【Babes who check in here all get rich overnight~】
“Little sister fell into the water, and that bastard Gu Lichuan didn’t even save her—he ran off to save that Lin-somebody instead! And he’s still talking marriage with our little sis!”
“Nobody stop me—I’m going to settle accounts with that son of a bitch Gu Lichuan!”
“Who’s stopping you? But right now, isn’t the most important thing waiting for little sis to wake up?”
“If she doesn’t wake up, I’ll make Gu Lichuan pay with his life!”
“Bah! What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t jinx it!”
“Slip of the tongue…”
Hearing the familiar voices of her parents and her brother and sister-in-law, Shen Qinghe thought she had gone to heaven and reunited with them.
But when she opened her eyes, something felt wrong—
A calendar hung on the red brick wall, along with a yellow army satchel embroidered with the five red characters “Serve the People.” On the bedside cabinet sat an enamel mug half-filled with water. A dressing table. The kang zither…
Wasn’t this her old room?
Memories from two lifetimes fused rapidly. Disbelief mingled with wild joy on Shen Qinghe’s face—she had returned to when she was eighteen!
She jumped out of bed. The calendar clearly read August 13, 1967, not 1987!
She rushed to the dressing table and stared at the person in the mirror, eyes wide with shock. She pinched her fair, tender cheek and felt pain. Only then did Shen Qinghe cry and laugh at the same time, finally believing that she had truly been reborn!
She had been reborn to before marrying Gu Lichuan!
At the thought of Gu Lichuan, a bone-deep hatred surged in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to run to his house and kill him right now!
She was a native of Shenjiawan. Gu Lichuan’s family had fled from elsewhere and settled here. He looked decent, served in the army, and was a deputy company commander. For villagers like them, he really did count as an excellent match.
Although Shen Qinghe and Gu Lichuan both grew up in Shenjiawan, they weren’t close before the matchmaking. Shen Qinghe had always been introverted, disliked going out, and preferred staying at home.
Truthfully, she hadn’t liked Gu Lichuan all that much. It was just vanity—he looked fine, his abilities were fine—so she married him. She never expected that right after the wedding he’d taken on a mission and returned badly injured, claiming that that part was damaged and he would never be able to do it again.
Back then, Shen Qinghe was also fearful of such matters. She actually felt relieved by the outcome, only regretting that she wouldn’t have her own child. Besides, she was already married to Gu Lichuan—how could she leave him over this? Military marriages weren’t easy to dissolve. To preserve Gu Lichuan’s dignity, she told no one—not even either side of the family. Everyone believed it was Shen Qinghe who couldn’t bear children, and for that she endured plenty of jabs from Gu Lichuan’s mother.
A few years later, he brought home an adopted child, saying the child was an orphan of a fallen martyr. She treated the child as her own, raising him with all her heart. When the Gu family looked down on the boy, she was the one who stood up to protect him.
But she never imagined that the child was actually Gu Lichuan’s illegitimate son! And that his supposed impotence had only been a lie—so he could remain chaste for the woman he truly loved!
Poor Shen Qinghe had been kept completely in the dark, foolishly raising someone else’s child for nearly twenty years! And what was most infuriating of all was that she even knew the woman involved.
Lin Yingxue’s family was much like Gu Lichuan’s—both had come from elsewhere to settle in Shenjiawan. But Lin Yingxue had only her mother. At first, everyone thought they were refugees and showed them a lot of kindness. Later, somehow, word got out that her family background was problematic—that they were of capitalist origin.
At that time, the label “capitalist” needed no explanation. The entire Shenjiawan loathed them. Though the mother and daughter had already cut ties with their family and hadn’t been directly implicated, people detested anyone connected to capitalists. From then on, life in Shenjiawan became very difficult for them.
A few years earlier, Lin Yingxue’s mother fell ill and passed away, leaving Lin Yingxue alone in Shenjiawan. Her days grew even harder. A single woman living alone was too dangerous; there were hooligans all around the surrounding villages. The villagers were unwilling to associate with a “capitalist heiress,” so the village head had no choice but to move her to the educated-youth compound to live with the female sent-down youths.
The educated youths didn’t want this either, but since the village head had spoken and they were outsiders, they had no way to refuse. And so Lin Yingxue moved into the educated-youth compound.
That day, Shen Qinghe happened upon Lin Yingxue, heartbroken, attempting to jump into the river. Shen Qinghe knew a bit of swimming and jumped in to save her. Unexpectedly, aquatic weeds tangled around her legs, putting her in danger as well.
Just then, Gu Lichuan—who had returned from the army—passed by. What shocked everyone was that he didn’t save Shen Qinghe, the woman he was in the middle of discussing marriage with. Instead, he saved the capitalist heiress he barely knew!
If not for another soldier traveling with him who pulled Shen Qinghe out, she would likely have died.
She was furious at the time, and their marriage almost fell through because of it. Later, however, Gu Lichuan apologized sincerely, saying the situation had been urgent. He thought she knew how to swim and could hold on a bit longer, so he planned to save Lin Yingxue—who couldn’t swim—first and then come back for her. He said he truly hadn’t thought much beyond that.
The elders of the Gu family also came to apologize on his behalf, begging her to forgive him. Shen Qinghe was kind and soft-hearted—otherwise she wouldn’t have jumped into the river to save Lin Yingxue in the first place. And Gu Lichuan really was a rare match. In the end, she forgave him.
After that, Gu Lichuan often spoke in front of her about how pitiful Lin Yingxue was. Lin Yingxue herself frequently showed eagerness and goodwill toward Shen Qinghe. Shen Qinghe truly believed Lin Yingxue was a good person, just with a bad family background, and even spoke up for her on many occasions.
Thinking back on her own stupidity in her previous life, Shen Qinghe clenched her fists. Because Lin Yingxue had deliberately chosen that time to jump into the river!
She knew Shen Qinghe was kind-hearted and would definitely try to save her. She had already exchanged letters with Gu Lichuan and knew he would be returning to Shenjiawan at that time. So she intentionally jumped into the river there, forcing Gu Lichuan to choose whom to save.
As she wished, Gu Lichuan saved her. And this fool—herself—had even ignored her family’s advice and become close friends with her!
“Baby girl.”
“You’re awake? Are you feeling any better?” Zhou Chunfeng’s worried voice came from outside the door. She must have heard movement in the room.
“Mom…”
It was her mother’s voice!
Shen Qinghe wiped her tears, composed herself, and went to open the door. But the moment she saw Zhou Chunfeng’s much younger face, her eyes burned. Tears spilled uncontrollably. She hadn’t seen her family in seven years. Seeing them again like this felt as though a lifetime had passed.