Old Man Qiao paid up.
Qiao Nian stuffed a stack of ten-yuan bills into her pocket.
Qiao Nian was happy.
But everyone else was surrounded by an indescribably strange atmosphere.
Even Wang Xiuying, who had always been aggressive whenever she came to demand justice, didn’t dare make a sound.
She had thought Qiao Nian was lawless enough in her husband’s family, but she never imagined that Qiao Nian would be even more ruthless after returning to her maiden family.
She cursed her own father, talked back to her own grandfather, slapped her cousin across the face, and treated everyone equally by sending them flying.
Was there anything she didn’t dare to do?
Wang Xiuying was close to tears.
Would her family ever be able to get rid of this wretched Qiao Nian?
With Qiao Nian being this fierce, she was afraid that the next time her son ended up in the hospital, it would be because his wife had beaten him badly.
Fang Guoqiang and Zhao Lijuan suddenly snapped back to reality.
What had they been about to do just now?
Oh.
They had wanted to arrange an engagement between Shaoliang and Qiao Wei.
The moment they saw Qiao Wei, they had immediately taken a liking to her. They felt she was destined to become their daughter-in-law, so without a second thought, they had wanted to settle the engagement first and wait until Qiao Wei came of age before having the two officially register their marriage.
But now, looking at Qiao Wei’s disheveled appearance, they felt a cold sweat break out all over their bodies.
How could they possibly have considered choosing someone like this for Shaoliang?
At the very least, his future wife needed to come from a family of similar social standing.
Just now, it had been as though they had been possessed by a ghost.
Fang Guoqiang found the whole thing extremely strange.
He exchanged a glance with Zhao Lijuan, then quickly said their goodbyes and dragged the reluctant Zhou Shaoliang away.
Old Man Qiao politely saw the distinguished guests off.
Only after they had left did he finally lose his patience.
“Qiao Nian, you’ve gotten your money. Now hurry up and go back. Stop bringing bad luck into my house.”
Qiao Wei looked at Fang Guoqiang and his wife, their expressions clearly unpleasant, and burst into tears.
“Grandpa, it’s all because of Qiao Nian! If it weren’t for her today, Uncle Fang would have arranged an engagement with our family! She ruined my marriage!”
The thought of losing the Zhou family made Qiao Wei so furious that she could have killed someone.
What kind of family was the Zhou family?
They were true red capitalists.
They were wealthy, and their political background was completely clean.
Even the wealth that slipped through their fingers would be enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for an entire lifetime.
Yesterday, after being humiliated by Qiao Nian, Qiao Wei had run out of the house in sadness.
A heavily loaded truck had come speeding down the street.
Zhou Shaoliang happened to be standing by the roadside.
At the time, Qiao Wei didn’t know where she had found the courage, but she suddenly grabbed him and pulled him toward her.
The enormous momentum caused both of them to lose their balance, and they crashed heavily onto the ground.
She would never forget that moment.
A cool, faint fragrance had rushed toward her.
Their noses had bumped together, and their lips had even touched at zero distance without either of them being prepared for it.
At that moment, her mind had gone completely blank with a loud buzz.
Her face felt scorching hot.
It was as though the entire world had suddenly stopped, leaving only the rapid breathing and pounding heartbeats beside her ears.
Later, they exchanged their family addresses.
When Uncle Fang and his family came to visit today, she had initially assumed they were simply there to thank her for saving Zhou Shaoliang the previous day.
Still, deep down, she couldn’t help harboring a tiny bit of hopeful anticipation as a young woman.
Heaven knew how happy she had been when Uncle Fang proposed an engagement.
She felt that she had never been this happy in her entire life.
No—not even in ten lifetimes.
But the happier she had been then, the more furious and heartbroken she was now.
She hated Qiao Nian for destroying everything.
She didn’t even dare think about the way Uncle Fang had looked at her when he left—the warmth in his eyes completely gone.
Qiao Wei was heartbroken.
How could Old Man Qiao not be devastated as well?
If Weiwei could marry into the Zhou family, it would bring them nothing but benefits.
He didn’t even have time to deal with Qiao Nian anymore.
Instead, he carefully comforted his precious granddaughter.
“Don’t cry, Weiwei. I could tell that Shaoliang still has feelings for you. Spend more time with him over the next few days. Once a man has truly set his heart on you, his parents won’t be able to force him to give you up.”
After hearing this, Qiao Wei remembered the concerned look Zhou Shaoliang had given her before leaving.
At last, she stopped sobbing.
Yes.
She still had a chance.
If she had never met Zhou Shaoliang, then so be it.
But now that she had encountered such an exceptional man, if she let this opportunity slip through her fingers, she would never be able to accept it for the rest of her life.
She looked at Qiao Nian, and a hint of smugness appeared in her eyes again.
Yes.
Someone like Qiao Nian, who was already rotting in the mud, could only marry a man older than her own father and become the stepmother to three unruly children who were barely younger than she was!
There was no way Qiao Nian could ever catch up with her in this lifetime.
Qiao Nian looked at her smug expression.
What the hell was wrong with her?
In the shadows, Zhou Shaoquan stood quietly.
The aura surrounding him was no longer as calm and emotionless as before.
He looked at Qiao Nian with a complicated expression.
He had a secret.
He had been reborn nine times.
The traffic accident involving Zhou Shaoliang on the street had been arranged by him.
On the very first day of his latest rebirth, he had no desire to live anymore.
So he had arranged for someone to hit Zhou Shaoliang with a vehicle.
It was because in every one of his previous lives, everything he did to Zhou Shaoliang would unconditionally rebound onto himself.
He had thought that he would die in the accident.
But he didn’t.
And Zhou Shaoliang had also returned home safely.
He vaguely sensed that something was different this time.
Fang Guoqiang said he was coming to thank the person who had saved his life, so he came along as well.
And sure enough, what did he see?
He actually witnessed something unbelievable.
The eldest brother he had never been able to hurt in the slightest, no matter what methods he used—Zhou Shaoliang—and his future sister-in-law, Qiao Wei, were being beaten by Qiao Nian so badly that they couldn’t even fight back.
At that moment, his pupils widened in shock.
His usually cold and detached heart suddenly gave an uncontrollable beat.
He thought this girl was incredibly cool.
At that moment, he couldn’t help glancing at his own palm.
He wondered if his hand was bigger than Qiao Nian’s.
Would it hurt more if he slapped someone with it?
He knew Qiao Nian.
In his previous life, and even the life before that, he had heard Qiao Wei mention her countless times.
Her cousin.
The timid, spineless girl whom Qiao Wei often talked about as though she were a joke.
Clearly, she was completely different from the bright, bold, and striking young woman standing before him.
Over these several lifetimes, he had watched helplessly as his grandfather’s life’s work and fortune were swallowed up by those ungrateful people.
He had been unwilling to accept it.
But no matter what he did, he would still die because of them, because of one circumstance or another.
There was nothing he could do.
Until his previous life.
After he died, his soul drifted above the world.
That was when he discovered something astonishing.
Zhou Shaoliang and Qiao Wei were actually the destined male and female protagonists of this world.
So they were protected by Heaven itself?
Was he destined to become nothing more than a stepping stone for them?
No matter what happened to him or what he did, would everything always rebound back onto him?
He looked at Qiao Nian.
Clearly, in this lifetime, this young woman would become the person who could break the predetermined fate.
Qiao Nian could feel the gaze from behind her staring at her continuously.
She was already impatient.
She turned her face slightly.
From the corner of her eye, she saw that the man was still standing exactly where he had been, motionless as he stared at her.
When he noticed her looking at him, he froze for half a second.
Then he suddenly broke into a huge smile.
It was clean and bright, as though he had captured the sunlight of autumn inside his eyes.
Qiao Nian didn’t respond to him.
Her thoughts were racing wildly.
Zhou Shaoquan had died at the age of eighteen.
Qiao Wei was seventeen this year.
Zhou Shaoliang was three years older than her, making him twenty this year.
And Zhou Shaoliang was two years older than Zhou Shaoquan.
That meant Zhou Shaoquan was eighteen this year.
Qiao Nian’s heart suddenly sank.
Then…
Was the man standing right in front of her going to die this year?