“Big Aunt, as the older sister, I shouldn’t compete with my younger sister. I’ll go to the Huo family.”
This line felt familiar.
Ruan Wen raised her eyes, her pupils widening unconsciously.
On the mottled earthen wall hung a 1971 calendar.
A ridiculous thought surfaced in her mind.
Could it be…
She had been reborn?
In 1971, the Ruan family, because of the slogans “Strike down capitalism” and “Cut the tail of capitalism,” was labeled as having a bad class background and sent down to the Great Northwest.
In her previous life, Ruan Wen’s father and mother, in order not to let their two children suffer in the Northwest, arranged two marriages.
Ruan Wen’s mother, Liu Shufen, had always favored her niece, Sun Lanlan.
To please Liu Shufen, Ruan Wen voluntarily married into the slightly poorer Huo family, leaving the better Lu family to Sun Lanlan.
Thus, the two marriages were decided: “biological daughter marries a rough peasant family, niece marries into a military compound.”
But after marrying into the Huo family, Ruan Wen realized—
Huo Guoan was not a good man!
He was a bastard! A beast! He resented her for blocking his career prospects and treated her coldly and harshly.
He was also extremely suspicious. In the cadre compound, she merely greeted his comrade, and he accused her of being promiscuous by nature, beating and scolding her.
Until she became pregnant, nearly died giving birth to dragon-and-phoenix twins, and by chance activated an ancestral jade pendant, inheriting a medical space that helped Huo Guoan rise in rank—only then did life improve slightly.
But it was all an illusion.
Huo Guoan had already been entangled with his so-called younger sister while she was pregnant, and even switched her newborn twins.
She had been deceived for ten whole years.
When she finally divorced him and searched for her children, she was approached by Sun Lanlan—who, for reasons unknown, had become a crazed beggar—and was stabbed to death in the street.
In this life, she would never marry Huo Guoan.
“Big Aunt, I don’t want to go to the Lu family. As long as my sister can live well in the Lu family, I don’t mind suffering.”
Sun Lanlan suddenly spoke, startling everyone in the room.
Ruan Wen narrowed her eyes. Something’s different?
In her last life, Sun Lanlan had been extremely willing to marry into the Lu family, grinning all the way.
“Lanlan, what nonsense are you talking about!” Su Shufen glared at her.
“Big Aunt, I’m serious!”
Smack. Smack. Smack.
Liu Shufen lightly slapped Sun Lanlan’s hand a few times.
“You silly child, the Huo family is full of rough peasants and troublesome relatives. If you marry into that place, won’t you be eaten alive?”
Ruan Wen blinked.
So they all knew…
Liu Shufen—you never needed my obedience.
Your love… I will never seek it again in this life.
But Sun Lanlan seemed determined. She pulled back her hand, which wasn’t even red, and said firmly:
“Big Aunt, I would rather die than marry!”
Liu Shufen’s chest rose and fell in anger, her finger stabbing at Sun Lanlan’s forehead.
This time she used real force, leaving a red mark.
“You ungrateful girl, what kind of nonsense is this time!”
“I’m telling you, you must marry into the Lu family! Even if you die, you still have to marry!”
“Then I’ll die right now!”
In anger, Liu Shufen raised her hand and hit her butt.
What a touching mother-daughter bond!
Ruan Wen only felt the scene was extremely harsh to the eyes.
Clearly it was the scumbag man who refused responsibility and abandoned Liu Shufen, yet she resented Ruan Wen’s father for breaking them apart.
Even after marrying her father and giving birth to her, she still treated the other woman’s daughter as her own treasure. Every time she showed favoritism, she would also pretend to scold her.
“Ruan Wen, your cousin lost her mother. I feel more sorry for her—what’s wrong with that? Why are you so petty? So jealous? Having a daughter like you is the worst misfortune of my life! Why didn’t you just die in childbirth?”
Ruan Wen clenched her palm, forcing down the surging emotions.
“Mom, my cousin lost her mother since childhood. She is a poor child without a mother to raise, teach, or love. I won’t compete with her. She can marry into the Huo family, and I’ll marry into the Lu family.”
The repeated “without a mother” made Liu Shufen and Sun Lanlan freeze, their expressions slightly distorted—but they couldn’t refute it.
Hearing the second half, Liu Shufen finally found something to attack.
“Ruan Wen, you ungrateful wretch! Do you just hate your cousin that much? You think she’s as tough as you? Can handle farm work?”
Ruan Wen grabbed Liu Shufen’s swinging hand and flung it aside.
Suppressing her disgust, she said, “Mom, I never said that. Wasn’t it my cousin who wanted to marry into the Huo family? I’m simply fulfilling her wish. What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that what you’ve always taught me?”
“Oh.” Ruan Wen covered her mouth in feigned surprise. “Or is Mom’s kindness toward my cousin all fake? Do you actually hope she can’t marry into the Huo family and die?”
“Ruan Wen!” Liu Shufen raised her arm again.
Sun Lanlan, too lazy to watch further, turned and left.
Ruan Wen pointed at her departing figure and exclaimed, “Mom, cousin has been angered away.”
At this moment, Ruan Wen’s father, Ruan Yuzan, who had been unable to intervene, finally stepped in as mediator.
“Ruan Wen, your mother and Lanlan’s mother share deep sisterly affection. It’s understandable she dotes on Lanlan—”
Bang.
Ruan Wen didn’t want to listen and went straight upstairs, closing the door.
Ruan Yuzan loved her, but he loved Liu Shufen even more.
Even if Ruan Wen told the truth, she wasn’t sure he would believe her.
Moreover, the idea of rebirth was too absurd. She didn’t intend to tell anyone.
With more urgent matters at hand, she suppressed her chaotic thoughts and locked the door.
She removed the jade pendant she had worn since childhood and bit her fingertip.
A sharp pain made her frown, her doe-like innocent eyes misting with tears.
As the blood drop fell, a green light flashed, and her soul entered the familiar space.
Just like in her previous life, there was a thatched hut filled with medical books and prescriptions, and an elderly phantom used to teach medicine. Outside, various medicinal herbs were planted.
After confirming the pendant’s recognition, her soul returned.
Looking at the mirror, a teardrop-shaped mark appeared on her collarbone. The pendant had fused into her body.
Ruan Wen finally sighed in relief.
With a foundation for survival, she began to consider her current situation.
Ruan Yuzan would not allow her to suffer in the Great Northwest, and there were still seven years before the turmoil ended. As a weak woman with such an identity, survival would not be easy.
So for now, there was only one choice—go to the Lu family.
This marriage was a verbal agreement made when her grandfather saved Old Master Lu.
With that life-saving favor, as long as she did not insist on marrying Lu Jingchen, she should be able to seek protection.
Thinking of Ruan Yuzan, she still felt uneasy.
She left the room, intending to find him.
The Ruan family lived in a small Western-style house. They all stayed on the second floor; the first floor had once been for servants.
Ruan Wen’s room was the innermost, the largest, and the best-lit.
As she left, she passed Ruan Yuzan and Liu Shufen’s bedroom.
The door was slightly ajar.
Ruan Wen paused, but kept walking—until the words inside nailed her in place.
“You’re saying… you had a dream?”
“In your dream, you married into the Lu family, but Lu Jingchen didn’t touch you, and you were bullied in your in-laws’ family. After finally moving into the compound, you discovered he was with another woman?”
“What other woman? The white moonlight he could never forget even after marriage.”
Ruan Wen thought to herself: It seems her decision not to marry Lu Jingchen was correct.
Liu Shufen didn’t quite believe it. The Lu family was prestigious—how could they do such shameful things?
“Lanlan! I know you don’t want to marry into the Lu family, but now is not the time to lie to me. The Huo family is not to be married into!”
“Huo Guoan is not a reliable man! And his mother-in-law will make your life miserable, and his sister-in-law isn’t easy either!”
Ruan Wen clenched her fists and continued listening.
Sun Lanlan said angrily, “Big Aunt, it’s true!”
“Later, Lu Jingchen even got involved with that slut, was caught in bed, and expelled from the military.”
“What?” Liu Shufen exclaimed.
“Then his whole family took their anger out on me, forced me to divorce him, and I ended up on the streets.”
“Let me process this.” Liu Shufen pressed her chest.
Seeing she still didn’t believe her, Sun Lanlan dropped the final bomb.
“Big Aunt… or should I call you Mom?”
In her previous life, Ruan Wen only learned at death that Sun Lanlan was also Liu Shufen’s child.
She was born from Liu Shufen’s premarital relationship with her first love.
Hearing “Mom,” Liu Shufen froze, then softened.
“I agree to you marrying into the Huo family, but my daughter cannot suffer at all. Since both Huo and Lu families are in the capital, when you go there, you can stay with Ruan Wen in the Lu family first and not go to the countryside. After finding Huo Guoan, just follow him and settle down.”
“Big Aunt, you’re so good to me.”
“Still calling me Big Aunt?”
“Mom.”
“Mm.”
…
Hearing their affectionate exchange, Ruan Wen curled her lips into a cold smile.
What a well-calculated scheme.
She turned and left.
After searching the Western-style house, she couldn’t find Ruan Yuzan. Ruan Wen frowned.
Then she seemed to remember something and headed outside.