“Mom, am I going to die too?”
Taking a deep breath, Lin Wan opened the door and immediately saw seven- or eight-year-old Zhang Hongqiang tugging at Huang Guixiang’s sleeve as he asked the question.
Zhang Hongqiang was thin and frail, dressed in oversized old clothes patched from top to bottom.
Equally thin, Huang Guixiang rolled her eyes and impatiently shook him off.
“Well, your surname is Zhang, isn’t it? If we die, we die together!”
The boy didn’t get upset at being pushed away by his own mother. He simply let out an “Ow!” before turning and spotting Lin Wan.
His face lit up instantly.
“Sis, you’re awake?”
“Mom! My sister’s awake!”
“Sis, are you hungry? Mom steamed egg custard for you. I’ll bring it over right away!”
The moment she heard that Lin Wan had woken up, Huang Guixiang hurried over and tried to support her back to bed.
“Oh, my little ancestor, the doctor said you have a concussion and need complete bed rest. Hurry back to your room and lie down. Why are you out here?”
Then she kicked Zhang Hongqiang.
“What are you standing around for? Go bring your sister the egg custard!”
With practiced ease, Zhang Hongqiang dodged the kick and dashed toward the kitchen.
Her stepfather, Zhang Xuemin, dragged over Zhang Qin, whose eyes were swollen red from crying.
“Wanwan, don’t do anything foolish again. Your sister knows she was wrong. She’s agreed to give up her fiancé to you!”
After saying that, he shoved Zhang Qin forward.
“Hurry up and apologize to Wanwan!”
“It’s only a man. If he’s gone, you can find another one. Do you really want to tear this family apart before you’re satisfied?”
“How did I end up raising such an ungrateful wretch!”
After speaking, Zhang Xuemin shot Huang Guixiang a cautious, ingratiating look.
He truly adored Huang Guixiang.
Back when Lin Wan’s father was still alive, Zhang Xuemin had secretly been in love with her.
He had thought he would spend his entire life hiding in the shadows, sneaking glances at her and burying his humble affection in his heart forever.
Who would have thought…
Her husband would actually die!
In order to marry Huang Guixiang, Zhang Xuemin had abandoned all dignity, acting like a devoted lapdog before marriage and continuing long after.
Zhang Qin looked utterly shattered.
With her head lowered, tears splashed heavily onto the ground.
After being pushed several times by her father, she finally choked out through sobs:
“I… I’m sorry… I’ll go to the countryside. I’ll give Xuyang to you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she covered her face and burst into tears, turning to run outside.
Lin Wan reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist.
“There’s no need for you to give him up!”
“I’ve changed my mind!”
“That block of ice, Guo Xuyang—only you treat him like a treasure. I’m not interested anymore!”
“If I marry him, I’d have to follow him to his military posting! Whoever wants to live in that godforsaken place can go. I’m certainly not going!”
“And once you’re married, getting a divorce isn’t exactly easy either…”
No one in the room believed her.
Lin Wan had changed her mind countless times before.
One moment she wanted something, the next she didn’t.
Who knew when she would suddenly change her tune again?
Besides, every time she stole something from Zhang Qin, she would discard it after getting it. Then, after Zhang Qin picked it back up, Lin Wan would demand it again.
It had happened far too many times to count.
Huang Guixiang paid no attention to Lin Wan’s declaration. Instead, she pointed at the room, which had been wrecked during Lin Wan’s tantrum, and barked at Zhang Qin:
“What are you standing around for? The room’s a complete mess and you still haven’t cleaned it up. Are you waiting for me to do it myself?”
Still crying, Zhang Qin fetched a broom and dustpan to clean the room.
Huang Guixiang continued grumbling in disgust.
“Cry, cry, cry. All you ever do is cry all day long. You’ve cried away every bit of good fortune you had!”
“You’re nothing but bad luck. Whoever marries you is doomed. Meng Jiangnu cried down the Great Wall. You cry at home, and the whole family will collapse!”
It was too noisy.
Lin Wan’s head buzzed.
Her temples throbbed painfully.
Quickly, she pulled Huang Guixiang into the room.
Zhang Hongqiang followed behind carrying the bowl of egg custard, only to have the door shut in his face.
“Sis, your egg custard!”
He called out from outside while swallowing hard.
“You eat it,” Lin Wan replied. “I don’t have any appetite.”
Zhang Hongqiang’s eyes immediately sparkled.
Wuwuwu…
This was egg custard!
The little brat immediately started stuffing food into his mouth. In no time at all, he had licked the bowl spotless, afraid that Lin Wan might change her mind if he ate too slowly.
When it came to changing her mind, his sister was a professional.
Zhang Aimin cautiously leaned by the doorway and asked, “Guixiang, if there’s nothing else, I’m heading to work. If I stay on leave too long, they’ll dock my pay.”
“Get lost!” Huang Guixiang’s impatient voice came from inside the room.
Zhang Aimin let out a sigh of relief and hurried off to work.
Inside the room.
Lin Wan led Huang Guixiang to sit on the edge of the bed and explained softly,
“Mom, I don’t want Zhang Qin’s fiancé.”
“I really won’t change my mind this time!”
“Everything I told Zhang Qin was true. I don’t want to follow the army. If I do, I won’t be able to see you anymore!”
For some reason, the moment she saw Huang Guixiang, she felt no sense of unfamiliarity whatsoever.
Instead, there was an overwhelming feeling of excitement, as though long-separated family members had finally reunited.
It was almost as if…
Huang Guixiang had always been her real mother.
And Lin Wan was certain this feeling wasn’t influenced by the original owner of the body.
After being an orphan for nearly thirty years, she suddenly had a mother.
Lin Wan wanted to cry.
Even if this mother was the vicious cannon-fodder villain from the novel.
Huang Guixiang waved her hand dismissively.
“What’s the big deal? If you follow the army, Mom can be your luggage. Just take me with you!”
“Besides, when you have children in the future, I’ll have to help raise them. There’s no way I’m letting my precious daughter wash diapers herself…”
The more she talked, the more excited she became.
“Wanwan, let me tell you, I’ve had my eye on Guo Xuyang for a long time! He’s only twenty-four and already a deputy battalion commander. His future is bright!”
“And I asked around. A battalion commander gets ninety-five yuan in monthly allowances!”
“Your Uncle Zhang is a Grade Seven worker and only makes eighty-nine yuan a month. That income is enough to support an entire family comfortably!”
“He’s spent decades in the factory and is practically one foot in the grave before reaching Grade Seven. That’s why he earns that much. But Guo Xuyang is only twenty-four! He still has plenty of room for promotion!”
“Not to mention his family background is excellent. His parents are both officials, and every one of his brothers has a better job than the last. He spends all of his allowance on himself. Once you marry him, what’s his becomes yours. You can spend it however you like!”
“You couldn’t find conditions like these even if you searched with a lantern. Don’t be foolish!”
Lin Wan sighed.
“But he doesn’t like me. Even if Zhang Qin is willing to give him up, there’s nothing we can do if he refuses. He’s a soldier, not someone we can force.”
Huang Guixiang grinned and patted her daughter’s hand.
“Don’t worry about that. Mom already has a plan. We’ll use that dead girl Zhang Qin’s name to invite him over. Then we’ll give him some drugged tea. Once you two have already crossed the line, he won’t be able to deny responsibility. If he dares refuse, I’ll report him for taking advantage of a woman!”
“Unless he’s willing to throw away his future and his life, he’ll have no choice but to marry you!”
“Let me tell you, women fall in love with their brains, but men fall in love with their lower bodies. Once they’ve rolled around in bed together, all that talk about feelings and love is complete nonsense!”
“Back then, that’s exactly how I got your father!”
Lin Wan rubbed her forehead.
This was the plot desperately trying to force itself back onto the original storyline.
“Mom!”
“I have a better target. A regiment commander!”
To persuade Huang Guixiang, Lin Wan had no choice but to rack her brain and pull a character from the novel’s plot, hoping to distract her mother for the time being.
Before she could elaborate on this grand prospect, two voices suddenly rang out.
[Ding!]
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The system had arrived without warning.
At the same time, Zhang Hongqiang’s heart-rending scream came from outside the door:
“Mom! Sis! This is bad!”
“The people from the neighborhood committee are here!”
“They’re here to take Sis to the countryside!”