, seeing nothing else but that glimpse of fair skin and the slight parting of red lips.
In that moment, his vigilance plummeted to its lowest. If someone were to ambush him now, he would likely be defenseless, meeting his end right then and there.
After what felt like an eternity, relying on sheer willpower, he managed to regain his senses with great difficulty.
Xie Jingyue forced himself to look away, not daring to glance in that direction again. He scanned the surrounding dazed faces once more before quietly retreating from the restaurant.
Yao Yunzhen finished her meal quickly, put on her mask, and hurried out without a moment’s delay.
It was only after the beauty had vanished from sight that the people in the restaurant slowly began to recover their senses.
As if someone had pressed play again, the restaurant gradually came back to life.
Someone exclaimed in awe, “Heavens, she was breathtakingly beautiful.”
“Was she even human?” another wondered aloud.
Yet others began to regret, “What a pity, I should have gone up to introduce myself.”
But even if given another chance, they wouldn’t have dared to approach her.
Faced with such a stunningly beautiful woman, merely entertaining the thought of speaking to her felt like a profanity, let alone actually attempting to strike up a conversation.
To have caught a distant glimpse of her was a blessing of a lifetime.
Xie Jingyue stood at the entrance of the restaurant, watching as the beauty walked away.
Only when her figure had completely disappeared from view, and no one had chased after her from the restaurant, did he finally relax.
Xie Jingyue took one last look at the empty street, collected his thoughts, and strode back into the restaurant.
It wasn’t until Yao Yunzhen returned home that she let out a long sigh of relief.
She touched her cheeks, feeling somewhat troubled.
Even though she had been facing away from the crowd, she still ended up drawing attention.
From now on, she didn’t dare to eat out alone anymore.
Sigh, beauty is a curse, all because she was just too beautiful.
With this incident, Yao Yunzhen decided to stay home for the time being.
She had originally planned to visit the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy a few things, but now she had to abandon that idea.
Fortunately, staying home wasn’t entirely boring. She dug out the comic books that Yu Feng and Yu Wen had hidden away and began reading them.
Their mother, Yao Liuzhi, was unaware of these comics, but Yao Yunzhen knew all about them.
The two brothers had told her everything.
Every time they met, the brothers would chatter incessantly, eager to share even the number of ants in the anthill downstairs.
Meanwhile, Yao Kemei stepped out of the police station, the warm sunlight washing over her. Her mood was brighter than ever before.
In that moment, she felt as if she had caught a glimpse of a brand-new future.
She was no longer Yao Kemei.
She was Yao Meimei.
Yao Meimei glanced around to get her bearings, then ducked into a narrow alley by the roadside.
In the afternoon, Yu Wen and his brother returned home from school.
Thrilled to see Yao Yunzhen after such a long time, they were overjoyed.
Among all their female cousins, she was their favorite.
Yu Wen shouted excitedly, “Cousin, you finally came to visit us!”
“Are you two done with school?”
Seeing the backpacks slung over their shoulders, Yao Yunzhen felt a hint of schadenfreude.
As a graduated “Academic Scum,” she couldn’t help but feel relieved and secretly pleased when seeing students still in school—especially when they were fellow academic underachievers.
Yes, the Yu Feng brothers were indeed academic underachievers, perpetually occupying the bottom ranks of their class.
“That’s right, cousin.”
The brothers didn’t mind at all. Noticing the comic book in Yao Yunzhen’s hands, they added, “Cousin, I borrowed a new comic from a classmate today. You can read it first.”
Yu Wen pulled a comic book from his backpack and handed it over.
Yao Yunzhen accepted it without ceremony.
“Alright, I’ll read it in a bit. Come on, I’ll treat you to soda now.”
With their close cousinly bond and Yao Yunzhen having recently come into some unexpected money, she decided to be generous.
Yu Wen: “Cousin, I’ve saved up some money too. I’ll treat you.”
Yu Feng: “Then I’ll buy cousin an ice cream.”
The Yu family was fairly well-off, and the brothers regularly received lucky money, most of which they saved to spend when Yao Yunzhen visited.
Yao Yunzhen waved her hand dismissively: “Fine, we’ll have both. Let’s also get some popcorn and fried melon seeds.”
The three happily headed out, bought drinks and snacks, and spent the afternoon wandering around the streets.
With company, Yao Yunzhen’s courage grew.
As evening approached and they estimated Yao Liuzhi and the others would be getting off work soon, they returned home.
Shortly after their return, Yao Liuzhi came back. Seeing the three sitting quietly in the living room with her two sons holding pens and writing, she nodded in satisfaction.
“Zhenzhen, where’s Little Sister?”
“She went off to play by herself.”
Yao Liuzhi didn’t press further. She knew the relationship between the two sisters wasn’t great, so it was normal for them not to play together.
She asked no more questions, tied on her apron, and went into the kitchen.
They were old enough not to get lost.
Soon, Yao Sheng and Yu Chunlai also returned home.
Yao Sheng usually stayed in the dormitory—the brick factory provided lodging for temporary workers like him.
But since he’d brought his daughter to the city, he wasn’t about to neglect her.
So he decided to sleep on the floor at his sister’s place for these couple of days.
Yao Hai, however, couldn’t be bothered with the hassle. He was perfectly confident about Yao Meimei and saw no need to make the trip back and forth.
Besides, compared to sleeping on the floor, he preferred the dormitory—while the conditions weren’t great, at least there was a proper bed.
By the time Yao Liuzhi brought the food to the table, night had fully fallen, and Yao Meimei finally returned.
Seeing Yao Meimei, Yao Liuzhi frowned slightly: “Little Sister, why are you only coming back now?”
Yao Meimei replied indifferently: “Just wandered around. And don’t call me Little Sister anymore—I’ve changed my name. Call me Yao Meimei.”
The name “Little Sister” disgusted her. Over the past couple days, she’d searched through her memories and discovered that “Little Sister” was a name given by Yao Yunzhen!
She also realized that in this life, Yao Yunzhen was even more spoiled than she had been in her previous life—exceeding her past self—while her own circumstances remained unchanged, as difficult as ever.
Yao Meimei carefully combed through her memories but found nothing unusual, so she decided to set the matter aside for now.
However, upon realizing that Yao Yunzhen was living an even better life in this lifetime, Yao Meimei grew even more resentful toward her and developed a strong aversion to everything associated with her.
Yao Liuzhi opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing more.
She wasn’t very familiar with this niece. During previous visits to her maiden home, the girl would always stand in the corner with her head bowed, not daring to speak more than necessary.
She had tried to gently advise her second sister-in-law a few times, but it proved ineffective, so she had no choice but to let it be.
As a married daughter, it wasn’t her place to interfere too much in her brother’s family matters.
She wondered what had happened recently to cause such a dramatic change in this niece’s temperament.
“Let’s eat.”
Although there was braised pork and snacks again today, Yao Yunzhen still managed to eat quite a lot during the meal.
Being young, she had a fast metabolism and was still in her growing years.