1974, the third day of the Lunar New Year, Qingshan Production Brigade.
Something major had happened in the Lin family.
Two female cousins whose engagements were being arranged on the same day had both fallen into the water!
The good news was that their two fiancés had rescued them. The bad news was that each man had rescued the wrong fiancée!
“Waaah, Brother Jianguo, you’ve touched me all over! How am I supposed to marry Brother Lu now?”
One of the two people at the center of the incident, Lin Pandi, daughter of the Lin family’s eldest son, clutched her chest and wept pitifully, looking as though she had suffered an enormous injustice.
But Lin Xiaoxiao was inwardly ecstatic.
She had been diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer and breast cancer at the same time. After her husband and children, instigated by her vicious mother-in-law, signed a waiver refusing treatment and absolving themselves of responsibility, she had not died a miserable death. Instead, she had been reborn before marrying that useless man, Qiao Jianguo!
After her initial delight, Lin Xiaoxiao abruptly looked toward her older cousin, Lin Pandi, who was still clinging tightly to Qiao Jianguo.
The moment she met Lin Pandi’s guilty, evasive gaze, she understood: her cousin had been reborn too.
And her cousin had been reborn earlier than she had, deliberately arranging this farce of rescuing the wrong fiancées—a farce that had never happened in their previous life—all to swap their engagements!
Lin Pandi grew flustered under Lin Xiaoxiao’s stare, worried that Xiaoxiao would say something to disrupt her plan.
Her eyes darted around. Pointing at Lin Xiaoxiao, she dragged her into the mess.
“And Xiaoxiao! I saw everything in the water just now. Lu Ye touched her all over too!”
“How are we sisters supposed to face our respective fiancés after this?”
At these words, everyone present went pale.
Qiao Jianguo glared viciously at Lin Xiaoxiao.
He completely ignored the fact that he was still holding Lin Pandi, looking as though Lin Xiaoxiao were a promiscuous woman who had betrayed him.
Lu Ye, on the other hand, had been standing in front of Lin Xiaoxiao all along, shielding her from the onlookers’ gaze. His face darkened, and he rebuked Lin Pandi coldly.
“Lin Pandi! What nonsense are you talking about? I was simply rescuing someone. Stop making trouble and ruining her reputation!”
As though she had caught him red-handed in an affair, Lin Pandi pointed at Lu Ye and accused him loudly.
“Lu Ye! And you still say you didn’t!”
“I’m your fiancée! Instead of protecting me, you’re protecting Lin Xiaoxiao. Have you two been carrying on behind our backs all along?”
She was overbearing now, showing none of the weakness she had displayed moments ago. Pointing a finger right at Lu Ye’s nose, she snapped:
“Break off the engagement! I’m breaking off my engagement with an indecent pervert like you!”
The onlookers’ gazes fell on Lu Ye, whose face had gone dark, and on Lin Xiaoxiao behind him. Suspicion showed on their faces.
Seeing their reaction, a flash of triumph passed through Lin Pandi’s eyes. She shot Lin Xiaoxiao a provocative look.
She was Heaven’s chosen woman, reborn! Lin Xiaoxiao, your officer husband is mine in this life! You can obediently marry Lu Ye, that impotent, cold, short-lived wretch!
Lin Xiaoxiao did not miss Lin Pandi’s provocative look. She sneered inwardly.
Lin Pandi was fighting her over the Qiao family, treating that living hell like a precious treasure. How stupid could she be?
Lin Xiaoxiao certainly had no intention of marrying Qiao Jianguo again. But she was no pushover, and she would not let Lin Pandi slander her as she pleased!
Who couldn’t play the innocent and pretend to be weak?
Lin Xiaoxiao clutched her chest and questioned her cousin with heartbroken anguish, as though betrayed by her closest kin.
“Cousin, you’re my own cousin. Why did you deliberately lure me to the river, force me to exchange clothes with you, and push me into the water?”
“Why would you treat me like this? Boo-hoo!”
Lin Xiaoxiao had delicate features and a pair of peach-blossom eyes that naturally made her look vulnerable. She could summon tears at will, making her look far more genuinely pitiful than Lin Pandi, who was merely wailing without tears.
The people who had been pointing fingers at Lin Xiaoxiao fell silent and turned toward Lin Pandi in astonishment.
Guilty as she was, Lin Pandi couldn’t immediately think of an excuse.
Lin Xiaoxiao curled her lips in mockery. Even after another lifetime, her older cousin was still the same fool who tried to scheme over everything but couldn’t carry a single scheme through properly.
Seeing everyone’s astonishment, the little figure in Lin Xiaoxiao’s mind smiled to itself.
Outwardly, however, she clutched her chest and staggered back a step as though she were too upset to stand.
She was only pretending, but Lu Ye reacted quickly and caught her, steadying her.
Lin Xiaoxiao was briefly startled by his reaction, but she had no time to concern herself with him. Looking deeply disappointed in Lin Pandi, she continued:
“I know you’ve always been jealous that I was engaged to Qiao Jianguo, who’s a platoon leader in the army, while you were going to marry an orphan from the countryside.”
“But if you really liked Qiao Jianguo, you could have said so before the engagements were arranged. We’re cousins, and it’s not as though I absolutely had to marry him.”
“If you two have feelings for each other, I can step aside.”
“Why did you have to scheme against me like this? You know I’ve been afraid of water since I was little. Were you trying to kill me?”
Qiao Jianguo, who had been watching Lin Xiaoxiao with suspicion and displeasure, rebuked her in a low voice.
“Xiaoxiao, stop talking nonsense and slandering me and your cousin! I’m a soldier, and we’re already engaged. How could I possibly have anything going on with her?”
Then, in a superior, commanding tone, he ordered Lin Xiaoxiao:
“And you—why aren’t you coming over here? What does it look like, standing beside Lu Ye like that? Have you no shame?”
Lin Xiaoxiao looked coldly at the man who had been her husband for thirty years. There wasn’t a trace of affection in her eyes, only disgust.
She’d been so busy dealing with Lin Pandi that she’d nearly forgotten to deal with this bastard!
Since he was so eager to get an earful, Lin Xiaoxiao was happy to oblige.
“Qiao Jianguo, everyone can clearly see who has no shame!”
“What, does it feel that good to have Lin Pandi in your arms? You’ve been out of the water for ages, but you still can’t bear to let go?”
“And you still remember you’re a soldier? You’re a soldier, yet you couldn’t even rescue your own fiancée! When she was wronged, you not only failed to defend her, but joined an outsider in accusing her.”
“Break off the engagement! We absolutely must! I’m breaking off my engagement with a spineless good-for-nothing like you, who can’t tell right from wrong and sides with outsiders against his own!”
When Lin Xiaoxiao declared that she, too, wanted to break off the engagement, reactions varied.
Never mind the uproar and gossip among the spectators.
Lu Ye abruptly lowered his head to look at Lin Xiaoxiao. If she had looked at him just then, she would have seen the delight in his eyes.
Lin Pandi, still on the ground, was even less capable of concealing her emotions. Joy and smugness were written all over her face.
She had assumed Lin Xiaoxiao was exposing the truth so aggressively because she wanted to win Qiao Jianguo back.
She hadn’t expected Lin Xiaoxiao to be stupid enough to push such a good man away herself.
Qiao Jianguo, meanwhile, looked utterly incredulous. His face darkened as he glared threateningly at Lin Xiaoxiao.
“Lin Xiaoxiao, do you know what you’re saying? If you break off our engagement, you’ll never find a man better than me!”
“Hmph!” Lin Xiaoxiao snorted.
She looked him up and down with contempt, as though examining something filthy. Then, as though she couldn’t find a single redeeming feature, she turned away in disgust.
“Ha! A three-legged toad may be hard to find, but are three-legged men hard to find? Who wants you?”
Afraid he might be deaf, Lin Xiaoxiao raised her voice and enunciated every word.
“I! Said! I! Want! To! Break! Off! Our! Engagement!”
Qiao Jianguo’s face and neck flushed with rage. Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao treat him with utter disdain, he raised a hand and pointed at her.
“Fine! Fine! Fine! Lin Xiaoxiao, don’t regret this!”
He lowered his eyes to the weak, quiet Lin Pandi in his arms and said out of spite:
“I don’t think we even need to call off the engagements! This works out perfectly. I think your cousin is right: you and Lu Ye have something going on too. We might as well swap fiancées!”