Xu Yingying forced a smile, though she was inwardly fuming.
This little wench was acting truly bizarre today. If it weren’t for the fact that the dead girl would soon be rolling off to the countryside, she wouldn’t even bother playing along with her!
Xu Yingying went upstairs to call Xu Yunhua down and told her to return the jade pendant.
Xu Yunhua was reluctant at first. One look at that jade pendant told her it was something exquisite; she couldn’t bear to let it go.
“If I don’t get it, I won’t get married! Whoever wants to marry can go ahead!”
“Yunhua!” Xu Weiguo’s face darkened as he shot her a look. “Hurry up and give the jade pendant back to your sister.”
Xu Yingying also hurriedly lowered her voice to comfort her, “Yunhua, there’s still plenty of jewelry in that wench’s dowry. Give her the pendant now, and once the dowry is in our hands, what kind of necklace couldn’t you have? Pearls, rubies—you can choose whatever you want!”
Xu Yunhua looked at the carved jade pendant in her hand with envious eyes, feeling a strange intuition in her heart.
This jade pendant was a treasure; she absolutely could not give it to Xu Ruyan!
However, Xu Ruyan didn’t give Xu Yunhua time to react. She stepped forward, snatched the pendant away, and put it around her neck, smiling. “Good sister, you’re welcome. The pendant has returned to its rightful owner.”
“You…”
Xu Yunhua gasped, her heart suddenly aching as if it were being cut by a knife.
She felt an inexplicable sense of panic and unease. Her eyes stared fixedly at the jade pendant on Xu Ruyan’s neck, feeling as though she had lost something incredibly important.
Xu Ruyan couldn’t be bothered with her; she had more important things to do right now.
“I’m tired. I’m going up to rest for a bit. Call me when the Zhou family arrives.”
Impatience coursing through her, Xu Ruyan returned to her bedroom, locked the door, and took out the jade pendant.
She pondered for a moment on how to open the space. Recalling the stories she had read in the past, they often mentioned Blood-Drop Recognition.
Xu Ruyan’s eyes flickered. Steeling herself, she bit her fingertip and let a drop of blood fall onto the jade pendant.
A light flashed.
Suddenly, she appeared in an unfamiliar space.
Xu Ruyan’s eyes widened in shock.
She looked around and found that inside the space was a Suzhou-style garden covering dozens of acres. It was divided into several layers inside and out, with many ancient towers several dozen meters high used for living quarters and storage.
At the very center of the courtyard was a highly conspicuous Spirit Spring. Water surged from the spring continuously; even just approaching it made her feel refreshed, a sense of comfort washing over her entire body.
A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Xu Ruyan’s eyes.
She walked around curiously and discovered that the courtyard was filled with gold, silver, and treasures accumulated by the Lin family ancestors over dozens of generations. From ancient curios to paintings and calligraphy, there was a dazzling array. Any single item taken out would be a world-shaking antique, worth a fortune!
In her previous life, after Xu Weiguo fled to Hong Kong and managed to quickly become a top-tier wealthy elite, it was likely because Xu Yunhua had used the treasures from this space to pave the way with money.
Looking at the inexhaustible wealth in the courtyard, Xu Ruyan let out a cold laugh. “Xu Yunhua, now that it’s back with its rightful owner, if you’re still hoping for a lucky break, keep dreaming!”
You can find anything in your dreams!
Xu Ruyan didn’t have time to take a detailed inventory of the supplies. She only took a quick turn and discovered large tracts of plantable black soil within the Spatial Dimension, along with countless grain warehouses filled with all kinds of seeds.
With a thought, Xu Ruyan wondered if it could be planted automatically.
In the next second, as soon as the thought arose, the seeds from the warehouse were planted into the black soil—watering, fertilizing… a complete automatic cycle!
Xu Ruyan’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t expected the Spatial Dimension to be so convenient. Just by using her thoughts, she could do as she pleased without having to lift a finger.
Xu Ruyan was overjoyed.
She then saw various livestock farms nearby, filled with cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens… common and uncommon animals alike were packed in.
It was only then that Xu Ruyan realized with a start that the time within the Spatial Dimension could be stopped at will by the owner’s thoughts.
This was also the secret to why the livestock in the space remained immortal and ageless year-round.
Xu Ruyan couldn’t help but click her tongue. This space was far more convenient than she had imagined!
Estimating that enough time had passed, she willed herself back into the bedroom.
The Spatial Jade Pendant had been reclaimed.
Xu Ruyan’s gaze turned cold, and a meaningful smile played on her lips.
Next, it was time to take back the Lin family’s property!
Knock, knock.
Xu Yingying came up to knock on the door again, her voice soft and gentle.
“Ruyan, hurry up and get ready to come downstairs. The Zhou family is here for the matchmaking.”
Hearing this, Xu Ruyan sneered and responded lazily, “Alright, I’m coming.”
She walked downstairs and found the living room crowded with people.
Hearing the movement from above, five people turned in unison to look at her.
For a moment.
They looked like a pack of greedy wolves, their eyes glowing green with calculating schemes, wishing they could pounce on her immediately and devour her until not even the bones were left!
Xu Ruyan’s steps faltered, and a wave of sorrow washed over her heart for no reason.
These people were clearly taking advantage of the fact that the family who loved her were all dead. The Lin family had become a “terminated household,” leaving her a young girl all alone, with no one to protect her, left to be deceived and bullied at will.
Xu Ruyan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
It was fine. This time, she didn’t need anyone else; she could protect herself!
“Comrade Xu, hello. I am Zhou Shuang.”
Zhou Shuang smiled and took a few steps forward, extending his hand.
He had a clean appearance and would be considered handsome even among ordinary people. With thick eyebrows and large eyes, his upright look made it easy for others to feel favorable toward him.
Xu Ruyan gave him a lazy glance but didn’t respond.
Zhou Shuang froze in place awkwardly. A flash of annoyance crossed his eyes, but he couldn’t very well lash out.
Xu Yingying hurriedly stepped forward and smiled. “Ruyan is shy. Xiao Zhou, don’t mind her.”
“Once you get to know each other better, it’ll be fine.”
“It’s no problem, Auntie Xu. I know Comrade Xu comes from a privileged background. I understand.”
Zhou Shuang shot a look at the middle-aged woman standing behind him, signaling her to step forward.
Song Chungui’s eyes dimmed momentarily before she said to Xu Ruyan with a beaming smile, “Ruyan, I am Zhou Shuang’s mother. You can just call me Auntie Song.”
“Here, take this red envelope. Auntie Song has put a thousand yuan in it for you. Consider it a meeting gift for your matchmaking with Zhou Shuang.”
Xu Ruyan wasn’t one to act pretentious. If they were willing to give, she was willing to take.
She smiled and took the red envelope, tucking it into her pocket. “Thank you.”
“It’s just that a thousand yuan is a bit little. If you want to be a live-in son-in-law of the Lin family like my father, this won’t be enough.”
The smile on Song Chungui’s face stiffened. She cursed inwardly—this daughter of a capitalist spoke with such arrogance.
A thousand yuan wasn’t much?
Nowadays, a normal worker’s monthly salary was only ten or twenty yuan. A thousand yuan was enough to cover a family’s expenses for years!
She certainly had a big appetite!
But you had to bait the hook to catch the fish.
Thinking about the dowry money she would be able to get her hands on in the future, Song Chungui endured it. She had Zhou Shuang push forward the boxes their family had brought and opened them one by one, smiling.
“Auntie Song knew you were a girl with high standards. Look, what are these?”
Xu Ruyan glanced over. One box was filled with bundles of ten-yuan bills, roughly totaling ten thousand yuan.
Two boxes were filled with various coupons. Besides the common grain, oil, and meat coupons and daily necessity stamps, there were also less common bicycle coupons, industrial coupons, sewing machine coupons… all sorts of coupons were bundled and stacked neatly, numbering in the hundreds.
These were good things!
Xu Ruyan was about to go to the countryside. While she had plenty of supplies in her space, most of them couldn’t be taken out in this era. She was exactly in need of coupons.
Xu Ruyan couldn’t help but mock them in her heart.
In order to swindle the dowry out of her hands, the Zhou family had really gone all out this time.
In the past, she had been moved by the Zhou family’s “sincerity,” thinking she had truly met a good family.
Looking at it now, Xu Ruyan was much more clear-headed.
The Zhou family was just trying to get something for nothing. They said these things were for her, but once she went to the countryside, wouldn’t they just find their way back into their hands anyway!
Xu Ruyan remained composed and turned to Song Chungui with a smile. “Auntie Song, you are so good to me. Father was right; Zhou Shuang is a good man.”
The others had been on pins and needles, fearing Xu Ruyan wouldn’t take the bait.
Hearing this, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
The five of them exchanged looks, each seeing a trace of contempt and triumph in the others’ eyes.
This pampered young lady Xu Ruyan was truly as stupid as a pig!