12
Jiang Suisui and Song Yuxue parted ways at the foot of the mountain. She stood there for a while, watching Song Yuxue’s retreating figure, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
When she had read the novel, it had only been mentioned in passing that the male lead’s little sister wasn’t very well-liked in the village and was often bullied by other kids her age. But she hadn’t expected Song Yuxue to face such blatant malice.
A lone little cub, ostracized by the other children… Mmm—just thinking about it made Jiang Suisui’s heart ache. She clutched her chest, trying to suppress the overwhelming wave of tenderness and pity welling up inside her.
She kicked a pebble by her foot as she slowly made her way home, thinking to herself that from now on, she’d take Song Yuxue along with her more often.
“Suisui!”
That day, Jiang Suisui was in the yard feeding the chickens, scattering rice bran as she watched the chicks peck away with their little heads bobbing up and down, muttering under her breath, “Eat up, eat up—eat your fill and remember to lay plenty of eggs…”
Suddenly, she heard someone calling her from the gate. She looked up at the sound. The half-closed wooden gate was ajar, and a young woman probably around her age walked in. Looking more closely, there was another one behind her, though she seemed a bit timid and hesitant.
“Suisui, how come we haven’t seen you out and about these past few days?” The one in front walked straight in, her eyes darting around with a hint of curiosity.
Jiang Suisui hesitated for a moment, then asked, “You are…?”
Hearing this, the girl’s face showed surprise. She covered her mouth in astonishment and said, “Suisui, are you really that sick? How come you don’t remember me? Don’t tell me you drowned and messed up your brain?!”
Jiang Suisui pursed her lips and gave a small laugh. “No, I’m not really sick. I just forgot a few things after falling into the water. Sorry about that.”
The girl didn’t say anything at first, just tilted her head and studied Jiang Suisui carefully. Jiang Suisui felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze and frowned slightly.
Then the girl spoke up: “I’m Zhang Wenfang. We used to hang out together every day, how could you forget me?”
Jiang Suisui pretended to have a sudden realization and laughed heartily. “Oh, right! Now that you mention it, I remember—Fangfang!”
So this was the so-called plastic bestie by the original owner’s side—Jiang Suisui had read about her in the novel. However, after the female lead was reborn, she had won this plastic bestie over to her side, and the original owner’s subsequent embarrassments and misfortunes had partly been thanks to this so-called friend’s efforts.
And there wasn’t just one plastic bestie. Jiang Suisui’s gaze drifted toward the person behind Zhang Wenfang. This one beside her must be the other plastic bestie, Li Daidi.
Sensing Jiang Suisui’s gaze, Li Daidi quickly stepped forward, wearing a slightly ingratiating smile, and asked, “Suisui, how’s your health? Do you… do you still remember me?”
Jiang Suisui nodded. “Of course I do—Daidi, right?”
Li Daidi smiled along and didn’t say anything more.
Zhang Wenfang peered toward the main hall, then took Jiang Suisui’s hand and whispered, “Suisui, is your grandma home?”
Seeing her acting all secretive, Jiang Suisui figured she had something private to say that couldn’t be overheard. So she replied, “She’s not inside, she’s out back feeding the pigs. She might be back in a bit.”
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Zhang Wenfang suggested, “Then let’s head out, go for a stroll up the back hill. We haven’t seen you for days and have so much to tell you!”
Jiang Suisui thought to herself that their affection sounded utterly fake. She had been home this whole time, yet they had never once come looking for her.
Since arriving here, aside from wandering around the house and the back hill, she had barely ventured into the village. After all, she didn’t know anyone there. Dealing with the endless stream of relatives and neighbors who came to visit had already been exhausting enough, and she had only managed to put a few faces to their names.
If these two hadn’t come looking for her today, she would have almost forgotten that the original owner even had best friends.
“Come on, let’s go.” Zhang Wenfang tugged at her arm and started pulling her outside. Jiang Suisui was curious to hear what she had to say, so she didn’t resist and followed along.
Zhang Wenfang linked arms with Jiang Suisui as they chatted casually while walking up the hillside. Behind them followed Li Daidi, silent and barely noticeable.
The three of them reached a slope with farmland stretching out ahead in a wide, open view and woods behind them. The weather was lovely, so they decided to sit right there.
No sooner had they sat down than Zhang Wenfang eagerly asked, “Hey, so tell me—about that thing with Song Weizheng, what are you thinking?”
Jiang Suisui: “What do you mean ‘what am I thinking’? It’s just what you already know.”
Zhang Wenfang let out a teasing snicker. “Aren’t you over the moon? You finally got him.”
Jiang Suisui felt a bit embarrassed. “It’s alright, I guess…”
“Tsk!” Zhang Wenfang seemed unimpressed. “Let me tell you I’ve never thought much of that Song Weizheng, but you’ve always been dead set on throwing yourself at him. The little flings before were one thing, but now that you’re really engaged, I’m telling you this sincerely, as someone who’s been close to you, think it through carefully. Don’t mess around and end up trapping yourself.”
“Don’t you agree?” Zhang Wenfang said, casting a sidelong glance at the silent Li Daidi beside her.
Li Daidi quickly chimed in, “Y-yeah! Suisui, you should think it over some more. Getting engaged is a lifelong matter.”
Jiang Suisui, however, didn’t seem bothered. “What else is there to think about? The engagement’s already done.”
Zhang Wenfang hurriedly said, “An engagement can still be called off! Just tell your grandma, doesn’t she go along with whatever you want?”
Li Daidi nodded. “Yeah, it’d be fine if you broke it off.”
Jiang Suisui looked at the two of them, her expression a bit strange. “That doesn’t add up. Back when I was chasing after him, you two were always supporting me. So why is it that now that I’ve succeeded, you’ve suddenly changed your tune?”
Zhang Wenfang’s expression stiffened for a moment, then she quickly recovered and said casually, “Oh, come on I thought you were just fooling around before. Who knew you’d take it this far, almost getting yourself into real trouble?”
Jiang Suisui: “Doesn’t that just prove I was serious? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone all the way.”
Zhang Wenfang looked at her with a mix of frustration and disappointment. “Are you stupid or what? Dating someone and actually marrying them are two completely different things!”
Jiang Suisui put on an innocent, puzzled look and asked, “How are they different? Isn’t dating meant to lead to marriage? Dating without the intention to marry is just playing around!”
Zhang Wenfang and Li Daidi: “…”
Zhang Wenfang grew a bit agitated. “What are you thinking! Someone like Song Weizheng—fine, fool around with him if you want, but if you actually marry him, won’t you just be making your own life miserable?”
Li Daidi also wore a worried expression, as if she genuinely feared for Jiang Suisui. “Yeah, Suisui, his family is even worse off than mine…”
Jiang Suisui: “Worse off how? They’re just a little poor, I don’t really mind.”
Zhang Wenfang: “How can you not mind being poor? If you marry into that family, you won’t even get to eat eggs, let alone sweets. You won’t be able to afford a single piece of new cloth all year long, no new clothes to wear. Won’t that bother you?”
Jiang Suisui shrugged. “Aren’t you all in the same boat? It’s not like you can’t get by.”
At this, Zhang Wenfang and Li Daidi’s faces turned a bit sour. Jiang Suisui was the favored one—the Jiang family grandparents had long since separated from the rest of the clan and no longer concerned themselves with the younger generations. They had raised her themselves, and whatever was good in the household went to her first. She lived far better than most girls in the village.
Take Zhang Wenfang, for instance. Though her family wasn’t in terrible shape, she was lucky to even taste an egg once a year, and new clothes were a rare luxury. In the village, almost every household mended and patched their clothes until they couldn’t be patched anymore. Getting a new red hair ribbon for the New Year was already cause for celebration.
As for Li Daidi, there was no need to elaborate. Her family favored boys heavily over girls—she was sallow and thin, always trailing behind Jiang Suisui just for a bite to eat. The clothes she wore were hand-me-downs from some cousin, the fabric worn thin from years of use, and her cloth shoes were so rubbed down that her toes were almost poking through.
Li Daidi’s face dimmed at Jiang Suisui’s words, stung by them. She bit her lip and said weakly, “Suisui, you’re different from us… If life gets hard, you won’t be able to take it.”
Zhang Wenfang’s expression wasn’t too pleasant, and her tone turned stiff. “Jiang Suisui, I’m here giving you good advice. If you won’t listen, don’t come crying to me later saying I never warned you.”
“Think about Song Weizheng’s mother—what kind of situation she’s in. What if something happens later? You’d better watch out you don’t get dragged into it.”
Hearing this, a glint of thought flickered in Jiang Suisui’s eyes. She had been curious about this very matter but had no one to ask. The original novel only mentioned that Song Weizheng’s mother had a problematic background but didn’t go into detail. A few days earlier, she had asked Grandma Jiang about it out of curiosity, but Grandma Jiang had told her not to bring it up.
So Jiang Suisui took the opening and asked, “His mother… what’s the situation exactly? You know, after I fell into the water, I forgot a lot of things.”
“Oh, you!” Zhang Wenfang had an “I knew it” look on her face. She leaned in and explained in detail, “His mother is a cancer of the bourgeois reactionaries!”
“…Huh?” Jiang Suisui was a bit confused. “Which family is her maiden family from?” She hadn’t heard of any “cancer of the bourgeois reactionaries” existing in this village since she’d arrived.
Zhang Wenfang frowned. “You forgot even that? His mother isn’t from the village—she’s the wife his father picked up off the street!”
“???” Jiang Suisui was even more bewildered. Picked up off the street? It wasn’t human trafficking, was it?! And what did that have to do with bourgeois reactionaries?
Zhang Wenfang continued, “I heard my mom and aunts say that back when Song Weizheng’s dad first brought her home, everyone could tell this woman was no ordinary person.”
“What made her so unusual?” Jiang Suisui pressed.
“She didn’t look ordinary, and her clothes weren’t ordinary either!” Zhang Wenfang thought for a moment, then went on. “I heard she looked like she was straight out of the city—really stylish, like she came from a well-off family. And she was pretty too—the kind who’d been raised on good food and drink, with soft, delicate skin.”
“But…” Zhang Wenfang glanced at Jiang Suisui and added, “I heard from my mom that when that woman first arrived, she had injuries on her and her mind was all fuzzy. She couldn’t remember anything—just like you now.”
“Oh no, wait—even worse than you. She couldn’t even remember her own name, or where she lived, or who her family was.”
Jiang Suisui felt a jolt of alarm at these words. This… this sounds even more like trafficking an unsuspecting young girl.
Oh no. Could the male lead’s father be a human trafficker?!
**