After Ji Yang left, Ji Man’s mother lifted her daughter’s clothes to inspect her injuries. The red marks from the beating were quite obvious. Her heart ached as she nagged, “Just look at you! Why are you so stubborn? What would it have cost you to apologize to Ji Yang? Instead, you ended up getting beaten for nothing.”
“Mom, you don’t understand at all! I never hit Ji Yang. Before you and Dad came in, she was the one hitting me. Dad didn’t even bother to find out what really happened before ordering me to apologize to her. I’m not willing to accept that!”
Having returned from the future, Ji Man wasn’t as conservative as people of this era. She lifted her clothes to show her mother the places where Ji Yang had punched her, leaving them slightly red.
“Look! She did it on purpose. She deliberately hit me here!”
Ji Man’s mother frowned as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent. She pulled her daughter’s clothes back down and patted her shoulder soothingly before saying earnestly, “Manman, considering how Ji Yang is acting now, I suspect she was angered by what happened between you and Zhiyuan today.”
Otherwise, she couldn’t think of any other reason why Ji Yang had changed so drastically.
Ji Man was just about to say something when her mother interrupted her.
“Listen to me, Manman.”
“In this entire apartment building, from the top floor to the bottom, there isn’t a single household that doesn’t know the others. If someone in the apartment on the east side lets out a loud fart, everyone can hear it. Every day, when we meet, we have to exchange a few words about whether we’ve eaten and what we’ve had. If something happens in anyone’s household, everyone knows about it.”
“I married your father when Ji Yang was barely over a month old. Because I was afraid the neighbors would say I wasn’t a good stepmother, I’ve always treated you and Ji Yang equally in public.”
“I never let her go cold or hungry, and I never deliberately tormented her by making her do all the housework.”
“Whatever food and clothes you had, she had them too.”
Apart from emotionally neglecting Ji Yang, she could honestly say that she had done right by the girl as her stepmother.
“Nowadays, everyone who sees me praises me for being a good stepmother. But look, nineteen years have passed, and Ji Yang is about to leave home. Now this has happened. If everyone finds out, what do you think they’ll say?”
“They’ll definitely say that I was only pretending to be a good stepmother all these years and that I never treated your father’s daughter from his previous marriage well.”
“When we live our lives, we can’t just live for ourselves. We also have to consider what other people think.”
After talking for a long time, Ji Man still seemed unconvinced. Her mother took her hand and patted it gently.
“Manman, whether you hit Ji Yang today or she hit you, just endure it for now. You’re about to get married, while Ji Yang has only two options: either go to the countryside or find some random man to marry. Her life is practically settled. You can see exactly where her future is headed. But you still have a wonderful life ahead of you. Why bother stooping to her level?”
There were only a few days left before registration for the rural relocation program closed. The good men were either already taken or in no hurry to find wives.
With Ji Yang in such a desperate rush, what kind of decent man could she possibly find?
Ji Man gritted her teeth. She had to admit that her mother’s last few words had struck a chord with her. Ji Yang’s future was ruined, while she still had endless possibilities ahead of her.
She lowered her head slightly toward her mother. “Mom, I understand. I’ll put up with her for a while. There are only a few days left anyway. I’ll just give in to her, all right?”
“That’s more like it! You know, your temper is far too stubborn. Sometimes, you need to be the one to soften your stance. There’s no harm in that. From now on, whenever something happens, discuss it with me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“Mm-hmm. Mom, I’ll definitely discuss things with you from now on.”
“As long as you understand. I’ll go get some ointment for you. Rub it into your injuries and massage them a little. Wait here for me, okay?”
“Go ahead, Mom.”
…
Ji Yang sat in the living room for a while, constantly itching to take out her phone. Honestly, just thinking about living without a phone in the future was enough to make her miserable. And she would have to endure this miserable existence for at least another twenty or thirty years.
Good grief!
With nothing else to do, she went to wash up first. As she washed, Ji Yang studied her reflection in the mirror. Her face looked somewhat familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar.
It was familiar because it resembled her face from her previous life by about eighty percent. It was unfamiliar because this face was even more exquisite than the one she had possessed in her previous life.
Strictly speaking, this was Ji Yang 2.0.
Her little face was only about the size of a palm, and her delicate features made her look as though she had stepped straight out of a painting. Her hair was thick and glossy, falling naturally around her with an effortless, slightly lazy charm. The faint baby fat on her cheeks did nothing to diminish her beauty. If anything, it added a touch of cuteness and innocence.
She really was beautiful.
The problem was that having such a face when going to the countryside wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Even if she tried to avoid trouble, trouble would probably come looking for her.
Beauty was a disaster when a person had no way to protect herself.
It seemed she needed to hurry up and check out Ji Man’s former love interest the older cousin of Jiang Zhiyuan. If he wasn’t suitable, she could make other plans.
This apartment was so small that even washing her face had to be done in the living room. And after washing, there wasn’t even any face cream available. Once Ji Yang had washed her face and brushed her teeth, she combed her hair again and tied it up casually.
She saw Ji Man’s mother come out of her room and then go back inside. When she finally emerged again, she said, “Yangyang, I just had a talk with Manman. She knows she was wrong. She’s just too embarrassed to apologize to you. She’s still young and easily feels ashamed. Don’t hold it against her. Sisters should love and care for each other.”
Ji Yang nodded. “Mom, I understand. No matter what, Manman is still my younger sister, so I should be the one to give in to her. Besides, I’ve seriously reflected on my own behavior, too. I haven’t been a good older sister in the past. I spoiled her far too much. I’ve decided that from now on, I need to pay more attention and be stricter with her. An older sister should be like a mother. Don’t worry, Mom. From now on, I’ll help you discipline this unfilial daughter of yours.”
Ji Man’s mother was momentarily speechless. For some reason, she felt as though Ji Yang had just taken advantage of her.
Ji Yang continued, “Mom, Manman is about to get married. Once a daughter marries into another family and becomes someone else’s wife, she can’t keep throwing tantrums whenever she feels like it. If she doesn’t rein in her temper, she’ll suffer once she leaves home. Starting tomorrow, I’ll straighten out her attitude. But let’s agree on this beforehand, Mom: if I happen to be too strict with her, you mustn’t get angry with me.”
Hehehe. Starting tomorrow, she was going to make life miserable for her dear little sister.
Ji Man’s mother glanced at her eldest daughter and suddenly felt that she could no longer see through her.
After hesitating for a moment, she said, “Yangyang, Mom knows you’re upset, but…”
“Mom, you’re overthinking things. There are plenty of men in this world, but my sister is family forever. I could never stay angry with my sister over a man who could be lured away by someone else at any moment. Sigh, if I didn’t know that my sister wouldn’t agree, I’d even want to discuss calling off her wedding so the two of us could just live together.”
After all…” Ji Yang gave her a sweet smile. “A husband is only temporary, but a younger sister is forever.”
Ji Man’s mother: “…”
Oh, no. It seemed Ji Yang had been so deeply affected that she had started talking nonsense.
Through the doorway, Ji Yang met Ji Man’s furious gaze and spoke leisurely, “The deeper the love, the stricter the discipline. I have to do my best to turn my younger sister into a better person!”