At the first hint of dawn the next morning, Jiang Wanxi was already standing outside Yao Xiulan’s door.
Staring at the tightly shut door, she knew she wouldn’t be able to see her parents today.
Yesterday, she had stubbornly refused to leave with Jiang Hongtao and Shen Menglan. At first, Yao Xiulan had tried patiently to reason with her. But when she realized that Jiang Wanxi simply wouldn’t listen, she finally resorted to harsh words.
“Why are you so stubborn, girl? I didn’t give birth to you in the first place. We’ve already done more than enough by raising you all these years. Besides, if you don’t leave, how is our biological daughter supposed to come home? From now on, we’ll each go our separate ways. Let’s just end things here!”
After saying that, Yao Xiulan hadn’t even eaten dinner before returning to her own courtyard.
Jiang Wanxi knew she had only said those things to make her give up completely and willingly follow her biological parents back to the capital.
That was simply how parents were. They always wanted to give their children the best things in the world.
Perhaps, in the original story, Yao Xiulan had said the same things to the original Jiang Wanxi. Unfortunately, the original owner of this body had taken those cruel words to heart. After returning to the capital, no matter how much hardship she endured, she never came back to seek help from anyone in the Jiang family.
It was only after experiencing countless hardships that she finally looked back and understood her adoptive mother’s painstaking intentions.
But by the time she had the ability to repay them, everything had already changed, and the people she cared about were no longer there.
Rather than saying she hated the male and female leads, perhaps the person she hated most had actually been herself.
Grandma Jiang approached unsteadily, carrying the luggage she had packed the night before. In just one night, the two elderly grandparents seemed to have aged considerably.
Looking at the Jiang family members gathered around her, Jiang Wanxi suspected that none of them had slept all night.
She took the bundle from Grandma Jiang, along with the letter of introduction they had gone to the brigade leader to obtain the previous night.
Then she dropped to her knees and kowtowed to her grandparents.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Baoya is leaving. You two must take good care of yourselves.”
She then turned toward the entrance of Jiang Dazhu’s house and kowtowed again.
Raising her voice so the people inside could hear her, she said, “Dad, Mom, your daughter is leaving! No matter where I go, this place will always be my home. You will always be my parents, and everyone here will always be my family!”
Third Uncle Jiang had borrowed the production team’s ox cart to take them to town.
Jiang Wanxi walked toward the cart without looking back.
Since she couldn’t escape the plot, then she would turn it completely upside down.
The ox cart slowly made its way out of the village.
When Jiang Wanxi saw Little Seven and Little Eight running after the cart, she could no longer hold back her tears.
In her previous life, she had barely experienced a childhood at all. As an orphan without parents, how could she have had the luxury of a carefree childhood?
Later, after performing several surgeries in a row, she had died suddenly from overwork and somehow arrived in this world.
Ten years.
She had lived here for ten whole years.
Nearly every corner of this place was etched into her memory.
Here, she had a family.
They had given her the carefree childhood she had never experienced before.
She really… couldn’t bear to leave.
Silently, Jiang Wanxi made a promise to herself.
I will definitely come back.
Third Uncle Jiang took them as far as the commune entrance. A vehicle Jiang Hongtao had borrowed was already waiting there—a military-green jeep.
The jeep would take them to the train station in the city.
Third Uncle Jiang held a bag in his hands and opened it with a smile.
Inside were shoes made by Second Aunt, clothes sewn by Third Aunt, more than a dozen boiled eggs, and flatbreads made from white flour.
Although the Jiang family lived relatively well compared to the other families in the Hongsheng Production Brigade, eggs and white flour were still luxuries in this era.
The flatbreads were even still warm.
Jiang Wanxi casually picked one up and took a bite.
The moment she tasted it, she knew.
Her adoptive mother, Yao Xiulan, had made it.
Once again, tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes, and the lump in her throat made it difficult to swallow.
Third Uncle Jiang’s eyes also reddened.
He had no daughter of his own and had always doted on his niece as though she were his own child.
“Baoya, don’t take those angry words your mother said to heart. She only said them because she wanted what was best for you. And don’t resent your parents for not coming to see you off. They… they just couldn’t bear to watch you leave.”
His voice grew heavier with emotion.
“When you get to the capital, take good care of yourself. If you can’t stay there anymore, write to Third Uncle. I’ll come and bring you home.”
The ox cart gradually disappeared into the distance until it could no longer be seen.
So this was what it felt like to say goodbye to people you truly cared about.
In her previous life, she remembered studying desperately until she was finally admitted to university. Every farewell back then had been filled with anticipation and hope for the future.
Perhaps that was because she’d had no one tying her heart to the place she was leaving.
It wasn’t until Jiang Wanxi boarded the train bound for the capital that she finally pulled herself together.
She couldn’t keep drowning in sadness.
Once she returned to the capital, she would probably have plenty to deal with.
After all, she had grown up in an orphanage. That place had practically been a training ground for household intrigue. Fighting for attention, scheming, framing others—what hadn’t she seen?
Not to mention all the palace-intrigue and family-drama shows she had watched in her previous life.
As long as the male and female leads didn’t provoke her, they could all mind their own business and live in peace.
Jiang Wanxi, you’ve got this!
You can do it!