“Th-This… What is this?”
Lin Wanxia’s mother stared at the brilliant flash of green emerging from the cracked stone. Her mouth fell open in astonishment, and for a moment, she even forgot how frightened she was.
Lin Wanxia’s father picked up his fallen pipe and hurried over.
His aging, cloudy eyes were filled with confusion and amazement as he leaned closer to examine the strange object.
“What on earth is that? It’s so green… Looks like the jade ornaments those statues of Bodhisattvas wear in temples…”
Lin Wanxia’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest!
She had considered countless possibilities, but never imagined that the rough jadeite stone would be so fragile.
Zhou Yu’an had merely set it down, and the outer shell had already cracked open, exposing the treasure hidden inside!
This was her greatest secret.
The one advantage that could completely change her fate.
She absolutely couldn’t allow anyone to discover it yet!
Especially not Zhou Yu’an!
She had only just finished negotiating a partnership with him, using her supposed knowledge of future opportunities as leverage.
And now, barely an hour later, an incredibly valuable treasure had appeared right in front of him.
How was she supposed to explain that?
Should she tell him she had simply gotten lucky and bought it for fifty cents?
Who would believe such a ridiculous story?
Thinking quickly, Lin Wanxia rushed forward without hesitation.
She dropped to her knees, wrapped both arms around the enormous stone, and pressed it tightly against her body, completely covering the crack.
“It’s nothing!”
She looked up at Zhou Yu’an, desperately trying to sound calm.
“It’s just a pretty stone! I… I bought it to prop up a table leg!”
The excuse was so terrible that even she wanted to laugh.
Who in their right mind would use a stone larger than their own head to prop up a table?
Zhou Yu’an remained silent.
His dark, penetrating eyes rested on her face.
He didn’t question her.
He didn’t even raise an eyebrow.
His quiet scrutiny made Lin Wanxia feel as if he could see through every lie she had told.
A chill ran down her spine.
Cold sweat soaked through the back of her blouse.
She tightened her arms around the stone until her knuckles turned white.
For several long moments, the atmosphere in the courtyard became unbearably tense.
Lin Wanxia’s parents glanced nervously between their daughter and the expressionless Zhou Yu’an.
Neither dared make a sound.
Just when Lin Wanxia felt she could no longer withstand his gaze, Zhou Yu’an finally looked away.
“I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow morning. That will give us enough time to reach the commune office for our nine o’clock appointment.”
He offered no further explanation.
Without giving the stone another glance, he turned, leaned on his cane, and walked out of the courtyard.
Lin Wanxia remained frozen in place.
Only after his tall, solitary figure disappeared around the corner did the tension finally leave her body.
Her arms went weak.
She nearly collapsed onto the ground, still clutching the stone.
That was close!
Far too close!
“YOU WRETCHED GIRL! GET OVER HERE!”
The moment Zhou Yu’an left, Lin Wanxia’s mother regained her courage.
She charged forward, seized her daughter by the ear, and dragged her toward the house.
“So you’ve really grown bold, haven’t you?!”
“Breaking off your engagement wasn’t enough! Now you’ve gone and gotten yourself involved with that Living King of Hell!”
“You want to get married? Did you even ask for our permission?”
“Are you trying to make your father and me die of anger?!”
Her mother trembled with fury.
Tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken necklace.
Lin Wanxia’s father followed them inside with a grim expression.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut.
Then he picked up his tobacco pouch, filled his pipe, and took a long, forceful puff.
“Wanxia.”
His voice was calmer than his wife’s, but his bloodshot eyes betrayed his fear and concern.
“Tell your father the truth. What exactly is going on?”
He paused, struggling to find the right words.
“That youngest uncle of the Zhou family… He’s a man who crawled out of a mountain of corpses!”
“His temperament is strange, and people say he brings misfortune to his own family!”
“His parents died after he joined the army, didn’t they? And there have been other misfortunes in the family. People say he’s cursed!”
“Everyone in the village avoids him!”
“How could you… How could you possibly get involved with a man like that?”
A man who brought misfortune to his family.
That was the cruel label the villagers had attached to Zhou Yu’an.
Lin Wanxia felt a bitter laugh rising in her throat.
In her previous life, she had believed those foolish rumors too.
Like everyone else, she had avoided Zhou Yu’an whenever possible.
But later, she had learned the truth.
His parents had died from illness, and the other misfortunes attributed to him had been nothing more than unfortunate circumstances.
None of them had been his fault.
Yet the villagers had branded him a curse upon his family.
They had also mocked him for his injured leg, calling him a cripple and treating him as though he were some terrifying monster.
For years, Zhou Yu’an had endured those cruel accusations in silence.
He had lived alone in a dilapidated house on the hill behind the village, isolated from everyone else.
The thought filled Lin Wanxia with a strange ache.
“Dad. Mom.”
She straightened her back and looked at her parents with unwavering determination.
“Don’t you understand what kind of person Zhou Jianbin really is?”
“Hasn’t he already caused me enough suffering?”
She took a breath before continuing.
“If Zhou Yu’an hadn’t protected me at the market today, I would have been arrested for illegal profiteering!”
“Your daughter could be sitting in a jail cell right now!”
Her parents froze.
“What… What are you talking about?”
Lin Wanxia proceeded to recount everything that had happened at the commune market.
She told them about Widow Liu’s accusations, the security patrol surrounding her, and how Zhou Yu’an had stepped forward to defend her.
By the time she finished, her parents’ faces had turned alternately pale and flushed.
They were horrified.
“Even so… Even so, you can’t marry him!”
Her mother burst into tears again.
“If you marry that man, your whole life will be ruined!”
“He’s disabled! Everyone says he’s cursed!”
“How are you supposed to live with someone like that?”
Lin Wanxia’s expression turned cold.
“And if I don’t marry him, do you think our family will have any chance of living peacefully in this village?”
Her mother fell silent.
Lin Wanxia continued.
“I publicly broke off my engagement with Zhou Jianbin. That means I’ve completely offended Secretary Zhou and his entire family!”
“I threw boiling tea in Zhou Jianbin’s face. Do you really think he’ll forgive me?”
“His friends are already looking for a chance to corner me!”
She stepped closer to her parents.
“And what about our family?”
“Do you think we’ll still be allocated decent private plots to farm?”
“Do you think we’ll continue receiving our full share of work points?”
“And what about my younger brother?”
“Will he still be able to hold his head high in this village after the Zhou family turns against us?”
Each question struck her parents like a heavy hammer.
They were ordinary farmers who had spent their entire lives working the land of the Hongqi Production Brigade.
They had never possessed wealth or influence.
Their greatest fear was offending someone in authority.
And Zhou Dehai was exactly the sort of man who could make life miserable for a family like theirs.
Everything Lin Wanxia said touched upon the fears they had been desperately trying to ignore.
The room fell silent.
For a long time, neither parent spoke.
Finally, Lin Wanxia’s father tapped the bowl of his pipe against the sole of his shoe.
He looked as though he had made an incredibly difficult decision.
“My girl…”
His voice was hoarse.
“Have you really thought this through?”
Lin Wanxia nodded firmly.
“Dad, I’ve made up my mind.”
“Marrying Zhou Yu’an is the only way out for me now.”
And the first step toward her revenge.
Her father stared at her for a long moment.
Then he let out a weary sigh.
He seemed to have aged ten years in the space of a single conversation.
“All right… All right…”
His shoulders slumped.
“If he can protect you…”
“If the two of you can live peacefully together…”
He swallowed hard.
“Then… Then do as you wish.”
Hearing her father’s reluctant approval, Lin Wanxia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She spent some time comforting her mother, who was still crying quietly.
Then she picked up the enormous greenish stone and returned to her bedroom.
The moment she closed the door, Lin Wanxia reached for a small hammer.
She knelt beside the stone and carefully tapped along the existing crack.
She needed to extract the jadeite before anyone else discovered its value.
Tap.
Tap.
Crack!
A large fragment of the outer shell broke away, revealing a brilliant expanse of green.
Lin Wanxia froze.
In her previous life, Zhou Jianbin had taken the jadeite before she could properly examine it. Now, at last, she could see the treasure that had once slipped through her fingers.
The jadeite was approximately the size of two adult men’s fists.
Its entire body glowed with a rich, vibrant green.
The color was exceptionally pure, vivid, and perfectly balanced.
Its translucency was extraordinary.
Even in the faint light of the room, the stone possessed a luminous, almost liquid quality.
It looked like a piece of brilliant green water that had somehow been frozen into solid form.
Imperial-green jadeite!
And not merely ordinary imperial-green jadeite.
This was an exceptionally pure specimen, with magnificent color, remarkable translucency, and no visible flaws.
Even with memories spanning two lifetimes, Lin Wanxia was overwhelmed by the beauty of the treasure before her.
She had known it was valuable.
But she hadn’t imagined it would be this extraordinary.
She was certain its worth far exceeded her original expectations.
In the late 1970s, gold could cost several dozen yuan per gram, while the finest jadeite was a rare luxury that money alone could not always obtain.
A specimen of this quality could command an enormous price among wealthy collectors.
If she took it to the underground markets in the south, she believed she could sell it for at least a five-figure sum.
Five figures!
Ten thousand yuan or more!
In an era when households possessing ten thousand yuan were still almost legendary, such a fortune could transform her family’s entire future.
Lin Wanxia’s heart raced wildly.
She forced herself to calm down.
Then she found an old piece of cloth and began wrapping the jadeite.
One layer.
Then another.
And another.
She continued until the brilliant green surface was completely concealed.
Afterward, she crouched beside her bed and carefully uncovered a small hiding place in the earthen floor.
She placed the wrapped jadeite inside and covered it again, making sure no trace remained.
Only when she finished did she finally relax.
She sat on the edge of her bed and released a long breath.
With this treasure, she finally possessed something she had never had in her previous life.
A foundation of her own.
Money meant freedom.
Money meant choices.
And money meant she could protect the people she cared about without begging anyone for help.
It also gave her the confidence to stand beside Zhou Yu’an as a genuine partner rather than someone who could only depend on his protection.
For the first time since her rebirth, Lin Wanxia felt that her future was truly within reach.
The following morning, she woke before dawn.
The sky outside was only beginning to brighten.
She washed her face, combed her hair, and changed into the finest clothes she owned.
It was the brand-new floral Dacron blouse she had worn to her engagement banquet.
The blouse she had worn when she broke off her engagement to Zhou Jianbin would now accompany her into a new marriage—and an entirely different future.
Her mother had already risen.
With red, swollen eyes, she quietly prepared breakfast.
Two poached eggs.
For an ordinary farming family, it was a small luxury.
Her mother placed the bowl in front of her and began speaking in a subdued voice.
“Once you’re married, you can’t keep acting so willfully.”
“You have to learn to live properly with your husband…”
She wiped at her eyes.
“That youngest uncle of the Zhou family… He looks cold, but he’ll be your husband from now on.”
“You’ll have to be patient with him.”
“Marriage isn’t something you can treat lightly…”
Lin Wanxia listened quietly while eating her eggs.
Her emotions were complicated.
She understood that her mother was still frightened.
Still worried.
Still struggling to accept the sudden turn of events.
But beneath those worries was a mother’s concern for her daughter’s future.
And that was enough.
Her parents had finally accepted her decision.
At precisely eight o’clock, a familiar sound came from outside the courtyard gate.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The steady rhythm of a wooden cane striking the ground.
Lin Wanxia set down her bowl and stood.
“Dad, Mom, I’m leaving.”
Her parents looked at her.
Neither spoke for a moment.
Then her father gave a slow nod.
Lin Wanxia turned and walked out of the courtyard.
Zhou Yu’an was already waiting.
He had changed his clothes as well.
Although he still wore a military-green uniform, this one was noticeably cleaner and more neatly pressed than the faded outfit he usually wore.
The crisp fabric emphasized his tall, straight posture and broad shoulders.
Even with his injured leg, he looked remarkably imposing.
His deep gaze settled briefly on Lin Wanxia.
“Let’s go.”
That was all he said.
She nodded and fell into step beside him.
Together, they began walking toward the commune office.
It was still early, and many villagers were already heading out to work in the fields.
Naturally, the sight of Lin Wanxia walking beside Zhou Yu’an immediately attracted attention.
People stared as though they had seen a ghost.
“Good heavens! Isn’t that the Lin family’s daughter?”
“And isn’t that the Living King of Hell from the Zhou family?”
“What are those two doing together?”
“Didn’t that girl just break off her engagement with Zhou Jianbin yesterday?”
“And now she’s walking around with his uncle?”
“Isn’t that a little too fast?”
The whispers spread from one group to another.
Like a swarm of flies, the gossip buzzed endlessly around them.
Lin Wanxia instinctively straightened her back.
She kept her eyes forward, refusing to acknowledge the curious and judgmental stares.
She had already decided to stop living according to other people’s opinions.
She wouldn’t let a few malicious whispers shake her resolve.
Just then, Zhou Yu’an suddenly stopped walking.
He turned his head.
His cold gaze swept across several women who had gathered by the roadside to gossip.
“What are you staring at?”
His voice wasn’t loud.
But the words were as sharp and cold as an icy blade.
The women immediately fell silent.
One of them lowered her head.
Another hurriedly turned away.
Within seconds, the entire group scattered, fleeing as though they had encountered something terrifying.
Zhou Yu’an turned back and resumed walking.
He didn’t offer Lin Wanxia any explanation.
Nor did he seem to think his actions required one.
Lin Wanxia glanced at his profile.
The morning sunlight illuminated his sharply defined features, making his stern expression appear even more striking.
This man rarely spoke.
Yet whenever trouble appeared, he always seemed to deal with it in the most direct way possible.
He didn’t make elaborate promises.
He simply acted.
And each time, he placed himself between her and the people who wanted to hurt her.
Lin Wanxia felt a strange warmth spreading through her chest.
The commune office wasn’t far from the village.
After walking for approximately half an hour, they arrived.
The marriage registration desk was managed by a clerk surnamed Wang.
When Clerk Wang saw Zhou Yu’an approaching, he froze for a moment.
But when Zhou Yu’an placed the necessary introduction letters and household registration documents on the desk, the clerk’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“C-Comrade Zhou Yu’an?”
He looked at the documents.
Then at Lin Wanxia.
Then back at Zhou Yu’an.
“And Comrade Lin Wanxia?”
His voice rose in disbelief.
“Y-You two are here to… get married?”
Zhou Yu’an’s expression remained unchanged.
“Is there a problem?”
His voice was cold.
Clerk Wang immediately straightened.
“N-No! Of course not!”
He hurriedly gathered the paperwork.
“There’s absolutely no problem!”
He certainly had no intention of offending this fearsome veteran.
The registration process proceeded without further delay.
Before long, the clerk completed the necessary paperwork, applied the official seals, and handed them two brand-new red marriage certificates.
The certificates bore the official seal of the marriage registration office.
Lin Wanxia accepted her copy.
Her fingertips trembled slightly.
For a moment, she simply stared at the small red booklet in her hands.
Then she opened it.
Inside were two black-and-white photographs placed side by side.
In her picture, her expression looked somewhat stiff.
Beside her, Zhou Yu’an appeared as stern and unreadable as ever.
Neither of them looked particularly happy.
There were no bright smiles.
No obvious excitement.
No trace of the joyful expressions one might expect from newlyweds.
Yet the marriage certificate changed everything.
She was now Zhou Yu’an’s lawful wife.
And Zhou Jianbin’s aunt by marriage.
The thought almost made her laugh.
In her previous life, Zhou Jianbin had betrayed her and destroyed her family. Now, the man who had once treated her as disposable would have to acknowledge her as an elder of his own family.
She could hardly wait to see his reaction.
Lin Wanxia was still lost in her thoughts when Zhou Yu’an suddenly spoke.
“Starting today, you’ll move into my place.”
She blinked and looked up.
He continued in his usual matter-of-fact tone.
“Do you have many belongings? I can find someone to help you move them.”
Lin Wanxia quickly shook her head.
“Not much. I can carry everything myself.”
She owned very little.
Apart from a few changes of clothes, she had almost nothing worth taking.
Well…
That wasn’t entirely true.
There was also the priceless piece of imperial-green jadeite hidden beneath her bed.
She certainly couldn’t leave that behind.
After collecting their marriage certificates, the newlyweds walked out of the commune office.
But they had barely stepped through the entrance when they found themselves face-to-face with several familiar figures.
At the front of the group stood Wang Xiulan.
Zhou Jianbin’s mother.
Behind her were Li Xue and several other women from the village.
Judging by their appearance, they had come to the commune office to take care of some business.
The moment Wang Xiulan spotted Lin Wanxia, her expression twisted into a sneer.
“Well, well! Look who it is!”
She folded her arms across her chest.
“Isn’t this our family’s shameless former daughter-in-law?”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
Then her gaze shifted toward Zhou Yu’an.
For a brief instant, fear flickered through her eyes.
She knew exactly what kind of man her husband’s younger brother was.
But her resentment toward Lin Wanxia quickly overwhelmed her caution.
A vicious smile spread across her face.
“What? Our Jianbin dumped you, and you’ve already found yourself another man?”
She gave Lin Wanxia a contemptuous once-over.
“Lin Wanxia, you really have no standards at all, do you?”
“You’re so desperate to get married that you’ll even take a cripple!”
The moment she finished speaking, the women behind her covered their mouths and began snickering.
Li Xue looked especially pleased.
Her eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction as she watched Lin Wanxia.
To her, this was the perfect opportunity to humiliate the woman who had caused such a scandal at the engagement banquet.
Lin Wanxia’s expression turned icy.
She could tolerate insults directed at herself.
After everything she had endured, a few cruel words meant very little.
But insulting Zhou Yu’an?
The man who had repeatedly protected her?
The man who had just become her husband?
That was something she would not tolerate.
She opened her mouth, ready to strike back.
But before she could utter a single word, Zhou Yu’an moved.
He didn’t argue.
He didn’t raise his voice.
He simply reached into his pocket.
Then, with deliberate calm, he took out his brand-new red marriage certificate.
Slowly, he raised it.
Right in front of Wang Xiulan’s face.
The bright red cover gleamed in the sunlight.
And across its surface, three large golden words stood out unmistakably.
Marriage Certificate.
The sight of it was like a resounding slap across Wang Xiulan’s face!